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  • Maverick44

    Youngest old man on TGT.
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Thank you much. Appreciate the advice. Are NOE molds worth the initial upgrade for a beginner? I don't mind paying a bit more to get started if it's worth the premium.

    Also I noticed you don't say powder coat pistol bullets. Do you not bother? I'm primarily going to be loading (and casting) in .357, 9mm and .45 ACP to start. I imagine .44 Special / Mag or .45 Colt will be to follow.

    I'm not much of a centerfire rifle shooter right now.

    Unless there is a very valid reason to do so (like my lead hating PT92), I don't bother PCing handgun rounds. Tumble lube is much faster and easier to do, and will give you good results. I can tumble lube several hundred bullets in the time it would take to PC 100 bullets. It might be worth it for some really hot loadings of 357, but you can usually find ways to stop leading without PC.

    As for the molds, it depends on what you want. A Lee 6 banger is going to cast a pile of bullets in short order, and they will shoot just fine. The NOE and Arsenal molds are better made, but the results are more or less the same. What they really offer are more designs. Lee offers a lot, but NOE and Arsenal offer a ton of calibers and profiles that Lee doesn't. If you want something like a legitimate Keith style SWC for 357 or 44, NOE and Arsenal will hook you up. If you are fine with the generic SWC design, Lee is just fine.

    At this point in my casting "career", I tend to buy more from Arsenal than anyone else, but I still occasionally pick up a Lee every now and then, and I still use the ones I've got.

    Also something worth mentioning is that some places like Arsenal makes their molds to order, which means that you can request that they cut them to a specific size at no additional charge. I ordered a 30 cal mold recently that typically casts at 0.312, and requested that they up the size to 0.318" so that I could use it in a significantly overbore Arisaka I've had for a while. They did it no questions asked.

    maverick44,

    Fwiw, the last time that I was "TOO CLUELESS" to take enough ammo on a hunt, the store that I finally found some wanted 43.00 per 20 = "DAMN", is the least offensive of what I said under my breath when I read the price tag.
    (I have NOT made that mistake again. = my 298 grain homebrew GCCB work just FINE, thanks on most any critter out past 200M at about 2100FPS.)

    I also load a .38-55WCF old-school/"standard speed" equivalent 260grain PBCB at about 1400FPS, that is a WT KILLER W/O damaging much edible meat AND a "small game load", that my "little" brother figured out for me, that is PURE DEATH on coyotes/foxes/coons/jackrabbits out past 100M.

    yours, satx

    Yeah, I don't even want to know what factory ammo for my 9.3x57 costs. I doubt you could even find it without ordering it online. A nice big and heavy flat pointed cast bullet is one of the best hunting bullets you can have.
    Military Camp
     

    satx78247

    Member, Emeritus
    Emeritus - "Texas Proud"
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Jun 23, 2014
    8,479
    96
    78208
    Unless there is a very valid reason to do so (like my lead hating PT92), I don't bother PCing handgun rounds. Tumble lube is much faster and easier to do, and will give you good results. I can tumble lube several hundred bullets in the time it would take to PC 100 bullets. It might be worth it for some really hot loadings of 357, but you can usually find ways to stop leading without PC.

    As for the molds, it depends on what you want. A Lee 6 banger is going to cast a pile of bullets in short order, and they will shoot just fine. The NOE and Arsenal molds are better made, but the results are more or less the same. What they really offer are more designs. Lee offers a lot, but NOE and Arsenal offer a ton of calibers and profiles that Lee doesn't. If you want something like a legitimate Keith style SWC for 357 or 44, NOE and Arsenal will hook you up. If you are fine with the generic SWC design, Lee is just fine.

    At this point in my casting "career", I tend to buy more from Arsenal than anyone else, but I still occasionally pick up a Lee every now and then, and I still use the ones I've got.

    Also something worth mentioning is that some places like Arsenal makes their molds to order, which means that you can request that they cut them to a specific size at no additional charge. I ordered a 30 cal mold recently that typically casts at 0.312, and requested that they up the size to 0.318" so that I could use it in a significantly overbore Arisaka I've had for a while. They did it no questions asked.



    Yeah, I don't even want to know what factory ammo for my 9.3x57 costs. I doubt you could even find it without ordering it online. A nice big and heavy flat pointed cast bullet is one of the best hunting bullets you can have.

    Maverick44,

    AGREED 100%. Also, I, too, LIKE Arsenal molds. - I'm planning to have a 6-holer made in both .30 & 9.3mm.

    yours, satx
     
    Last edited:

    satx78247

    Member, Emeritus
    Emeritus - "Texas Proud"
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Jun 23, 2014
    8,479
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    78208
    Maverick44,

    About 3.oo each IF you CAN find it at all in a gun store. = At least 60 bucks a box is "too rich for my blood".
    (I know of exactly one LGS that sells S&B 9.3x57 Mauser & it is in suburban Richmond, VA.)
    Incidentally, when I was stationed in BRD, I learned that the 9.3x57mm is THE favorite caliber for COMMERCIAL HUNTERS of MOOSE & REINDEER in Scandinavia. = The hunters that "make their living with a rifle way up there" say that the "obsolete" caliber "just works well for their trade".
    (Is your rifle a Model 94 Husky, by chance??)

