Who is a GOOD source for cast bullets

Do these have a square grease groove? Elmer battled with Lyman for changing his originally designed square grease groove to the rounded one for years. For awhile the only manufacturer who made the moulds to Elmer's design was H&G. The current RCBS moulds are close but not exact copies of Elmer's design.

I have two Lyman molds (454424) one with square and one with round grooves, and so far cannot tell any difference. Dean
 
The very best cast bullets are the ones I cast myself. I get the proper alloy for intended purpose, a good lube, the proper bullet design for the intended purpose and firearm, and sized to fit my guns. Anything else is hot or miss and may be marginal at best.
 
I received my first order from Dardas Cast Bullets last week. There was a minor issue with the order and Matt, without me asking, insisted on sending me 1,000 free bullets to make it right. He is a stand-up business man and has won my future business. In addition, the bullets are of excellent quality.
 
Got my order from SNS last week and loaded up 250 rounds of 158gr FP bullets in .358. Excellent groups at 50ft with 3" barrel and no issues at all with missing lube.
 
I've only used the bullets I cast myself as well. The way I figure it if your reloading to save money then go all the way and cut your price in half per round....and besides it fun to knowing you cast a perfect bullet that went through the same hole.
 
I decided to try some coated bullets so I placed an order with SNS last night. It was shipped today. Can't get much better than that.
 
Dave Jennings does not use Magna machines . He hand casts with a ladle . Yes his bullets are on the pricey side , but you get 1st class bullets . I hate bevel bases & crayon lube . He will custom make whatever alloy you want & uses quality lube . He's had spinal fusion surgery & is not able to lift anything heavy any more ( like the rest of his life ) . I understand that the business is up for sale . Shame because you could try out different bullets before buying a mold & rest of equipment for that particular bullet . He also casted real Keith bullets just as Ol' Elmer designed them .
 
Matt's bullets in Arkansas. He makes nice Keith bullets.


38 Cal.(38Spl,357) : Matts Bullets

I second that...Matt's has an excellent selection and damn decent prices! I can't imagine anyone who loads for the .500 S&W not finding pretty much what they want...considering his prices and the weight of 50 700grain slugs one wonders how he makes a profit!
I really like his 390 grain spire point .500 slug...keep thinking of trying some with a copper/nickel plating over the nose to see how they penetrate.

Just remembered one point I want to also agree with...Keith style SWC were and still are a superior bullet profile for hard cast slugs despite the current popularity of RNFP bullets. A GOOD SWC - which means a correctly reproduced Keith style, has a generous meplat with relatively sharp edges AND a distinct shoulder, also with relatively sharp edges. It's the oblique strike that proves the merits of Keith's design...those twin, "sharpish" edges will cause the bullet to tend to turn INTO any hard point of contact. Thus a Keith style can strike something like a skull or large shoulder bone at a shallower angle yet punch "into" the boney section whereas a round nose or RNFP will tend to deflect away. The problem with a RNFP is the rounded portion acts to be the first point of contact in a low angle impact, compared to a "proper" Keith style SWC which utilizes a conical nose shank.

I'd much rather have the greater "edge shearing" effect of a hard SWC going through tissue than an expanding bullet that becomes a ROUNDED, amorphus, blob. In the days before modern copper slugs designed to expand into jagged, razor-sharp petals, a "sharp-shouldered" Keith style SWC was THE slug to use on large, dangerous animals, and Elmer himself proved that time and again.
A bit of research will show the Keith SWC taken to the ultimate iteration with the introduction of the French Arcane round...the originals were very little different than the SWC save for being light for caliber all copper. At the elevated impact velocities they could achieve, tissue destruction was profound. The Arcane "evolved" into a narrow spike with reverse ogive leading to that Keith trademark "sharp shoulder" and became capable of extreme penetration through kevlar while causing significant tissue destruction and energy transfer. The were banned from import pretty quickly because they made the then media "favorite enemy" KTW bullets look TAME and Humane!
Anyway, the Keith style SWC was and still is THE proper choice for big animals that need deep holes punched into them.
 
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LBT wide flat nose designs are best for killing power and good accuracy. I like the "gas check" .358 diameter versions.

Rim Rock and others sell these, but make sure you are getting atleast 3580" diameter and not smaller.
 
+1 to what aviserated said above!!

For general shooting, Falcon Bullet or Missouri Bullet Company (they'll let you pick your diameter).
 
1sailor : I have had excellent service from the Acme Bullet Co. You should contact them ASAP . They will make right any short comings in their products. The bullets that I have received are the best that I have ever had !
 
It's nice to hear......

I second that...Matt's has an excellent selection and damn decent prices! I can't imagine anyone who loads for the .500 S&W not finding pretty much what they want...considering his prices and the weight of 50 700grain slugs one wonders how he makes a profit!
I really like his 390 grain spire point .500 slug...keep thinking of trying some with a copper/nickel plating over the nose to see how they penetrate.

Just remembered one point I want to also agree with...Keith style SWC were and still are a superior bullet profile for hard cast slugs despite the current popularity of RNFP bullets. A GOOD SWC - which means a correctly reproduced Keith style, has a generous meplat with relatively sharp edges AND a distinct shoulder, also with relatively sharp edges. It's the oblique strike that proves the merits of Keith's design...those twin, "sharpish" edges will cause the bullet to tend to turn INTO any hard point of contact. Thus a Keith style can strike something like a skull or large shoulder bone at a shallower angle yet punch "into" the boney section whereas a round nose or RNFP will tend to deflect away. The problem with a RNFP is the rounded portion acts to be the first point of contact in a low angle impact, compared to a "proper" Keith style SWC which utilizes a conical nose shank.

I'd much rather have the greater "edge shearing" effect of a hard SWC going through tissue than an expanding bullet that becomes a ROUNDED, amorphus, blob. In the days before modern copper slugs designed to expand into jagged, razor-sharp petals, a "sharp-shouldered" Keith style SWC was THE slug to use on large, dangerous animals, and Elmer himself proved that time and again.
A bit of research will show the Keith SWC taken to the ultimate iteration with the introduction of the French Arcane round...the originals were very little different than the SWC save for being light for caliber all copper. At the elevated impact velocities they could achieve, tissue destruction was profound. The Arcane "evolved" into a narrow spike with reverse ogive leading to that Keith trademark "sharp shoulder" and became capable of extreme penetration through kevlar while causing significant tissue destruction and energy transfer. The were banned from import pretty quickly because they made the then media "favorite enemy" KTW bullets look TAME and Humane!
Anyway, the Keith style SWC was and still is THE proper choice for big animals that need deep holes punched into them.

It's nice to hear some other info as to why Keith Bullets are so effective.
 
Jim Cirillo, in his book "Guns, Bullets and Gunfights" discusses some of what Kilibreaux is talking about. According to Cirillo, he had worked with a few folks at Hi Vel (I think it was?) about a similar SWC design for their revolvers. It was pretty effective, according to him.
 

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