I got bored over the winter, so I bought these
Made these
And stuck em in these
It was finally nice today, and I had a really good excuse to get to the range, so I hauled the FsN along to try out these boolits.
I used three different types of lube on them, Lee Liquid Alox (LLA), a mixture of LLA, Johnson's Paste Wax, and mineral spirits called 45/45/10, and a beeswax based lube called TAC made by a guy on castboolits.com. This was my first try with bolt LLA and 45/45/10, have used and been happy with TAC in the past.
Here's the data, some notes on the bottom....not everything was awesome
CCI500, 55gr Boolits, GC, Blue Dot, 2x Brass, COAL 1.381 - EA threaded barrel
Lee Liquid Alox
5.2gr Hi 1471, Lo 1419, Av 1443, ES 52 - No Pressure, clean neck
5.4gr Hi 1563, Lo 1499, Av 1531, ES 64 - No Pressure
5.6gr Hi 1620, Lo 1579, Av 1597, ES 41 - Slight primer flow
5.8gr Hi 1675, Lo 1638, Av 1656, ES 37 - Medium primer flow (Less than 197)
Primers just starting to show flattening
45/45/10
5.2gr Hi 1522, Lo 1403, Av 1465, ES 119 - No Pressure, One boolit sideways
5.4gr Hi 1633, Lo 1534, Av 1573, ES 99 - Very slight primer flow
5.6gr Hi 1610, Lo 1557, Av 1590, ES 53 - Same as 5.4
5.8gr Hi 1689, Lo 1585, Av 1647, ES 104 - Same as 5.4
RandyRat TAC Lube
5.2gr Hi 1622, Lo 1452, Av 1563, ES 170 - Slight primer flow
5.4gr Hi 1602, Lo 1516, Av 1561, ES 86 - Slight primer flow
5.6gr Hi 1666, Lo 1559, Av 1629, ES 107 - Slight primer flow, recoil higher than 197
5.8gr Hi 1683, Lo 1652, Av 1668, ES 31 - Medium primer flow, brass landed 5 feet closer
SS197 Hi 1731, Lo 1713, Av 1722, ES 18
As you can see
One early boolit hit the target sideways, from 7 yards away. About 30% of them exhibited some form of keyholing, though never as bad as the one above.
I'm a pretty mediocre caster, my lead melter is probably too cold, so my guess right now is that my bases are crooked, meaning my gas checks are crooked, meaning my boolits come out crooked.
Some things I learned:
Do not lube with TAC prior to seating the gas checks, they won't seat properly, and the boolits won't seat in the case mouths properly.
This is the cheapest way you can shoot your 5.7, if you don't mind some keyholes, or you're a better caster than I am.
There was no leading at all in my barrel at any point during this testing.
Function was 99%, had one FTF, first round in the mag, maybe my fault.
TAC smells wonderful when you shoot it, LLA not so much.
This method of reloading takes forever.
If I was going to pursue this route, and I may, I'd get me a case mouth expander and a Lee factory crimp die, pretty tough getting those flat gas checks into the case mouths.
Accuracy was acceptable for plinking, you'd be on steel all day, even with the keyholes.
Casting for the 5.7x28
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Re: Casting for the 5.7x28
It's also very hard to cast 22 cal bullets and not get gas pockets. This is why you don't see much for 22 cal casting unlike other calibers.
Jay Wolf
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Re: Casting for the 5.7x28
Well I know you've all been anxiously awaiting another installment of "casting for the 5.7" based on the absurd amount of replies to this thread, so here you go!
I made some rookie mistakes on the last go round. Lubing with beeswax prior to crimping the checks on isn't the way to go. This time I gave all the boolits a squirt with One Shot, then seated the checks and sized them with the Lee doodad.
I also tried to skip the case mouth expanding step, and just chamfer the crap out of the mouths. This was also a bad idea. I purchased a Lee universal expander die for about 15 bones, and used it to open up the mouths a bit. Got me a Lee FCD as well, which I used to crimp them back closed after loading.