    Personally, I like the "285 grain" .368 with a 1/4" meplat (flat spot) on the nose in MY rifle & that with my brothers usual homebrew alloy weighs about 292 grains.
    (As to lethality of CB on game, i doubt if the quarry cares that they were quickly/humanely dispatched by a cheap home-cast bullet, made from "junked" x-ray lead shielding & used linotype. = GCCB or PBCB simply work well.)

    When i visit the family's "mountain lair" in WV, Ed & I often "mine" an old/abandoned police shooting range for scrap lead. - The last trip yielded 2 five-gallon buckets full.
    (Between recycled linotype, range scrap & lead shielding, that makes for REALLY cheap "high-power rifle" shooting/hunting.)

    Note: As I've said elsewhere, i do NOT buy 9.3x62mm cases (which are expensive).
    Instead I fire-form the cases (full-length resize) from Lake City M2 Garand brass that I am given by a John C. Garand match shooter, who doesn't reload.
    (My last "haul" was over 1000 cases & carefully reloaded with "less than maximum loads" the cases last at least 5-6 reloadings after fire-forming. = 9.3x62mm is NOT hard on brass cases.)
    Incidentally, as I also have/hunt with a Model 760 in .30-06, I've been often asked if loading both "might be dangerous", as two "06-based" cartridges might get confused.
    (Even in low light, I can tell by "feel" between .30-06 & the old 9.3 Mauser round & the 2 cartridges LOOK quite different, too.)

    yours, satx
     

    TexMex247

    TGT Addict
    Rating - 100%
    19   0   0
    May 11, 2009
    3,369
    96
    Leander(NW Austin)
    I found some Berry's plated 9mm bullets in stock at Graf's. Only 9 CPR and Graf's gives a fair shipping price considering package weight. Not my first choice but they are a decent plinking bullet to run on some steel.

    I know the sns stuff is out there too but I'm done messing around with anything but plated bullets now a days. Always had too much smoke with titegroup. Ocassionally, I still get splashback but nothing I can't deal with.

    I've had some buddies running Tula on my ar500 targets and the bullets have fragmented and drawn blood. Albeit tiny little cuts. Still enough for me to reserve them for paper. I stay 15-20 yards back but still see copper and lead chips as far as 25 yards away.
     

    TexMex247

    TGT Addict
    Rating - 100%
    19   0   0
    May 11, 2009
    3,369
    96
    Leander(NW Austin)
    Oh and a brief update on the spree...

    As of today on GunBroker...

    Almost all 12 and 20 gauge shotguns selling for 1.5-2x their normal retail price.

    Buckshot is scarce and also selling at 1.5-3x retail.

    Glocks selling at $50-300 over normal

    XD s only $50-100 over

    Cz s $50-300 over

    9mm ammo still as high as 70 CPR for ball ammo but averaging closer to 50 CPR.

    Ar's $200-400 above retail and selection drying up. Even worse for Ar 10s.

    The list goes on and on.
     

    V-Tach

    Watching While the Sheep Graze
    Lifetime Member
    Rating - 100%
    7   0   0
    Sep 30, 2012
    8,895
    96
    Texas
    Went to a gun show in Aransas Pass this morning...saw 1 Glock 19 for $799.99......S&W EZ 9mm for $679.99...every SKS had been molested 650+....Mosin 91/30's $499.99.....Blazer brass .45 230 gr. ball $32.00, Blazer 115 gr. ball 9mm for $24.99......did run across a nice little Colt woodsman for $650...but no magazine or box for that price it should at least have a mag. so I passed on it........
     

    Davetex

    TGT Addict
    Rating - 100%
    6   0   0
    Mar 27, 2010
    8,451
    96
    Greers Ferry Lake
    Went to a gun show in Aransas Pass this morning...saw 1 Glock 19 for $799.99......S&W EZ 9mm for $679.99...every SKS had been molested 650+....Mosin 91/30's $499.99.....Blazer brass .45 230 gr. ball $32.00, Blazer 115 gr. ball 9mm for $24.99......did run across a nice little Colt woodsman for $650...but no magazine or box for that price it should at least have a mag. so I passed on it........

    Dang, it's crazy time again. I just picked up a Performance Center 9EZ for 525.

    SW-Performance-Center-MP9-Shield-EZ-9mm-gold-13227-770x513-1-770x513.jpg
     

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    satx78247

    Member, Emeritus
    Emeritus - "Texas Proud"
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Jun 23, 2014
    8,479
    96
    78208
    Went to a gun show in Aransas Pass this morning...saw 1 Glock 19 for $799.99......S&W EZ 9mm for $679.99...every SKS had been molested 650+....Mosin 91/30's $499.99.....Blazer brass .45 230 gr. ball $32.00, Blazer 115 gr. ball 9mm for $24.99......did run across a nice little Colt woodsman for $650...but no magazine or box for that price it should at least have a mag. so I passed on it........

    V-Tach,

    Personally, I would just like for a gun sow to actually happen around SATX.
    (The last 3 have been canceled & I'm told that there MAY be a local show in SEP/OCT.)

    yours, satx
     

    MacZC7

    Well-Known
    BANNED!!!
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Jul 11, 2020
    1,412
    96
    Texas
    I found a thousand rounds on Winchester 556 on Guns America from a private seller in Missouri. There are some stragglers out there you just have to really search. Lots of junk, IMI and green tip!
     
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