Henry Rifle Forums

I had been looking somewhat sporadically for cast bullets sized at .432 for my Big Boy in .44 mag. I had slugged the barrel and measured the groove diameter of the barrel at .431 and one of the tech reps at Henry confirmed that is what the specs are for my Big Boy. So, I figured .432 bullets would be a perfect size. However, the only ones I found sized at that diameter were from companies like Beartooth Bullets. They produce probably the best cast bullets from what I have read (can't confirm personally as I haven't tried them). But, at $27 and up for 100 bullets, they are too expensive for me to plink with.

A couple of months ago, I decided to search again and found Penn Bullets. They will size some of their bullets at .432. I called and spoke to Bob Palermo, the owner, and ordered 2000 of the 200 gr RNFP Premium Grade. According to him it has a hardness of 20+ BHN. They also cast the same bullet in their Cowboy Action Alloy, but only size in .429 & .430. Both are the same price at $48 per 500 or $90 per 1000. I ordered them on Feb 15 and received them this last Monday. I knew when I ordered it was going to take a while. Don't order expecting the bullets to already be on the shelf ready for shipment.

I loaded up 100 of them at my favorite powder charge for a 200 gr RNFP plated bullet from X-treme Bullets. I use 7.2 gr of Red Dot, Starline brass and WLP primers. That has been a very accurate load, more accurate than I can tell by using open sights. Hitting clay pigeons at 100 yards is pretty easy off of a bench. According to load data I have from Lasercast, the velocity with a 200 gr cast bullet is about 1250fps out of a 20" barrel. Probably a little slower with the plated.

I shot 82 of them out of my Big Boy and the other 18 out of my Bisley Super Blackhawk. I am really pleased with the results. Seems to be about as accurate as the plated bullets in both the Big Boy and the Bisley. If I had to say which is more accurate, I would say the plated are by a fraction but it could be my shooting. Point of impact seems to be exactly the same or too close for me to tell. I shot them out of the Big Boy at 50 & 100 yards at my steel gong, mostly adjusting the sights and playing with sight picture to see if I could set it up to hit at both distances without changing adjusting the rear sight elevator. I think I have it set now to shoot anywhere from 7 to 100 yards by slightly adjusting my sight picture.

I cleaned the Big Boy this morning and I can't see any signs of leading. I was having a fair bit using Lasercast bullets sized at .431 and a similar powder charge. The lube seems excellent on these, and I don't see any in the first box that I opened with missing lube or partially removed from shipping.

So far I am really happy with them. I'll continue to use the plated at the indoor range to reduce airborne lead and of course no smoke from lube and primarily use the cast at the outdoor range. If I get a chance to go hog hunting, I'll use cast for that as well.

info appreciated .... looking forward to your continued reports

I got 4,000 Penn bullets years ago . I used most of Penn bullet for fishing sinkers . They were poorly cast and leaded up in all my guns . I called them up and they told me a 100 things I was doing wrong and how great there bullets were . . I purchased cast bullets from 5 other companies and still have never had a leading problem with there bullets . I tried to send Penn's bullets back for a refund and they said NO .

tx gunrunner wrote:I got 4,000 Penn bullets years ago . I used most of Penn bullet for fishing sinkers . They were poorly cast and leaded up in all my guns . I called them up and they told me a 100 things I was doing wrong and how great there bullets were . . I purchased cast bullets from 5 other companies and still have never had a leading problem with there bullets . I tried to send Penn's bullets back for a refund and they said NO .

I did some research before calling them and ordering. Seems they had some issues a few years back, can't remember how many years ago. One of the issues was the lube. The lube has been changed and appears to be excellent in my lot. From what I could find everyone in the past few years has been very happy with them except for one guy who didn't like the wait time. As clean as my barrel looked to me these will work great. Of course, if I could get other casters to size them at .432 I think I would find all of them to work quite well.

The lube wasn't the only problem I had with there bullets . They were poorly cast and sized [ can't find pic ] and his NO REFUND . I normally cast my own bullets but I was doing the cowboy action shoots and all my time was in practice and reloading about 2000 rds a month . Telling me it not there bullets it's my reloading them . That pissed me off . I've been shooting , reloading and casting bullets since 1968 . My normal casting company was back order on my bullets . I'm sure there bullet are better now . They couldn't get worse

How long ago did you order from him?

DAVIDF wrote:How long ago did you order from him?

