Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Casting bullets for Air Guns

Being and avid shooter/gun nut has provided me with some of life's simplest pleasures.  One of those pleasures is casting bullets for my Air Guns.  Like reloading, bullet casting is very rewarding.  It's cheaper than buying bullets, it's fun, and it's educational.  And when you shoot tight groups with your bullets, the smiles don't stop.

In the video below, I cast bullets from a recently purchased LEE 113 grain/.309" mold ($19.99).  I had been wanting a lighter bullet for my Corsair 308.  Something lighter than 150-170 grains so what better than the 113 grains.  By nature, when using pure lead, the bullets normally come out about 7-10 grains heavier than what the mold is advertised to produce.  Putting the bullet closer to 120 grains.  My ideal weight is 115-120 grains.  After casting and sizing, the finished bullets came in at about 119.5 grains which is well within what I wanted.

The other attractive quality about the bullet chosen was it's flat point nose profile.  The meplat on the nose and the weight of the bullet would provide plenty of smack for any small game or coyote i would shoot with it.  LEE Molds posted on their website that the BC is .199.  This is great for an airgun as most Diablo shaped (traditional design) pellets are around the .010-.0370 range.  So .199 BC is a drastic improvement by airgun standards.  Coupled with good speed, a BC of .199 would provide great long range velocity retention.

I've already managed to shoot some 75 yard groups as well as hit water filled bottles at 175 yards with much success.  My Corsair currently pushes the 119.5 gr bullets at 885 FPS.

Let's take a look at some pics of the finished bullets and LEE mold:





SO LET THE CASTING BEGIN:

STAY TUNED!!

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