casting lead bullets

waderow

waderow

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i am thinking of casting my own lead bullets.

how do I learn how? is it difficult and expensive to get set up?
what kind of quality for bullet weight consistency could a guy expect?
what kind of volume of bullets per hour coudl a guy make?
how do you lube em?

thanks guys,
wade
 
I just started casting this winter. My costs so far have been $95 for a Lee bottom pour pot, a couple different 6 cavity lee molds for $55 or so. My lead is obtained from the local tire shop. One of the molds I bought was to keep him supplied with bullets, pretty fair trade in my estimation. Lee liquid alox is used for tumble lube. It`s just like reloading, you can start for cheap or go whole hog. If you wanted to a set of molds, a coleman stove, an old pot and a ladle would get you going. My .45 230 grain molds throw 232 grains fairly consistently. For volume it all depends on how many cavity molds you have, a single cavity will drive you insane, a six cavity will yield much better. I can get around 200 per hour with a 6 cavity I`m sure someone who knows what they are doing will get way more. Here is a good site for some research:http://castboolits.gunloads.com/

It`s addictive. Wear gloves.
 
Lead vapour is extremely toxic. Here are a few things to take into consideration...

Melting lead in large quantities and casting lead bullets offers more opportunity for lead to enter the body and there are some special lead handling precautions that are particular to lead casting.

Always cast lead bullets outside. Do not contaminate your home or workshop with lead residue which can persist for years and provide a continuous source of exposure to lead.
Before starting to cast lead, cover all work surfaces with heavy duty aluminum foil. At the conclusion of that casting session, gently roll up the aluminum foil with all the lead contaminates and dispose of it properly.
Keep the temperature on the lead pot as low as possible. Lead melts at 621°F. Lead boils at 3180°F, but significant amounts begin to evaporate above 900°F. Any lead vapor quickly forms a very fine lead oxide powder and can be inhaled. If your bullets have a frosty appearance, the lead is hotter than needed. This also causes slower cycle times as you must wait longer for the lead to solidify before dropping it from the mold, and you are more likely to drop the bullet while it's still soft, causing it to deform. If the molten lead doesn't fill the mold at temperatures low enough that the bullets aren't frosted, try adding 1/2% tin to the alloy to lower the surface tension. It's also possible that the lead is contaminated with zinc and must be discarded.
Fluxing is the process of adding a pea sized chunk of flux while stirring the molten lead and skimming off the grayish brown powdery contaminate residue that floats to the surface. This dross contains a large percentage of lead oxides in a fine powder that can be aerosolized and inhaled. Wearing a dust mask is a good idea, but you can limit exposure by keeping your head well away from the dross at all times, not breathing while skimming the dross, and keeping the dross in a glass jar or metal can with a lid.
Position yourself so you are upwind of the casting operation. This allows the wind to carry the lead contaminates away from you instead of carrying them toward you. When designing an outside area for lead casting, keep in mind that in the northern hemisphere the prevailing winds flow from west to east.
After casting lead, it's a good idea to take a shower, being sure to thoroughly wash your hair, and wash your clothes.

Special Precautions For Women and Children

Male reproductive processes are damaged by high serum lead levels, but female reproductive processes are more permanently damaged by exposure to lead.

Children and fetuses are developing, and lead interferes with proper physiological development. Nerve cells are particularly affected by high levels of lead, and most structures of the body rely on nerve cells to function properly. There is no safe level of lead for a child's mental development. Average serum lead levels correlate to lower IQ when compared to children with below average serum lead levels. The less lead, the better.

The human body slowly excretes lead, but it also stores lead in bones. It's possible for serum lead levels to return to normal after a large exposure, and then spike again when the body uses the store of bone calcium to heal a fractured bone or during pregnancy when a developing fetus increases the requirement for calcium. There have been documented cases where a woman was exposed to high levels of lead, recovered, and later had a child with lead poisoning because the prior exposure stored lead in her skeletal system.


more on lead exposure here...
http://www.tacticoolproducts.com/leadsafety/
 
Most of us are using recycled lead wheel weights....which are getting more and more scarce.

