first cast!

[dudley2112]

so after months of reading and watching how to videos, and weeks of waiting for canada post to stop striking and deliver my stuff i finally had my first cast. I have to say it went allot smoother then i had thought, only a few duds, they all released without any issues and i managed to cast about 400 124grain lee TL bullets.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss344/alexpinos/P1000929.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss344/alexpinos/P1000961.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss344/alexpinos/P1000960.jpg

my mom was however less then impressed with the mess i made :P

[adkpete]

Nice Job, Just remember to keep Mom happy!

[onondaga]

Welcome to the addiction! You look like you are having fun.

Hope you don't splatter any alloy on that nice deck. Your mom will be furious about that, It can be hard to get off without gouging the wood. You might keep the peace better by moving to the lawn or maybe over a concrete garage floor.

My 16 year old grandson has started casting with me and he has a lot of fun with it too. I told him he is getting a late start, I started when I was 7. I am 61 now.

You have a nice setup but get a couple aluminum brownie pans, one for dropping sprues on and one lined with a dry towel to drop boolits on.

Gary

[dudley2112]

ya haha figured i was on the younger end of the scale when it come to casting, got my buddy into it too, figure its one more way for us to control the quality of our ammo, and lets us shoot more on a student budget :P. I was just droping the sprues back into the pot haha not sure if that's the proper thing to be doing or not. I dont think i did any damage to the deck... better look into that haha.

[Longwood]

Nice looking bullets.
It looks like there may be some "Good stuff" in that bucket. Have you read about using sawdust to get tin to go back into the melt. I must have thrown out at least a hundred pounds of it before I joined this site and learned better.
I know I sure don't go though tin like I used to.

[sirgknight]

I'm very proud of young people like you who take up an interest in our wonderful avocation. It's very encouraging to see our youth carry on an "art" that has survived for centuries and gives so much satisfaction in return. Thank you for sharing the great pics with us. You are well on your way to PASSING IT ON!!!!:redneck:

[dudley2112]

Nice looking bullets.
It looks like there may be some "Good stuff" in that bucket. Have you read about using sawdust to get tin to go back into the melt. I must have thrown out at least a hundred pounds of it before I joined this site and learned better.
I know I sure don't go though tin like I used to.

ok that might make sense, i was confused because i fluxed this when i smelted it at least 4 times and another 3 times in the melting pot and stuff still kept coming up, but it didnt seem to be preventing me from casting so i figured it was just a crust forming from the lead cooling off or something, but if it was the tin coming off that might make sense, sawdust you say?

most guys i know that shoot dont shoot enough to want to look into casting but going through the amount of lead i do and seeing some of the less then stellar offerings on the market made me take the leap.

On quick question my 45/45/10 mix isnt made using JPW its made using minwax and as a result i upped the mineral spirit contents a little, the bullets are dried now after the first coat and while not stick they are a little waxy is that Ok or should i be adding more mineral spirits?

[RobS]

Welcome to the silver stream!!!

Your lube mix should be ok if it isnt' overly thick on the boolits; a thin layer is all that is needed providing all your other ducks are in a row. The only way to know for sure...............the fun part, load them up and shoot the heck out of em. :bigsmyl2:

[MtGun44]

Looks pretty good to me. Clean up the mess, wash your hands before handling food
or drink and you will be fine. The comment to keep Mom happy is a good one.
Good thinking on covering the table with the sheet of plywood.

Well done!

Are these going to go into a 9mm? If so, best of luck, TL designs have less than
perfect success record in 9mm. The most important issue will be making sure that
they are large enough. Many 9mms need .357 or even .358, but at .358 diameter, some
chambers aren't large enough to accept a loaded round. 9mm is a bit of a challenge,
but your odds are very good that you can make it work. Any problems and come on
back and we'll see if we can work you through them.

Bill

[WHITETAIL]

You are on the right road!
And good luck with those fine boolits.:redneck:

[Doby45]

Make sure that "dross" pot you got there goes back in to the smelting pot when you smelt your next batch of lead.

