radio1ham Posted December 2, 2008 Report Share Posted December 2, 2008 well i guess a few of you will remember me asking if anyone had a mould for .243 a while ago well never thought of asking my brother i forgot he works in an engineering factory so i had a visit off him the other day (first time in about 8 months or so ) anyway was talking about the guns and he asked how much it costs for the bullets etc and i said to him wish i could get my hands on a mould , then he asked to see one of the cast bullets i use and so i showed him and he says i cud make one of those at the place i work at , well i said that would be bloody great if you could that was a couple of days ago he called in today for a cuppa and brought the mould with him and it looks pretty good for being made from some old off cuts at place he works at still needs a bit more work done to it as its hard to get the right size its only .016mm to small so he says he will sort that out for me tomorrow at work so looks like il save a few quid by using the mould he`s making for me il put a picture or 2 on here when its finished Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rarms Posted December 2, 2008 Report Share Posted December 2, 2008 I don't know what accuracy you will get with cast lead bullets out of a .243. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radio1ham Posted December 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 I don't know what accuracy you will get with cast lead bullets out of a .243. well you are quite right you wont until you have tryed them, ive been using cast .243 bullets for a while now with good results fair enough they dont travel as fast as commercial copper jackets most likely due to not using as much powder but still good enough to drop foxes out at 100yards + ive also used them for shooting rabbits aswell fair enough they no good for deer but not to worried about that, but costs me a dam lot less to load my own using cast bullets primers cost £3.50 per 100 powder £35 per tub which i get around 538 loads per tub bullets ones i bought 600 +450 brass £35 so say around £17.50 for the bullets so per every 100 bullets costs me around 16 pence per load and if casting my own bullets will reduce cost by another 6 pence per bullet but like you say you dont know what accuracy you will get well not had any complaints yet from the foxes and rabbits why not give them a go you will be supprised with results as im sure alot of people cast their own in different calibers and get good results also and if also they were no good people would not buy their own molds to cast bullets for pistols and other caliber rifles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry d Posted December 3, 2008 Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 If you shot the rabbits with a .22rf you would save even more money as the ammo is pence and you would have something to eat too ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazooka Joe Posted December 3, 2008 Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 but like you say you dont know what accuracy you will get well not had any complaints yet from the foxes and rabbits why not give them a go you will be supprised with results Be interesting to see the results on paper R1h, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubix Posted December 3, 2008 Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 Heads cost a ton for 243. I reload mine. I think the function of the copper jacket, among other things, is to protect the lead core and prevent it from melting when fired. You can get away with it with a 357 pistol round because the velocities are so low. Commercially they use a specific hardened lead compound. A 243 by it's nature is meant to be a 'hot' round - lot of powder for a light bullet, which is why it's very flat shooting, also works to closer tolerances than a 357/38. You need to be very careful, even a small amount of melted lead residue left in the barrel could have disastrous consequences. Have you asked them about it on the accurate reloading forum ? Watch how you go. I'd be at the other end of a 10m string when test firing your first loads from your own mould! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rem223 Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 If I were you I would get a hold of the Lyman reloading manual. The commercial cast lead bullets I have seen also have grooves for lubricant and if you plan on driving them much beyond 1200fps you will need gas checks. I have cast my own .223 bullets in the past and they worked quite well. I doubt you would get much over 2200fps though without a big build up of lead even using lubricant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 You have to have proper lubricant otherwise you will lead up the barrel. You will anyway but not anywhere near so bad. It is wrong really to call them lead bullets. Its lead alloy and the alloys needed for good results are high in tin and antimony and they are not easy to get hold of these days. People use to mix up brews of linotype metal, old .22 scrap and bar solder but its hard to get linotype now. You also need a gas check to stop the base melting. The prices some people talk about on here! Primers £3.50 a hundred? I buy rifle primers fron Bisley at £22 a thousand! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radio1ham Posted December 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 hi again all well i have the reloading data for the cast bullets bullets i have been using well i casted a bullet last night in the mold not yet got the lube rings on it yet they will come soon anyway measured the bullet and its the same as the cast bullets i already have maybe a thou or so difference between the two all have to do now is to put lube rings on and gas check Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radio1ham Posted December 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 now a picture of a few with lube rings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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