Maybe 8 to 10 yrs ago .

There were some negative postings about them during that time frame or so as I remember.

These are not as smooth or without perfections as some I have from Lasercast. But, the lube is very consistent. Much better in that regard than the Lasercast and they are sized consistently. I'll see how they are as I get to the bottom of the boxes. So far, much less leading than the Lasercast in both my Ruger Bisley and Henry. However, not a lot of rounds thru the Bisley yet.

I normally shoot only cast bullets and I keep them below 1000 FPS so leading is not a problem . All my cowboy loads are around 750 FPS and never lead up . I get my bullets made from a Tx caster now at my LGS . The last 10,000 rounds of them have been perfect .

I ordered some from Penn Bullets for a 475 Linebaugh Freedom arms gun I bought a couple of years ago. It took forever to get them and I call the man and told him to cancel the order. He said he had just got them done and was shipping them out. So I went ahead and took them.. The quality of them is poor and there are some in the box that are poorly cast as well. I wont order anymore and his customer service was poor. Al

tx gunrunner,

Those cast bullets work extremely well in your Lone Wolf barrel. My Glock/Lone Wolf barrels are dirtier than that with less rounds of plated/jacket. I wish my local stores carried hard cast at a reasonable price. The only one I have been to that had any was extremely over priced in everything that they carried.

I am running these Penn Bullets at about 1200 - 1250 fps out of the rifle and about 1000 fps out of the revolver according to load data and chronograph testing from a couple of sources. The barrel from the rifle looked really clean after 82 rounds like it does with my plated loads. Extremely clean toward the end of the barrel. Next time I'll be shooting more out of both the rifle and revolver and see how they are after. I think the main thing is that I finally have cast bullets with the proper sizing.

BigAl,

Sorry to hear about your poor experience with him. I would not order from him unless I can wait quite a while. If these continue to work as they seem, then I'll order more with a really long lead time, maybe just before I use up the first of two boxes I have of a thousand. He has an interesting bullet for hunting with a bore riding meplat. I may buy a small batch from him but only if I have great results with this current lot.

I only shoot cast bullet out of the Lone Wolf and NEVER shoot jackets or plated bullets out of it . I shoot plated or jacket out the Glock barrel and NEVER shoot cast bullets in the Glock barrel . I NEVER shoot cast and jacket or plated bullet in same barrel . If you don't know why I'm not going to tell you .

I know why (or at least I think I do ), but haven't noticed that I get more leading with a barrel that has seen a lot of plated or jacketed use. Actually seems the opposite.

DAVIDF wrote:I know why (or at least I think I do ), but haven't noticed that I get more leading with a barrel that has seen a lot of plated or jacketed use. Actually seems the opposite.

Copper fouling is amost impossable to get out bore and lead sticks to copper . If your not getting leading and your happy with the accuracy please continue . I get ZERO leading in all my gun and never need a brush to clean my bores . In 18 yrs of shoot cowboy action stuff only a wet patch and 2 dry patches normally clean it 100% , only the forcing cone needs special cleaning . The plastic wad in the shotgun drive me up a wall . I use a Tornado brush to clean it . I sold everything except the 38 special guns and custom 44-40 pistol I built . I shot the 44-40 gun for 16 yrs in SASS/CAS matches

So far, less leading than I have seen in any of my other loads or other firearms. I am very happy with these cast bullets so far, and will continue to shoot cast, jacketed, and plated out of the same barrels. At least in my Rugers and Henry's. Again, it probably has very little to do with whether the barrel has been used with jacketed or plated, but that I finally have cast bullets properly sized for the barrel.

You should starting cast your own bullets like I did for years . Below is some of my casting stuff I sold after casting for over 40 years .

yes, if I had time. I am only hand loading for my .44's, I need to start for some of my others first. Particularly the 10mm's. I have dies, need some shell holders and I need to sort thru my brass to see how much I have.

Quick update after testing the Penn bullets yesterday out of my Big Boy and Super Black Hawk. I tested four different powder charges, all with Red Dot and settled on my original of 7.2 gr. I got slightly better accuracy than my very good plated load out of the rifle, nothing great due to high cross winds. But, still better than the plated load which has given me groups as small as just over an inch at 100 yards. Excellent results from the revolver at closer range and less cross winds effect of course.

No indications of any leading after 90 rounds thru each, barrels are just as clean as after shooting the plated loads. I'll be ordering more from them right away.