My XD40 likes my hand-cast bullets... - XDTalk Forums - Your HS2000/SA-XD Information Source!

Noah Mercy · 03-19-2007, 06:30 PM

I didn't have a chance to put any groups on paper, but yesterday I tried my latest load (a 175 grain hand-cast truncated cone from a Lee mold on top of 4.5 grains of Win. 231) at some "targets of opportunity". They ranged from baseball-sized rocks at 25 yards, to a milk jug at 75, to a 24 inch steel plate way out at 200 yards. The recoil was only slightly stouter than a 9mm and if I did my part, I hit everything I aimed at. Yes, this includes the 200 yard target. I rang it 5 for 5 once I got the drift and drop doped...I had to hold about six feet high and two feet into the 20mph wind! (Obviously this was off a solid rest...no way in h-e-double hockey sticks I could do that offhand!

) I cast my bullets fairly soft (about 20:1 lead:tin), lube with stick alox, and size to .401. It's impressive what these bullets will do to a coyote. I recovered one of these slugs from a song dog I shot at about twenty yards and it was almost the size of a quarter...YEAH, baby!!!!

The gun functioned 100%, as it has since round one, with jacketed or cast. I have only about 250 through this gun, and as soon as I have about that many more down-barrel, I'll drop down to my old standby of 4.0 grains 231 with that bullet. It is the mildest 40 S&W load I've ever shot that was still reliable, but it will sometimes cause FTF in tight guns, so it is best to only use it in broken-in pistolas.

So for those who question whether the XD40 likes lead, the answer is a resounding "YES"! If you are having problems with leading or poor accuracy in yours, I suggest you look at a softer bullet with a softer lube and a flat base, because this load is the most accurate I've shot from this gun so far and it does not lead.

Noah Mercy · 03-27-2007, 08:35 PM

Obviously my post didn't drum up much interest, but I figured I'd post my follow-up just in case anyone would like to know what sort of "paper groups" the aforementioned load will produce.

From a good rest, with the target 15 yards from the muzzle, I put thirty rounds in a group measuring under two inches. 27 of those rounds were in a ragged group just over an inch and a quarter.

After 100 of these lead rounds down-barrel, there was only very minor leading in the rifling leade. I am confident that after a few hundred more rounds, this area will polish out a little and the leading will disappear entirely.

This coming Sunday, I'm going to compete in a falling-plate match with this combo...I'll letch'all know what happens.

40SWXDSHOOTER · 03-30-2007, 01:27 PM

This is good to know, with the price of jacked bullets going through the roof.
I stopped using cast bullets for compition about 8 years ago because of the smoke, might I might go back to them, at least for practice.

John4538 · 04-01-2007, 01:38 PM

Noah Mercy, glad to hear this. I have a Saeco 4 cavity #043 170 grain truncated cone bevel base on order from Midway. Very long wait it seems. How hard is your lead? Did you slug your barrel to determine a good diamter to size too? I found that with 4.0 231 I had one FTF on the 10 rounds I was chronographing and don't think it would make minor. I found that 4.2 was making minor and no fail to feed with Ranier 180 bullets. Maybe the lead will be better with 4.0. I'll check.

I too don't understand why more don't use cast bullets. If properly sized and lubed they won't lead the barrel. If the do a little so what, a pass or two with Lewis lead remover and it's out.

John

Noah Mercy · 04-01-2007, 04:40 PM

How do, 40SWXD'. Some folks have reported little to no smoke from the moly-coated cast bullets. I have no personal experience with them, but it might be worth giving them a try to see.

John4538, my lead is fairly soft. It is virtually identical to some foundry-certified 20:1 I have and it cuts pretty easily with a fingernail. I use straight wheelweights and don't flux a whole lot, so some of my tin gets skimmed with the dross. Since I prefer soft bullets, I don't mind. (I have about 800 pounds of linotype if I want to cast hard slugs...

)

And I do slug my barrels, but my experience with soft lead bullets has shown that discrepancies in bore/bullet diameter is much less critical than with hard-cast or jacketed bullets. Soft slugs, especially flat-based ones, obturate (bump up) or swage down to fit the bore with minimal effect on the accuracy and pressure. (Incidentally, I use muzzleloading roundballs to slug my barrels.) I have a few Saeco molds and I personally think they're the best non-custom blocks on the market. I'll look forward to hearing about your results.

Your point about the Lewis Lead Remover is well taken. Those things make cleaning a breeze...a whole lot easier than getting jacket fouling out!

John4538 · 04-02-2007, 09:47 AM

Regarding smoke and cast bullets. It all depends on the lube being used. In my first attempt I was using an alox/beeswax based soft lube and it was very smokey and smelly. I switched to a hard lube and there is no smoke at all. Even when I was buying Star bullets with the hard lube there was no smoke either.

That's how I got into casting anyway. Too much problem changing loads etc when someone decided to stop making their bullets. Best thing I've done. As soon as that mold comes in there will be no more copper bullets and with the free range lead i get, no more bullet costs.

