Cheapest place to buy cast bullets?Also some help please!

[George]

Hello, I 'm just starting out in reloading I have single stage press, Lyman one carbide set of .45cap dies with crimping die. and one set of 44 S/Mag 3 carbide die set without crimping die. So this is where I want to start... My need for now is some cast bullets and not getting hit with the shipping fee for a low round count. I would like 1000 rounds of .45acp with round nose of flat nose 230gr. I would be happy to start there... I have large pistol primers in Winchester. And everything else I need to start.. I have a bout 200 or so .45acp cases to start . I would like a few more of them. My dealers local to me don't have any reloading components.. most online places want a arm and leg for shipping.. Can some of you list some good places to start out getting the components I need that have good prices with good shipping rates? Or perhaps just send me some bullets .45ace would be my primary load to start with as I have at least some brass for them.. .44mag would also be fine I just have to find some brass and a crimping die .. My dies are Lee.. Thank you for any help you can offer me.. George

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

George, the cast bullet business is highly competitive. Some of the casters that cater to Cowboy action shooters seem to have the lowest prices but when buying in bulk you will save some and often sellers will offer free shipping during times of the year when sales are slow. Call them and ask about specials.
45 ACP bullets are just about the most common cast bullet being offered. As a caster,I seldom buy bullets but will say that for the ACP and the .45 Colt,I i have found I like the RCBS 45-230-CA bullet the best of all. It is a RNFP bullet 230 gr. With crimp groove (not used when loaded in the ACP but also works great in any gun that shoots a .452 bullet) you could do much worse than finding a bullet that is as close as possible to it's design.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

You can get top quality brass at Starline Brass at reasonable prices.

http://www.starlinebrass.com/

These guys have a lot of lead bullets.

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/Dept/Reloading/Lead-Bullets

 

[Kevin]

And Starline has free shipping too!

I've found sns casting to have some great bullets, both lead and some sort of pig coated bullets, pretty reasonable and a flat shipping rate up to, I believe, 70 some pounds, quite a lot actually.

The problem with primers and powders is that haz mat fee. Grafs and sons seems to have just a flat fee.

Then check out powder valley if they have anything you might need also.

You can google these companies for their website.

 

[loaded round]

I second Oregon Trail and their ''Laser Cast'' bullets purchased in bulk. Since I started using their bullets for the four pistol calibers that I load and shoot frequently, I gave up casting my own.

 

[contender]

Ok,, here's a few more ideas.

First,,, find a local gun range. Often,,, you can get brass for free or cheap from other shooters there.
Next,,, look online for different shooting clubs, and or competition matches in your area. Go & do a "meet & greet." Ask the locals where they buy their lead slugs,,, and maybe get in on a bulk order buy to reduce the costs.
While most competition shooters do reload,,, they keep their brass,,,, but 45 ACP is more common so you may get some easily. Lead slugs aren't used as much in competition,,, but plated ones are,, AND you don't get the smoke associated with lead bullets.
Next,,, if lead is your absolutely preferred bullet,,, go to the cast bullets forum,,, and look in the classifieds there. (I think the site is http://www.castboolits.com I have it bookmarked.)

I cast my own,, and I also powder coat my lead slugs now. As such,,, I don't buy many of them. Except,,, for my actual 45 ACP loads,,, I do use a copper plated slug from Extreme. Extreme often will sell you your first order shipped directly, with free shipping. I buy mine in bulk from my local dealer.

 

[john guedry]

One day you'll decide to "pour your own" and eliminate the post office,fedex,and ups all together. You can say " I made those myself ."

