Anyone casting .223 for AR-15 ?

If you do factor in time, it's Still cheaper than buying them....i'm definately not saving any money by shooting 20-40k+ rounds per year. If i only Shot a few 1000 a year i'd probibly buy them or hand cast.

The OP in for a serious case of casting fever...he'll be hooked..


If it wasn't for the regulations i'd sell them for .05...i wouldn't be the one doing the actual labor just hire some illegals.

Edit.. i should mention my casting machine could produce 3k hour, but it did take 9 hours(3 sessions) to cast the 13k in the photo.
It takes time to heat up an drop good boolits.
 
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MGnoob said:
If you do factor in time, it's Still cheaper than buying them....i'm definately not saving any money by shooting 20-40k+ rounds per year. If i only Shot a few 1000 a year i'd probibly buy them or hand cast.

The OP in for a serious case of casting fever...he'll be hooked..


If it wasn't for the regulations i'd sell them for .05...i wouldn't be the one doing the actual labor just hire some illegals.

Edit.. i should mention my casting machine could produce 3k hour, but it did take 9 hours(3 sessions) to cast the 13k in the photo.
It takes time to heat up an drop good boolits.
Click to expand...

How much does a casting machine cost

What I like about casting is it opens up options for larger selection of ammo and loads for your firearms.
I love casting light bullets then load them with light charges.
It's great to see a 10 year old shoot a 1903a3 with light loads.
I also get a kick out of those that don't know about cast loads telling me there is something wrong with my ammo.
Funny also when the bullet hitting the target is just as,load as the report
 
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mac1911 said:
Don't forget your handles!
Looks,like a nice bullet.
Click to expand...

El cheapo here - I'm going to transfer the handles from the 6cav .45-452 molds. [laugh]

And yes, I'm going to pan lube. I saw two options- pan or get a lubing "press" - which are expensive, (I did not find anything in the Lee "world" that will apply the lube to the grooves).

I think I can get away with pan lubing.
 
NavelOfficer said:
Norman P. lists one 22 caliber bullet... per hundred...
22 cal Rifle – 60gr GCSP $7.55 cast $7.80 coated
Hard to even justify lighting the furnace at these prices.
Click to expand...

Just for the sake of any future readers, I'll have to disagree. According to my arithmetic, the investment pays for itself after 2000 bullets. - And that's with paying for lead.

If a person has the free time, it's a no brainier. Unless one bought their rifle to be stored in a box and fired once every two years - sooner or later they will shoot 2K.

The only part, IMO, is if a person is into "this kind of stuff". Basically, if one already "crossed" to reloading, I don't see how they won't take up on casting.

Edit: last paragraph includes everyone, besides xtry51 [laugh]
 
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I don't remember exactly what my machine cost. I think it was just under 3k with 2 fans and 100lb pot.
It uses 4 2cavity autocast molds.while it is expensive it was cheaper than a 12k professional unit.
I have cast over 100k 9mm as of jan. 2015 although 25-30k ended getting smelted back down while learnin how to plate.

So 100k x .05= $5,000

I only have mold sets in .223,9mm,45. I cast .380 by hand and buy a hand mold to try before i commit to a 4 mold set.


The one of the biggest advantage to my copper plating is not needing gas checks..cuts down on ppr and i hate handling the little guys.

I shoot pretty much full volocity rounds.
 
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Mr. Gold said:
El cheapo here - I'm going to transfer the handles from the 6cav .45-452 molds. [laugh]

And yes, I'm going to pan lube. I saw two options- pan or get a lubing "press" - which are expensive, (I did not find anything in the Lee "world" that will apply the lube to the grooves).

I think I can get away with pan lubing.
Click to expand...

I think you'll be ok but it is extremely easy to knock over a tray of standing rifle projectiles or have them fall down pouring the lube.
I've had better luck pan lubing pistol when i used to pan lube.
 
Lee (Titan reloading) confirmed that liquid Alox must be applied to the cast before pushing them through the sizing die, so - would it be safe to keep the liquid Alox on while pan lubing and then shooting the bullets ? , in simpler terms:

1. Will liquid Alox interrupt the hard lube binding to grooves ?

2. How does liquid Alox do in ~2000 fps ? - I don't care if it does nothing to help, as long as it does not interfere.
 
Maybe I'm way off base here, but I thought the entire point of Alox (tumble lubes) was that you use them on cast bullets that don't need sizing (microban) and you get to skip the entire hard lube and resizing part. There's no reason to lube them twice.
 
xtry51 said:
Maybe I'm way off base here, but I thought the entire point of Alox (tumble lubes) was that you use them on cast bullets that don't need sizing (microban) and you get to skip the entire hard lube and resizing part. There's no reason to lube them twice.
Click to expand...

I was going to say the same thing,but where talking rifle bullets...alox probibly won't be sufficient.
Just my opinion.
 
