few ?'s---new fella needs some help

[muaythaitom]

gonna jump into smelting and casting. Primarily for .38/.357 .44 and .45 as well as 30-30, 45-70 and 7.62x39.

How can I decide what mixture of lead to tin for a nice hard bullet for general purpose?

when casting in the molds that make like 5 bullets, do you scrape the top, to not have excess on the bullet base or do you fix them up later?

This looks like a lot of fun and definatley something I am going to get into

[arkypete]

MUAY

These are just my suggestions. There will be bunch of guys along with their ideas and you will get to make a choice.




gonna jump into smelting and casting. Primarily for .38/.357 .44 and .45 as well as 30-30, 45-70 and 7.62x39.

I'd suggest getting one caliber, say 38/357 and starting with learning the process then add another caliber, so on and so forth.


How can I decide what mixture of lead to tin for a nice hard bullet for general purpose?

I'd suggest that starting with wheel weights and a bit of soldier providing tin would be a good place to start. Once you get the basics of casting down and are comfortable with the process then you can worry about alloys various. The wheel wieights will provide the proper alloy for 95% of all casting needs

when casting in the molds that make like 5 bullets, do you scrape the top, to not have excess on the bullet base or do you fix them up later?

Here I'd suggest getting a two cavity mold of good quality, that reads not Lee, and work on the process, then get the four and six cavity molds. In answer to your question the sprue plate cuts off the excess on top of the mold

This looks like a lot of fun and definatley something I am going to get into


You are correct it is fun and most satisfying.
Jim

[454PB]

I agree with arkypete except for the Lee part. Lee moulds are inexpensive and a good place to learn. Start with a double cavity in one caliber and then expand your "collection" as required. Keep the alloy simple, and his wheelweight suggestion is right on.

[cbrick]

How can I decide what mixture of lead to tin for a nice hard bullet for general purpose?

For most of the calibers you mentioned you don't need or want a "nice hard bullet". Too hard can easily be worse than too soft. Too hard can cause leading quicker than too soft.

The above suggestion of just using wheel weight alloy with a bit of tin is the correct place to start.

I am no fan of Lee moulds but a newbie can mess up a mould kinda easy and for the price of a Lee it doesn't matter that much.

Rick

[Bret4207]

Start with straight wheel weights, a Lee single cavity mould and a simple design like a 358 SWC or RN, plain base. There is NO NEED for HARD BOOLITS when you're starting, if at all. Read through the posts here and get an idea for what you're trying to do. Also, any of the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbooks are good, and they have pictures. Pick a nice 700-750fps load and start there.

What have you got for a pot, sizer, etc?

[doc25]

muaythaitom, I'm fairly new at this as well. I just bumbled into it. Reloading was 1st (couldn't afford to keep shooting factory) then the casting (don't want to pay for boolits). I started out with the Lee pot and dipper and haven't much further. Up to 4 molds (1 I still don't own a gun for yet). Tin? What the heck is that? I'm using straight WW still. There is so much bumbling around you can do in casting you don't really have to upgrade very fast or far. Welcome to the obcession.

Get yourself a simple set up and get started. Nothing will go to waste. I kept my little Lee pot in case I want to cast some other alloy (is there anything other than WW?). Other than that I'm still a dipper man (for now).