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Lead Bullets (Where to buy)


Rube Burrows

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I've been using Lead Ringers. .45 200grn. RNFP and .38 125TC. They aren't hard cast so I get no leading in the barrel compared to hard cast. Well packaged when shipped, he double boxes them. No more picking up bullets off the PO floor! I've been happy with Missouri Bullets as well.

http://ringersbullets.com

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21 hours ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said:

OK, but I want my "Manly Hug" on Wednesday.  You guys in the tent get pretty gamey by Sunday.:D

You really lucked out Wednesday is 2 fer 1 day (hugs not bullets).:lol:

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57 minutes ago, Captain Bill Burt said:

:lol:

Can I just continue to buy your bullets, or are the hugs now incorporated in the price?

 

Hugs are optional. There are exceptions.

 

If you buy 50 or more boxes I sometimes break down into spontaneous tears of joy and I HAVE TO HUG SOMEONE.

 

If you publically deny I give hugs that's a mandatory hug.:lol:

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I just want it to be on the record that, no matter how much I endorse Outlaw Bullets, Waimea has never put a hand on me.

 

A #MeToo, er . . . #NotMe moment.

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5 hours ago, Marshal Hangtree said:

I just want it to be on the record that, no matter how much I endorse Outlaw Bullets, Waimea has never put a hand on me.

 

A #MeToo, er . . . #NotMe moment.

 

I appreciate that Marshal.

That Supreme Court nomination is in the bag now.:lol:

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5 hours ago, Marshal Hangtree said:

I just want it to be on the record that, no matter how much I endorse Outlaw Bullets, Waimea has never put a hand on me.

 

A #MeToo, er . . . #NotMe moment.

 

NOW THAT'S FUNNY RIGHT THERE. :lol:

 

Sun (who is going to be wary now)

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On 4/18/2019 at 8:23 PM, Cypress Sun said:

 

NOW THAT'S FUNNY RIGHT THERE. :lol:

 

Sun (who is going to be wary now)

 

Man hug moment is heading your way.:lol:

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9 hours ago, Waimea said:

 

Man hug moment is heading your way.:lol:

 

Now I'm going to have to be extra wary. Them Outlaws don't hug you because they like you, they do it to steal your wallet and tape a "kick me" note to your back.;)

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I only have about 10 CAS matches under my belt so so far and I am trying to learn more and more as I go.  

I do not reload my own ammo right now but I am trying to take in all I can until I decide to lay out the money to start reloading.  For now, I have to rely on buying the best bang for my bucks. 

 

I have tried several different factory and manufactured loads with varying degrees of success.  So far, it seems like my .38 special Winchester 1866 likes to feed on a diet of 158 grain bullets.  I have put semi-wadcutters, LRNFP, and even semiwadcutter hollow points through the rifle and it seems like 158 grain bullets "feel" best in the rifle.  I have shot a few different brands of 125 grain flat nose through it but they dont feel quite the same.  They shoot just fine but the heavier bullets shoot better.

 

My pistols however, shoot the lighter 125 grain bullets much better.  (I am shooting 5.5 inch Uberti's)  I haven't shot any .357 rounds through the pistols and really dont have any plans to do so since the rifle only shoots .38 Special.  The rifle seems to shoot the 125's better than the pistols shoot the heavier loads - so for now I just try to buy 125's when I can find them.

 

Are there other lead bullets that can be found as bulk ammo hiding in different places on the internet that are good choices for CAS?  So far I have used both Georgia Arms and Viper Munitions with good results but I am curious about "what else is out there" as far as decent .38 Special ammo that I can use for CAS.   Any thoughts?

 

 

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I have not personally shot any of this company's ammo (i reload so i dont really shoot anyone else's ammo), but i've read good things about it https://choiceammunition.com/product-category/cowboy-action/cowboy-action-38/cowboy-38-special/

 

I will say for the price of buying loaded ammo, you'd probably be 3/4 of the way through your investment of reloading equipment on savings by now with just the ammo you're shooting in the matches. With practice ammo you're probably passed that.

