Casting questions

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mmcintyre1220

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I will be starting to cast my own slugs/buckshot this week. I am going to start by melting down all the scrap lead i have and casting it into ingots. My questing is how long will it take for the lee ingot mold to cool enough for me to knock the lead out and refill it? Also when i fill the molds how lobg should i wait to open them?
 
If your mold is too cool, the slugs will show wrinkles.
Too hot?, they get frosty.
Just right ... they are shiney with well filled out sharp edges on the base and the lube and crimp grooves.
You will find the right cadence by watching each cycles bullet appearance.
Running two molds gives about the right cooling time to go at it steady.
I rest the mold block on a stainless pans edge while going back and forth.
Best to degrease and preheat the mold.
I like to keep the lead pot quite hot, seems to improve consistency.
 
for making ingots for your melting pot, simply melt them into a cupcake tin. i got 2 of them for 50 cents from a salvation army style place.

i pour them in the cupcake molds, wait about 10 minutes. then dump them onto the floor/patio slab. then pour water on them, just to cool them quicker.

you'll get a good idea on how long it takes to wait and such fairly quickly. same with using molds.
 
blaser.306 said:
You do realise that you will need pure lead for your slugs and clip on WW for your buckshot right?
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I have about 5,000 lb of reclaimed lead from skeet field and handgun ranges ( no not for sale) . I think it will work great for slugs and buckshot. Its for target shooting and yotes. I am just starting to cast so any info is good, why do you say i have to use pure lead for slugs and ww for buckshot?
 
You may want to trade some of that reclaimed birdshot lead (hard) to someone for some pure or close to pure lead (soft) for your slugs if you want to shoot them through choked barrels. Usually softer lead is used for slugs, and harder lead like your reclaimed shot would work great for buckshot. On the other hand it may work great in your gun as is.
 
I've run Lee keydrive slugs cast from wheel weights and water dropped for extra hardness through cylinder bore, improved cylinder, skeet, and modified with zero issues. No leading in the choke, no point of impact change, nothing.

Accidentally shot one through a full choke once (was trap shooting and forgot to switch) and it was about a foot or so off from point of aim at 25 yards. I don't recommend doing it on a regular basis.

I shoot Lee key drive slugs through my single shot H&R pardner with fixed modified choke often and have never had any issues what so ever. Same with my 870's.

I'm pushing them to 1500-1600fps with heavy loads of Bluedot. Recoil is heavy but I've also developed some light recoil plinking loads using the data provided by Lee with the mould.

I can't get them to group under 18" at 50 yards through a rifled barrel though. I think the rifling is cutting off the pedals or something. One to three pedals are missing from recovered wads. Smooth bores are pretty good though, pretty much factory foster slug accuracy.

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I wait until the puddle left on the sprue plate is frosted over before I knock it off and drop right away. After a few seconds it gets lightly frosted but 10+ seconds later its heavily frosted looking and that's when I know it's ready. If the shot/slug comes out frosted as well I reduce heat. If it doesn't fill completely (the Lee buckshot mould is bad for this) I heat it up some more. On my Lee 4lbs pot I am usually around heat setting 5-6 in the summer and casting outside in the winter I am sometimes running it at 7-8 to get good results.
 
Perfect thanks to everyone for the advice. I am hoping to be atleast casting some ingots this week and if my molds show up hopefully start making some projectiles.

I have read the some people toss a chunk of wax into the lead for flux, some say its useless some say it works. Should i flux or not?
 
I've heard of sawdust being used as flux. Dunno if it's bunk or not. It's supposed to attract the impurities, so that it's easier to skim-off the burnt sawdust than chasing little bits of whatever.
 
mmcintyre1220 said:
Perfect thanks to everyone for the advice. I am hoping to be atleast casting some ingots this week and if my molds show up hopefully start making some projectiles.

I have read the some people toss a chunk of wax into the lead for flux, some say its useless some say it works. Should i flux or not?
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Fluxing keeps your mix well mixed, and floats all the dross, oxidation, and dirt to the surface where it is easily skimmed off. Stir well and scrape the pot's sides and bottom.
Sawdust works well as a flux, and smells pretty woodsy too.

Get those zinks seperated out before you start smelting your raw WW's.
I wrecked my 1'st pot full by getting the lead way too hot, ruined the batch with zink contamination. It doesn't take much.
If you heat more slowly to a lesser temp., there will be plenty of chance to skim those floating zinks off.