 

[gramps]

Check out our classifieds section. Lead bullets and cases are frequently sold.
gramps

 

[powder smoke]

George, For your request on cast bullets there is a mom & pop operation in Brattleboro Vt,
maybe a short drive for you I buy by mail tho. Decent Price good quality M&P cast bullets.
44 Martel Way is the Address. Phone 802 254 5296. speak to Mike or Pam Good luck ps

 

[SweetWilliam]

I've ordered from here. A good 230gr. RN & free shipping too
http://tbbullets.com

Just a couple more places. Both make good bullets in stock items might be hit or miss.
https://mattsbullets.com
http://www.westernbullet.com

http://www.mastercast.net/ftp.mastercast.net/Welcome.html
https://www.missouribullet.com

 

[Three50seven]

Try these guys: http://www.acmebullet.com/

I have had great success with the products I have ordered from them. They run free shipping deals from time to time as well.

 

[George]

Thank you all for your help.. Great places to find just about any bullet I want!!! Great helpful information! Last thing I need to ask if I could.. I know I should have a case cleaner but being to new to this is there a way I can wipe out the once fired .45 one at a time before I reload them I'm only loading a few hundred or so so fo rnow I don't mind doing them one by one by hand.. Thanks again.. George

 

[Tom W]

Be sure that you don't use anything with ammonia to clean your brass, as it is reacts with it and weakens it.

 

[gster]

Looks like you got some good leads on bullets. As for cleaning brass on the cheap. Back when I first started my addiction, my first few batches of brass was cleaned in in a sause pan of boiling water with a few ozs of concentrated lemon juice added. Just take the pan off the heat source after adding the juice and dump the brass in and stir it around for a few minutes. Rinse it well a few times with hot tap water, spread it on a cookie sheet and pop it in the oven set at 200 deg. until dry. Works better than wiping one at a time.

 

[Mtneer]

Thank you all for your help.. Great places to find just about any bullet I want!!! Great helpful information! Last thing I need to ask if I could.. I know I should have a case cleaner but being to new to this is there a way I can wipe out the once fired .45 one at a time before I reload them I'm only loading a few hundred or so so fo rnow I don't mind doing them one by one by hand.. Thanks again.. George

The cases don't have to be that clean George. I always check to make sure the primer pockets don't have chunks of charcoal looking stuff in them that would prevent the new primers from being fully seated. Before I had a primer pocket cleaning brush, I used a small screwdriver for cleaning primer pockets - carefully. But I never in the 15 years or more of handloading before I had a case tumbler worried about the soot on the inside of my cases. Even today, I don't throw my cases in the tumbler until they've been fired 4 or 5 times.
On the other hand, if what you're worried about is that little bit of case lube that you apply to the case mouths before you flair them contaminating your powder or something, by all means, wipe it out. A little piece of cloth wrapped around the small screwdriver you use for cleaning the chunks out of you primer pockets works for that.
But I repeat - the inside of your cartridge cases just don't have to be all that clean. My wife and I sent tens of thousands (literally) of bullets downrange in IHMSA competition back in the '80s. We did very well, and we didn't own a case tumbler. Nor did we ever clean out the inside of a cartridge case that I can remember.

 

[George]

Mtneer, Thank you for that info! You convinced me not to worry about them. At lest not the ones I shoot anyway. If I find some down the range that look to have been there for a while then maybe I'll think about cleaning them when I get enough really dirty ones.. My brass is once fired brass shot by me.. Again Thank you! George

 

[Rodfac]

George, I commented on your other post as to cleaning cases..but here's a replay...no need to clean, really. Rolling them around in a piece of towel will remove any grit and if you spray a bit of case lube on the towel before hand it really slicks things up. Just a bit tho. Then bag up the towel with your brass and jumble it around...this worked for me from 1962 to 2000 when I finally bought a tumbler...and I only use that after every 5-6 loads with 9mm, .38 Super, and .45. For the revolver brass, since there's no grit, I don't bother at all. If you used a bit of spray on the towel before sizing, toss your completed rounds back in another clean towel and rub them brisky...the whole batch at the same time. This removes all the spray coating.

