So I shoot at a lot of steel mostly (more fun, targets don't go bad, you know you hit them without having to go look when your shooting at 50 yards) and I notice I have nice lead piles starting to form up at my targets where the lead is crushing and just dropping right at the target.. Im starting to think I should go ahead and get a lead smelting kit and start casting my own bullets to make some super cheap loads because I can re-use the brass, AND the lead... Most of my shooting now though is will my hi-point carbine and I'm just wondering if the velocities out of that are such that I really should keep using the jacketed projectiles or if plinking with SP lead ammo will be okay.
It makes me a little sad though too, because after about 700 rounds I've finally found THE recipie that I really like.. 6 grains of Ramshot Silhouette with a 124 grain Rainer jacketed projectile with an OAL of 1.160. I'm getting really good groups out of the carbine and my 226 and can get my 5" plate every shot at 15 yards, and the 100lb propane cylinder (its been open and empty for at least 15 years that I know of and already has several holes in it) I have set up at 50 yards as well as some 15" plow disks every time I pull the trigger (I'm talking with the pistol of course, since I got the sights dialed in I haven't missed once with the carbine at anything between 30 and 75 yards that I shoot at)
Anyway advice is appreciated.. when I go down to my range I can run through as much as 200-400 rounds of ammunition (its an all day affair) and just want to make sure my carbine isn't going to get lead fouled halfway through and stop shooting correctly or worse I risk blowing something up because a round gets lodged in the barrel from all the fouling. But with going through that much ammunition it would be nice to be able to use the lead bullets, and recast them and be able to get the 9mm down to about the cost of inexpensive .22 ammo
It makes me a little sad though too, because after about 700 rounds I've finally found THE recipie that I really like.. 6 grains of Ramshot Silhouette with a 124 grain Rainer jacketed projectile with an OAL of 1.160. I'm getting really good groups out of the carbine and my 226 and can get my 5" plate every shot at 15 yards, and the 100lb propane cylinder (its been open and empty for at least 15 years that I know of and already has several holes in it) I have set up at 50 yards as well as some 15" plow disks every time I pull the trigger (I'm talking with the pistol of course, since I got the sights dialed in I haven't missed once with the carbine at anything between 30 and 75 yards that I shoot at)
Anyway advice is appreciated.. when I go down to my range I can run through as much as 200-400 rounds of ammunition (its an all day affair) and just want to make sure my carbine isn't going to get lead fouled halfway through and stop shooting correctly or worse I risk blowing something up because a round gets lodged in the barrel from all the fouling. But with going through that much ammunition it would be nice to be able to use the lead bullets, and recast them and be able to get the 9mm down to about the cost of inexpensive .22 ammo