kent Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 Anyone cast their own lead .224 bullets for a .22 CF? been thinking of it a while now for shorter range use on Vermin with the .22 Hornet running a 40-45 grn bullet at stringer type speeds. Using scrap lead it could be economical and perhaps fun, yet looking at UK suppliers they don't seem to keep the right molds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saddler Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 (edited) A mate has his hobby as a reverse to most people on here. He started out casting bullets to allow hom to shoot. Now he shoots so he can do more casting. Quite a lot of data on the older Lyman and RCBS catalogs, plus the current ones too. Also look at Saeco. CastBoolits Forum is a wealth of info. You'll need to make sure you use a suitable hardened lead bullet, possibly also with a gas check added. Bullet lubes also make a difference. Let me know what types you're thinking of and I'll ask around. Cast bullets make for very cheap shooting...plus add to the hobby. Edited March 30, 2014 by saddler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deershooter Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 Not really viable you will need something to harden up the lead soft lead is no good .22 heads can be cheap if purchased in bulk Deershooter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Livefast123 Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 Can't help with casting but Shell house bullet company do hard cast .224 boolits with and without gas checks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saddler Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 Very viable. Add solder and other things to the mix harden up the lead mix. Get the mix to the hardness level required then cast it into ingots for later use. LOTS of published advice on what to do and how to do it. Big cost saving on factory BULLETS Cast bullets are no second place to jacketed bullets as far as accuracy too, as long as you follow the guidelines for hardness and velocity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted March 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 Not really viable you will need something to harden up the lead soft lead is no good .22 heads can be cheap if purchased in bulk Deershooter As in bought as lead ready cast? They certainly aint cheap bought in as jacketed expanding bullets (when the cops will only allow you 600 keep and you figure in fuel and travel for face to face). I suppose they are cheap enough if it takes you a full year to shoot 600 off though Can't help with casting but Shell house bullet company do hard cast .224 boolits with and without gas checks. You get a webpage or something for them please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted March 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 A mate has his hobby as a reverse to most people on here. He started out casting bullets to allow hom to shoot. Now he shoots so he can do more casting. Quite a lot of data on the older Lyman and RCBS catalogs, plus the current ones too. Also look at Saeco. CastBoolits Forum is a wealth of info. You'll need to make sure you use a suitable hardened lead bullet, possibly also with a gas check added. Bullet lubes also make a difference. Let me know what types you're thinking of and I'll ask around. Cast bullets make for very cheap shooting...plus add to the hobby. In order to shoot more, travel less, have less stress about numbers of components held. Also I don't think I need such a fast expanding jacketed load to kill bunnies at sub 100 yards and I could maybe use the Hornet for more bulk pest shooting (sort of like a super stinger if that makes sense?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deershooter Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 (edited) So you are going to cast hollow point lead bullets are you ?because any thing bigger than fox you must use expanding ammo Has any one shot lead bullets through a center fire because when I tried it it took 2 days to dele ad the barrel Anything above 1000 feet per sec were useless Deershooter Edited March 30, 2014 by deershooter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imperfection Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 So you are going to cast hollow point lead bullets are you ?because any thing bigger than fox you must use expanding ammo Has any one shot lead bullets through a center fire because when I tried it it took 2 days to dele ad the barrel Anything above 1000 feet per sec were useless Deershooter Not hollow points,but i know someone who shoots 308 and uses gas checked hard cast bullets with 13 grains of Red Dot. You can get hollow point moulds,but they're rare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casts_by_fly Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 have a search around on saubier.com forums. Some of the prairie dog guys were doing it a few years ago. You'll want to get some antimony to harden the lead and a gas check, but you should be able to get the up to nearly 2000 fps which isn't too bad. It will put you into WMR territory. Another think you could look into is making your own gilded bullets. You already reload and have a press, so getting another set of jacket drawing dies isn't much additional outlay. If you want to be really cheap I think there are ways to draw 22LR empties into jackets which considering you're looking at hornet range bullets, premium accuracy isn't the biggest issue. Also a Saubier search for you. thanks rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin