Newbie to reloading cast for smokeless loads - advice wanted

[dirtbag]

Hi.

I have recently got a NOE RN mould for my Gew88 commission rifle (To cast a boolit close to the original M88 cartridge)
My Gew88 has the old J bore, which I slugged and it turned out to be one of the tighter Czech issued barrels.
I had cast some boolits for it , lubesized with customer sizer to suit and gas checks.. so far so good.

On the range using 34gr of N140 , accuracy at 100yards was admirable, but had the odd wild one or two now and then (and I mean wild)

The boolits are lubed and the gaschecks are firmly crimped on, but a bloke at the range suggested that my issue may be me using pure soft lead ?
Cleaning the gun afterwards, there isn't that much leading in the bore.

Any help is appreciated, as I am looking to make an almost complete transition to cast shooting for short ranges (Due to the prices of jacket bullets going higher and higher)

[dromia]

Soft lead is obviously not an issue and would be surprised if it was, I would however add a smidgen of tin to help castability.

Wild flyers are usually due to a gas check coming loose and it is worth checking when fitted for any rotation of the check on the shank, loose gas checks are usually due to poor fillout which does not have to be visual. Adding tin will help with this and also keep in mind that the softer alloys need to be cast hot and the mould and sprue plate kept hot.

The second main reason for wild fliers is voids in the bullet, again this happens for the same casting reasons as above along with an inconsistent pouring process.

If you really want the best from your cast bullets then you really need to weight them as this will weed out the poor quality ones with bad fillout, hidden voids and the like.

There should be no cumulative leading in the bore and it doesn't sound as if you are getting that because if the you did then accuracy would soon go way out the window on every shot.

[dromia]

I would also use a faster powder such as N120 and look to keep the velocity around the 1600-1800 fps mark.

This velocity serves me well out to 600 yrds, when shooting at known distances then the flatter trajectory isn't really necessary.

[dirtbag]

Hi many thanks for the replies.
I do not have any tin, do you have any suggestions on where I can get suitbale tin please ?
Some of my boolits looking at them do have the odd pin prick / gashes so I guess that may be one of the issues ?

[Alpha1]

Bars of Plumbers solder contains tin you can buy them from plumbers merchants. I would not use N140 for cast bullets.

[dromia]

Just buy a roll of lead free solder and 1"-2"/lb lead.

[dirtbag]

Thanks gents.

I found this in my tool box, will this do ?

[kennyc]

Just buy a roll of lead free solder and 1"-2"/lb lead.

what a good tip!

[Musclebob]

Need a bit more than that. I cast soft for my Trapdoor and that is at 20:1 lead: tin

[dromia]

It doesn't need to have that much tin at all, tin isn't really much of a hardener/toughener and there quickly comes a point on diminishing returns in hardness/toughness/castability gained from increasing the tin content.

What tin does is improve the castability of the alloy to help give more consistent and filled out bullets. A smidgen is all that is needed to give that.

Hardness is not as necessary as some people would have you believe for accurate lead free shooting especially at these velocities/pressures.

My Trapdoor loads (black powder only) both .50" and .45" calibres, grease grooved and paper patched all use soft lead with a smidgen of tin and the shoot very well indeed.

Adding tin in the ratios you are suggesting is just a waste and tin certainly isn't cheap any more, if it ever was.