Buffalo arms cast bullets Videos

sireartem- And thank you for taking the time to post the good word - Have a great day

Englishman French - Thanks for your comment.  It's the Minie Ball concept in 45 Colt!  Part of the reason I omitted them is that I own no old Colts.  All my 45 Colts shoot the current molds excellently.  I would have gone into HPs before HBs.  There are HP molds available, but I never got into those because I can't stand casting one bullet at a time...Have a great day

Wade Civitarese - There are many reasons why I would never advise anyone sending "questionable" ammo (includes our own reloads - even though they are not really questionable) thru our mails.  I appreciate your generosity, and would take you up on that except for the above policy.  Since I get all the lead I want/need for free from the range, even the work of pulling bullets to use the lead makes no advantage for me.  If you want to give that ammo away - just take it to the shooting range, put it on a table with a FREE sign - it will be gone within a couple of hours…You should keep some of that for yourself, though - there is big value in ammo, and even old ammo may have collector value.  Best to ya...

James Helton - If  had to only have one bullet for the 45Colt, that 262 SWC would be it (and I shoot mostly 8.0 Unique with that bullet).  But to really be an all around bullet, it also needs to function in lever guns.  Hard to beat the 255 (265 grainer) RNFP in that regard - one load for both rifle and pistol…Good shootin' to ya...

Kenneth Elston - And thank YOU for taking the time to post the good word.  I really do believe that, if it hadn't been for the fine encouragement from viewers like yourself, that if a YT poster feels that he or she is Tubing into a vacuum, why do it?  We all have better things to do…Have a great day

Jon- I think it's about time after getting a RN mold for my first mold, using it once - and then never buying another RN mold, that FC45LC buys his first 6 cavity RN mold…Thanks for spurring this idea - Have a great day...

Thank you sir.

GunFun ZS- Thanks for adding your fine and helpful comments to the proceedings.  I always appreciate them greatly…and I know that the viewers out there do as well.  Have a great day...

+Bob Kopchik I think, Bob, that a part of that was instilled in us from watching all those Gunsmoke episodes when James Arness as Marshall Dillon was seen so often at his desk cleaning his Single Action Army revolver...Best Regards to you

+Stephen Maurer Those blast rings on cylinder faces are one of the biggest reasons for owning stainless steel guns. Removal of the rings can be done in several ways with any number of agents and it looks like showroom afterwards. Our blue steel guns , I've resorted to the use of lead removal cloths (Midway is one source) - when you rub, the cloth gets blackened by the removal. Most of my revolvers are blue and I haven't taken the bluing off yet - but I do stop when blast rings are acceptably reduced. Haven't tried Mp7 yet - will have to do so. I don't really soak for any length of time. If there is light leading in my cylinder, I'll run my electric drill thing. I have never needed to use copper mesh wrap or the Lewis Lead Remover in my barrels as the leading is not that bad. As you see in the video, 99% of the lead is removed. Best Regards to ya

FC, just wanted to make you aware of a pretty good sale happening at lone wolf barrels.  Not sure of your Glock models on hand.  I think the sale ends tomorrow.  Just an FYI.  Take care!

Thank you FC.  Your knowledge is invaluable.

+Dave K The cupcake shapes are great for starting the session to load the cold casting pot. The triangular scone mold makes nice ingots to use pliers to lower the ingot into the molten metal (if you let the wide part go in first, there is less turbulence with the final release) - you can use welder's gloved hand to place ingots into molten metal also if you wish. Both the cupcake and scone will yield 1 1/2 pound ingots so the cooling effect is actually the same for either. Some casters use the cupcake molds for range scrap and the scone for pure lead to distinguish - I just use a Sharpie pen 100 = pure lead; otherwise it is range scrap Some casters have wheel weight alloy and you might use the nine ear corn breads for that if you wish. The nine ear corn breads are nice also as the detail of the corn gives you surface traction when lowering ingot into molten lead. Both the cupcake and scone molds are very useful - one thing is the scone mold is much heavier than the cupcake, but the scone has extra uses like placing underneath your turkey fryer in case of need to catch molten lead from a pot failure. Storage ofther cupcake mold is much easier and more efficient. Both will last a lifetime of casting. I use them often enough that rust is not a problem, but do keep water off of them. The Lee Foster slugs are the most economical molds to buy. The flat head pellet slug is a good slug, but the mold will cost you 4x the Lee. I have all of them and like them all - the Lee 7/8 oz slug is the best for recreational and range shooting. All can be shot from smooth or rifled barrels. And soft lead is best for all shotgun slugs with the exception of the true sabots - then you want hard lead. Best Regards