The most difficult piece to find was a new mold in .224, but after a bit of ebaying, I found an old Lyman 225450, which produces about a 50 grain, .225" boolit shaped like an arrow point.
I switched powders this time, to Unique, since this is a cheapo per shot project. Ran ladders from 3.5gr to 3.8gr, .1 at a time, using both 45/45/10 and TAC lube. Didn't try straight Alox this time, as it seems to perform the same as 45/45/10.
Here are some loaded rounds.
And here are the chrony results. I didn't notice any pressure signs, but I did notice that all my cases went straight right, not right/forward as usual. My shoulder movement was a bit more than I think it should be, but that seems to be a result of my EA barrel, as even 197 is overworking my brass.
1x brass, CCI-400, Unique, Expanded mouth and 1/2 FCD, 1.527"
Lyman 225450, checks seated with one shot
Half TAC'd, Half 45/45/10'd
TAC
3.5gr Hi 1394 Lo 1342 Av 1354 ES 52
3.6gr Hi 1461 Lo 1367 Av 1398 ES 94
3.7gr Hi 1438 Lo 1406 Av 1426 Es 32
3.8gr Hi 1484 Lo 1429 Av 1448 ES 55
JPW/Alox
3.5gr Hi 1386 Lo 1322 Av 1367 ES 64
3.6gr Hi 1391 Lo 1374 Av 1381 ES 17
3.7gr Hi 1450 Lo 1394 Wv 1418 ES 56
3.8gr Hi 1461 Lo 1413 Av 1436 ES 48
I made some rookie mistakes on the last go round. Lubing with beeswax prior to crimping the checks on isn't the way to go. This time I gave all the boolits a squirt with One Shot, then seated the checks and sized them with the Lee doodad.
I also tried to skip the case mouth expanding step, and just chamfer the crap out of the mouths. This was also a bad idea. I purchased a Lee universal expander die for about 15 bones, and used it to open up the mouths a bit. Got me a Lee FCD as well, which I used to crimp them back closed after loading.
The most difficult piece to find was a new mold in .224, but after a bit of ebaying, I found an old Lyman 225450, which produces about a 50 grain, .225" boolit shaped like an arrow point.
I switched powders this time, to Unique, since this is a cheapo per shot project. Ran ladders from 3.5gr to 3.8gr, .1 at a time, using both 45/45/10 and TAC lube. Didn't try straight Alox this time, as it seems to perform the same as 45/45/10.
Here are some loaded rounds.
And here are the chrony results. I didn't notice any pressure signs, but I did notice that all my cases went straight right, not right/forward as usual. My shoulder movement was a bit more than I think it should be, but that seems to be a result of my EA barrel, as even 197 is overworking my brass.
1x brass, CCI-400, Unique, Expanded mouth and 1/2 FCD, 1.527"
Lyman 225450, checks seated with one shot
Half TAC'd, Half 45/45/10'd
TAC
3.5gr Hi 1394 Lo 1342 Av 1354 ES 52
3.6gr Hi 1461 Lo 1367 Av 1398 ES 94
3.7gr Hi 1438 Lo 1406 Av 1426 Es 32
3.8gr Hi 1484 Lo 1429 Av 1448 ES 55
JPW/Alox
3.5gr Hi 1386 Lo 1322 Av 1367 ES 64
3.6gr Hi 1391 Lo 1374 Av 1381 ES 17
3.7gr Hi 1450 Lo 1394 Wv 1418 ES 56
3.8gr Hi 1461 Lo 1413 Av 1436 ES 48
Re: Casting for the 5.7x28
Nice, any keyholes?
Re: Casting for the 5.7x28
All holes were round and in the general vicinity of where I intended to send them. I'm counting this one as a win, and I think there's a little more headroom to work with as far as powder charges go.
Re: Casting for the 5.7x28
A few years back, a user on this board named "Beecher Tool" was talking about investing in a hydraulic press and swaging his own bullets. Any one know how that worked out?
Re: Casting for the 5.7x28
I know that guy, he's still around, shoot him a PM
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