Noobie to boolit casting

[bscott433]

In an attempt to lower the cost of shooting, and increase fun of reloading I've now taken up casting.
I've been lurking here for about a month, and the bug bit. I remembered as a kid, my dad firing up the Coleman stove with a coffee can full of wheel weights and making fishing sinkers and trot line weights.

Last weekend I went on a wheel weight scavenging run hitting several tire garages. For the total day I ended up with two five gallon pails and one 2 1/2 gallon pail of ww.

Stopped by the local chinese junk tool store and picked up a medium sized cast iron dutch oven. Stopped at the thrift store and picked up several SS soup ladles, slotted spoons, five muffin tins, etc. Figured with the discount turkey fryer that I picked up last year, I should be all set. Purchased a Lee Pro 4-20 this week as well as a Lee two hole mold .452 200gn. SWC. My intention is to load for the .45 ACP as a starter, since that is what I shoot the most.

Got home, sorted weights, fired up the turkey burner, loaded the pot and waited. Didn't take too long, a little stirring and I started skimming off the clips. Loaded more ww, skimmed until I had most of a pot. Fluxed with surplus birthday candles from the dollar store and stirred and skimmed. I ladeled into muffin tins making a big pile of ingots.
Man this is fun!!!

This weekend I fired up the Lee pot, loaded ingots. While that was heating up , I washed the Lee mold in HOT water and Dawn dishwashing detergent with a toothbrush. Took an Exacto knife and cleaned the edges of the cavities carefully. Smoked the mold with my sight smoker thoroughly.
I must be blessed, the first two bullets came out perfect, with perfect release. That continued all morning. I cooled the mold on a wet towel every four or five pours. I ended up with 35 pounds of bullets before calling it a day.

I tumble lubed with LLA, sized with a Lee sizer and lubed again. That is one messy process! I've got to find a better way to lube.

Well that't my story and I'm sticking to it. How did I do for a first timer?
Any feedback appreciated. Sorry for the long post.
Just a little excited to load and shoot.

[Bass Ackward]

I tumble lubed with LLA, sized with a Lee sizer and lubed again. That is one messy process! I've got to find a better way to lube.

How did I do for a first timer? Any feedback appreciated. Sorry for the long post.
Just a little excited to load and shoot.


BS,

:grin: (With those initials, your're gonna fit right in here.) There is one Expert that we all should listen to to find out how we did. That's Professor Gun.

What we do here is trade notes when he gives us a poor grade.

Welcome.

[Bullshop]

BS,

:grin: (With those initials, your're gonna fit right in here.) There is one Expert that we all should listen to to find out how we did. That's Professor Gun.

What we do here is trade notes when he gives us a poor grade.

Welcome.

BS, what a lovely ring that has to it. I like it , I like it alot! Welcome!!!
That Professor Big Gun lives at our house with his son Little gun. Be ware they often have a difference in opinion.
We are P.I.'s for the Gun family seeking only the trueth in thier case.
BIC/BS

[cbrick]

bscott433 Welcome to your new addiction. You should have been warned before hand that there is no clinic that you could go to for a cure. The only relief possible is more and more piles of shiney bullets.

How did you do as a first timer? Sounds very successful. I think you need more range time so you can feed your new addiction by making more.

Rick

[bscott433]

I agree I need more range time. I've got a hungry Dillon 550 to feed first. Range time will come later!

[grumpy one]

Bear in mind that there is one possible path to disappointment: you've now made a whole bunch of bullets, seemingly before finding out what diameter you need. So far I've never bought a mould I didn't have to lap out, because my barrels have been bigger than my bullet castings. The lapping is no big deal, but remelting 35 pounds of bullets would be a bit of a setback. However, maybe you slugged your barrel and measured some early-production bullets before you got into high-volume output. If not, perhaps you'll be lucky. Even if you weren't it isn't a big deal, of course - worst case, you get another chance to practice casting bullets. If you haven't checked, though, it would be a good idea to do it before you compound the problem by loading a whole lot of them into cartridges.

[bscott433]

Great observation.

I should be OK though, I've been buying commercially cast .452 SWC, and resizing them to .451 in the Lee sizer.
I've had great results with this method, although I've found better accuracy sizing base first in the Lee. Any ideas why???

I'll load a hundred or so this week and make a trip to the range before I load too many.

[waksupi]

Welcome, BS. The base first sizing, is letting the lead flow to the nose of the bullet, that is displaced by sizing down. If you size nose first, you get more spring back.

[454PB]

Glad to have you here!

It sounds like you did your homework before you got started....Ya done good.

Seems like recently the biggest challenge for newbies is getting a lead supply, and you've done great there. You may want to start haunting garage sales for a lubrisizer, although there is nothing wrong with the system you have now, just messy.

You've started down a long slippery slope, enjoy the ride!

[Topper]

Howdy BS.
Sounds like your off to a very good start;)
My experience from the support from this sites members has been great and I'm confident you will have the same experience.

[mag_01]

:coffee: ---Good job BS---Those Lee 45s should shoot well---and the 200gr.swc dose well in most 45s-----welcome aboard and good luck with your project.---Mag

[Hunter]

Well I am almost where you are now. I am waiting for my equipment and am going hunting wheel weights this weekend (I do have a few leads). I am looking forward to getting started so thanks for the preview from someone else who is getting started.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Welcome aboard Dude, sounds like you hit the ground running! Mick