Reeder Custom Guns - First attempt at casting non-lead bullets.

Casting for a Marlin 1895 in hopes of using it with these bullets to get a deer this fall. I'm using Roto Metal's bismuth alloy and the suggested cast temp of 500°. I used Lyman #457192 and #45719 (405gr & 292gr) and ended up with 358gr and 259gr. The bismuth alloy is expensive as are most components these days so I probably won't use this stuff again but it's been fun. [image]

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shooting you will be all set.

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It’s an insane law that needs to be changed, alas it is as now. How is some peckerhead game ranger going to know what it is?! Prove it’s not lead?

Do you have to heat treat it? Puffy gave me some tin bulleted .22 once. Really goo’d my barrel. lol. I aloxed them and that seemed to fix it.

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That's about the only thing a hunter could rely on in the field. I have only met four game wardens in the field in the 47 years I've been hunting in the national forrest so my odds are good that I will not be harassed.

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during waterfowl season. I'm not sure what they do now. Some of those exotic Turkey loads for .410 are like $5-$6 per cartridge! But then again, you are not blasting away with them. It's nothing to see .416 Rigby hunting loads for $10 a pop.

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Carrying the roto metal letter with you would be smart. That game warden is simply doing his or her job so the more you can help them the better. Thank God for them. As North America's model of conservation, the envy of the world, would not have happened without them.

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I’ve cast a bunch of the Rotometals Bismuth Alloy. It is definately different than lead….casts much cooler than I’m used too, and takes a little longer to cool if you don’t want to smear the sprue. I’ve yet to kill anything other than squirrels with it, but they shoot pretty accurate.

MQ1

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the mold & sprue plate. It worked pretty well. Thanks, I'll save some for squirrel work.

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First attempt at casting non-lead bullets.

Pepto bismol bullets. If you get a stomach ache while

Hats off trying to figure a work around

I might carry the non-lead cert that RotoMetal offers.

In AR they used to carry magnets for steel shot...

In the Field

Cast Bismuth

I used a bronze brush in between casts to clean out