I load on a progressive pair of Dillon 550B's now but have NEVER cleaned a primer pocket for pistol brass even when I was loading on a single stage press...and with no high primers as a result either. It's just not needed. I do clean primer pockets for rifle loads having found that they have a greater tendency to fail to seat properly.

As to brass, you might try the local police range. I've got a half dozen State Troopers that come out to our farm just before their qualification shoots to warm up. They always police (a good term eh?) their brass and leave it for me. I get 9mm, .380, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP in quantity, more than I can use really. Try your local dept. and see it they'll part with some for you. As to brass life, I can't estimate the number of loads I get out of .45's, .40's, and 9mm because I usually lose them in the long grass our in our meadows before they neck crack. For revolver loads, at 900-1100 fps, I find them cracking down the case neck after 8-10 loadings maybe. I keep my brass lots separated, and pitch the whole lot when cracks appear.

For bullets, I cast my own and have over 45 years now. But occasionally I buy from Missouri Bullet Co. for .45, .41 and .38 Spl. I can state with confidence that their .45 200 gr TWC is of Bullseye match quality, as are the .41's, and the .38's are close. My .45's love that bullet, prefer it actually to the RN 230 grainer, and I've never found a .45 1911 that wont feed it. The trick is to seat that bullet in far enough that the shoulder of the slug shows just about 1/32" of lead. I found that this eases chambering, rather than seating fully to the case mouth...I think it's the soft lead vs. the hard brass case mouth thing.

Missouri Bullet people are good to work with, offer some discounts for bulk buying, and it's delivered here in KY in a week or two at most. Prices are very competitive and it's first rate quality...why bother to load your own if you don't strive for match accuracy! Saving a few bucks on cheap ass bullets is false economy in my book. And by all means, get the 0.452" dia. .45 bullets and I predict you'll have few leading problems.

What ever you buy, if you run into leading, try upping the powder charge to mid levels, it may help get obturation with a too hard bullet or lube. I think you'll find that commercial lubes are very hard and wax like. Good for shipping but not so good for 800-1000 fps loads however.

To combat that, I routinely re-lube commercial bullets in Lee Liquid Alox (LLA) or White Label's 45-45-10. It's the swirl lube method pioneered by Lee I think. A little goes a long long way. I thin either with 1part paint thinner to 3 parts LLA to easy application. In use, I dump 200 or so bullets in a butter tub, then squirt a half dozen DROPS of lube in with them. Your finished bullet should have a sheen to them, almost too thin to see, but can be felt. Any more and your are wasting the lube and producing more smoke when you fire.

To warm the lube, hold the bottle under the tap in hot water for a minute, or give it 20 seconds in the micro wave...It helps too, if your loading room is cool, to use a hair dryer on your pile of bullets to warm them up. That's it, after 30 seconds of swirling the tub around I pour the bullets out on wax paper and let them dry overnight. It works, even with some slightly under size bullets, I get no leading up to 1100 fps or so in my revolvers and autos.

Pretty long winded but HTH's Rod

 

[George]

Rod!! Thank you for posting this!! I have been reading so much of everything I can, I guess some of it when right out.. I will print this and tape it up in front of my bench! I in fact just got a order from Missouri Bullet. Shipping was fast too.. Ya 4 days to my door! I got 500 .44 Elmer K's and some of there .45acp's LSWC part # 452200m also got 500 and picked up 100 .44 magnum Starline cases..
This was as much as I could afford at one time.. Just for the way they packed the stuff I'll tell ya it was worth it! Price, you 100% right I looked and looked and kept going back to Missouri Bullet till I ordered.. My local PD's and State Police use the same range.. I use to belong to but now they make you jump through hoops to join.. Takes over a month as you have to show up at there monthly meeting for there approval. I little annoying to me being as I have been a good member on and off for over 30 years.. I have been finding a place to shoot like a sand pit or go into the woods and find a place with a good berm. But this year I'm going to join again as it's only a few miles from me. Long winded? No not a bit. I enjoyed every bit of it!! Printing now! Thank you! George