New in bullet casting

gaudzy

gaudzy

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
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Location
North Stormont
Ok finally got my mold for .303 brit. Now anyone know a good place to get lead and alloy around fredericton???? Went around all the car shop in Oromocto and nobody wanted to give or sell me their old wheel weights. I got a few names of scrapers who might have some but have'nt called them yet. In the same process would any casters in the Fredericton area be willing to show how to cast my own bullets. I did alot of reading on the subject but i'm the kind of guy how has to see it done at least ounce just to make sure i get right. thanks.
 
Drop by your local garage or tire shop and ask for their used wheel weights. Makes for great cast bullets and most often are completely free!
 
We buy(bullet casting co.) our lead from a smelter and we buy only pure lead(99.9%) and then we alloy it with pure tin as required, to as high as 12% tin, this may be more expensive but it is the only way to have complete control of the composition and keep it consistent. We arrived at this by years of benchrest shooting cast bullets, always using our most accurate lead bullet gun (a .22) as a control....I'm getting away on you.....You will always be looking for lead and wheel weights are o.k. but not consistent, you will still have to add tin to harden bullets without making them brittle! Some solders contain as much as 95% tin. I mention this because you are casting for a .303 and you will need hard bullets(gas check) for vel. above 1800...you may have to try diff. sizing dia's. for best accuracy and least leading!
 
here in toronto...ive asked a few tire places.....got a few places that wouldgive them away..
they said they could sell them...but its easier to give awaythen sell them
 
I suggest you look in your yellow pages under "Lead". There are several firms in Vancouver that deal in lead and lead alloys.Hopefully, there are some near you. Their prices are pretty reasonable, and they will sell you any alloy you want (200 lb minimum). As Ben Hunchak said, you get guaranteed and reliable composition. Having said all that, I'm still mixing my own. I suggest that you need to try two alloys, one soft and one that can be made hard. A good soft alloy is 20 : 1 lead and tin. A good hard alloy is 5% antimony, 1 - 2% tin, the rest lead (wheelweights + 1 - 2% tin). To make it hard, you drop the hot bullet directly from the mold into a container of water padded on the bottom. DON'T POUR LEAD INTO A WET MOLD!! Some rifles show a real preference for one alloy or the other. While there is no doubt that you can achieve a higher velocity with the hard alloy, the soft one can do pretty well too especially if you have a smooth bore.

Good luck.
Grouch
 
X2 guninhand. There is also an interesting article about a CGN member that shot a big game animal with cast bullets. Real informative reading. Check the hunting thread in cast boolits, you won't be disappointed.
 
Metal Scrap yards, I know where there is 250 lbs right now(NS). I picked up 300 lbs in letter format , looks like hickory sticks :D Can also get the 25 lb ingot shaped like a canoe.
Oh, and the best part 30 Cents a lb :eek: :cool:
 
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