[dudley2112]

Looks pretty good to me. Clean up the mess, wash your hands before handling food
or drink and you will be fine. The comment to keep Mom happy is a good one.
Good thinking on covering the table with the sheet of plywood.

Well done!

Are these going to go into a 9mm? If so, best of luck, TL designs have less than
perfect success record in 9mm. The most important issue will be making sure that
they are large enough. Many 9mms need .357 or even .358, but at .358 diameter, some
chambers aren't large enough to accept a loaded round. 9mm is a bit of a challenge,
but your odds are very good that you can make it work. Any problems and come on
back and we'll see if we can work you through them.

Bill

yup these are for my cz 75b and my sig 226 and my buddy's beretta 92, ive got them sized to .356 atm, if these dont work then ill try the lyman 121 grain conical nose mold ive got on the way, fingers crossed they do. If they dont then im sure you'll be hearing from me again

[Doby45]

Without knowing anything else, I would suggest you try to shoot those as cast. I take it you are rolling very "budget minded" and therefore do not have any of the specialty expander plugs for your flaring die. If that is the case I would start by flaring the mouth of a case just enough to get the boolit started, once seated to the depth of your choice apply only enough of the taper crimp to get the cartridge to drop freely into the chamber of one of your pistols (I would pick my fav) and with that you will find out very quickly and easily how these shoot in your particular firearm. Might even find out they work in each of your firearms.

What you are doing in that exercise is stuffing the fattest boolit that your firearm will chamber in the barrel. I never slugged my factory Glock34 barrel and it shoots cast like it was made for it, using that technique.

[Cherokee]

Congrats on your first effort. It's a learning process and we are glad to help.

[RobS]

dudley2112:

If you haven't already, here is a recent thread concerning alloy's, reloading practices and boolit fit as it is relating to another forum members quest in casting/loading the 9MM. There are many threads talking about casting, boolit fit and reloading etc. but this one is more recent anyway.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=120655

[Lizard333]

Heads up on the 92 your casting for. You may have to up the size on it. My 92 likes mine sized to 357. My advice, slug all the barrels you plan on shooting and save yourself a LOT of grief in the long run. It only takes a minute, and you willknow exactly what you need for all the guns your going to be loading for. Next, if your not already, get a reloading log going. This will help you to remember what each gun likes or doesn't and it will save even more grief by preventing you from making the same mistake twice, because you couldn't remember.

[Wayne Smith]

Since you are young let me add another piece. Get and learn to use a micrometer prior to slugging your barrels. Using a caliper is essentially useless. Talk to your mom about how you are learning precision. After all, .1gr is 1/70,000 of a pound. Learning to use a micrometer and you are measuring to .0001, not just to .001 with a caliper.

[Recluse]

ya haha figured i was on the younger end of the scale when it come to casting, got my buddy into it too, figure its one more way for us to control the quality of our ammo, and lets us shoot more on a student budget :P. I was just droping the sprues back into the pot haha not sure if that's the proper thing to be doing or not. I dont think i did any damage to the deck... better look into that haha.

First off, you make me proud. Real proud.

It is so good to see our young people taking an interest in firearms, which to me represent self-determination and rugged individualism. It's even better to see you and your friends taking it further by learning how to reload and how to cast your own projectiles.

I collect my sprues and then add them back to the pot when I'm ready for a five minute or so break. Some folks put their immediately back in. It's whatever works for you.

Do agree with some other comments about making VERY sure you take care of that nice looking deck. Hot lead and nice wooden decks don't go together. If you don't believe me, you can ask Mrs. Recluse about the lead splatter on our back deck where I smelt. I'm careful, but inevitably a little bit of lead gets loose on me and I spend the next few days running from the missus who threatens to :Fire: me.

I then spend a lot of time and money :kissarse: to make up for it.