FC, I saw in past range scrape videos you had poured the molten lead into cast iron cup cake molds.  Once you poured the lead into a cast iron corn bread pan.  The shape of that pans individual pours looked like a small ear of corn cut in half.1.  Given a choice which would you prefer to pour into?The corn bread ingot would seem to melt faster because of its minimal thickness as opposed to a cupcake ingot thus, possibly having less cooling effect on the molten lead already in the melting during bullet casting.The nine ear corn bread mold is on sale now at Walmart.  The sale price happens to be within $1 of the six place cast iron cup cake pan.Which do you think is the better to use?Also, I was looking at shotgun slug molds on Midway.  Lee has molds producing slugs shaped like the ones in a recent slug pour you did (shaped like a flat head pellet gun pellet).  Lyman's slug mold makes a Foster slug.I don't have a rifled shotgun barrel. 2.  Can I shoot the pellet shaped slug in a smooth bore regardless or should I stick with the Foster slug?I believe you had mentioned in a previous post to make the shotgun slugs out of soft lead only.3.  Does slug shape (pellet or Foster) determine whether or not to use soft lead or is it a matter of barrel protection?Thank you FC

THANK YOU FC!!!!!!!!!!

+Dave K OK -- no problem answering questions - that's why we're here - to help with no strings attached. My message is to convey what works. It is my service to the shooting sports.  1) The 1R and 2R refers to the ogive of the pistol bullet. If you examine the design, the ogive is either at the bullet diameter requiring careful seating depth to avoid the ogive engaging the rifling leade (thereby causing feeding battery errors); or the ogive is within the bullet diameter so that the seating depth has forgiveness. Really doesn't matter - both work well and we seat carefully anyway - so 1R or 2R is your preference.2) The Lee Factory Crimp Die is not intended to size the cast bullet, but rather to size the final round to correct any slight irregularities that may impeded functioning or feeding. If your cast bullets are too oversized by say .0025 or .003, you will need to size them before you load them either in a Lee Size Kit or a sizer lubricator press. Having to run bullets through sizer lubricators was the reason Richard Lee developed his push thru sizers and tumble lube - save reloaders time and effort. Plus his TL molds / Factory Crimp Dies allow elimination of the sizing step altogether saving the maximum time and effort. I've spent many nights sizing cast bullets doing the traditional wide groove bullets for years until I finally broke down and tried the TL molds - now they are my favorites.2a) Once again, you need to not view your use of the Lee FCD as a sizing operation. It is the Lee Factory Crimp Die and the removal of irregularities makes it the "Best Crimp in the Business" (FC45LC terminology). You are not trying to size anything as that would be conceptually more than is intended. Case in point, if you truly are sizing with the FCD, problems may ensue with neck tension as the case is overly squeezed around the bullet and the bullet compresses, but the case springs back a little so that neck tension is lessened. Some reloaders don't like this, but if that happens, the bullets are too big to load and should have been sized before loading - see 2)3) The tendency is to use too much - experienced tells you how much to use - but it is easy to judge. Err on the low side of how much to use - when you finish tumbling, all the bullets should look wettened by the lube. If they look dry, then simply put in more and retumble. If you accidentally use too much - it will just take longer for the drying - there should definitely be no dripping of lube in the container after you are done - coated container yes. Pour the bullet onto wax paper (I use about 10 sheets interlaced) so that the bullets are not touching each other. No need to base 'em up (horrors the work and mess!). You want air to get around the bullets. Let 'em dry for a couple of days. If in a hurry, run a fan over them. Then just take the wax paper with bullets contained and dump them into your storage containers - easy a s pie. Save the wax paper as it can be used over and over until tears occur. You've just lubed bullets with no sizing and all the time it took was about 10-12 minutes to do 500-1000 bullets - that rate of efficiency blows all other size lube systems to smithereens. Do not even think of pan lubing - you'll have messy wax and pans all over the place and bullets in wax filling your frig. And the wax will not be properly in the bullet grooves because of the chill factor of hot wax trying to get into cold bullets. You'll be melting a couple quarts of wax to really use 1/8th a cup and the time used is insane. Let's not go there.Best Regards, FC