I've got about 12 molds, and a top of the line RCBS Pro Melt and a few sizing dies......about $750-$1000 to buy everything now. It can be done for a lot less with a simpler setup. To get casting one size of bullet, you could get started for under $200. Every other type/size of bullet after that is going to be around $30 if you stick with Lee moulds.

Accuracy can easially be as good as factory made bullets, but you can't drive them past 2000fps.

If you want answers to all your questions, a really good source is the Lyman Book of Bullet Casting.
 
PileBuck - Good explanation of something most of us would prefer not to think about.

There are masks which will shield the wearer from both lead dust and lead vapour. Any good safety supply house will sell them. They look kind of dumb, but a lot of us remember when ear protection on the range was considered sissy. They're not that expensive and wearing one beats trying to stay upwind of your cauldron.
 
It's a heck of alot of fun... at first you won't really save any money because of start up costs but after a few hundred it pays for itself and it's a whole other exciting aspect of shooting... just be sure to read a good casting book and join castboolits.com
 
waderow said:
i am thinking of casting my own lead bullets.

how do I learn how? is it difficult and expensive to get set up?
what kind of quality for bullet weight consistency could a guy expect?
what kind of volume of bullets per hour coudl a guy make?
how do you lube em?
Click to expand...

It's really easy to set up, hardest part is goint to be finding enough lead to keep you casting. You really don't need OSHA approval :) Just don't eat and drink at your work station(first rule of cast club),get yourself some dollarama cloth gloves( your going to burn your mitts eventually without them). It's a good idea bout keeping the women and children away( what the heck are they doing in your garage anyway, scoot). Oh, yeah once you become fancy and decide to water drop your boolits keep the water away from your molten lead( bad things happen).

You can cast excellent quality bullets without much effort, you are the quality control, if you don't like what you see toss it back in the pot and try again.

Once I have every thing up to temp and I am in a groove with a 6 cavity mould I can cast up to 1500 bullets an hour or 200/hr with a single cavity. At 1500/hr my main limitation is melting lead fast enough, I would probably need a second pot stewing to keep this production level. With mention of pots, unless you have too much time on your hands get a bottom pour pot don't muck around with ladle and top only access pots.

As far lubing depends on how your going to size your bullets( your going to want to size your bullets if you want any consistency/accuracy) but tumble lubing with lee liquid alox is easiest.
 
A shame to inject a couple of factual notes. Casting bullets comes nowhere near vapourising lead, I've been casting bullets sice the early '60s and my health is fine, thanks. Just don't eat the lead or breath the dust. Ventilation is good, as all kinds of stuff is stuck to old lead.
If cost is an issue, you can melt your lead in a small stainless steel pot on any decent heat source - hot plate, camp stove, etc.
You can lube by hand using any decent machine grease - I use Canadian Tire Moly - or tumble lube or pan lube. They all work just fine.
I like single cavity molds. It's no trick to cast over a hundred bullets an hour unless you're doing someting like 45 - 70, and it saves you segregating the bullets from the different cavities.
Lee's sizing system works well.
Big dadyeo has it very close to right. Just now, I'd fight shy of Lee's molds. The last few I've seen (double cavity) have been troublesome to use.
You can learn from the Lyman reloading manual, Veral Smith's book ( he makes LBT bullet molds) or get someone to show you the basics.
Best of luck.
Grouch
 
interesting... going to talk to the local tire shops... I dont think I will be able to scrounge enough, so I may look at buying lead... does it become not cost effective to buy lead?
 
blacksmithden said:
Accuracy can easially be as good as factory made bullets, but you can't drive them past 2000fps.
Click to expand...


??? Ever heard of paper patching? Even without paper patching, a properly fitted, lubed and gas checked bullet can be safely driven well past the 2000 fps mark.
 
