rde1911

I have been shooting and using Dardas 200 Grain LSW for quite some time. They shoot great in all of my 5 inch 1911's, 4.2 inch 1911 and S&W 625 revolver and my little Springfield Armory XDs. I also use his bullets for 9mm and 38/357 with no problems. I have slugged all of the barrels for these pistols and I do have to buy different diameter bullets to match the guns barrels diameters. That is why I buy my bullets from this vendor. I have purchased bullets from different companies and had problems with the lubrication. One problem was the red lubricant had fallen out of the lubricant ring so there was less than 80% lubrication on the bullets. I had to pick up the lube in the bottom of the box and press the lubricant into the groove. Out of my order of 6,000 bullets there were at least 1000 that I had to do this with. It was a PITA. I never ordered from them again. I had a lube problem from another vendor that is well named on the forums. I criticized his bullets because they were a mess with too much red lubricant making me stop and clean the seating and crimping dies a lot until the 3,000 rounds were made. Once again I never purchased from them again. I will not mention vendor's names. I made that mistake once and I received email and phone calls from him. It was worse than breaking up with my first girl riend.LOL. Good luck. Once you find a vendor and bullet you like. I would stick with them. It is not worth saving a few dollars and having a big headache. Every time I have price shopped in the past it has caused to many problems.

There is good information on this in this post Fix for Shaving Lead BulletsStarted by HOGRIDER, Nov 24 2014 12:17 AM

You are not comparing apples to apples my friend. Our 9124's (505 count) are priced at $31.50 which is $0.0623 per bullet. Matt Dardas Dardas Cast Bullets The comparison of bullet prices was a quote from another member,,not me. I pointed that out to the person said this.

Here is a good post about using a good set up. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=205711

Edit: After reading your post again, I realized that it wasn't a quote from Mr. Dardas, but someone else commenting on the lead shaving issue. I apologize. That person's comment is most certainly the joke, derived from ignorance. Yes that post was from another member in reference to A post I started about the use of different dies to eliminate lead shavings. This was his reply. I have spoken to Matt D. a number of times and he has always been very helpful.

I have had luck with the following bullets in each caliber.\ 9mm =122 grain flat point bevel base. 38/357 .358 ihch double ened wad cutters 45acp= I have to purchase different diameter for different guns after slugging the barrels. .452 LSWC and for my S&W revolver 453LSWC. I have had very good luck with Dardas cast bullets. I have tried many brands over the years and have decided to stay with Dardas bullets becaus of quality and consistancy. For the quality you get they are the best price IMO, Good luck

I posted about this in anther place. Here is some responds to the lead shaving issue. In his replay he was reffering to the very good write up that Matt Dardas wrote about lead shaving and accuracy. This is the reply.. "Yeh, I read the page about not flaring case mouths. What a joke. I would simply switch to a different bullet then. I have had amazing success with Xtreme bullets. The copper plating is very easy to work with and there is minimal copper fouling and absolutely no lead fouling. Just switch bullets and save yourself money and heart ache. In fact, I reviewed the prices on 9mm and here is a price comparison: Darda Lead Cast - 9mm - 124 grain round nose - $12.70 per 100 or, $0.127 per bullet. Xtreme Copper Plated - 9mm - 124 grain round nose - $39.90 per 500 or, $0.08 per bullet. So am confused why anyone would chose Darda."

It looks like these dies will work like the Lymann neck expender M die. Getting these for loading 9mm 45ACP and 38/.357 will make a better bullet. It will save money by increasing the amount of times you can reload the same brass. I have not seen this data on any of the other gun forums I belong to. I was lucky to be on this forum at the right place at the right time to get this valuable information. Thanks so much for the video and time you spent to bring this data to the forum members.

Thanks for the link, This is a great tool eliminate the problem when you are just putting a bell on the bullet cases.

Thank you for the great information. Is there an website that you can provide to make a purchase. Thanks again.

