Best source for bullets

[RamRoddoc]

SpeedyR lived up to his name, or you'd have another buyer, brown42! Another plug for Castboolits.com, an addictively large supply of casting info there. Just like here, find the forum you want, then use the Search feature to find all the hidden "gold"!

For example, you might consider hardening your cast bullets yourself. If you like the price of the ones you already use, why look for more? Procedures for baking in an oven to harden can be found on the Castboolits site, and much, much more!

Dang SpeedyR! There are no flies on you! Hey didn't the lady of the house give you that name?

 

[a__l__a__n]

a_l_a_n,

Can't help with loading data for the .357 mag in lead (or jacketed). I gave up on 'little' pistol bullets back in the early 80's. I like the Lyman and RCBS books for lead info. Not that others don't have good info too.

However, I do push 240 gr plain based .44 mags out at 1070 FPS with no leading problems. I use 231 powder for these.

You could look at 'castboolits.com' for massive amounts of information on the subject. Those guy have forgotten more than I will ever know about cast loading.

Enjoy and be safe.

OSOK

I've done a bit of googling around and came across this very interesting article. Key quote:

There are two formula: one for the ideal hardness, one for the maximum hardness.

Ideal hardness in BHN = Pressure / 1,920
Maximum BHN = Pressure / 1,422

Let's say it's a .38 Special using 4.5 grains of Hodgdon Universal Clays and a 158 grain SWC bullet. The pressure for this load is 16,700. Our formulae look like this:

16,700 '/ 1920 = 8.69 BHN ideal hardness
16,700 / 1422 = 11.74 BHN maximum hardness

You can (and should) round those to the nearest whole number. Thus, for this load I want a bullet of around 9 BHN, but no more than 12 BHN for best results.

So, applying those formulas to the standard pressure limits for 38 special (max 17000 psi) and 357 magnum (max 35000 psi) it follows that 38 special rounds should use bullets no harder than BHN=12. For 357, ideal BHN is 18 and max is 25.

Georgia Arms bullets have BNH=18 according to the person I spoke with on the phone. So they are fine for 357 mag but not soft enough to obturate properly in 38 special (and therefore resulting in pressure escaping around the bullet, leading of the barrel, and reducing velocity.) The Rim Rock bullets I've been using have BNH of 12 which has worked splendidly in 38 special (and +P) but likely is too soft for full load 357. So I need to inventory different bullets for 357 magnum than for 38 special.

 

[craftta]

My $.02 I use Dardas cast bullets for my reloading and their staff is very helpful and can answer any questions that you may have about there bullets, and they are a hard cast bullet which help keep leading down in the barrel. http://www.dardascastbullets.com/

For my 5.56 killing paper i have used ammoman, their site is just awesome, the price you see is the price you pay and all shipping is included. They sell almost any caliber that you are looking for by the case. It is hard for me to beat the price on a lot of their ammo. http://www.ammoman.com/index.htm

 

[oldpapps]

I've done a bit of googling around and came across this very interesting article. Key quote:

So, applying those formulas to the standard pressure limits for 38 special (max 17000 psi) and 357 magnum (max 35000 psi) it follows that 38 special rounds should use bullets no harder than BHN=12. For 357, ideal BHN is 18 and max is 25.

Georgia Arms bullets have BNH=18 according to the person I spoke with on the phone. So they are fine for 357 mag but not soft enough to obturate properly in 38 special (and therefore resulting in pressure escaping around the bullet, leading of the barrel, and reducing velocity.) The Rim Rock bullets I've been using have BNH of 12 which has worked splendidly in 38 special (and +P) but likely is too soft for full load 357. So I need to inventory different bullets for 357 magnum than for 38 special.

a_l_a_n,

You are on top of the subject. Missouri Bullet has as I remember something similar on one of their pages of info.
Now to find a suppler for the needed product. It is always better to buy locally, if you can find what you need/want. Look around.

Good shooting.

OSOK