i want to get in to casting ,what do i need?

mooseman1

mooseman1

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way up northern AB
i've reloaded for a few year's ,now i'd like to to make my own bullet's.
So i would like to know if the RCBS melting furnace is way to go or what are my option's and what do i need to set up ?I am a RCBS fan but will use other stuff if it work's better.
 
mooseman1 said:
i've reloaded for a few year's ,now i'd like to to make my own bullet's.
So i would like to know if the RCBS melting furnace is way to go or what are my option's and what do i need to set up ?I am a RCBS fan but will use other stuff if it work's better.
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I use the smaller Lee furnaces just because they are cheaper. Firing up 2 keeps me casting longer before having to stop and refill. Have your alloy clean and keep adding the sprues and more clean alloy slowly during casting to keep the lead flowing.
Maybe when my Lees go south I'll buy the RCBS one.
It looks like a great melting pot.
Get your moulds hot so the lead flows evenly and the edges of your bullets come out crisp and sharp. I rest mine on the molten lead to heat them up with no ill effects. If you do this your bullets will come out perfect within the first half dozen. And have your molds clean and oil free. Slightly smoke the cavities and the bullets will drop easily.
You will need a bullet sizer such as the one Lyman sells to lube and size to proper diameter.
If not you can use the Lee liquid alox which is easy to use and works well with tumble lube bullets.
Oh and read some manuals, they help ssooo much.

Good luck and good shooting!!
 
Furnace??
I've cast thousands using an old propane BBQ burner under an old tuna tin with a coat hanger handle! I bent a tight "V" into the rim and pour directly into the moulds. I don't have to luxury of knowing the temperature, so I simply let the wheelweights get good and hot until the lead flows like water! Red Green, or Redneck? I really don't care- my boolits come properly filled out and I just push them through a cheap Lee sizer, bigger is better! The barrel does the final sizing.
Tumble lubed in an old Becel tub, leave next to an open window for a day and repeat according to application.
Casting your own saves money- which means you'll just shoot a whole lot more. ;)
No reason to buy "Jacketed" bullets ever again..
 
A good place to start is by having a good read of the lyman cast bullet manual and also have a look at this thread for info on lead smelting.

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=472249


Casting your own bullets will save you allot of money and you will shoot allot more.
I like casting my own because i also like to tinker allot with different casting parameters.
Casting can be as easy or as in depth and intricate as you want it to be.
Some casters like to cast bullets that will create 1 to 2 inch groups at 100 from whatever alloy they find and will be satisfied with that.
others will work down to the nitty gritty. They may weigh each bullet and use very specific alloys and try to push the envelope.
I consider myself in the last group of perfecting my lead bullet loads but that’s just me.
If you’re looking for supplies i found that reloaders.ca has a good variety of casting equipment on hand.
 
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phishroy said:
i good place to start is by having a good read of the lyman cast bullet manual and also have a look at this thread for info on lead smelting.

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=472249


Casting your own bullets will save you allot of money and you will shoot allot more.
I like casting my own because i also like to tinker allot with different casting parameters.
Casting can be as easy or as in depth and intricate as you want it to be.
Some casters like to cast bullets that will create 1 to 2 inch groups at 100 from whatever alloy they find and will satisfied with that.
other will work down to the nitty gritty. They may weigh each bullet and use very specific alloys and try to push the envelope.
I consider myself in the last group of perfecting my lead bullet loads but that’s just me.
If you’re looking for supplies i found that reloaders.ca has a good variety of casting equipment on hand.
Click to expand...

And cover up those tender parts like hands and feet, and eyes until you get the feel of things.
Molten alloy burns and leaves rights of passage scars if you are not careful.:)
 
I've had a few electric melting pots over the years. Now I have an RCBS Promelt and it's just the cats meow. I wouldn't have bought it, but I happened to walk into the Buffalo Gun Center when they were selling off the last of their bullet casting stuff. I won't tell you what I paid for it, because you'll cry.