THANK YOU FC for your thorough answers.  Some more questions have spawned as a result.1.  Looking over the TL molds in Midway, some are a 1 or 2 radius design. While other Lee molds don't share that designation. What does that mean? 2.  There is some controversy in my understanding regarding sizing.  The TL molds all look like they are each .001 (1 thousandths) larger than caliber.  You said the TL molded bullet can be adequately sized using the factory crimp die.  If I understand you correctly, you mentioned "If you are over .0025" (twenty-five ten thousandths) bigger than you want, sizing is indicated."  In stating this, do you mean re-run it through the factory crimp die after slighting tightening the (forgot proper name) top screw that adjusts the degree of crimp?  If not, what is the protocol to get the bullet to usable diameter?2a.  A follow-on, I want to lube bullets (using your recipe), let them dry, load them into a case and then size.  Correct? Thinking about it, I don't think I am able to size the bullet by itself running it through the factory crimp die by itself.  Additionally, I presume it will be necessary to periodically clean the crimp die regardless.3.  I watched your video about tumble lubing using your 45/45/10.  I think you had about 50 bullets in a plastic container, added some lube and swirled them around just briefly and poured them out to let them dry.  How do you know how much lube to apply in TL'ing bullets?  Any rule of thumb?  BTW what kind of material do you lay the wet bullets onto dry and do they need to be vertical on their base so there is no "bare" spots on the sides of the bullet?  Also how long to dry?FC I dont want to wear out my welcome in constantly asking you questions, so please feel free in stating so.  I will stop.  No hard feelings for sure.I ask you simply because your are 40 yrs experienced and easy to understand.  You produce superb videos that are complete and VERY articulate.  The same applies to your written explanations as well.  Thank you again and again for lending me your time! Always Warm Regards,Dave

+Dave K Thanks for all your good questions - and for the organized way they are presented. Here goes:1. & 2. I recommend the TL molds. Tumble lube molds are designed to drop bullets closer to the needed diameters so that sizing of the bullets is not necessary. All we need to do is tumble them in Lee Liquid Alox or better yet, the 45/45/10 tumble lube, load 'em and shoot 'em (this saves you tremendous time and work). Richard Lee designed his TL designated molds that way to be used in conjunction with his Lee Factory Crimp Dies for easy functioning. The TL bullets have less bearing surface to work better even if the bullets are slightly on the big side. The regular groove bullet designs oftentimes require sizing as they were designed to drop bullets bigger so that sizing can be done. Best to mike your bullets to see if sizing is needed. If you are over .0025" bigger than you want, sizing is indicated. 3. Lee makes most of his popular bullet shapes with the choice of TL or regular grooves - look for the TL designation. Any bullet can be tumble lubed. However, tumble lube designs often do not do well if run through our sizer lubricators presses - the grooves can be lost in the swaging, and even fill out of the grooves with lube is a challenge. I strongly recommend casters not do the pan lubing as it is a mess and very labor intensive. The 45/45/10 tumble lube is easily the best way to lube cast bullets.4. Bullets that have the indented bases are designed for gas checks - they have the GC designation in the mold numbers. These bullets are intended to be fired at higher velocities in excess of 1800 fps. This does not mean that you cannot shoot them at lower velocity without the gas checks. However, most shooters report that best accuracy is attained with the gas checks installed. If you try to install gas checks on a non GC design bullet, your results will be hit and miss - I do not recommend that. Some shooters have successfully installed GCs by using collet type bullet pullers to squeeze a gas check indent onto the base of nonGC designed bullets so that the GCs can be installed. My advice is - if you want a GC bullet, get a design that has the GC. Only the most ferocious magnum handgun loadings require GCs. Most rifle cast bullets, though are GC as they are often shot at over 1800fps. 5. The heaters are needed whenever you are using the harder lubes (for hot climates or long term storage). Lubes like Lyman Moly Lube or NRA 50-50 beeswax - alox do not require heaters and shoot well. 6. The 6 cavity molds also require a $11-$12 set of mold handles (one set can be used for all your mold blocks, even mold blocks of other company's). The 6 cavity molds allow you to spend less time casting a certain number of bullets or just lots of bullets in the same casting session. I like the 6 molds - only problem is they are not made for all bullet designs. Have a great day