 

~1200 rounds retail -- 600 bucks

~1200 rounds reloaded -- 120 bucks

 

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I ordered some and they are in. I will be reloading them this week and then shooting them this weekend if the weather holds out. Thanks for all of the great info in this thread. Hopefully it not only helps me but others also.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Is there a specific style of .38 bullet that plays well in both Marlin 1894 and Vaquero?

I am not (yet) a reloader... just trying to learn and be prepared for the future.

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On 4/22/2019 at 2:05 PM, Chuck Steak said:

I only have about 10 CAS matches under my belt so so far and I am trying to learn more and more as I go.  

I do not reload my own ammo right now but I am trying to take in all I can until I decide to lay out the money to start reloading.  For now, I have to rely on buying the best bang for my bucks. 

 

I have tried several different factory and manufactured loads with varying degrees of success.  So far, it seems like my .38 special Winchester 1866 likes to feed on a diet of 158 grain bullets.  I have put semi-wadcutters, LRNFP, and even semiwadcutter hollow points through the rifle and it seems like 158 grain bullets "feel" best in the rifle.  I have shot a few different brands of 125 grain flat nose through it but they dont feel quite the same.  They shoot just fine but the heavier bullets shoot better.

 

My pistols however, shoot the lighter 125 grain bullets much better.  (I am shooting 5.5 inch Uberti's)  I haven't shot any .357 rounds through the pistols and really dont have any plans to do so since the rifle only shoots .38 Special.  The rifle seems to shoot the 125's better than the pistols shoot the heavier loads - so for now I just try to buy 125's when I can find them.

 

Are there other lead bullets that can be found as bulk ammo hiding in different places on the internet that are good choices for CAS?  So far I have used both Georgia Arms and Viper Munitions with good results but I am curious about "what else is out there" as far as decent .38 Special ammo that I can use for CAS.   Any thoughts?

 

 

Chuck Steak,

 

I believe the 158 grain bullet in your rifle may have more to do with the OAL than the weight of the bullet. Some of the rifles are real fussy when it comes to OAL. Something like 1000's of a inch can throw them off. While I shoot 125 grain Chey-Cast bullets, I have to make sure I don't place them too deep into the casing. My over all length is 1.45" to 1.46". If I drop down to 1.41 or 1.42, I run into trouble. That's just my situation and may not be what others tell you. The OAL is far less important with the pistols of course.

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2 hours ago, bgavin said:

Is there a specific style of .38 bullet that plays well in both Marlin 1894 and Vaquero?

I am not (yet) a reloader... just trying to learn and be prepared for the future.

I shoot 1894 Marlins and find that Desperado's 158 grain RNFP bullets feed very smoothly in my 38-Special (not .357 mag) rifle.  I'm sure their 125 grain bullet would feed fine as it has the same profile.  Your revolvers won't care about bullet profile and so long as your rounds don't protude from the cylinders, OAL won't matter.

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Tinker around with the OAL of the cartridge for the rifle.  When you find one that works, shoot that in your revolvers too.  Loading one cartridge keeps life simple in the reloading room and at the loading table.

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What I would like to do is standardize on a cast bullet that is SASS legal, and already correctly sized and lubed.
I'd like to avoid buying the luber/resizer tools if I don't need them.

I'm simple and don't want a progressive or other fancy rig.
Probably looking a nice RCBS and carbide dies.
I'm perfectly happy to do the assembly-line method of reloading, no need for speed.

My Lyman #48 gives me a few very low velocity combinations with cast bullets and Bullseye.
If I do this, and use Aguila Minishells in the coach gun, this won't scare my wife away from the sport.
She is recoil-averse from her Dad's 10-gauge and '06 deer rifles.

