Want to start casting bullets

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r106

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I'm thinking about getting into the world casting. any good books or web pages worth reading to learn the steps? I've watched a lot of youtube videos and have grasp on some basics. But the more knowledge the better right.

And were to go to purchase equipment ( pots and molds- 45colt) in the fraser valley?
 
For gods sake don't start casting .......damn wheel weights are getting harder to come by all the time lol

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=472249

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/index.php

Check the site sponsors to find casting gear

Although i havn't yet had the pleasure of dealing with budget shooter supply,All reports on this forum are extremely positive.
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/member.php?u=40399

Henry Nierychlo

http://www.budgetshootersupply.ca/catalog/Bullet_Casting_Tools__Components_30.cfm
 
castboolits.com is the best source on the web. Richard lee's book has a couple of chapters which is an excellent primer on casting. lyman cast booklet handbook is useful as well.

As for where to buy. I bought all of my stuff online. Higginson powder, graf and sons, the cast boolit exchange. There is no restrictions on casting equipment, as opposed to bullets themselves, so you can shop wherever you can find the best deals.

If I were starting out I would get a lee magnum melter, a lyman ladel, lee ingot mold, lee sizing kit. I would buy a lyman or rcbs 4 cavity mold. A lot more expensive than a lee, however they are less fussy then a lee six cavity mold.
 
try to stay with the cast iron molds if possible,it takes a bit longer to warm them up but they are not as fussy as aluminum when hot,plus they are a lot tougher.lyman/rcbs.jbd knows his stuff.also don't skimp on handles,those things get used pretty hard.again rcbs/lyman.lyman has about the best book for reloading info too.good luck.
 
I agree with barsik, the Lyman 4th edition is a great reference, as well as any of the older Lyman handbooks.

http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm

Great website for lead alloy specs and alloy recipes to make whatever hardness you need.
 
Lyman manuals are essential as a step by step aid the first time out, later on they give you good load data to work with, and some good troubleshooting guides.
Castboolits Classics & Stickies alone will give you far more info that you can absorb. LASC has some of the best condensed articles anywhere , and excellent technical info..
 
thanks for the info guy's


NShunter1254 said:
For gods sake don't start casting .......damn wheel weights are getting harder to come by all the time lol

]
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haha I have a friend who works at a tire store too. plus my father in-law has a couple hundred pounds of lead that he was going to make into fishing weights but never got around to it, so ihe said I can have it.
 
r106 said:
thanks for the info guy's




haha I have a friend who works at a tire store too. plus my father in-law has a couple hundred pounds of lead that he was going to make into fishing weights but never got around to it, so ihe said I can have it.
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The lead your dad has may be too soft for bullets,You may have to add some other alloys.
 
Good to hear your getting into casting!

Have fun, be careful, the molten lead is unforgiving.
Casting is easy, but casting great bullets takes technique.
Best way to learn is to read, ask questions on here/ cast boolets.com

The great thing is, if you make some
Bad bullets, you can just cast'em again.

Be patient, great results take time and work.
And it can be cheeeeap shooting!

Dont worry about how hard the free lead is. Just understand that every alloy has its limits. You will find your alloys limits during the experimenting stage.
Then just load within those limits.

You can manipulate alloy hardness, but allow yourself "some" time to just learn to make bullets.


I have learned that sometimes we can learn ways around these limits (in certain applications) to achieve suprizing performance!
 
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Wheel weights are just fine.
I add about 2% tin(8feet of 50/50 lead/tin solder) to 18ish pounds of wheel weights.
I have been driving this alloy to 2350 fps. And no leading.
Next weekend, I will see if I can reach the 2400 mark. That will be as far as I care to go.
Boy, they should hit hard!
Funnnn stuff!
 
Get the Lyman casting manual and hang out on Cast Boolits forum.

I started with a bucket of wheelweights, a Lee melting pot, one mould, lead thermomter, and a ladle. And I made good bullets first casting session.

I have had great service from both aluminum and steel/iron moulds. Aluminum moulds are somewhat less resilieint but they do not rust and they last a long time given some care and maintenance.
 
I'm officially casting.

I melted down the rather large ingots ( 25 pounds each ) that I was given into muffin tins. Then I tried a few bullets ( 15min ) at first they were crap. I think the temp was to low? The one thing I don't have yet is a thermometer. Eventually I got 70 keepers.

I havn't got a casting manual yet but I do plan to.

Now 2 questions: #1 Do I need to size? they all measured out very close .452, .453 I slugged my bore and it is right between .450-.451

#2 is the sole purpose of lubing for decreasing leading in the barrel?

Casting is kinda fun :cool::ar15::ar15:

IMG_1341.jpg
 
What I am seeing is some of your boolits are not filled out well, is you want shiny boolits like that and filled out you need to add some tin.

Personally I get my melt as hot has I can. The hotter the melt the easier it is for the lead to fill out the cavity. However your boolits will not be pretty as with higher temperatures they become "frosted" Frosted bullets look awful, but they shoot better than a poorly formed boolit.

As for sizing it may or may not be necessary. When fired your bullet will be squeezed by 30,000 PSI through your barrel it will be sized for sure.

If your gun functions well without sizing then fine don't size it is a waste of time. However if your gun does not function well without sizing then fine you have to size and it is not a waste of time.
 
r106 said:
#1 Do I need to size? they all measured out very close .452, .453 I slugged my bore and it is right between .450-.451
Click to expand...

No you don't. Depending on what you're shooting, the bullet has to be larger than the bore or the chamber (for revolvers).
Remember you may need to expand the case mouth a bit more to ease the larger bullet.
Seating a soft cast lead bullet may actually size it down. Pull one (or three) out and measure them. With a micrometer!

#2 is the sole purpose of lubing for decreasing leading in the barrel?
Click to expand...

Lubing has many functions. One of them is sealing the bullet in the bore.
 
i too am getting into casting, well not full blown just yet, i need a lead source first. but i used alox on my 45's and it seemed to work fine. i dipped them as apposed to tossing them about as they recommend. i don't want the tips waxed. i "watered" the allow down with break kleens as i don't have mineral oil on hand as they recommend.
 
legi0n said:
No you don't. Depending on what you're shooting, the bullet has to be larger than the bore or the chamber (for revolvers).
Remember you may need to expand the case mouth a bit more to ease the larger bullet.
Seating a soft cast lead bullet may actually size it down. Pull one (or three) out and measure them. With a micrometer!



Lubing has many functions. One of them is sealing the bullet in the bore.
Click to expand...

Ya it's for a revolver 45colt.

how long is recommended from casting to shooting? I just tumble lubed them and they seem to be very soft, which is expected right now but it got me thinking. Is there a curing time?

And the mold says 252grains but they weighed out at 265gr. 4 grains is the max variance with 90% being almost right on 265
 
If your mould is an rcbs , the weight that is listed will be if cast from pure linotype material. WW lead has less antimony (Sb) and will cast a smaller diameter heavier boolit . If you want a harder slug ( probably not needed ) for your colt , You can water drop them from the mould into ice cold water and raise the BNH up to around 25-30 so long as the lead you are using has some arsenic in it , WW have a trace , You can "sweeten" the melt with a little 2-3 oz of magnum hard shot to acomplish this. As for age hardening they will continue to harden very slightly for about a week,but hardly noticeable. If you do water drop or heat treat your boolits , you will want to get them dry and sized/lubed within a couple of days as they will get tough on you and your equipment. I suggest checking the (Cast boolits) site as there is a endless supply of info and good folks over there that will be most helpfull and always happy to see a new face. PS, welcome to the misery that is boolit casting!!!!
 
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