I think the Lee Liquid Alox will do fine even at velocity if you use a gas check.
Will the non tumble lube design hold enough LLA ?
I do a very light tumble lube before running through the Lee sized then pan,lube.
I have not had any problems using white label lube. 2500.
So fat though I am just getting close to 2000fps....
 
I poked around a bit on some reloading forums I frequent and it seems like people are using it for 22cal and 30cal up to about 1900fps regularly without leading.

I say give it a go and see what happens. If you can just tumble lube and not resize you'll save a crap ton of time.
 
mac1911 said:
I think the Lee Liquid Alox will do fine even at velocity if you use a gas check.
Will the non tumble lube design hold enough LLA ?
I do a very light tumble lube before running through the Lee sized then pan,lube.
I have not had any problems using white label lube. 2500.
So fat though I am just getting close to 2000fps....
Click to expand...

And it cycles your AR?

Coating can be great.. powder coat with a powder coating gun seems to have the best results....but just like pan lubing small dia, tall projectiles can be hard to handle.
 
Please allow me to stir the pot: If you're applying any sort of coating, why not Hi-Tek/Bayou Bullets? All the benefits of tumble lubing, less tedious than pan lubing or powder coating, but the end result is dry like powder coating. Starter kit is ~$35. Without exact measurements from the gun and mold in question, I would still recommend sizing after the fact. I forget what the record stands at but 2500fps has been done using this coating. If you were REALLY worried, you could even throw a gas check on during the sizing process. That would probably let you go even faster.
 
Yes, Liquid Alox (LA) is not supposed to be the lubing method for firing, but, it will need to be used when sizing the cast bullits. I'm trying to find out if the LA, which will be left on the bullits after the sizing - will interfere with pan lubing them, and/or when firing them.
 
Ah, my bad. I missed the earlier post about Lee saying LA had to be used. To answer your question, I don't see LA interfering with either pan lubing or firing. I haven't ever tried it, but I would be very, very surprised if you encountered issues directly caused by this.

To further the conversation, why not pan lube with a cake cutter first then size? It would allow you to avoid applying LA altogether, I think. The purpose of LA is to make the bullet go through the sizing die easier but with a little lube already on the bullet you shouldn't have a problem. Have you ever pushed a bullet through a sizing die without lube? Unless it's dropping way big (.004+) or they are 6-month-old and age hardened it's really not that difficult. After you get your mold, try it. Worst thing that could happen is you have to tap the bullet out from the other end of the die.

I would still avoild the LA just because it's sticky. One of my 38 molds drops extra big so I apply a light coating of case lube to the coated boolits to make lubing easier. If I was using a Lee die in a single stage press I would probably not do this but I'm still doing all of my sizing on my Star (just not using the luber part of the luber-sizer). For case lube I'm using lanolin + 90% or better isopropyl, basically a home made version of Dillon's case lube. I wouldn't do this with a more traditional thick oily lube. By the time they are loaded there's not much case lube left after being handled a few times.
 
Pan lubing before sizing is a great suggestion.
I've used wax lubed bullets to lube the die when sizing coated projectiles.

Now for the plated ones i lube them with lanoline/alcohol case lube and just wipe with a rag before loading.
Makes them hard to hold when lubed and wouldn't recomend it for the OPs needs

I don't think the alox will caused a problem but i don't think it's needed
 
asp said:
Ah, my bad. I missed the earlier post about Lee saying LA had to be used. To answer your question, I don't see LA interfering with either pan lubing or firing. I haven't ever tried it, but I would be very, very surprised if you encountered issues directly caused by this.

To further the conversation, why not pan lube with a cake cutter first then size? It would allow you to avoid applying LA altogether, I think. The purpose of LA is to make the bullet go through the sizing die easier but with a little lube already on the bullet you shouldn't have a problem. Have you ever pushed a bullet through a sizing die without lube? Unless it's dropping way big (.004+) or they are 6-month-old and age hardened it's really not that difficult. After you get your mold, try it. Worst thing that could happen is you have to tap the bullet out from the other end of the die.

I would still avoild the LA just because it's sticky. One of my 38 molds drops extra big so I apply a light coating of case lube to the coated boolits to make lubing easier. If I was using a Lee die in a single stage press I would probably not do this but I'm still doing all of my sizing on my Star (just not using the luber part of the luber-sizer). For case lube I'm using lanolin + 90% or better isopropyl, basically a home made version of Dillon's case lube. I wouldn't do this with a more traditional thick oily lube. By the time they are loaded there's not much case lube left after being handled a few times.
Click to expand...

Pan lubing before sizing - sounds like a great idea.

Here's what the person at Titan told me - that I need to LA the bullets before running through the die, and that was when I mentioned I'm going to pan lube them. Weird.

I asked him "shouldn't the hard lube on the groove be sufficient for passing through the die", he didn't agree, and quite frankly I did not understand why.