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I have been casting for 2 years and now have 25 molds of different calibers.
20 lb bottom pour lead melting pot is the way to go. I can cast 600 125 grain 9mm bullets an hour(6 cavity), 400 200 grain 45acp bullets an hour(6 cavity). 100 500 grain 45/70 bullets an hour(2 cavity). I water quench all my bullets except for the 45/70. That means I have a 5 gallon bucket on the floor beside me while I'm casting and I open the mold over the bucket and pry out the bullets with the welding gloves that I wear while casting, right into the bucket. Quenching makes them harder.
I use sawdust as a fluxing agent and candle wax. I have a roll of 95% tin on hand if the mold isn't filling out, I just add a 12" piece of the tin for crisper edges on the bullet. I bought a mold that was covered in dry graphite and it works slick, so now I'm looking for more dry graphite. It's cool to get your cost of a box of 9mm down to $2.40 a box of 50.
Read all you can about casting bullets.
 
tigrr said:
I have been casting for 2 years and now have 25 molds of different calibers.
20 lb bottom pour lead melting pot is the way to go. I can cast 600 125 grain 9mm bullets an hour(6 cavity), 400 200 grain 45acp bullets an hour(6 cavity). 100 500 grain 45/70 bullets an hour(2 cavity). I water quench all my bullets except for the 45/70. That means I have a 5 gallon bucket on the floor beside me while I'm casting and I open the mold over the bucket and pry out the bullets with the welding gloves that I wear while casting, right into the bucket. Quenching makes them harder.
I use sawdust as a fluxing agent and candle wax. I have a roll of 95% tin on hand if the mold isn't filling out, I just add a 12" piece of the tin for crisper edges on the bullet. I bought a mold that was covered in dry graphite and it works slick, so now I'm looking for more dry graphite. It's cool to get your cost of a box of 9mm down to $2.40 a box of 50.
Read all you can about casting bullets.
Click to expand...

what did you read? for only 2 years, you seem to have a handle on it
 
First read was out of the Richard Lee Modern Reloading. That got me started and the lack of available bullets. Then I went and bought the Lyman cast bullet handbook. I did a fair amount of fishing sinker casting, before I started bullet casting.
I do all my casting outside and I stand beside my casting set up not upwind. Upwind the fumes curl back towards you. Old welders know these things.
Keep your mold hot and the pivots and pins lubed and have fun.
 
I wouldn't worry about lead poisoning, I have casted for years and shot lead bullets in an indoor range for years during which I was tested for heavy metals in my blood for work and nothing ever showed up. Just don't eat and cast and wash your hands after handling bullets and you will be fine.
The Lee bottom pour pot is a great way to start as it is very good for the money spent, but from personal experience forget the Lee moulds, they are garbage. In my opinion, the best moulds for the money are Lyman, I have Lee, Saeco, RCBS, Lyman, Mountain Molds and LBT moulds. All the others I listed except Lee are very good but more expensive than Lyman.
 
Once you get going it's not that hard....a buddy got me into casting and after an afternoon of him babysitting me, I'm an old pro now.;) Well, maybe not quite a pro but I sort of know what I'm doing....just have to figure out all the voodoo.

I also believe the lead poisoning risk is over blown. Respect it rather than fear it and you'll be okay. Smelting is nasty while casting is not(except while fluxing). Wear eye protection, gloves, pants:eek:, don't breathe any smoke, and don't get water in your mix.
 
I have no problem getting lead from the local tire shops or from old fishing sinkers from fisherman. I have a much harder time getting tin to add to my mix. Anybody know of good source for tin?

I usually melt down the wheel weight over a camp stove in a cast iron pot, remove the clips and flux the metal, and then pour into ignots. Then doing my casting in a Lee bottom pour pot.

What are the opinions on the Lyman sizing press? Are guys using it? Is it worth the money? It adds about another $50 per bullet with the required dies.
 
This topic comes up fairly often. It is a good one to review as often as a new caster asks. Before I was into casting, I was under the impression that it was a major production, heating, moulds, sizing, etc. That is, until I read Dean Grennell's article on Tumble Lube bullets. I think he must have heard that I was interested in doing some casting, because he easily convinced me that I would be capable. I have all Lee moulds, three bottom pour pots, a 20 lb and two 10 lb. I have fired a nasty pile of tumble lube .38's and 9mm's. I have also poured and shot off great numbers of rifle bullets of various weights and calibers.

As often as not, the first bullets out of my 6-cavity Tumble Lube moulds are keepers. I am not into Olympic class shooting, so they need not be perfect. I have actually sized Tumble Lube bullets to see if they performed any better/different, but can't remember if there was any difference.:confused:

Give it a whirl. It doesn't have to be a world class pouring operation. As above posters have already said, use common sense when casting. I won't elaborate on some of the places I've casted......

Google Cast Boolits :p
 
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