Thanks guys. I have a LOT of lead inherited from an in-law who cast his own bullets a long time ago. It's mostly Lyman ingots with no indication of hardness. I probably have 100#.

We worked a deal with a fellow who casts bullets to cast .38 special wadcutters and .45 cap round nose. What I had read about casting for rifles was that the chamber pressures and velocity contributed to partial melting of the base and deformation of the surfaces contacting the rifling.

I did see mention of brass gas check, but that's when I stopped reading. Drago, can you give me some details?

Thanks guys.

Oh btw, I bought fifty rnds of Nosler ballistic silvertips. Petzal liked them in a review and I generally like his reviews. Unfortunately, I did not keep up with cases and so, have several hundred fired .270 win cases of mixed origin. Back in my ancient days that wasn't a factor but I guess reloading standards have improved so much that it is now a source of error. Oh well. Maybe I'll buy a few hundred unfired cases.