Cast bullet advice/teaching

[Tusker6N]

I'm reaching out to anyone that casts their own bullets in the coastal GA area. I would like to come and watch your casting process for some hands on experience. I've watched tons of YouTube videos and I feel like I'm missing out on some details. Before I invest in equipment, I'd like to get some opinions other than online product reviews. As well as see your setup and what works for you.
I already reload rifle and pistol in many calibers. I want to start casting for my 45-70 and 375 H&H mag.

Thanks.

 

[41mag]

Smart thing to do. So many just try to jump in without ever even seeing their first pot of melted lead in person.
My father was so cautious of letting us around any loading stuff when we were real young but got us started fairly early. I still had to watch for a while before i was allowed to handle hot lead/molds/ladels etc.,
I think i had to size/lube for several years first, lol. Eventually he let me use a single cavity, then double, teaching me proper safety and technique as we went. I am so glad he distilled these valuble trades into us when we were young.
Good luck! You will find someone close, im sure.

 

[Quacker]

I'm interested as well. Can anyone summarize the process for us/me? So far I understand that it is:

1. Melt lead.
2. Test hardness ( not while molten.. duh.)
3. Add tin or antimony to harden.
4. pour in mold/s
5. let cool and size??
5 b. let cool and powdercoat and size.
6. reload.

 

[41mag]

I'm interested as well. Can anyone summarize the process for us/me? So far I understand that it is:

1. Melt lead.
....purify, then add tin/antimony to harden.( Called smelting)
2. Test hardness ( not while molten.. duh.)
3. Reheat
4. pour in mold/s. (Called casting)!
5. let cool and Either size and lube (H&I dies) or size and powdercoat or just powdercoat or just lube!
6. reload.

^^Kinda the laymans summary with some fixes, but yeah. Lots of detail though.^^

 

[Jackie Graham]

The most important part is to clean your lead first. It is best to clean the lead then cast it into smaller ingots so that it is more manageable during the casting process. If you are using wheel weights or old fired bullets like I do then there is going to be a lot of trash in the lead that needs to be removed before you can cast or add alloy for hardening.
Once the lead is clean then it is pretty simple to cast your bullets.
Lee molds are pretty inexpensive but they work well for low volume casting.
You will need a good melting pot, preferably one with a temperature setting. Lee's 4lb pot works great but I recommend that you clean the lead in a different pot as the small opening at the bottom of the Lee pots can easily be clogged with dirt and debris and they are a pain to get cleared. Also get you a good lead thermometer. I cast my bullets between 700 & 750 degrees. At least that works for me.

 

[Quacker]

^^Kinda the laymans summary with some fixes, but yeah. Lots of detail though.^^

Thanks! What advantages / disadvantages are there to powder coating?

 

[41mag]

Thanks! What advantages / disadvantages are there to powder coating?

I have not gotten into PCing them as heavy yet as some have.
I belong to a forum called CastBoolits.com , they have everything over there btw.....
They show lots of info on them , pics threads, questions, all that.

To my knowledge folks seem to say that the Coated bullet shoots cleaner, handles cleaner, leaves less residue, and allows easy identification to tailored loads. I had thought about getting into it but havent. I have always run mine traditional through dies for size and lube.
I am unaware of any ballistic coefficient differences but i am sure they would know if there are.

 

[41mag]

Let me add, that the reason i havent is i just havent bought the extra equipment to do that.

 

[Quacker]

I have not gotten into PCing them as heavy yet as some have.
I belong to a forum called CastBoolits.com , they have everything over there btw.....
They show lots of info on them , pics threads, questions, all that.

To my knowledge folks seem to say that the Coated bullet shoots cleaner, handles cleaner, leaves less residue, and allows easy identification to tailored loads. I had thought about getting into it but havent. I have always run mine traditional through dies for size and lube.
I am unaware of any ballistic coefficient differences but i am sure they would know if there are.

Yea I have come across that forum in my quest for more info on the topic. Thanks for the info! I'm always trying to reload for as inexpensively as possible. I also have around 50#'s of pure lead that I have collected over the years. I may get into it eventually but it may be 4-8 years from now lol

 

[Jackie Graham]

Yea I have come across that forum in my quest for more info on the topic. Thanks for the info! I'm always trying to reload for as inexpensively as possible. I also have around 50#'s of pure lead that I have collected over the years. I may get into it eventually but it may be 4-8 years from now lol

Not too soon to start preparing. If you are serious about getting into to it just start keeping an eye open for some of the stuff you will need. Catch a good deal here and there. The next thing you know is you have your equipment and you saved a bunch of green in the process. Helps keep the cost down.