Be careful with the deck. :)


On quick question my 45/45/10 mix isnt made using JPW its made using minwax and as a result i upped the mineral spirit contents a little, the bullets are dried now after the first coat and while not stick they are a little waxy is that Ok or should i be adding more mineral spirits?

You'll be fine. One tip on those TL 9mm boolits though, I've found you almost HAVE to lube them twice. Lot of pressure in a 9mm, so make sure you give them two coatings of lube.

I'll also echo what Mt. Gun said about 9mm and tumble-lube design boolits. They ARE difficult and they've caused me to cuss in three different languages.

I'll also echo the excellent advice about sizing to .357. I did that with some (Lee) 105 SWC and it made a significant difference. I also used Blue Dot powder (a bit slower powder than Bullseye or W231) and that too helped. I know that Beretta will want a larger diameter boolit.

Now, with all of that being said, what I did with the Lee TL124RN mold was lapped it until it dropped .358 sized boolits consistently. That was easy to do--any automotive store will have some lapping compound and all you do is pour a couple of good boolits, use a set screw or hex-head bolt in the boolit, coat the boolit with lapping compound, put it back into the mold and use a drill on slow/medium speed and gently lap the cavities.

In the molds section here, there is a nice write-up on Lee-menting in which this is explained in much better detail.

End result is I have a mold that drops .358 boolits which allows me to size them to the specific barrel diameters of my 9mm firearms (which are all different).

That helped quite a bit. I'm still toying with the idea of getting a traditional lube-grooved boolit design, maybe in a TC (although that is a boolit design I just flat don't like. Ugly as hell, if you ask me. . . ) and see if I can get the groups to close up.

But again, fantastic job for your first outing, and I know I speak for a lot of us who are of the fatherly and grandfatherly age when I say, "You make us proud, Son."

:coffee:

[Thumbcocker]

Ya done good kid!

[dudley2112]

i have to say im flattered by all the positive feedback ive gotten thanks again for your help guys. I lubed the bullets twice and after a hour under a fan they are all nice and dry. I'll definitely be ordering a .357 diameter sizer and depending on how my new TC mold works and how my guns like the current Lee bullets be looking into lapping the mold to make it a little bigger, the Beretta is my buddy's issue not mine lol. Thanks again for all the advice.

[dudley2112]

First off, you make me proud. Real proud.

It is so good to see our young people taking an interest in firearms, which to me represent self-determination and rugged individualism. It's even better to see you and your friends taking it further by learning how to reload and how to cast your own projectiles.

I collect my sprues and then add them back to the pot when I'm ready for a five minute or so break. Some folks put their immediately back in. It's whatever works for you.

Do agree with some other comments about making VERY sure you take care of that nice looking deck. Hot lead and nice wooden decks don't go together. If you don't believe me, you can ask Mrs. Recluse about the lead splatter on our back deck where I smelt. I'm careful, but inevitably a little bit of lead gets loose on me and I spend the next few days running from the missus who threatens to :Fire: me.

I then spend a lot of time and money :kissarse: to make up for it.

Be careful with the deck. :)



You'll be fine. One tip on those TL 9mm boolits though, I've found you almost HAVE to lube them twice. Lot of pressure in a 9mm, so make sure you give them two coatings of lube.

I'll also echo what Mt. Gun said about 9mm and tumble-lube design boolits. They ARE difficult and they've caused me to cuss in three different languages.

I'll also echo the excellent advice about sizing to .357. I did that with some (Lee) 105 SWC and it made a significant difference. I also used Blue Dot powder (a bit slower powder than Bullseye or W231) and that too helped. I know that Beretta will want a larger diameter boolit.

Now, with all of that being said, what I did with the Lee TL124RN mold was lapped it until it dropped .358 sized boolits consistently. That was easy to do--any automotive store will have some lapping compound and all you do is pour a couple of good boolits, use a set screw or hex-head bolt in the boolit, coat the boolit with lapping compound, put it back into the mold and use a drill on slow/medium speed and gently lap the cavities.