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27 minutes ago, bgavin said:



I'm simple and don't want a progressive or other fancy rig.
Probably looking a nice RCBS and carbide dies.
I'm perfectly happy to do the assembly-line method of reloading, no need for speed.

 

 

I said nearly the exact same thing 8 years ago...

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1 minute ago, bgavin said:


And how did you end up?

 

I have 2 Hornady Lock n Loads(one set up for small pistol primers and one for large), a Lee Classic Turret, and a Lyman single stage. 

 

The first time I was up half the night right before a match I got a faster press. 

 

I'd suggest getting a cheap single stage and then look for deals on a Dillon or Hornady progressive. 400-500 per hour beats the heck out of 50-100 per hour; more time for shooting ;)

 

 

 

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At my age, 400~500 per hour is also a lot higher risk of making errors.

I'm simple and methodical.
Need to make a run of cleanings, then a run of sizing, a run of charging, and so forth.
I'm retired.. time is something I have a lot of, for the next few years.

Shooting for me in CA is a very long away and very expensive for all the memberships, range fees, etc.
I wish I could shoot often, but cannot.

My intent is building low recoil loads so my wife enjoys the fun and stays in the sport.

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5 minutes ago, bgavin said:

At my age, 400~500 per hour is also a lot higher risk of making errors.

I'm simple and methodical.
Need to make a run of cleanings, then a run of sizing, a run of charging, and so forth.
I'm retired.. time is something I have a lot of, for the next few years.

Shooting for me in CA is a very long away and very expensive for all the memberships, range fees, etc.
I wish I could shoot often, but cannot.

My intent is building low recoil loads so my wife enjoys the fun and stays in the sport.

 

RCBS lockout die is a wonderful item for a progressive press; peace of mind if you will.

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11 minutes ago, bgavin said:

At my age, 400~500 per hour is also a lot higher risk of making errors.

I'm simple and methodical.
Need to make a run of cleanings, then a run of sizing, a run of charging, and so forth.
I'm retired.. time is something I have a lot of, for the next few years.

Shooting for me in CA is a very long away and very expensive for all the memberships, range fees, etc.
I wish I could shoot often, but cannot.

My intent is building low recoil loads so my wife enjoys the fun and stays in the sport.

 

CA, how far away are you from a range? I figured their were CAS clubs on every corner out there.

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45 minutes is closest.
Membership is $180 for the main range.
Another $100 or so for the cowboy town range inside the main range.
More fees to join a club.
Then daily range fees for both main and cowboy ranges.

I just got a call from my FFL... he dropped the ball on my pair of SASS Rugers, have to start the 10 day + 30 day waiting periods all over again.
I figure it will be mid-summer before I get my weapons out of CA waiting periods.

Those who have never lived under this CA baloney really have no idea how awful it truly is.
Come July 1, it will get even worse, with required background license, required safety course cert to buy any ammunition.
Rumor going around:  you cannot buy ammo for any caliber you do not have registered by DROS with the state.

As soon as we can find a house in AZ... we are gone.
 

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Is the RNFP style the correct for an 1894 magazine?

My Lyman #48 shows the Cast #358477 as what appears to be a 150g RNFP.
With 4.6 gr of Bullseye, it is spec'ed at 772 fps, with 2.13 lbs of recoil in my 2.81 lb. Vaquero.

I figure this would be very friendly for my recoil-averse wife as she gets into the sport.

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14 hours ago, bgavin said:

What I would like to do is standardize on a cast bullet that is SASS legal, and already correctly sized and lubed.  This is very possible with lots of good choices.
I'd like to avoid buying the luber/resizer tools if I don't need them.

I'm simple and don't want a progressive or other fancy rig.
Probably looking a nice RCBS and carbide dies.  I recommend RCBS Cowboy dies.  They are optimized for loading cast bullets.
I'm perfectly happy to do the assembly-line method of reloading, no need for speed.

