Sawman!

[SAWMAN]

I have done some penetration tests with the DT brand of 200gr WFNGC,coming out of 6 inches of bbl.
Nothing oficial,but remember that the bullets basically folded into themselves yet retained their weight.
Some were >.700 and weighed >185grs. My medium was wet phone books and 5gal plastic pails.
The Hornady XTP's are another great bullet for these guns. The heavier,the better. --- SAWMAN

[cynjon]

I've seen some prenetration tests (clay, water, ballistics gel) on Youtube and the pentration of these in a stout 10mm load is impressive.

Quick question on loading the hard cast bullets: I haven't done much loading of lead bullets in handgun cartridges, mostly plated or jacketed. I see the CP bullets don't have any lube in the lube grooves, and the lube in the DT bullets is sketchy and inconsistent at best (maybe 25%). Worth worrying about, or just load and shoot? What's the easiest way to re-lube or lube the grooves?

[SAWMAN]

I used this,applied by just the tip of a Q-Tip. Used just a tiney bit.
Did this help in better seating ?? Seemed to. --- SAWMAN

[JeffreyDeGraff]

All of the cast performance bullets I’ve used are older. They ALL had lube on them. I noticed on their website that they don’t lube any of their bullets anymore. I wonder why they don’t? Do they need lube? Are they leaving the lube off so that you can use your lube of choice on them? Hell I don’t know, but I think I may contact them and see what they have to say.


JTD

[SAWMAN]

Good point. I have plenty of the older bullets also. In 429,452,458,and 500. I have not bought from them since about 2015 or maybe longer.
I would think that with no lube,even the hard lead would easily strek your bbl. I don't cast them,or know much about them,I just shoot them.
BTW . . . I have shot some outstanding groups with these (Cast Performance) bullets. MOA @ 50 a bunch of times with different guns,with scope set at 4X or 7X. --- SAWMAN

[cynjon]

So I did a little more research, and found this on the MidwayUSA description for some CP bullets in a different caliber:

Cast Performance Flat Nose Gas Check bullets are cast from virgin alloy and produced in extremely precise and consistent LBT style molds. Heat-treated to a Brinnel hardness of 18-21, prevents fragmentation on even the toughest hide and bone. Cast Performance Bullets are known to not lead your bore and feature a specialized lube allowing bullets to be shot at high velocities. Load data is included with most of the bullets.
The special lube process used by Cast Performance produces a clear, dry lube, which is barely noticeable on the bullets. This lube is a better tinning agent than any lube previously used on these cast bullets and produces less leading in the barrel. This allows you to spend more time shooting and less time cleaning your gun. The consistency of the lube also creates less mess at the reloading bench.

Also, I found this on another forum:

Cast Performance called today, very nice guy talked for 15 minutes. This proprietary lube is good to load, and shoot without blue lube. In fact it protects the lead for long storage too.
Just FYI. Thanks for the input.

From the feel of the bullets, I'm guessing that this clear lube is a clear powder coat...it feels just like the other powder coated bullets I have. I do have some Imperial lube as well if they don't seem to be seating into the bullet easily. Time to load 'em up, I guess!

[JeffreyDeGraff]

So I did a little more research, and found this on the MidwayUSA description for some CP bullets in a different caliber:

Cast Performance Flat Nose Gas Check bullets are cast from virgin alloy and produced in extremely precise and consistent LBT style molds. Heat-treated to a Brinnel hardness of 18-21, prevents fragmentation on even the toughest hide and bone. Cast Performance Bullets are known to not lead your bore and feature a specialized lube allowing bullets to be shot at high velocities. Load data is included with most of the bullets.
The special lube process used by Cast Performance produces a clear, dry lube, which is barely noticeable on the bullets. This lube is a better tinning agent than any lube previously used on these cast bullets and produces less leading in the barrel. This allows you to spend more time shooting and less time cleaning your gun. The consistency of the lube also creates less mess at the reloading bench.

Also, I found this on another forum:

Cast Performance called today, very nice guy talked for 15 minutes. This proprietary lube is good to load, and shoot without blue lube. In fact it protects the lead for long storage too.
Just FYI. Thanks for the input.

From the feel of the bullets, I'm guessing that this clear lube is a clear powder coat...it feels just like the other powder coated bullets I have. I do have some Imperial lube as well if they don't seem to be seating into the bullet easily. Time to load 'em up, I guess!

Awesome, thanks for that info.


JTD

[cynjon]

Also, it looks like Grizzly Cartridge is where any inquiries into Cast Performance end up...not sure if Grizzly bought CP or if they're just sister companies. On the Grizzly home page, it has a similar comment about the lube:

About our bullets:

• OUR NEW, PROPRIETARY CLEAR LUBE NOW COATS ALL OUR BULLETS.
• Our hunting bullets are cast from LBT style molds.
• Our bullets are cast from virgin alloy and heat-treated to a Brinnel hardness of 18-21. This provides for a hard yet ductile bullet, which will not fragment, or blow-up on the toughest hide or even bone.
• We manufacture both gas checked and plain base for most popular handgun hunting calibers.
• Our bullets do not lead your bore. Our lube has allowed us to shoot our cast bullets in test rifles as fast as 3100 fps.
• Loading data is included with most of our products.

I loaded up a small ladder with each bullet type (DT and CP). Five rounds each in .1 grain increments of Longshot. I'll chrono those and see how they compare to the velocities I get from the Underwood ammo I bought. I will say that the CP bullets were much nicer to work with than the DT bullets because of the clear dry lube. The wax-based lube of the DT was messier. However, if the performance of both bullets is the same, the DTs are about 2/3 the price of the CP. Snowing again here in SD so we'll see what the weekend brings...hopefully I can get out and chrono these.