lad Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 i know this don't answer your question but if you can't get what you are after have you tried dogtown bullets my local does them at 500 for £60 which make for a pretty cheap rabbit shooting round just a thought if its being done as an economy venture colin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1steele Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 So you are going to cast hollow point lead bullets are you ?because any thing bigger than fox you must use expanding ammo Has any one shot lead bullets through a center fire because when I tried it it took 2 days to dele ad the barrel Anything above 1000 feet per sec were useless Deershooter Don't think Kent will be using the .22 hornet for anything bigger than fox anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Livefast123 Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 (edited) http://www.shellhousebulletcompany.co.uk/apps/webstore/products/show/3941694 £56.75 for 500 posted to you Company page - http://www.shellhousebulletcompany.co.uk I have no link to the company just a happy user of their .454 lead balls and .430 boolits. Edited March 30, 2014 by Livefast123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 Kent....I use to buy cheap S&B 45 grn full patch bullets. Plenty cheap. I spat them out around 22HV and WMR. They was good. I even made a hard die that let me file the tip off! You got to watch changing from jacketed bullets to lead and vice versa. Any deposits of gilding metals or lube and lead will reap havoc. So a deep clean is needed on each change! U. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bewsher500 Posted March 31, 2014 Report Share Posted March 31, 2014 I seriously looked at this it requires a bit more technical input than just spitting off the shelf 224 bullets out ideally you want to know the throat length and bore, land and groove diameter of your rifle you want to match your bullets to your rifle calbre and then load to your throat length MV's of 2400-2400 are not uncommon in .224 and .308 sized objects read this: Muir knows his stuff http://www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk/showthread.php/80810-Bullet-shortage-Cast-your-own?highlight=cast+bullets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted March 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2014 i know this don't answer your question but if you can't get what you are after have you tried dogtown bullets my local does them at 500 for £60 which make for a pretty cheap rabbit shooting round just a thought if its being done as an economy venture colin It sort of is and isn't for economy. Economy don't hurt and I can already buy Sierra 45 grn Hornet bullets for similar to above. Advancement of knowledge, bit of fun and as CBF hints at drawing jackets etc could lead into whole new territory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted March 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2014 Don't think Kent will be using the .22 hornet for anything bigger than fox anyway Exactly it aint ever going to make Deer legal here however you stack it up, I might add that if it were legal I feel confident in it making a nice Roe rifle "in the right hands" using std 45 grn softpoints with all the std placements. One day I might travel with one and see just what it can do, an American writer Dr Ed Ashby hunted African plains game with one via getting in real close and I can understand why someone should wish to do that. Lets face it once a guy can shoot there is little challenge in sniping such things from afar. I seriously looked at this it requires a bit more technical input than just spitting off the shelf 224 bullets out ideally you want to know the throat length and bore, land and groove diameter of your rifle you want to match your bullets to your rifle calbre and then load to your throat length MV's of 2400-2400 are not uncommon in .224 and .308 sized objects read this: Muir knows his stuff http://www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk/showthread.php/80810-Bullet-shortage-Cast-your-own?highlight=cast+bullets Banned from there years back (seems I did not agree with the "wrong person")LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1steele Posted March 31, 2014 Report Share Posted March 31, 2014 Exactly it aint ever going to make Deer legal here however you stack it up, I might add that if it were legal I feel confident in it making a nice Roe rifle "in the right hands" using std 45 grn softpoints with all the std placements. One day I might travel with one and see just what it can do, an American writer Dr Ed Ashby hunted African plains game with one via getting in real close and I can understand why someone should wish to do that. Lets face it once a guy can shoot there is little challenge in sniping such things from afar. Banned from there years back (seems I did not agree with the "wrong person")LOL I know it's not the same but when I was keepering north of the border I used my old .222 for most of my roe culling and always found it to be a very effective, easy going round for roe. Most of it was in woodland so there wouldn't have been many shot at more then 70-80yds so it was perfect for the job. I wouldn't doubt that the .22 Hornet, in the same situation would be more than up to the job and nice to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted March 31, 2014 Report Share Posted March 31, 2014 Hornet up north was the favourite roe cartridge until the experts got involved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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