Repurposing Bullets

[Headhog]

A while back I was cleaning out under my reloading bench and came across 4 boxes of bullet heads. These were 40 caliber 220 gr bullets I used when shooting USPSA almost 30 year ago. They were outstanding in my SVI 1911 40 S&W for limited class, but I sold that gun after I quit USPSA. There simply is no way to load these up for any factory 40 S&W gun. The LOA will be too long to fit the chamber and or magazines.

So I decided to give these bullets a new life. I bought a Lee 6 cavity 158 gr. RNFP .358" bullet mold and recast the 40 cal. bullets. Today I set-up, in my out building, and began casting. Set up my table near the large garage door, turned on my fan gently blowing the air out the door and turned 1000 40 cal bullets into 1300 158 gr. RNFP. Below are the results of my casting session today.

IMG_2416.jpg (1.85 MiB) Viewed 2502 times

I still have another 1000 rounds of the 40 cal. bullets, that I will recast on another day. I plan to powder coat and size these bullets before loading them up in 357 mag cases.

Paul

[5shot]

Nice looking bullets and in my experience one of Lee's best. They function well in a lever and with the right load are accurate in my .357 rifles and revolvers. With the shallow lube groove the Lee RF is best suited (my opinion) for powder coating.

[BigAl52]

Nice looking boolits Paul. I think you might know what you are doing. Why the 40 melt downs did you get rid of a 40

[Vaquero]

Nice lookin bullets for sure.

RP

[Hatchdog]

Now that’s a recycle/repurpose effort we all can appreciate!

[fortyshooter]

Yep those do look nice!

[Rifletom]

Nicely done Paul. What's the powder going to be?

[Headhog]

Nice looking boolits Paul. I think you might know what you are doing. Why the 40 melt downs did you get rid of a 40

I sold off the only 40 S&W gun I had, that could handle those 220 gr bullets, about 20 years ago. They are just too long to meet SAAMI spec. for a 40 S&W in factory guns like my Glocks. In custom USPSA guns they worked just fine loaded to 1.200". That's .065 over SAAMI spec..

Paul

[Headhog]

Nicely done Paul. What's the powder going to be?

Haven't decided yet. I have a pet 357 mag load using Universal, but I also like Titegroup. Titegroup meters much better and produces more consistent velocity. I will try some test loads with both and see which groups better. I have both powders on the shelf so it's just a matter of loading some up.

Paul

[Rifletom]

Yeah, Universal works well. Any 2400? If not, Universal is the ticket.

[Headhog]

Yeah, Universal works well. Any 2400? If not, Universal is the ticket.

Unfortunately no 2400. Just never used it.

Paul

[Travlin]

I have been casting for over fifty years and that is an outstanding job on those re-cast bullets.