My Lyman #48 gives me a few very low velocity combinations with cast bullets and Bullseye.
If I do this, and use Aguila Minishells in the coach gun, this won't scare my wife away from the sport.  Try some Winchester AA low noise, low recoil shotgun shells.  They are easier to handle than minishells.   They only smokeless shotgun shells my wife will shoot.
She is recoil-averse from her Dad's 10-gauge and '06 deer rifles.

 

10 hours ago, bgavin said:

Is the RNFP style the correct for an 1894 magazine?  Absolutely.  However those with a little ridge may hang up when feeding them into the rifle chamber.

My Lyman #48 shows the Cast #358477 as what appears to be a 150g RNFP.  Your wife will prefer 125 grain bullets.  Your proposed load is heavier than many in CAS shoot.
With 4.6 gr of Bullseye, it is spec'ed at 772 fps, with 2.13 lbs of recoil in my 2.81 lb. Vaquero.

I figure this would be very friendly for my recoil-averse wife as she gets into the sport.

Go ahead and buy a single stage press.  If you later buy a progressive you will still find uses for the single stage.

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On ‎4‎/‎18‎/‎2019 at 9:55 AM, Eyesa Horg said:

I've been using Lead Ringers. .45 200grn. RNFP and .38 125TC. They aren't hard cast so I get no leading in the barrel compared to hard cast. Well packaged when shipped, he double boxes them. No more picking up bullets off the PO floor! I've been happy with Missouri Bullets as well.

http://ringersbullets.com

 I will second this. Been shooting his bullets for the last year and am really impressed with them. His customer service is top notch as well! 

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1 hour ago, Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971 said:

Your wife will prefer 125 grain bullets.  Your proposed load is heavier than many in CAS shoot.


My load ideas are based entirely on lowest calculated recoil.
38 SP is definitely superior to 357 in all cases I've constructed.
38 SP also has less empty charge space compared to 357.

My reasons for using 357 cases is to avoid the ring of muck that comes from shooting the shorter length 38.

My Dad used to tell me, "Farming is easy work, when you plow with a pencil."
I have no doubt there is a whole world of truth in this, once I actually start reloading.

 

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On 5/8/2019 at 12:21 PM, bgavin said:

Is there a specific style of .38 bullet that plays well in both Marlin 1894 and Vaquero?

I am not (yet) a reloader... just trying to learn and be prepared for the future.

125grn. Truncated Cone (TC) seem to work well in both Ellies 1894 Marlin and her Vaquero's. I've been crimping in the groove, but some rifles may require you set them out a little bit from the crimp groove. Been using 2.8 grns. of Clays for these.

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4 hours ago, bgavin said:


My load ideas are based entirely on lowest calculated recoil.
38 SP is definitely superior to 357 in all cases I've constructed.
38 SP also has less empty charge space compared to 357.

My reasons for using 357 cases is to avoid the ring of muck that comes from shooting the shorter length 38.

My Dad used to tell me, "Farming is easy work, when you plow with a pencil."
I have no doubt there is a whole world of truth in this, once I actually start reloading.

 

 

Just remember that the majority of shooters are running 38s. Plan on bringing home fewer 357 cases and more 38 cases from each match, as 357 cases laying on the ground don't look any different than 38s and the brass pickers are counting cases, not specific caliber. I have more than my share of 357 cases from matches and we shoot 38s. 

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4 hours ago, bgavin said:


My load ideas are based entirely on lowest calculated recoil.
38 SP is definitely superior to 357 in all cases I've constructed.
38 SP also has less empty charge space compared to 357.

My reasons for using 357 cases is to avoid the ring of muck that comes from shooting the shorter length 38.

My Dad used to tell me, "Farming is easy work, when you plow with a pencil."
I have no doubt there is a whole world of truth in this, once I actually start reloading.

 

One of these takes care of that ring nicely. I use one in my 45's and the wife's 38's every couple matches.

 

http://cowboybullets.com/SliX-Scraper_p_81.html

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