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I was hoping for more midrange loading info. on several of the newer powders. I just bought a new S&W 69 5 shot 44 mag. built on the L frame. My plan is to load 240 gr. cast bullets in the 850 to 900 fps range. My loads with jacketed and plated bullets in the 185 to 240 gr range work fine but when I try cast bullets I'm getting leading in the barrel even with gas checks the best and cleanest load so far is with a mild charge of univ. clays @ 835 fps . I will figure this out the book has loads of good info. on alloys and casting. I found the answer to my problem I have started using Hi Tek bullet coating and leading has stopped it's a bake on coating for cast lead bullets. You just cast, coat, size and load with no need to lube.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Despite its title, this is not a handbook about cast bullets. It is first and foremost a handbook about Lyman reloading products. Second, it is a long list of popular pistol and rifle rounds as cast in lead. Beyond that it is a random assortment of poorly structured and brief, incomplete descriptions of elements of lead bullet casting. Some specific criticisms: 1) It has few European cartridges and no (British, German, Swedish, Austrian, French) Black Powder Express calibers. 2) Nothing about paper patching, which has seen a resurgence because it works very well, and a lot of, if not most 1870s-1890s black powder guns shot paper patch cast lead bullets. 3) Unbelievably lame and incomplete lead alloy list, missing critical field characteristics. I was expecting some discussion of the relative merits of 50:1, 40:1, 30:1, 20:1, 16:1, and 12:1, and perhaps a discussion of their different purposes i.e. thin skinned or thick skinned game, at what ranges, their hardness and weight out of the same mould relative to one another, etc. There are some lead alloys that are predominant or most popular (40:1, 20:1, 16:1), because they are very practical, and there is zero recognition of this here. Instead the authors treat us to their own narrow interest in very hard Linotype. 3) Lots of wasted pages and space on scientific nonsense about melting lead. I have a graduate degree in statistics and economics and a lot of interest in this subject, and I still fell asleep after the first paragraph about the physics of melting lead. This section is unreadable, as well as pointless and useless for practical lead casters. 4) Very little written about mould types or materials i.e. relative merits of bronze vs. brass vs. iron vs steel, or should we use the antique moulds or have new ones made, or how to care for moulds. This is a huge subject as more and more mould makers have come on line all over America and Canada to meet the strong demand for custom moulds, each offering their own preference of mould material. 5) Nothing about the Ideal tool, which is also becoming popular, i.e. how do you properly store and travel with your paper patched bullets, so you can load them on-site? 6) It is pre-Internet, although an Appendix is roughly tacked on promoting certain Lyman wares and suppliers available on the Web. 7) Finally, adding insult to injury, the cover contradicts the text. The primary author describes how he ladle - pours with the spout right in the mould pour-hole. Yet the cover shows a dramatic looking stream of molten lead leaving the ladle and landing in the mould some distance below. And that right there summed it up for me: The cover shows one thing, the text describes another. What we have here are some self-satisfied old gun guys from the Jurassic Age of black powder shooting, kind of casually telling us how they do it in a folksy way. I am frustrated and disappointed by this book, and so I rank it at the very bottom of reloading books. I have quite a shooting library. And yes, I have been been shooting black powder since I was a kid, so I know of which I speak. I regret buying this book. You can get much better, more useful, more accurate, more up-to-date information from the guys hanging out at various web pages than you will get from this book. How sad.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
I was looking for a manual specific to loading lead cast bullets and this book certainly meets that goal. It contains an extensive amount of loading data for most common calibers, and also a good section on casting for the novice or experienced bullet caster. Buy this book, you won't be disappointed!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
This Lyman Cast Bullet Reloading Manual is nicely written, and it is very helpful, as for information on reloading cast bullets, but the only negative I have with this manual is that it does not cover "Newer Hardcast Lead Bullets", and the load data for them as used for "Hunting". But it still is a good manual to have, but it is an older book, and does not have the most current data for the newer "Hardcast Bullets", and the powder data to reload them to current faster 1400 to 1500 FPS velocities for handguns, and faster for rifles, but "It's still a good buy" for the older milder harness cast lead bullets, example average bullet fps loads, and "Cowboy" bullet loads etc..
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
I've been casting and reloading lead bullets for years using the Lyman 3rd edition Cast Bullet Handbook. Since I have many molds that are not Lyman molds I got this 4th edition book because it has data for non-Lyman molds. I was sadly disappointed. The data is minimal at best, very few bullet options for each caliber and although it has additional calibers it also left out far more calibers than it added. The 3rd edition is a MUCH better manual, but it's better than nothing!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
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