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dbarnhart
11-15-2011, 04:29 PM
OK, you guys are starting to convince me that casting my own 45acp boolits is within the realm of possibility.

I see on eBay that I can buy ingots that have already been smelted from wheel weights, so I think I would start with those and leave the scavenging and smelting to others for now.

Would you recommend Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook as a good staring point?

44man
11-15-2011, 04:33 PM
Yes but watch Ebay. Some stuff is so over priced it is unreal.

Echo
11-15-2011, 04:39 PM
Check out a forum member. Her handle is The Captain, her name is Kathy, and she sells alloys for very good prices, delivered. I have purchased from her, and am very satisfied.

bumpo628
11-15-2011, 04:39 PM
I see on eBay that I can buy ingots that have already been smelted from wheel weights, so I think I would start with those and leave the scavenging and smelting to others for now.

Don't buy ingotized lead on ebay. The people there don't care if they melt zinc in as well, since it makes more ingots. Buy it from the people here on the swapping & selling forum or the vendor sponsors forum.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?f=18
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?f=52

41 mag fan
11-15-2011, 04:48 PM
Muddy Creek Sam and the Captain.
I'd buy off here, before i'd ever think of someplace like evilbay.
Way too many good folks on here. you buy from the people on here, you'll know you'll never have to worry about getting ripped off.

Lyman hand book and go back thru the threads on here. Lots of info, very useful advice

Moonman
11-15-2011, 04:56 PM
+1+1+1 for The Captain and Muddy Creek Sam.

462
11-15-2011, 04:56 PM
Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook and their Reloading Handbook are excellent sources of boolit casting and cast boolit reloading information. Obtain at least two handbooks and read through them a couple times.

This is an excellent resource, as well: http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm

williamwaco
11-15-2011, 08:06 PM
I see on eBay that I can buy ingots that have already been smelted from wheel weights, so I think I would start with those and leave the scavenging and smelting to others for now.

Would you recommend Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook as a good staring point?




Yes on Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook

No on EBAY Lead.

You can get better, more reliable, and in most cases lower prices right here on this forum.

I have bought lead from forum member odinohi four times.
I highly recommend him.

He packs his ingots in a wooden box inside the flat rate box.

You will get exactly what he promises.

canyon-ghost
11-15-2011, 08:13 PM
A regular Lee roundnose for 45 wouldn't cost you a lot, and you can make a lot of ammo. Just begin the homework and you'll see, it's great!

runfiverun
11-15-2011, 09:30 PM
regular boolit not tumble lubed will make things easier to shoot but then you'll have to learn how to lube.

RKJ
11-15-2011, 09:31 PM
So it begins. :)

Recluse
11-15-2011, 09:48 PM
Muddy Creek Sam and the Captain.
I'd buy off here, before i'd ever think of someplace like evilbay.
Way too many good folks on here. you buy from the people on here, you'll know you'll never have to worry about getting ripped off.

Lyman hand book and go back thru the threads on here. Lots of info, very useful advice


+1+1+1 for The Captain and Muddy Creek Sam.

+1000

:coffee:

1Shirt
11-16-2011, 01:57 PM
I have bought on ebay, and probably have been lucky, BUT! Have bought plumbers lead ingots (5 pounders) nail scratching soft pure. Also bought ingots of (advertized) wheel weights, and they tested same hardness as my own WW ingots via my cabin tree. That said, will keep Muddy Creek Sam, and the Captain in mind if I decide to buy any more via mail.
1Shirt!:coffee:

ItZaLLgooD
11-16-2011, 11:05 PM
Midway has some 45 ACP molds on sale for $17 or $18. +1 on getting lead from here and not an E-bay.

P.K.
11-17-2011, 12:26 AM
Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook and their Reloading Handbook are excellent sources of boolit casting and cast boolit reloading information. Obtain at least two handbooks and read through them a couple times.

This is an excellent resource, as well: http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm

That right there is an excellent starter or refresher for anyone. Please read and reccomend to as many as humanly possiable. ;-)

bobthenailer
11-17-2011, 08:58 AM
See if theres someone on this fourm or locally that can MENTOR you on the art of bullet casting ! if not feel free to ask any questions here ! to speed up the learning curve . and you will be casting piles of good bullets in no time.
BOB

TNFrank
11-17-2011, 09:59 AM
If you think about it it's only logical that you learn how to cast since the boolit is the major expense in reloading. Using home cast boolits I can load up a box of 50 40S&W rounds for under $3 bucks. You just can't beat that deal.
Also, check in with some of your local tire shops and see what they're doing with they're used wheel weights. Some will give you the old ones and others may charge you a little for them but either way it'll be cheaper then having to pay shipping on lead.

