Book question

[Alaskan100]

Hello All,
Well its finally starting warming up here in Alaska. Spring time is only a couple months away. Time to get casting equipment and some lead. I am a newbie at casting boolits. I have a pot, ladel,flux (working on the mold) and even a set up to smelt larger ingots into usable size. In other words, I have just enough of the equipment to hurt myself real badly. What book (that is still in print) would you folks recommend to someone who is just starting out casting boolits? Please be advised that reloading may come at a later date. For now just casting sabot boolits for my muzzleloader.

Thanks for any help you can provide.
Alaskan100

[MtGun44]

Latest Lyman book is mostly written by Mike Venturino. He is pretty knowledgable on
the topic, it should provide good basic info. I find his recommendation of linotype for
semiauto pistol boolits completely unnecessary, but apparently he has tons of the expensive
alloy laying around and is liberal with it. I have about 200 lbs of lino and reserve it for
special occasions, finding ordinary air cooled wheel wt alloy fine for all my semiauto needs.

What guns and calibers are you planning to start with? I hope you have a .38 Spl or
.45 ACP in mind, since these are about the most forgiving calibers to start with and are
easiest to have early success with. Avoid 9mm Luger as a first try, it is a bit of a booger
to get going for many, although I have had good success without anything particularly
heroic, many have had a lot of tribulations with the caliber, so it is best to avoid as a
starting point.

Bill

[stubert]

I like the 3'rd edition Lyman alot better, although the #4 has other peoples molds listed. The info is better (in my opinion) in the #3. Oh heck, Get both!

[Alaskan100]

Thanks MtGun44,
I will be starting with a pure lead .452 350 grain solid point sabot boolit. It will be shot out of my 54 cal custom flintlock and my 50 cal Thompson Center muzzleloader. When I start reloading it will be for a 44 cal Redhawk (probably 44 specials) and a 270 barrel for my Thompson Center.

Alaskan100

[Leadmelter]

Go to Wolfe publishing and they are offering their outstanding series on cast bullets on CD. I bouth these years ago and still reread through out the year. Great tips, techniques and loads.

Gerry

[Charlie Two Tracks]

Spend as much time as you can on this site. This site is huge and has so much information from experienced casters and shooters. Stickeys, articles from members section, archives, lubes and the rest of the topics will keep you busy. Welcome and have fun. Oh ya. Remember, melted lead is incredibly hot. It will burn you bad and fast! Safety gear is a must. IMO

[HighHook]

+1 to on charlie's comments

+ 1 to Alaskan on the ml. You picked easy boolits to cast for. Any of the Lyman books are full of useful info on casting.

[geargnasher]

The Lyman #3 (the only one I have), covers all the details and history of casting methods and tools in a decent format. There is a chapter on casting for the muzzle loaders and black powder cartridge. Tons of info from alloys to paper patching, all in about 100 pages.

I you're going to start casting for the front-stuffers, you might benefit from the section on high-temperature casting which is mainly used for near-pure lead alloys which don't fill out the moulds as well as the typical wheel-weight or type-metal alloys we use, and have a lower oxidation rate. If you're using sabots, you can use a harder alloy than pure, and cast them like regular rifle or pistol boolits, your choice.

The RCBS cast bullet manual is a good one, too, and Richard Lee's has some good tips as well.

But for the most info between one set of covers, get Lyman's book.

Gear

[waksupi]

Thanks MtGun44,
I will be starting with a pure lead .452 350 grain solid point sabot boolit. It will be shot out of my 54 cal custom flintlock and my 50 cal Thompson Center muzzleloader. When I start reloading it will be for a 44 cal Redhawk (probably 44 specials) and a 270 barrel for my Thompson Center.

Alaskan100

You are shooting a sabot in a flinter? I hope yo mama slap you! :kidding:

[starmac]

I didn't see where he mentioned sabots. lol

Alaskan where are you located.

[MtGun44]

"a pure lead .452 350 grain solid point sabot boolit"

As gear said, pure needs to be run pretty hot to fill out well. Even a tiny amount of tin
can help, 1:40 or 1:30 may be just fine for your needs, esp since you are not letting
it touch the barrel so no obturation is needed, and will cast a bit easier.

For the .44 Spl look at one of Elmer Keith's designs like Lyman 429421, H&G 503
or one of Miha's great clones of these molds. With about 7-8 gr of Unique they are
***** cats, with 10 gr Unique they start to growl a bit but you will still like it in
the Redhawk and it will do good work for most hunting needs.

Miha is "MP Molds", should be able to find it with a Bing Search on the web.

Go to Castpics for boolit design listing so you can see what those are.

http://www.castpics.net/

Bill

[Alaskan100]

lol waksupi,
yeah my Mama should have slapped me when I bought the gain twist barrel for the flinter. But it works VERY well. Living in Fairbanks Alaska I could not tell what type of bullets would be available. So I had to get a barrel that would shoot round ball & conicals. with a 1-48 twist I can shoot sabots too. I just found that the rifle is the most accurate with sabots. (the purchase of the flinter was before I started thinking of casting my own) I know how you feel, I get it every time I go shooting it. But no one can complain about the result, cutting holes at 150 yds.

Tracy

[jmsj]

Alaskan100,
Lots of good advice has been given here. One source I have used a lot is www.lasc.us
Glen Frxyell (a member here) has written a lot of good articles there. There are lots of good articles regarding lead, lead alloys, lube, bullet fit and obturation and many other useful and entertaining articles.
Good luck, jmsj