[Beladran]

Ok so im taking a dive here and need some guidance from our seasoned casters...
Only way a can shoot my 5.7 cheaply is using cast. I have my mold on order(45gr) and should be here in a few days. I am thinking about pan lubing these units with red rooster or Thompson red angel(if you know one better please post). Do I need to gas check these bullets? Book speeds show between 2200 fps and almost 3k. I want to load some that are just strong enough to cycle the bolt so my wife can drop the hammer and not be scared of it. If i was to guess that would be in the 1800fps range. I know that excedes the 1000ftps mark were gas checks should be used so i guess i just answered my own question. Any suggestions on bullet aloy i should use? my stock pile right now is just WW, should i blend with some lino to bring the hardness up some? Anyone cast for 223?

I know that i could search cast boolits or other forums but that defeats the purpose of this forum

 

[captain-03]

1. Gas Checks: I have found that if the mould is designed for a gas check, it is best to use one regardless of how fast or slow you intend to push the boolit. Without a check accuracy will suffer greatly. Also without a check your chance for leading will greatly increase because the boolit design (gas check design) will likely permit gas blow-by around the boolit.
2. Alloy: I have cast rifle boolits with straight WW with good success. However, the smaller the boolit is (especially those that cast below 100gr) the harder it is to get a good mould fill out. The driving bands seem to be rounded. A little dose of tin or lino (about 2-3%) will help with this. Regarding hardness; you could cast with pure lino or an alloy with 50/50 -- lino/WW and you should not have any problem with hardness. I have also found that I can cast with 100% WW and heattreat them for larger boolits in the range above 100grains. Fill out is acceptable and hardness will surpass that recorded using straight lino. The key here is what will work in your particular rifle and what load data you are using. You may have to experiment a little to make it all fall in place.
3. Lube: Any of the above should give you satisfactory results depending on boolit size and hardness. Remember, you sized boolit should be .001 - .003 over what your rifle bore slugs.
4. Cycle Action: This will only be accomplished through some trial and error; especially with such a light boolit. The mechanics of the weapon will make a difference - gas operated -v- straight blowback. Your powder choice will be critical in getting the action to cycle in a gas operated system.

Yep - I do cast and load .223 - both in ARs and Ruger Mini-14.

 

[Beladran]

what do those size out to? do you have a cheap source for gas checks?
thanks for the info capt

 

[Beladran]

i found a topic on fiveseven forum regarding cast being used. Its sad that it ended up in a flame war between this poster and the owner of Elite Arms and the admin closed it befor all the good questions/answer could be asked.

 

[captain-03]

what do those size out to? do you have a cheap source for gas checks?
thanks for the info capt

Size to .225. The cheapest source of gas checks are Gator Checks sold on the Cast Boolits site ..

 

[encoreman]

Hey Ted, how fast are you pushing the .223's? I would like to cast some of them, like to shoot them in my bolt gun. What gr. bullet are you casting? Thx. Mac

 

[captain-03]

Hey Ted, how fast are you pushing the .223's? I would like to cast some of them, like to shoot them in my bolt gun. What gr. bullet are you casting? Thx. Mac

The fastest I have pushed them is 3056fps. Accuracy sucks! I have three different .224 moulds. They are:
Lyman 225415 223 55GC
Lyman 225450 223 48GC
Lyman 225462 223 57GC

I find that the best accuracy is found at around 1800-2000fps. However, loads in this range will not operate the action on my ARs or Mini-14. OH well - can't have the best of both worlds or can ya? I really need to get back to playing with the 223s and cast.

 

[hotboymg]

Are there hand molds that you can buy, I'm new casting and know nothing about it but I'm looking to start soon...where do I need to start

 

[captain-03]

Are there hand molds that you can buy, I'm new casting and know nothing about it but I'm looking to start soon...where do I need to start

Take a look here ..

http://www.msgunowners.com/t1645-boolit-mould-charts-references