Open letter to Sierra, Speer, Hornady, Remington, Winchester...

[gregintenn]

...et tal.

 

If for nearly a year you haven't been able to produce sufficient quantities of 150 and 170 grain 30-30 bullets sot that I can find ONE damn box on a shelf somewhere, perhaps you should gather management together and form a circular firing squad. :rant:

[Raoul]

A little frustrated?

 

Check Cabelas website. They just showed some in stock.

[gregintenn]

Not wanting ammunition, I just want projectiles.

[Raoul]

Well dayum. Sorry, thought I had done a good deed. Honestly though, I've been looking for some myself. Edited August 13, 2013 by Raoul

[frankmako]

that is the reason i had to get me a new bullet mold so i could cast some. 

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Kinda strange they can't seem to produce many. You can usually find round nose lead bullets, but anything

other than that seems to be difficult. They just dribble out, occasionally. Frustrating, isn't it?

[Wyldk2]

From what I understand, the ammunition makers are focusing on the manufacture of cartridges and (loaded ammo) and have put their reloading manufacture on slow to trickle. There is some out there, just not as much as you would like.

 

All I know is we have to start looking out for each other. If I find some reloading supplies and ammo( cheap) I'll report it on here.

[Dolomite_supafly]

You might try taking up casting. For the cost of 500 bullets you can have everything you need to never have to rely on another for bullets. Lee molds are under $30, a pot is under $60 and a bottle of lube is under $6. And that is buying all new equipment designed for bullet casting. You can also use a hot plate, old pot and a dipper to pour bullets for a lot less. It may not be as fast as a bottom pour pot but it is still fast enough to be worth while. And if you shop around for those items I bet you can get everything you need for under $50. Heck, you could even use a gas grill to cast and I have seen some who do it over a wood or charcoal fire.

 

Then ask a few local tire shops for some lead. And it isn't as slow as some people think. I can easily cast 300+ an hour once I get into the groove. Cast bullets perform as well as almost any jacketed bullet too.

 

When I first bought my casting equipment is was not about saving money. As a matter of fact all my equipment sat for a very long time before being used. I bought it for a time, that I thought was far off, when I couldn't buy my own but decided to give it a try before that happened. Well it turns out that time is now for most. 

[221 Fireball]

Greg,

 

I also need 30-30 bullets. If you want to get into casting, I'll give you the 75lbs of lead I have in exchange for a few bullets :pleased:

[Sidinman]

I saw some Cast 30-30 bulets on GB, 25.05 a 100 shipped. if that helps any. I thought about ordering a couple 100 to try myself.

 I guess its about time to try a little casting of my own, :shrug:

Edited August 13, 2013 by Sidinman

[Dolomite_supafly]

Or I will make you guys a deal. Order the Lee mold you want and I will cast 200 bullets using your mold and my lead if you let me keep the mold. If you order a more expensive mold I will cast more bullets for the mold.

[dlm37015]

I got hornady flex tips

[bikertrash2001]

I would ponder casting but I've been thinking the tire shops are getting raided for their lead these days about as bad as Wal Mart is for .22's.

 

Are there places that you can just walk up too and offer to take it of their hands?

[HOGNUT]

I have so much lead and I do not cast anymore.  I had to start giving it away(2 full 5 gallon buckets).   

[E4 No More]

^{How about swagging your own?}

Edited August 13, 2013 by SWJewellTN

[chances R]

...et tal.

 

If for nearly a year you haven't been able to produce sufficient quantities of 150 and 170 grain 30-30 bullets sot that I can find ONE damn box on a shelf somewhere, perhaps you should gather management together and form a circular firing squad. :rant:

September issue of Guns and Ammo addresses this problem.  According to the articled all are running 24/7.  All are also investing and expanding operations.  My guess is that by spring there will be normal ammo supplies.  (I HOPE)

[Jamie Jackson]

I, quite fortunately, purchased 500 lead .30-30 bullets for my Marlin 336 last year. I got some very accurate loads using Unique powder...not powerful, but very light shooting and accurate.

 

Not intending to make a thread drift...just considering the potential availability of lead bullets for Greg...

 

Dolomite:

Can these cast lead bullets, if powder coated (excellent thread btw) be driven to deer hunting round velocities?

I would make the assumption it's a Yes based on the powder coat thread.

 

If so, would something like that be of any help Greg?

They are .309 diameter 165 gr. RNLFP

 

If so, I can get a hundred round to you (not coated...sorry). Just let me know.

[Dolomite_supafly]

I have pushed powder coated bullets to 3,200+ fps with no signs of leading.

[Jamie Jackson]

I have pushed powder coated bullets to 3,200+ fps with no signs of leading.

 

LOL Then I reckon a .30-30 using IMR 3031 shouldn't be an issue.

Thank you Sir.

[A.J. Holst]

I would ponder casting but I've been thinking the tire shops are getting raided for their lead these days about as bad as Wal Mart is for .22's.

 

Are there places that you can just walk up too and offer to take it of their hands?

 

noob question: can you use any lead or is there higher quality lead for bullets? Low grade lead for target, high grade for "match" ???

 

inquiring minds want to know

[Dolomite_supafly]

The varying degree of lead alloys are there, for the most part, to prevent leading within a certain velocity range. Harder alloys are generally for higher velocities. Now, harder alloys do not squish and obturate as well as softer alloys but as long as they are the proper size it is not an issue.

Which brings me to the most important thing to prevent leading. SIZE Size is everything and a cast bullet isn't like a jacketed bullet. If a jacketed bullet is .308" a cast bullet should be .310" to seal properly. You can get away with a smaller cast bullet but only if it is a softer alloy. I generally run my cast bullets at .003" over the bore and .002" over on my powder coated bullets.

I run wheel weight lead and have no problems, powder coated or not, as long as the size is correct. I try to standardize the lots too because there are soft wheel weights and hard wheel weights, I run in the middle somewhere.

[gregintenn]

There are some very kind offers in this thread. Thanks to all of you willing to help. I would prefer jacketed bullets just because I'm lazy. I have some; more than I'll shoot for a while.

 

I loaded some light loads for a friend's kid so he can shoot and deer hunt with them this year, and was looking to replace them. Not a big deal. It's just irritating not being able to find something so common.

 

Everybody says this shortage is temporary, but it's been a loooooooooong temporary.

 

Anyway, I have another rifle or two in other calibers I can shoot until I find more bullets. :)

[RED333]

Give a man a fish and he will eat today, teach him to cast and he will NEVER run out of boolits.

[Worriedman]

Dolomite, as it is becoming harder and harder to locate what some consider to be effective self defense loads, could one load softer lead cast bullets and gain any expansion.  Would a softer cast that was coated preclude leading the barrel and still expand on impact?

[Dolomite_supafly]

Dolomite, as it is becoming harder and harder to locate what some consider to be effective self defense loads, could one load softer lead cast bullets and gain any expansion.  Would a softer cast that was coated preclude leading the barrel and still expand on impact?

 

They would work fine otherwise no one would have died 100 years ago when jacketed bullets were a rarity. Even coated they will expand fine. I might actually do some expansion tests using some pure lead in a 45.