In the molds section here, there is a nice write-up on Lee-menting in which this is explained in much better detail.

End result is I have a mold that drops .358 boolits which allows me to size them to the specific barrel diameters of my 9mm firearms (which are all different).

That helped quite a bit. I'm still toying with the idea of getting a traditional lube-grooved boolit design, maybe in a TC (although that is a boolit design I just flat don't like. Ugly as hell, if you ask me. . . ) and see if I can get the groups to close up.

But again, fantastic job for your first outing, and I know I speak for a lot of us who are of the fatherly and grandfatherly age when I say, "You make us proud, Son."

:coffee:

in the "lee-menting" thread he said he used comet cleaner, would that work or should i buy lapping compound?

thanks again

[RobS]

Comet is good to polish up the cavities and helps with small burrs. Using a fine grip lapping compound will work however be careful as some fine grit lapping compound is fairly coarse. If you can find 320 grit it works nicely or 220 at the coarsest.

[tuckerdog]

welcome looks like you are off to a roaring start, these guys know their stuff. as far as your dross goes just go ahead and keep going as you are the stuff that forms on top of your pot is oxidized tin and some lead when you get the can full cut it away from the contents and remelt flux and save at least thats what i do. I dont worry about taking too much lead out when i skim and its a great way to save alloy

[Recluse]

in the "lee-menting" thread he said he used comet cleaner, would that work or should i buy lapping compound?

thanks again


Comet is good to polish up the cavities and helps with small burrs. Using a fine grip lapping compound will work however be careful as some fine grit lapping compound is fairly coarse. If you can find 320 grit it works nicely or 220 at the coarsest.

What RobS said and said very well.

I keep some fine 320 grit lapping compound for all of my molds. I've found that by spending an hour or so with a Lee (I like and actually prefer the two-cavities over the six-cavities) doing the Lee-menting and polishing/lapping of the cavities, I can get some REALLY good boolits and a mold that is about as easy to use as it gets.

Now, I'm also very easy on my tools--and molds are a tool in my mind. If someone is ham-fisted or hard on their equipment (think of people who can tear up a crowbar), the aluminum molds are not for them, and for sure not Lee aluminum molds.

But I have Lee-mented every Lee mold I've bought and had no problems. I always, always polish the cavities thoroughly (but I've also had to do that on the last three Lyman molds I've bought) and more often than not, also do a very light lapping.

This ensures me that I'll never drop a boolit that is too small. Between the push-through sizers or the lubesizers, you can always take lead off to make a boolit smaller.

Keep going the way you are--you're doing good.

:coffee:

[dudley2112]

well i slugged the bore of my cz (first time for everything) and it measured just a hair over .357, took the lube off one of my ready to load bullets and after passing through a .356 sizer it measured .357... not sure how that works haha but ill try it as is and in the mean time put a .357 sizer on order and ill check the size of some as cast bullets today and see if the lapping is going to be needed.... thanks for the help everyone saved me some headaches already!

[RobS]

What did you slug your barrel with??? If you didn't use pure lead the slug can actually spring back on you giving you a larger reading i.e. your just a hair over .357 slug cold actually be a .3565 or so groove diameter. Another thing, your sized boolit at .357 doesn't mean much of anything other than it is .357 before loading it in a case. Pull a boolit from a dummy round and then measure that one.

If you find that you need a larger diameter push through die and don't want to order another you can simply hone one out with a round wooden dowel along with some 220 grit wet/dry sand paper cut into about 1" strips followed by some 320 or 400 grit to finish. Check your progress every so often by sizing a boolit.

I would have to say if your bore is a hair over .357 with a pure lead barrel slug, boolits sized at .357 or ones swaged down smaller in the reloading process are not going to make you a happy camper.

What are your boolits dropping as cast, no sizing. If they are .358 this may be the most practical and cheapest means to meeting success.