Nevadaziemeister, You compare the price of 100 verses 500. The price is always lower when you purchase a larger quantity. 9mm X-tream plated 124 grain FN bullets verses the Dardas 124 grain FN cast bullets. Dardas cast 9mm bullets cost $73.00/1000 $00.073 / bullet shipped X-treme 9mm plated bullets $107.00/1000 or $00.107/ bullet shipped. Then I compered Lead bullets from each supplier. The price for 1,000 148 grain lead DEWC bullets X-treme cast lead is $84.80 or $00.085/ bullet shipped. Dardas cast lead is 79/1000 or $00.079 bullets Shipped I do not understand your statements, What did you base your recomendations on? "I read the page about not flaring case mouths. What a joke. I would simply switch to a different bullet then" "So am confused why anyone would chose Darda. " I bought the Lymann 2 step die for 38/.357 bullets. I put the 2 step expander die in the Dillon tool head station 4. I put the Lymann seating / crimp die in station 5. I did not have to remove the powder sensor alarm. The Lymann seating die is also a crimp die. I was able to adjust the seating depth and the correct taper crimp I wanted. I know for a revolver you should use a roll crimp. The retention of the DEWC in the bullet case is very strong. That is why I only set it for a taper crimp. At this time I only have the Lymann 2 step expander die set in 38/.357. I am going to purchase another Llymann 2 step die set for 45ACP. The 2 step die does not stretch the bullet casing as much the Dillon powder feed funnel does. This will increase the amount of times you can reload the same brass. Some friends say they almost doubled the amount of times you can load the same brass. At todays brass prices I hope I do get double the amounts of loads. For a test I made 140 Lead 148 grain DEWC. 70 rounds of bullets using the Dillon dies and 70 using the Lymen dies. I shot my 686 Deluxe with a 6 inch barrel, 7 round cylinder with a Matchdot 2 sight. I check and cleaned the barrel as needed. Out of the 70 bullets I shot that were loaded on with the Dillon dies there were five fliers 8 to 9 inches from center. There were no fliers with the 2 step die set. All of the group sizes were 4 inches and less shooting from a bench.

I have had good accuracey with loading the way the 650 is set up. I would worry about not having the powder measure alarm. I was just interested as in in the front of the website I order from has some intereesting information, Read what it says here. https://www.dardascastbullets.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Session_ID=b027ed8860b38d1a3e6de09bfc52e613&Screen=SFNT&Order=0&Store_Code=dardas

I have a Dilon XL 650. I have been loading 9mm, 380, 38/357 and 45ACP. I use Dardas lead cast bullets. It states on his website that you should not flare the case mouth with the powder funnel. It says that even with the correct flare on the brass cases it will damage the lead bullet when seating. This will affect the accuracy of your finished bullets. He state that you should use a Lyman 2 step M Expander Die. I do not see how this will work on a progressive press like the Dillon XL 650. Does the Dillon seating die center the bullet before seating so the bullet does not get damaged? Has anyone seen this and what have you done to ensure that the bullet does not get damaged when seating the bullet. Thanks for any input on this.

Has anyone used the Ultradot Matchdot II for shooting your hanguns? I bought one a few months ago for my 686 6inch S&W 357 mag Revolver. It is great for shooting 25 to 50 and 70 yards. The sight has an adjustable dot so you can make it as small as 2 MOA. At 50 yards the 2MOA dot only covers about a 2.5 inch area. I just purchased another Matchdot II for my 625 45ACP S&W revolver. I will be able to shoot both the 357 and 45ACP out to 70 yards accurately. The Matchdots have made shooting fun again for me as my eyesight was getting worse and I could not see the front and rear sights and target clealy at 25 yards. I am waiting for Smith to ramp up production on the new 929 9mm revolver. I will set that gun up the same way. Revolvers have saved my back from not having to pick up brass cases on the ground and the ultra dots have kept me shooting because of aging eyes. This sport is great for us guys that are getting older. You just have to adjust your equipment to make up for your body falling apart. LOL