+Brian Almond That's the best reason we liked to use plated bullets for shooting matches or steel shoots - guns stay cleaner. 200 rounds is a good range session. We used to shoot 500 rounds a night at our steel shoots. But now, I seldom shoot more than 200 rounds at the range...Sounds like your cleaning procedures are very good...My gun barrels only get very light leading, but a fair amount of powder fouling. I've shown that several times in my videos. Good shootin' to ya

Also it not funny when everybody need freedom and peaceful.

I think that too. Its not nice at all when everybody will getting hurts and not safety.

thank you

+jiujitsu2000 A lighter boolit is easier to stabilize and even lighter gallery load. Something I learned developing sub sonic loads for my .308 riles. Heavier boolit requires faster twist rifling.

I agree...

+Douglas McNeil Sounds like a decent load. How does it shoot?

+jiujitsu2000 Right now Iv'e been using 5.6 gr. of Power Pistol just for plinking. Powder can be hard to get here in So. Cal.

I'm not sure. personally, I'd go hotter.

thank you.

+Glenn Garrison I agree. :-)

+Daniel Ferris awesome!

Good experiment for sure, did the same thing for 40 s&w with longshot, loads way below starting worked good and made it recoil close to a 9mm for the fiance.

+Daniel Ferris For sure they are. This video was an experiment. Thank you for stopping by! Great evening!

+SamLFisher Dillon's 550B is the mainstay of Dillon presses - it offers the most features for the least money in their line. Once you get to their 650 series, you are talking big and mass production of ammo. Best Regards to you!!

He has a Dillon 550. The 650 is the auto-indexing press. I have a 550 and Love it. I actually prefer a manually indexed press, personally, but everyone has their own needs. Dillon makes a phenomenal quality press, and their warranty and customer service are second to none. Hope this helped.

+148DMC Great question because when we seat deeper, the pressures do rise so that if I was shooting a maximum load, seating deeper could be problematic. However, what I have going for me is that 1) the maximum charge with #2 powder in 38 Spl for 158 grain bullets is 4.8 grains - I'm at 4.2 gr. 2) Almost all my guns that shoot 38 Spl are actually 357 Magnums (exception is a couple of real old revolvers - definitely only standard velocity 38s in those) so I am well under any 357 magnum load here - lots of safety zone with magnum guns for any reasonable 38 Spl loadings. Plus, I will be checking for pressure signs shooting the longer loaded rounds first for even extra safety. The deeper seated loads may shoot more accurately... Best Regards to ya...

Very good question. I hope that our trusted mentor replies. My guess is that without the aid of pressure gauges that using a chronograph will give a within the ballpark indication even though I know there is not an exact correlation between velocity and pressure. And FC45LC, have you ever availed yourself of pressure measuring gauges? That and a review/reminder of your earlier videos relating to over pressure indications of fired cases would be most helpful. Regards and best and safe shooting to all of you ( or y'all if you are from south of the Mason/Dixon line).

+148DMC I'd say he's not using a powder charge that will cause an excess of anything to begin with.