If you're going to be casting a lot, then you might want to go this route right off the bat. Believe me, it'll be the last one you ever buy. If you're just going to be making a few hundred bullets per year, there is no need to drop $500 plus tax on a furnace. I didn't have good luck with the Lee stuff, but I love the remaining 10 lb Lyman pot I have. I still pull it out once in a while to do a little laddle casting for something different.

If you're around the Edmonton area, we could set up a day/time and you could come over and see a few options...the difference between a standard pot and ladle setup vs a bottom pour pot......and you could try your hand at it.
 
blacksmithden said:
I've had a few electric melting pots over the years. Now I have an RCBS Promelt and it's just the cats meow. I wouldn't have bought it, but I happened to walk into the Buffalo Gun Center when they were selling off the last of their bullet casting stuff. I won't tell you what I paid for it, because you'll cry.

If you're going to be casting a lot, then you might want to go this route right off the bat. Believe me, it'll be the last one you ever buy. If you're just going to be making a few hundred bullets per year, there is no need to drop $500 plus tax on a furnace. I didn't have good luck with the Lee stuff, but I love the remaining 10 lb Lyman pot I have. I still pull it out once in a while to do a little laddle casting for something different.

If you're around the Edmonton area, we could set up a day/time and you could come over and see a few options...the difference between a standard pot and ladle setup vs a bottom pour pot......and you could try your hand at it.
Click to expand...
heck now your makin me want to move as i live 9 hour's to the north
 
What calibers are you going to cast for, and for what uses? You can make adequate plinking bullets with very little equipment and effort. If you are looking for super accurate target or hunting bullets a bit more gear and time may be required, but nothing outrageous. It all depends how far you want to take it.
For even more info, this site is dedicated to "The Silver Stream" :

ht tp://castboolits.gunloads.com (remove the space between the t's)

More stuff on casting/loading/shooting boolits there than you'll ever need to know! Good luck and have fun! :D
 
"...a well ventilated place..." Absolutely the most important thing. Next would be a reliable source for lead. Wheel weights aren't always lead any more. Linotype isn't used by printers any more either.
"...a good read of the Lyman cast bullet manual..." Yep. Your local gun shop or Amazon.
 
The How to thread on melting and prepping WW material was great, and the timing could not have been better for me. Thanks for the info blacksmithden.

I got lucky and picked up a good batch of used equipment off the EE, including the RCBS Pro melt pot and a bunch of moulds. The more expensive option, I think, but it works great for me. I've never tried any other brand, but I don't see the need to if or until this one gives up the ghost.Keep an eye peeled for equip in the EE and wherever else.
I think that it may be better to buy the better brand of equip, even if it is used, than to cheap out on something that may last you a lifetime.

Better start gathering lead. Indoor ranges, tire shops, scrap yards. It seems to be on the decline as far as wheelweights go, zinc and iron weights have been a significant portion of the buckets I have smelted. So maybe just gathering as much as possible may be a good idea, as availability decreases and the price increases. Also, on Castboolits, the guys are full of good advice on not only the how to's but specific issues. Lots to learn. Oh, yeah, if you are a garage sale guy be on the look out for pewter googaws and mugs. Cheap source of tin.
 
When smelting lead. I use a mastercraft multimeter (it's one of their top models). You can find it on sale for $30 or less. Buy the temperature prob attachment for $10 and it acts as an excellent temperature gauge.

I once left the multimeter too close to the burner. Side of LED display went totally black. Killed the 1st digit. But since I use it only for smeling, accurate to the nearest 10th is good enough. Thankfully it slowly returned to normal after 15 or so mins. It looked horrible. Phew! Impressive. I thought I melted the LED display.
 
squirrelnuttz said:
The How to thread on melting and prepping WW material was great, and the timing could not have been better for me. Thanks for the info blacksmithden.

I got lucky and picked up a good batch of used equipment off the EE, including the RCBS Pro melt pot and a bunch of moulds. The more expensive option, I think, but it works great for me. I've never tried any other brand, but I don't see the need to if or until this one gives up the ghost.Keep an eye peeled for equip in the EE and wherever else.
I think that it may be better to buy the better brand of equip, even if it is used, than to cheap out on something that may last you a lifetime.

