My first "good" bullets!

[Jerry Lester]

This afternoon when I got home from working, I decided to give it a honest try. I got my pot going, and basically just kept practicing till I started seeing some really good looking bullets coming out of that mould. After about 200-250 bullets(guessing), they were starting to come out looking as good as any I've ever seen. I started setting them aside, and ended up with at least a couple hundred before my 7 Year old daughter came in from school, and I had to quit to keep her away from my building.

I did learn though that the sprue is critical to getting really consistant flat bases on these little 95g .313" bullets. I also was a little surprised that I had to get the lead that hot to consistantly fill out the mould cavities. I ended up settling on 8 on this 10lb LEE pot.

I also learned not to accidently bump the pour handle when you've just put several fresh ingots in it![smilie=1: Of course it caused a steady stream untill the daggone thing emptied out enough to jiggle it, and get it to stop.:roll:

All in all, I'm tickled to death so far with my new found hobby!:-D

[mag_01]

:coffee: ----Good job Jerry---once you get that mold hot casting becomes easy --boolits look good and fill out--keep up the good work--Mag

[boogerred]

good work,jerry. your on the right track. you have to run a lot of little bullets thru those big blocks to get the temps correct. i preheat all my moulds on a hotplate. i get very few initial rejects preheating my moulds. keep it up,sounds like youre coming right along. this "instant reply forum" is great. it used to take me 1-2 weeks to figure ot a problem on my own. these guys live to help(well maybe after they feed the wife and kids and mow the yard).

[GP100man]

JL

the hook is set. ha ha !!!!!

your now officially hooked & will become a ww fein !!!!!!

congrats on your time &efforts !!!

[44man]

I built that little mould furnace out of an electric, metal wall box, with a thermometer in the top, that goes on a hotplate. The top is hinged so I can stick the mould in. I set it for 500 degrees and the blocks heat while the lead comes up to temp. My first boolits will be perfect. Once you get past the 200 rejects and start making a perfect boolit from number one, the hook will REALLY be set.
You are now one of the elite and keep posting your results, we enjoy seeing you progress.