Reloading Lead Bullets

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Horty

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I am a reloader but have never reloaded lead bullets. I am not really finding any savings in pistol ammo (especially 9mm) with reloading JHP so I am interested in reloading lead but know nothing about it. What do I need to be concerned with when reloading lead? I hear about lead build up in barrels, how quickly does this accumulate? Do I need to worry about lead being softer when dealing with higher velocity loads? I am sure there are many situations regarding reloading lead that I am not even considering so please feel free to leave and tips or tricks. Thanks everyone.
 
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I've been shooting lead for three years in my .45ACP, and one year in the .40.
Not one single problem with leading. I asked the same question you just asked three years ago, and I won't look back.
Stay with the bigger folks, that use high antimony in their lead, and you won't have a problem.
They will post the brinnell hardness of their product.
Some say to shoot a jacketed bullet at the end of a session, but I don't as a matter of practice.
After a 1000 or so through my .45, I pulled the barrel, and the lands were still sharp looking all the way through the barrel.
Shooting lead keeps me in the game.
 
Lead smokes like crazy and that is why I stopped shooting it. I use coated or plated bullets that cost a few bucks more but they are cleaner and far less smoke.
 
Yes Bayou but, I hear Donnie has a long back order right now. I also use xtreme plated bullets that are readily available and shoot well from my guns.
 
Bayou Bullets do produce some smoke, but it's not nearly as bad as waxed lead. The coating does seem to prevent fouling to a good degree. I'm not sure what the lead time is like now, but I had to wait 5 weeks.
 
Try and shoot facing the rising or setting sun and you will experience the drawbacks of lead bullet smokiness. Quality lead bullets are accurate and won't give you much fouling but shooting through a cloud of smoke with sunlight diffusing through it is not fun.

The Bayou bullets are great, and if they could be had with a lead time of 2-3 weeks they would be all I shot, but last week when I called Donnie he told me to not expect bullets for 3 months from when I ordered them.
 
Horty said:
What do I need to be concerned with when reloading lead?
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Nothing unless you shoot at a shitty indoor range or "saving too much money" concerns you for some reason.

I hear about lead build up in barrels, how quickly does this accumulate?
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I just ran 1500 lead bullets through my gun in two days, without cleaning, with no degradation in accuracy or function. I know this isn't really a lot but most serious shooters clean their guns more often than that unless they like to brag about how long it's been since they cleaned their gun (every Glock owner) or they're lazy (me).


Barrels with polygonal rifling are rumored to have more problems with leading. I can neither confirm nor deny this.

Do I need to worry about lead being softer when dealing with higher velocity loads?
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Yeah but if you're not barely scraping power factor you're on the wroooooooooooooooooooooong forum.


I am sure there are many situations regarding reloading lead that I am not even considering so please feel free to leave and tips or tricks. Thanks everyone.
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Wrap some strands of copper scouring pad around an old bore brush and scrub your barrel out when it gets super dirty.
 
Also, I've heard of people using lead bullets for practice ammo to save money while loading up plated or FMJ for match ammunition. This seems like a good system but I don't use it because I'm cheap and I don't like screwing with the powder measure on my reloader.
 
just found this thread..I used lead bullets almost exclusively in my handguns for probably 30+ yrs.
Only used JHP & FMJ for hotter loads. For best results, cast bullet makers will tell you that you should slug your bore (push a soft lead ball thru the barrel, so it can be accurately measured) Then you can order bullets that are sized for your barrel. Barrels can differ, by several thousands of an inch. Properly sized bullets will lead a barrel less, if at all. The smoke seen when shooting lead bullets is from the bullet lube used. Mostly.
Some powders are "smokey".. i.e. Bullseye.. they make more smoke than others when fired.
After reading about HY-Tek coated bullets, I tried them, in one caliber , believe it was 9mm. I tried 1st.
I quickly switched to using hy-tek coated bullets, in all my pistol loads. Can even load to 1,000 fps or more..no need for gas checks I stopped using lead, sold some lead pills I had stockpiled. Why ? for maybe $ .01 or .$02 more per bullet than a lead bullet, I got NO leading @ all. Makes cleaning much easier. great performance, IMO. Bought some 30 cal Hi-Tek bullets for light load rifle bullets, but haven't experimented with them..yet.
 
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I've probably shot two pickup truckloads (3/4 ton) of cast bullets in my old .45s. The lead doesn't smoke, it's the lube ON the bullets that cause the smoke. So what? Your barrels last longer (lead is softer and isn't as hard on the barrels). I know I put over 100K rounds thru one pistol during my USPSA days 30 odd years ago. That was about the time plated bullets came out and folks started using them instead of cast bullets. I don't have a place to cast my own any more, or I'd still use cast bullets. I don't know how many 9mm cast bullets I've shot, but it's been a lot of those, too, along with .357, .41, .44, and .45Colt.
Yes, sometimes you have to clean out the barrel of your pistol, so what? You gotta do it with jacketed bullets, too.
Don't be scared of using good cast bullets, and save some money while you're at it.
 
ratwhacker said:
I've probably shot two pickup truckloads (3/4 ton) of cast bullets in my old .45s. The lead doesn't smoke, it's the lube ON the bullets that cause the smoke. So what? Your barrels last longer (lead is softer and isn't as hard on the barrels). I know I put over 100K rounds thru one pistol during my USPSA days 30 odd years ago. That was about the time plated bullets came out and folks started using them instead of cast bullets. I don't have a place to cast my own any more, or I'd still use cast bullets. I don't know how many 9mm cast bullets I've shot, but it's been a lot of those, too, along with .357, .41, .44, and .45Colt.
Yes, sometimes you have to clean out the barrel of your pistol, so what? You gotta do it with jacketed bullets, too.
Don't be scared of using good cast bullets, and save some money while you're at it.
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Spot on correct about the lube causing the smoke.
I use coated bullets now to eliminate that. No leading, no smoke.
 
i too have loaded lead for many years, i first loaded 38 lead when i was 18. im 70 now. i still have some lead bullets. Mr Kitsos of ApolloBullets was selling 1000 38, 9mm and small cal for 15 dollars. 1000 45 began at $18. then most were 20/ small and 25/ large.
i fired a lot of them.
they have become nearly the cost of FMJ. his company even started selling ammo now more than lead. he turned the business over to his sons.
he told me long ago he would fill orders for 100s of 1000s to "his buddies" in Florida that shoot machine guns.
 
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