casting for 9mm

The lyman 61 seems to be in better shape and a more heavier duty unit.
 

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I cleaned the Lyman as best as possible with what I have on hand and dropped one old cast bullet in to see how long before it melted. Took a little while to heat up but once heat and I dropped the bullet in it melted pretty quickly. The drain hole seems to be plugged so will it open up once hot lead was sitting on top of the plug? Also the thermostat dial seems to spin free so I may have to see about adjusting it up so it registers better with the marked degrees on the faceplate.
 

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Well out of the two I think the Lyman is the unit I will start with and maybe see if in the meantime I can order a new coil for the Lee. The Lee is an older Model and doesn't look like the current one on the Higginsons website in fact I don't see any markings on this one at all to indicate what version it might be. Guess I'll have to call to see if they have a replacement heating coil. Probably no difference in the newer one and this old one. Pretty basic so can't really anticipate a design change for such a part.
 
So once the bullet is cast, is sizing the next step? If so what will I need to order from the Higginsons site. Seems there's quite of bit of things there that make it seem a little confusing. Sizing dies/ kits/lube/ etc. I'd like to place one order for everything I might need at one time so any help with a list of part numbers would be awesome.
 
yomomma said:
Spend the weekend going over this.

Its very in depth, but will give you a solid base

http://www.lasc.us/fryxell_book_contents.htm
Click to expand...

Thanks so much. I started to read this yesterday and got to the 3rd chapter and will definitely get to the rest of it as soon as I can for sure. I was just hoping to be able to order the things ( sizing dies, or kit ? ) I need today all one shot, to paid only once for shipping but no big deal. I can order the mold for now anyway to get started and order the rest when I figure it out. Thanks again.

GT.
 
This is the confusing part I'm referring to. Not sure what the " kit" comes with and what I need beside that. I also have that little Breech lock press already, as well as the Classic Turret.
 

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Your Lee pot may be as old as 45 yrs or more. I have one that I started using in 1975 and it was not new then. The thing with these pots that differ from the new versions is that the pour spout is a very hard material that wont drill and has a dog leg in it for some reason so if the spout becomes clogged with hard crud, it cant be opened up again. Mine is plugged off and I removed all the pour mechanism and just use it for ladle pouring or as a pre-melter for the new spout pour pot I have. I also use it for re-melting any powder coated slugs that I want to re-melt so I dont have crud in the new pot. All of the melt from this old pot gets thoroughly fluxed before moving to the new pot.

I have no experience with the Lyman pot but would strongly suggest making sure the pour spout will un-freeze before throwing in a full load of lead. while you have the pour rod out of the machine I also recommend giving it a spin on a bench grinder wire wheel or pinching a bit of emory cloth over the pointy end and spining it with a hand drill...you don't want any old crud on it or in the needle valve seat to allow a leak of any kind...small drip leaks can all of a sudden become serious flows that can cause burns or bench fires if using a wood bench.
 
Skip the two cavity molds, sure, they’re good but slow & once you get into a rhythm, you’ll get better production with the 6 cavity molds.
The LEE 125 RN & the 120 TC bullet molds are true performers. Order the 6 cavity ones. Buy your bullet sizer at the same time. I use the .357 sizer for 9mm instead of the .356 mostly to get a snugger barrel fit, plus some 9mm OEM barrels seem to be .356 instead of .355.

Consider powder coating your bullets instead of traditional lube. You can use softer lead casts around 8-10 BHN…….
 
one small but important item on your agenda would be to measure the bore of the gun(s)
it is called slugging as in pushing a slug of soft lead through it and measure it with a micrometer
cast bullets need to be slightly larger in diameter than the bore

my 9mm are all 0.357" or larger therefore a 0.356 bullet is not a good fit.
 
hatman1793 said:
Skip the two cavity molds, sure, they’re good but slow & once you get into a rhythm, you’ll get better production with the 6 cavity molds.
The LEE 125 RN & the 120 TC bullet molds are true performers. Order the 6 cavity ones. Buy your bullet sizer at the same time. I use the .357 sizer for 9mm instead of the .356 mostly to get a snugger barrel fit, plus some 9mm OEM barrels seem to be .356 instead of .355.

Consider powder coating your bullets instead of traditional lube. You can use softer lead casts around 8-10 BHN…….
Click to expand...


So to be clear ..do I need the Classic bullet sizing kit PLUS the bullet sizer and punch and the breech lock bullet sizing kit? This is where I'm confused. Sorry.
 
fingers284 said:
Your Lee pot may be as old as 45 yrs or more. I have one that I started using in 1975 and it was not new then. The thing with these pots that differ from the new versions is that the pour spout is a very hard material that wont drill and has a dog leg in it for some reason so if the spout becomes clogged with hard crud, it cant be opened up again. Mine is plugged off and I removed all the pour mechanism and just use it for ladle pouring or as a pre-melter for the new spout pour pot I have. I also use it for re-melting any powder coated slugs that I want to re-melt so I dont have crud in the new pot. All of the melt from this old pot gets thoroughly fluxed before moving to the new pot.

I have no experience with the Lyman pot but would strongly suggest making sure the pour spout will un-freeze before throwing in a full load of lead. while you have the pour rod out of the machine I also recommend giving it a spin on a bench grinder wire wheel or pinching a bit of emory cloth over the pointy end and spining it with a hand drill...you don't want any old crud on it or in the needle valve seat to allow a leak of any kind...small drip leaks can all of a sudden become serious flows that can cause burns or bench fires if using a wood bench.
Click to expand...

I removed the base and used a small proper size drill bit to drill the hole out from the bottom to be sure it wasn't unblockable.
 

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dearslayer said:
So to be clear ..do I need the Classic bullet sizing kit PLUS the bullet sizer and punch and the breech lock bullet sizing kit? This is where I'm confused. Sorry.
Click to expand...

If the press you are using has a 7/8-14 thread pattern, then all you need to do is buy the Classic Bullet Sizing Kit along with the lube...

Press should be a single stage

The nice thing nowadaus with powder coating is that it can be used instead of lube and adding an extra thou or two to the bullet diameter.


I did a basic overview video a while ago

 
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