Better start gathering lead. Indoor ranges, tire shops, scrap yards. It seems to be on the decline as far as wheelweights go, zinc and iron weights have been a significant portion of the buckets I have smelted. So maybe just gathering as much as possible may be a good idea, as availability decreases and the price increases. Also, on Castboolits, the guys are full of good advice on not only the how to's but specific issues. Lots to learn. Oh, yeah, if you are a garage sale guy be on the look out for pewter googaws and mugs. Cheap source of tin.
Click to expand...

No problem. After talking to a few people, I got the impression that a lot of them didn't really know what was involved and were a little apprehensive about the first big step. Hopefully I've shown that it's a full days work, but far from technically challenging.......and when you're all done, you've got a LOT of lead to work with.

I started trying to take pictures and video of how to cast, but trying to hold the camera and do it was proving to be too much. Most of the video was jerky junk. I really want to take my time and do a proper thread on it. Once I get a few things out of the way at home, I'll make arrangements with a friend to do the video while I go through the steps.
 
squirrelnuttz said:
The How to thread on melting and prepping WW material was great, and the timing could not have been better for me. Thanks for the info blacksmithden.

I got lucky and picked up a good batch of used equipment off the EE, including the RCBS Pro melt pot and a bunch of moulds. The more expensive option, I think, but it works great for me. I've never tried any other brand, but I don't see the need to if or until this one gives up the ghost.Keep an eye peeled for equip in the EE and wherever else.
I think that it may be better to buy the better brand of equip, even if it is used, than to cheap out on something that may last you a lifetime.

Better start gathering lead. Indoor ranges, tire shops, scrap yards. It seems to be on the decline as far as wheelweights go, zinc and iron weights have been a significant portion of the buckets I have smelted. So maybe just gathering as much as possible may be a good idea, as availability decreases and the price increases. Also, on Castboolits, the guys are full of good advice on not only the how to's but specific issues. Lots to learn. Oh, yeah, if you are a garage sale guy be on the look out for pewter googaws and mugs. Cheap source of tin.
Click to expand...

I have already suggested that, but it didn`t gather much support...The general consensus was that the current forums are enough, and if you want more, then go and check out the castboolits.com site.....
 
john777 said:
When smelting lead. I use a mastercraft multimeter (it's one of their top models). You can find it on sale for $30 or less. Buy the temperature prob attachment for $10 and it acts as an excellent temperature gauge.

I once left the multimeter too close to the burner. Side of LED display went totally black. Killed the 1st digit. But since I use it only for smeling, accurate to the nearest 10th is good enough. Thankfully it slowly returned to normal after 15 or so mins. It looked horrible. Phew! Impressive. I thought I melted the LED display.
Click to expand...
A multimeter?....Please explain....And, is that a Canadian Tire product, or is it Sears?...I`m just starting to get into making some bullets are are difficult to get at the gun stores.....
 
i'm thinking about casting for 450 marlin /45-70 gov and some other larger cal's
buying bullet's is really pricey and there's lot's of WW lead here if i want it,so i figgered why not.
 
mooseman1 said:
i'm thinking about casting for 450 marlin /45-70 gov and some other larger cal's
buying bullet's is really pricey and there's lot's of WW lead here if i want it,so i figgered why not.
Click to expand...

send me a PM and ill gladly help you out wherever i can with regards to casting.
if you live in the GTA area your welcome to come over and try some casting out using my setup.
 
I went to Princess Auto and picked up that single butane burner stove they have. I bought it for $20 but I think they recently had it for $15. I use this for my smelting with a cast iron crucible that's good for about 8 lbs. I try to go for about half full as my ingot mold is 4 x 1lb pieces. Be careful when fluxing as the wax is going to catch on fire, and when it does it starts burning fast.

I would suggest getting one of the Lee testers for testing how hard the lead is once you have smelted it. Clamp 2 pieces of wood together and drill a hole down the middle of the split, ladle a bit of lead into it, let it set and then test the hardness of it. At that point you can add tin or lead to the alloy depending on which way you have to go.

There are lots of posts/videos for the actual casting process but smelting to get your alloy isn't covered as much.
 
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