The hardware arrived today. Maybe, somehow, I'll find time and cast this weekend. Fall is a busy time here.

xtry51 said:
A decent thread with some info:

https://thesurvivalpodcast.com/forum/index.php?topic=41713.0

http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/topic/66713-powder-coating-the-easy-way/
Click to expand...


Will read, thank you.
 
Here are is some good stuff on coatings. Im not against coatings. I see myself going this route at some point just not right now.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?184-Coatings-and-Alternatives&

LLA (lee liquid alox) is intended to be a final bullet lube for firing but if your using the lee push through sizer then Lee likes you to use a light coat of LLA (of course they do) I use either RCBS case lube or my home made brew which ever is handy.

now how far can you push LLA as velocity and pressure goes , I don't know.

I might buy some known hard alloy to try and push the cast pretty fast
 
10 months to the day since OP, and here we are. Yes, I work very fast [laugh]

Cast the bullits today. Still not sure if I'm going to run in the AR.. published WTB 5.56 bolt action.. but with current politics people will sell a rifle.. not sure.. [laugh]

Anywhoo, i have gas checks, pan lube.. everything's ready. One day, I will fire them down the range and post the outcome here. Even pictures.

20160721_204703.jpg
 
This isn't relevant to AR use (well yes it is, if you have an AR-10), but the cast bullets could also be run in .30 cal with the plastic sabots. You'll spend for the sabots, but you could spare the gas checks, I suppose.
You made them, so enjoy them. They'll give you plenty of plenty of satisfactory trigger time in any suitable .22 caliber cartridge.
It looks like that bullet would be a lot of fun in .22 Hornet!

 
Well, I could not find the instruction sheet for the .225 resize kit, so went and it checked it online:

http://leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/BS2003.pdf

Now there's no mentioning for pan lube and they are "Yehaww, alox those babies.."

Who am I to say no ?[laugh] I'll give'em an alox bath and rest them for the night.

I'll still run them through the sizing die, I have to attach the gas checks anyway, and being it's a first cast for this caliber it's good to get the "feel" for how it came out.

Average diameter is 5.37mm, weight 3.6grams (55grain mold).
 
Mr. Gold said:
Now there's no mentioning for pan lube...
Click to expand...

If you don't want to wait overnight, you can dip them or pour your melted lube around them (standing in your pan). Use your cookie cutter (a slightly oversized .223, 220 Swift, etc. case with its base removed would work) and then run them through the Lee sizer die.
 
Mr. Gold said:
Well, I could not find the instruction sheet for the .225 resize kit, so went and it checked it online:

http://leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/BS2003.pdf

Now there's no mentioning for pan lube and they are "Yehaww, alox those babies.."

Who am I to say no ?[laugh] I'll give'em an alox bath and rest them for the night.

I'll still run them through the sizing die, I have to attach the gas checks anyway, and being it's a first cast for this caliber it's good to get the "feel" for how it came out.

Average diameter is 5.37mm, weight 3.6grams (55grain mold).
Click to expand...

Don't over lube....it really doesn't take much.
I put the lee alox container in some hot water then it will dribble easier.
I put one good quick squeeze on 200 bullets in a large plastic margarine container , lid on ad proceed to roll those all around.....

Although now for sizing I just give a squirt of my home made lanolin and alcohol lube size and lube.
I use alox and pan lube....alox works fine although I like pan lube also.
I use whites 2500 it's actually soft enough to apply by hand.

I keep saying I'm going to get one of those lube sizers.....i just seem to find other things to spend my money on.

Does lee make a tumble lube design yet?
 
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Problem.
I installed the gas checks, ran bullets with gas checks on in the sizing die.

The finished bullets will not fit into the case now.

Bullets without gas checks fit in just fine. Both the case mouth opening and the bottom of the bullt with gas check on measure at 5.49mm - obviously not good.

I guess I need this:
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/140461/lee-universal-neck-expanding-die
 
Generally, it is helpful to flare the mouth slightly to allow for some bullet lead-in.
It also aids in minimizing shaving of the bullet body (especially with un-coated cast bullets).
Rarely an issue with jacketed BT bullets, but a necessity with flat-based cast bullets.
 
NavelOfficer said:
Generally, it is helpful to flare the mouth slightly to allow for some bullet lead-in.
It also aids in minimizing shaving of the bullet body (especially with un-coated cast bullets).
Rarely an issue with jacketed BT bullets, but a necessity with flat-based cast bullets.
Click to expand...

Yup, you're right.

I tried cheating with the quick trim die to see if I can get an extra millimeter of case opening but there's not much point. The case length here should be 4.39cm to 4.47cm, my spent and resized cases are at 4.399cm so I have less than 1/1000 of a cm to work with (0.0003").. Not a lot. [laugh]

I'll get the die flair them.
 

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