casting noob

dudley2112

dudley2112

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ok my buddy and i are looking into taking the plunge and trying bullet casting, i have a source for WW but heres my question, i know people sort them then melt them down into big batches and make ingots, is that just to make things easier and expedite the process? or could someone just melt them directly in the little electric melter? or would that lead to too many different mixes of lead and bullet inconsistency ? thanks
 
Paulinski said:
Smelt your ww in a cast iron pot. Then pour ingots.

I would not use your pot to both smelt and cast from it.

Casters gold mine
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What he said. Welcome to the crazy world of boolit casting. You might want to join this forum. Lots of good information there and a lot of experienced casters willing to answer your questions:

www.castboolits.gunloads.com

Take Care

Bob
 
To answer your questions, yes you can melt only a potful of WW but, as you already figured it, this will produce inconsistent bullets from cast to cast.

I bought a stainless steel pot from Thriftstore and a 1000W hot plate ($12 on sale at Canadian Tire) and I'm melting anything from WW to 60lbs lead pigs. Sometimes I speed-up the process with a propane torch.

As for the ingots, I do have an ingot mold but any cone shaped stainless steel or aluminum cup will do. Check your local dollar store for such items.
 
Another benefit of smelting is the fluxing/stirring which frees lots of dross from your pot which floats to the top and you skim it off, you don't want this in your bullets, flux and stir the sides and bottom until it is clean, then pour in ingots.
Don't contaminate your electric pot with any of this mess, all that should go in is clean ingots and alloy material/flux.
 
If you do it as a pot at a time you are going to spend more time cleaning your pot because the nozzle will drip and it is just a royal pain in the arse!
Smelt in big batches if possible then you have a bigger batch that is the same consistancy. Your lead is clean your casting pot stays clean the nozzle doesn't drip and life is a whole bunch better.

Good Luck Ken
 
A buddy and I smelt batchs in an old 20lb propane tank on top of a propane lobster cooker. The old propane tank was purchased at a metal yard with the valve already removed. Cut it open with a mini grinder. As for ingots, muffin tins from Walmart work good. The lee production pot will work but small batchs and a mess will result.
 
What everybody else has said.
One thing a lot of people don't realize is, not all lead wheel weights are created equal. If you grab 100 wheel weights and give them a squeeze with a pair of pliers you'll know what I mean. Some will be a lot softer than others. By doing them in a larger batch and pouring ingots, you get a much better mix. Also, while you're pulling out the clips and other larger debris, a lot of the smaller contaminants will come out with them...sand being one good example.

Only use your casting pot for casting with good, clean lead.

.....and, just in case you didn't notice it.....

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=472249
 
i know this seems a little stupid but here it goes, ive got someone giving me bags and bags of bird shot, would this be decent for bullets or is it too hard? same guy is giving me some little sheets of pure lead too so maybe mix them?

oh and blacksmithden ive read that thanks a million really helpful
 
dudley2112 said:
9mm and 38's, would the lead shot alone be too hard?
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9MM goes at a high pressure and hard boolits work well in the gun. I have used water quenched WW with no leading sized .357. The 38's, if you are loading anywhere near factory - and that is not fast - then you can go down to almost pure lead. In fact I shoot IDPA with my revolver at a PF of 105min. My Ruger leads up just into the rifling with anything but soft lead. I am going to almost pure lead in attempt to eliminate the leading.

FYI boolit hardness when shooting cast boolits is very much dependent on the pressure of the round. .38spl is a low pressure round and boolits need not be cast hard, in fact harder can cause leading at lower velocities as the boolit does not obuterate given the low pressures. Gas cutting occurs and you get leading in the first portion of the rifling.



Take Care

Bob
 
caperbound said:
A buddy and I smelt batchs in an old 20lb propane tank on top of a propane lobster cooker. The old propane tank was purchased at a metal yard with the valve already removed. Cut it open with a mini grinder. As for ingots, muffin tins from Walmart work good. The lee production pot will work but small batchs and a mess will result.
Click to expand...

i do the same ,i just wrap the cooker with tin to keep the heat around the cut off tank ,it melts way faster this way and i use the rcbs melter for casting only.
 
dudley2112 said:
i know this seems a little stupid but here it goes, ive got someone giving me bags and bags of bird shot, would this be decent for bullets or is it too hard? same guy is giving me some little sheets of pure lead too so maybe mix them?

oh and blacksmithden ive read that thanks a million really helpful
Click to expand...

Here's what I'd be doing if I were you before I'd even thinking of melting down that lead shot.

Put an ad in the EE....straight trade...."###" number of pounds of number (whatever size you have) lead shot for clean wheel weight lead ingots. Whoever responds, they either pick up or cover the shipping. That will get you the lead you need, and do somebody else the favour of not having to buy shot at today's insane prices. If you were in Edmonton, I'd be all over that like a dirty shirt.
 
mooseman1 said:
i do the same ,i just wrap the cooker with tin to keep the heat around the cut off tank ,it melts way faster this way and i use the rcbs melter for casting only.
Click to expand...

Don't melt that shot! It's $3.00 per lb here.WW ingots go for a $1 per lb.Someone will take it off your hands in trade, I'd bet.

A 45 gal. drum cut in half (circumference wise) is what I'm using for a wind shield around the old turkey fryer.Scavenged from the dump.No uncleaned lead passes into my electric melter, saves headaches.

Thanks Blacksmithden for that great writeup sticky.Really eliminated some of the first timer's mistakes on the big melt.Lots of info.And Castboolits of course...
 
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