41 mag fan
11-17-2011, 10:05 AM
Might try junk yards too on WW. Just found one about 15 mi from here who'll sell WW at the same price they'd get if they scrapped it.

garym1a2
11-17-2011, 01:39 PM
Keep in mind that a pound of lead is 7000grain and a 230 grain boolit gets 30 bullets per pound. With the 200 grain boolit you get 35 per pound. With the 180 grain boolit you get 39 per pount and with a 120 grain boolit you get almost 60.

If you buy lead to make 230 grainers you price per round adds up to about $40 per 1k. Considering the labor I try for free lead first.

fredj338
11-17-2011, 08:46 PM
Casting is a great hobby unto itself, but unless you have a cheap or free alloy supply, it's just not very cost effective for plinking bullets. The alloy sellers here are going to be more trust worthy than most on E-bay.

MikeS
11-17-2011, 09:14 PM
If you're looking for a round nose boolit for the 45 I would recommend that if you're going to buy a Lee mould, buy their tumble lube boolit. Too many people have had problems with the Lee standard lube boolit needing to be seated too deeply in the case. If you want to get a standard lube boolit mold, I would recommend getting NOE's copy of the H&G #34. If you go to the vendor section you will see a message thread where you can post that you want one (and there are several options as to how many cavities). I bought one of the 5 cavity moulds, and it works great! Either the #34 or the Lee TL boolit have basically the same shape (except for the lube grooves of course), they have the round nose, then the driving bands being slightly larger (unlike the Lyman 452374 where the nose tapers back to the full diameter of the boolit), so it makes it easier for a beginner to know how far back to seat the boolit (basically with the driving bands almost flush with the cartridge case), unlike the Lee standard lube boolit, or the Lyman where there's no clear indication of where the boolit should be seated (without using a caliper to measure the round as you're setting up the seating die). Personally I also like the shape of the #34 (or Lee's TL boolit) better than the Lyman (or Lee's standard lube boolit) as I think it matches the shape of the 45's magazine, but that's purely a personal thing.

supe47
11-17-2011, 11:03 PM
I've bought WW and PURE from "the Captain". Good price, clean lead and excellent response time. Kathie has my business. Would not buy from e-bay. Had a chance to buy some Linotype molds. I could have filled them with anything. I trust Kathie.

MikeS
11-18-2011, 03:34 AM
I've never had any dealings with the 2 forum members mentioned as sources for lead, so I can't say anything about them. I would also say to stay away from eBay for lead, with one exception, I've bought lots of lead from eBay seller 'wreathsbyus' and his stuff is top notch, you can buy anything he sells, and it will be what he says it is! He regularly sells WW ingots, and they're good, no zinc, only clip on wheel weights.

Unlike many here, I would advise you to buy a Lee 6 cavity mould, rather than one of their 2 cavity moulds. They're more expensive, but the actual mould portion is made better. You will also need to buy handles for them, as unlike the 2 cavity moulds, the 6 cavity ones don't come with the handles. Another suggestion that some here might not agree on it to get Lee's TL452-230-2R mould. If you're shooting the boolits out of a 45ACP auto, the tumble lube will work fine, and it's certainly cheaper to tumble lube than to invest in a sizer. I also like the profile of that boolit better than Lee's standard lube 45 round nose boolit, it has 2 lube grooves, and due to it's shape it needs to be seated kind of deep in the case to get it to feed correctly (according to some members here). Or if you want to get a mould that uses standard lube grooves, but has the same profile as Lee's TL boolit, NOE (a custom mould maker that's a member here) has a mould that casts a boolit that is a copy of the H&G #34 boolit (which is probably also the boolit that Lee looked at when designing their TL design), I have a 5 cavity version of the NOE mould, and it casts nicely. With whatever mould you buy (other than 2 cavity Lee moulds) you will need to buy a set of handles, and the Lee handles work fine, and are fairly inexpensive, if you get a Lee 6 cavity mould, with the handles, you're looking somewhere around $50.00.

Another piece of equipment that you should buy along with your pot to melt the lead is a single burner hot plate to pre-heat your moulds. I've found that just putting the mould on top of the lead pot doesn't work as well as a hot plate does. I have an Aroma brand hot plate I got from Amazon for about $15.00 that has a solid top (not the older style coiled heating element), and with a burner that has a solid top you can put the mould directly onto the burner. I put the hot plate on the medium setting, and put the mould on the hot plate at the same time as I turn on my lead pot, and by the time the lead is up to the proper temp (I usually cast at around 650F), the mould is also ready to go. Doing this (pre-heating the mould on a hot plate) will make it much easier to use the 6 cavity mould, and should make the learning curve much quicker.

And lastly, don't be afraid to ask questions! Either here, or if you can find a person locally to mentor you, ask questions about anything you're unsure of, folks around here are friendly, and don't mind answering questions for the most part.