John

03-19-2007, 06:30 PM	#1
Noah Mercy XDTalk 100 Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Sheridan, Wyoming Posts: 276	My XD40 likes my hand-cast bullets... I didn't have a chance to put any groups on paper, but yesterday I tried my latest load (a 175 grain hand-cast truncated cone from a Lee mold on top of 4.5 grains of Win. 231) at some "targets of opportunity". They ranged from baseball-sized rocks at 25 yards, to a milk jug at 75, to a 24 inch steel plate way out at 200 yards. The recoil was only slightly stouter than a 9mm and if I did my part, I hit everything I aimed at. Yes, this includes the 200 yard target. I rang it 5 for 5 once I got the drift and drop doped...I had to hold about six feet high and two feet into the 20mph wind! (Obviously this was off a solid rest...no way in h-e-double hockey sticks I could do that offhand! ) I cast my bullets fairly soft (about 20:1 lead:tin), lube with stick alox, and size to .401. It's impressive what these bullets will do to a coyote. I recovered one of these slugs from a song dog I shot at about twenty yards and it was almost the size of a quarter...YEAH, baby!!!! The gun functioned 100%, as it has since round one, with jacketed or cast. I have only about 250 through this gun, and as soon as I have about that many more down-barrel, I'll drop down to my old standby of 4.0 grains 231 with that bullet. It is the mildest 40 S&W load I've ever shot that was still reliable, but it will sometimes cause FTF in tight guns, so it is best to only use it in broken-in pistolas. So for those who question whether the XD40 likes lead, the answer is a resounding "YES"! If you are having problems with leading or poor accuracy in yours, I suggest you look at a softer bullet with a softer lube and a flat base, because this load is the most accurate I've shot from this gun so far and it does not lead. __________________ I may be fat, hairy, and ugly...BUT AT LEAST I SMELL BAD!

03-27-2007, 08:35 PM	#2
Noah Mercy XDTalk 100 Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Sheridan, Wyoming Posts: 276	Obviously my post didn't drum up much interest, but I figured I'd post my follow-up just in case anyone would like to know what sort of "paper groups" the aforementioned load will produce. From a good rest, with the target 15 yards from the muzzle, I put thirty rounds in a group measuring under two inches. 27 of those rounds were in a ragged group just over an inch and a quarter. After 100 of these lead rounds down-barrel, there was only very minor leading in the rifling leade. I am confident that after a few hundred more rounds, this area will polish out a little and the leading will disappear entirely. This coming Sunday, I'm going to compete in a falling-plate match with this combo...I'll letch'all know what happens. __________________ I may be fat, hairy, and ugly...BUT AT LEAST I SMELL BAD!

04-01-2007, 04:40 PM	#5
Noah Mercy XDTalk 100 Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Sheridan, Wyoming Posts: 276	How do, 40SWXD'. Some folks have reported little to no smoke from the moly-coated cast bullets. I have no personal experience with them, but it might be worth giving them a try to see. John4538, my lead is fairly soft. It is virtually identical to some foundry-certified 20:1 I have and it cuts pretty easily with a fingernail. I use straight wheelweights and don't flux a whole lot, so some of my tin gets skimmed with the dross. Since I prefer soft bullets, I don't mind. (I have about 800 pounds of linotype if I want to cast hard slugs... ) And I do slug my barrels, but my experience with soft lead bullets has shown that discrepancies in bore/bullet diameter is much less critical than with hard-cast or jacketed bullets. Soft slugs, especially flat-based ones, obturate (bump up) or swage down to fit the bore with minimal effect on the accuracy and pressure. (Incidentally, I use muzzleloading roundballs to slug my barrels.) I have a few Saeco molds and I personally think they're the best non-custom blocks on the market. I'll look forward to hearing about your results. Your point about the Lewis Lead Remover is well taken. Those things make cleaning a breeze...a whole lot easier than getting jacket fouling out! __________________ I may be fat, hairy, and ugly...BUT AT LEAST I SMELL BAD!

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03-30-2007, 01:27 PM	#3
40SWXDSHOOTER XDTalk 500 Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Minnesota Posts: 891	This is good to know, with the price of jacked bullets going through the roof. I stopped using cast bullets for compition about 8 years ago because of the smoke, might I might go back to them, at least for practice.

04-01-2007, 01:38 PM	#4
John4538 XDTalk Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 69	Noah Mercy, glad to hear this. I have a Saeco 4 cavity #043 170 grain truncated cone bevel base on order from Midway. Very long wait it seems. How hard is your lead? Did you slug your barrel to determine a good diamter to size too? I found that with 4.0 231 I had one FTF on the 10 rounds I was chronographing and don't think it would make minor. I found that 4.2 was making minor and no fail to feed with Ranier 180 bullets. Maybe the lead will be better with 4.0. I'll check. I too don't understand why more don't use cast bullets. If properly sized and lubed they won't lead the barrel. If the do a little so what, a pass or two with Lewis lead remover and it's out. John

04-02-2007, 09:47 AM	#6
John4538 XDTalk Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 69	Regarding smoke and cast bullets. It all depends on the lube being used. In my first attempt I was using an alox/beeswax based soft lube and it was very smokey and smelly. I switched to a hard lube and there is no smoke at all. Even when I was buying Star bullets with the hard lube there was no smoke either. That's how I got into casting anyway. Too much problem changing loads etc when someone decided to stop making their bullets. Best thing I've done. As soon as that mold comes in there will be no more copper bullets and with the free range lead i get, no more bullet costs. John