Have at 'er:)
 
Correct flux will help a good deal, I used t candles. Have a torch or long matches or better yet strike anywhere matches and once the smoke show starts drop a match in the pot. Fire will reduce all the smoke.

Its better to start with a clean melting pot but scrap the sides as much as you can.

What is your melting setup like?
 
Spawn-Inc said:
for making ingots for your melting pot, simply melt them into a cupcake tin. i got 2 of them for 50 cents from a salvation army style place.

i pour them in the cupcake molds, wait about 10 minutes. then dump them onto the floor/patio slab. then pour water on them, just to cool them quicker.

you'll get a good idea on how long it takes to wait and such fairly quickly. same with using molds.
Click to expand...

I have found that mini-muffin pans work a little better than full size because the ingots from them are smaller & don't take as long to melt in the casting pot. I estimate they weigh about 1/2 pound each.
 
Spawn-Inc said:
Correct flux will help a good deal, I used candles. Have a torch or long matches or better yet strike anywhere matches and once the smoke show starts drop a match in the pot. Fire will reduce all the smoke.
Click to expand...

For flux I use paraffin wax blocks (basically the same as candles) that you can buy from Home Hardware & just chip off pea size pieces & use as required. Buy a butane BAR-B-QUE lighter at any dollar store. Instant light so it's less aggravation than trying to strike a match.
 
ted_dent said:
I have found that mini-muffin pans work a little better than full size because the ingots from them are smaller & don't take as long to melt in the casting pot. I estimate they weigh about 1/2 pound each.
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the average weight of the cupcake tins i had made 2-3lb ingots. took maybe 10 minutes to set enough to get out.
i also have a mini cornbread one that makes 4-5lb ingots. took maybe 15 minutes or so.

though i haven't seen or even thought about that, dammit.

ted_dent said:
For flux I use paraffin wax blocks (basically the same as candles) that you can buy from Home Hardware & just chip off pea size pieces & use as required. Buy a butane BAR-B-QUE lighter at any dollar store. Instant light so it's less aggravation than trying to strike a match.
Click to expand...

i use a lighter as well, but it occurred to me that if you just drop in a couple of matches into the lead they should ignite right away as well add a bit of wooden flux.
 
Spawn-Inc said:
i use a lighter as well, but it occurred to me that if you just drop in a couple of matches into the lead they should ignite right away as well add a bit of wooden flux.
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So long as the matches are dropped on the surface they will ignite no problem. If they are under the surface before igniting they can bubble and splatter the lead. I have a burn on my thumb from this :(
 
LUTNIT said:
So long as the matches are dropped on the surface they will ignite no problem. If they are under the surface before igniting they can bubble and splatter the lead. I have a burn on my thumb from this :(
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Another good point! Didn't even think of that. Guess I will stick with my lighter/torch.
 
I used to do the wax flux thing, but woodsmoke is much more user friendly for me:) My latest method is to simply stir my pot using a paint stir stick. By the time I get the sides and bottom scraped down, the stick is usually a bit shorter, but it works awesome and smells forest fresh! Now that I've gone to the dripomatic bottom pour, I don't always skim the dross. Some say that leaving a layer on is good. . . who knows? More theories than boolit casters sometimes:) Have fun and be safe!
 
To cool down the lead in muffin pans, just place it on a shallow pan with a very wet rag. Make sure that the wet pan is away from the molten lead. Generally it cools down in less than a minute and can be removed easily.

If you use saw dust as flux, leave it in the pot to act as a barrier to prevent oxidation during the casting session.
 
leverboy said:
I used to do the wax flux thing, but woodsmoke is much more user friendly for me:) My latest method is to simply stir my pot using a paint stir stick. By the time I get the sides and bottom scraped down, the stick is usually a bit shorter, but it works awesome and smells forest fresh! Now that I've gone to the dripomatic bottom pour, I don't always skim the dross. Some say that leaving a layer on is good. . . who knows? More theories than boolit casters sometimes:) Have fun and be safe!
Click to expand...

I went to a local dollar store & bought a kitchen spoon (a long one) with slots in the spoon part (whatever it's called). When I stir the lead and flux together in the melting pot the lead & flux swirl through the slots in the spoon giving the flux a chance to contact & collect impurities. Seems to work well.

A few years ago in Handloader magazine I read an article where the author suggested putting a couple spoonfuls of kitty litter (non-scented) on top of the molten lead to collect impurities and prevent oxidation of the lead as it contacts the air. I tried it & it worked OK although I preferred the paraffin wax technique. One benefit of the kitty litter is that it produced no smoke unlike most other fluxing methods.
 
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