Thinking of delving into the world of cast bullets

yomomma said:
Lots of people put cat litter on their mix to slow down the oxidation process ;)
Wax and sawdust are used to reverse the oxidation that took place. Sawdust is one step above wax as it also removes impurities. If you have clean lead in the pot you usually only need a small pinch of wax e very now and again.
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... So wax goes into the lead also! Ahahaha this is nuts! Can't wait to start screwing this up! Haha why wax in clean lead? It would rise to the surface correct?... Taking with it...? I know this must all be extremely elementary to you guys... Sorry if this is boring the crap out of you :)
 
Heated lead will oxidize and precipitate tin out of the mix. Wax will reverse this and put the tin back in. Generally you do not want charcoal pieces left from ghe sawdust floating in your mix Although saw dust also does this, wax leaves no residue/particles.
 
Aahhh! I see!!

Okay, I have a single stage press... But I have just put a Dillon Square Deal B on the credit card (yikes)... Luckily I sold a bunch of rifle loading stuff yesterday to the tune of about $300 after shipping expenses... But my question is! Should I keep the single stage? I heard somewhere that you need to "size" the cast bullets after you have poured them...? Does that require a single stage press and a special die?... I only plan on making 9mm from here on out, it's the only round I ever shoot anymore. So if I don't need it, I'll sell it :)
 
After buying my Dillon 550B I purchased a single stage press to use for odd jobs like bullet pulling or cast sizing. You can also buy case trim accessories for the presses that may appeal to you.

If I were you I'd hold off on selling it until your sure you don't need it. I think you'll be glad you kept it.
 
This is great info - I was just thinking about casting some .50 for a black powder gun. Thanks guys for the info.
 
You could also get the Lee Decapping Die (90292) which decaps pretty much any calibre quickly and easily. That would give you two things to use your single-stage press for.
 
I'm going to suggest 2 melting pots for your process. A simple stainless steel or cast iron on top of a coleman stove or hot plate or anything you think will suit your process. I would use the el cheapo to clean up the "junky" lead and make it into "good" lead. Using your good bottom pour furnace will plug it up with dirt and crap making the spigot leak all the time. Just a drip, but it will drain your pot if you're not paying 100% attention and are waiting for the lead to melt so you can start casting. Made this mistake years ago when I sold my "old" pot to a buddy, then proceeded to mess up my "new" good bottom pour pot.

Thrift stores are your friend. I started out in the early 90's with a hot plate and a thrown away frying pan. A bunch of my skimming spoons and strainers are from Value Village. If I lose them, I'm only out $1. Pffft! I spend more on that on coffee.

I don't care what you use for ingot molds, but whatever you do use MARK THEM! I stamp mine with metal stamps from Princess Auto. My molds are several styles that I cobbled together from angle iron or channel iron. They all fit into 50 cal ammo cans no matter which style I use.

There is more than 1 way to skin a cat. Remember this please. You can use a dipper to fill your mold while the next guy swears by using a bottom pour. Nobody cares as long as you are happy with the results. I use push through sizing dies for sizing and gas checking my rifle boolits, and then tumble lube. Never got into the lubrisizing side of things. Works for me.

Like somebody said earlier about your mistakes, the good thing is that you can melt them down and start over again. The only thing lost is time.
 
+1 on need to smelt the WW/dirty lead in bigger pot to remove junk, then pour into 1lb ingots. Only use clean ingots in LEE bottom pour or else you'll be spending all you time cleaning out the nozzle.

Bottom pour works great for bullets.
For fishing weights 3oz+ dipper is better.
 
The first thing I would do is start gathering lead and reading as much as you can on the subject.

Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook is OK.

Also check out:
1. "From Ingot To Target: A Cast Bullet Guide" http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm
2. Articles from LA Silhouette Club http://www.lasc.us/ArticleIndex.htm

Making good bullets is very simple to describe: You only need to use good technique to place the proper liquid alloy in a suitable mold at the correct temperature - if you can do that you will have good bullets. Of course It's just slightly more complicated than that to make it happen, but if you can meet those conditions you will be a successful caster.

There is a huge variety of advice and knowledge available on forums, but remember that not all of it will necessarily be good advice. Be open to all suggestion but do not blindly follow anyone else's ideas. :)

Be careful and start out on a small and simple scale. Technique can be described but cannot be learned from a book - you have to "do it" - and good technique accounts for 75% of good casting results.

Don't make it more complicated than it needs to be and try to change only one variable at a time so that you can have some idea what is happening.

When all else fails - turn up the heat: a large percentage of casting problems are caused by mold and/or alloy temperature being too low.
 
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Had this video kicking around. To start off all you would have to add is a mold and a proper pouring ladle.

Just a side note to my video. DO NOT USE ALUMINUM POTS

The ladle

bulpour.gif


[youtube]3w1XL2CyzF4[/youtube]
 
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