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View Full Version : Well... tomorrow I'm going to give it a try.



Virginian
02-04-2012, 09:17 PM
I've got all my equipment rounded up. Some of it is very old which was my fathers. Some of it new.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u29/DeathWraith07/reloading/8b1c6d34.jpg
Most of these older molds are round ball for the black powder guns.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u29/DeathWraith07/reloading/4ddce3f5.jpg
200 lbs. of wheel weights.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u29/DeathWraith07/reloading/77b4a140.jpg
Safety gear.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u29/DeathWraith07/reloading/09e58d83.jpg
Point of interest: Going through my dad's old stuff, I found a mold for a 890 grain, .685 cal. I have no clue what this was for. To my knowledge he never owned such a beast.

I'll post up my wins or fails tomorrow.

Eric

AndyC
02-04-2012, 09:23 PM
Winchester 70-150, sounds like - a beast indeed!

Have fun casting - be safe, above all else :)

geargnasher
02-04-2012, 09:30 PM
STOP! Don't put those filthy wheel weights in that Lee pot or you'll have a dripping mess! "Smelt" them down outside, separately, in a heavy cast iron, steel, or stainless steel pot over a fish fryer burner, side burner on a grill, or Coleman stove. Use lots of sawdust for a true fluxing, it will pull out calcium, aluminum, and other impurities and chemically turn the lead oxides back into elemental metal, thus reducing dross. Pour clean metal into ingots, you can use muffin tins or what ever you have that will hold lead. Put only the clean ingots in your pot and it will save you headaches.

Also, I see the Q-tip, but I don't see the Bullplate Sprue plate lube!

Gear

beagle
02-04-2012, 10:03 PM
OMG, looks like another one is about to get hooked.........

Good luck./beagle

RobS
02-04-2012, 10:20 PM
OMG, looks like another one is about to get hooked.........

Good luck./beagle

Indeed..........it'll take just a bit of the silver stream and then :cbpour::awesome::lovebooli[smilie=w::bigsmyl2:

mktacop
02-04-2012, 10:32 PM
Hey Virginian, did you raid my garage for your safety gear? Seriously, what you have laid out in that picture looks EXACTLY like what I use....lemme guess....Northern Tool?

stubshaft
02-04-2012, 10:32 PM
Yup, definitely headed down that dark road.

SlippShodd
02-04-2012, 10:56 PM
... and maybe move that box of primers away from the lead pot. :)
And welcome to the shiny side of the force.

mike

runfiverun
02-04-2012, 11:32 PM
i wouldn't try picking that bucket up with that handle too many times.
you'll punch yourself in the face.
or drop it on your foot.
i'd definately clean those ww's separately.

Virginian
02-05-2012, 12:20 AM
Winchester 70-150, sounds like - a beast indeed!

Have fun casting - be safe, above all else :)
I'm going to have to google that gun. Seriously, what's it for, elephants? :shock:


STOP! Don't put those filthy wheel weights in that Lee pot or you'll have a dripping mess! "Smelt" them down outside, separately, in a heavy cast iron, steel, or stainless steel pot over a fish fryer burner, side burner on a grill, or Coleman stove. Use lots of sawdust for a true fluxing, it will pull out calcium, aluminum, and other impurities and chemically turn the lead oxides back into elemental metal, thus reducing dross. Pour clean metal into ingots, you can use muffin tins or what ever you have that will hold lead. Put only the clean ingots in your pot and it will save you headaches.

Also, I see the Q-tip, but I don't see the Bullplate Sprue plate lube!

Gear
There's a cast iron pot, turkey fryer and Lyman ingot mold that's not in the picture. Thanks for the heads up. That's why I posted the pics, in case something glaring would jump out at someone. The Q-tip was to place Kroil on the old molds. I'm not exactly sure what a Bullplate Sprue plate lube is?


Hey Virginian, did you raid my garage for your safety gear? Seriously, what you have laid out in that picture looks EXACTLY like what I use....lemme guess....Northern Tool?
No and yes!


Yup, definitely headed down that dark road.
Yup!


... and maybe move that box of primers away from the lead pot. :)
And welcome to the shiny side of the force.

mike
Roger that Mike!


i wouldn't try picking that bucket up with that handle too many times.
you'll punch yourself in the face.
or drop it on your foot.
i'd definately clean those ww's separately.
I'll move it as soon as the swelling goes down on the dogs danglys from moving it the first time! :shock:

More to follow, stay tuned...

Eric

Grandpas50AE
02-05-2012, 10:27 AM
Yep, the others have already given you the good heads-ups, so welcome to the addiction of pouring your own.

lbaize3
02-05-2012, 11:00 AM
The only thing that makes this addiction more fun is to find someone to share it with. As soon as you feel comfortable with your casting, get another shooter to come see what you are doing. As soon as you get them hooked, get some more. Spread the joy....

Recluse
02-05-2012, 11:13 AM
The only thing that makes this addiction more fun is to find someone to share it with. As soon as you feel comfortable with your casting, get another shooter to come see what you are doing. As soon as you get them hooked, get some more. Spread the joy....

Are you serious???

I've been telling people to NOT cast their own. Dangerous, you know. :wink: Bad for the environment, you know. :wink: Depleting our valuable source of lead (income for the ChiComms), you know. :wink:

Instead, I tell every shooter I know to go and buy factory ammo, preferably from Winchester or Federal, shoot it as fast as they can and bring me back the brass so I can properly recycle it. I remind them that it takes years of shooting and reloading experience to master the fine art of recycling brass.

I also remind them of the near fatal toxicity of wheel weights, x-ray vests, wrist weights, plumbers' lead, and roofing sheaths and that calling some HazMat clown takes too long and is unreliable. Call me instead. Whale lover and tree-hugger that I am, I'll make short work of that lead.

You, on the other hand, are encouraging more miscreants to pillage our environment. Shame, shame, shame. . .

:coffee:

IIJSavoy
02-05-2012, 11:28 AM
What he said....

stubshaft
02-05-2012, 04:30 PM
AAahhh, it's just Recluse being a C.O.B again.LOL

1Shirt
02-05-2012, 05:01 PM
Yep, as usual Bret is right on the money!
1Shirt!

Virginian
02-05-2012, 07:35 PM
I made a few mistakes and several bullets were tossed back into the pot but over all a good day. i have lots of questions and I use the search button before I start asking. Here's a few pic from the day. 200 bullets cast, sized and lubed. More pics when I get a few minutes.

Thanks for reading,

Eric
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u29/DeathWraith07/reloading/215ab7f5.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u29/DeathWraith07/reloading/529169b7.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u29/DeathWraith07/reloading/830a4e2e.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u29/DeathWraith07/reloading/690ddc93.jpg

Cherokee
02-05-2012, 09:13 PM
Good start, now you gotta get out thar an shoot 'im.

altitude_19
02-05-2012, 09:24 PM
That's about what my first ingots looked like. Wasn't pouring them fast enough. Keep at it!

runfiverun
02-05-2012, 10:12 PM
you are getting the melt too hot waaay too hot.
that gold stuff on top is your tin.
and you'll want to throw those wooden matches in the pot when done with them.

canyon-ghost
02-05-2012, 10:21 PM
Well, now you got your lead all cleaned up and can get to the casting part!

Good Luck,
Ron

geargnasher
02-06-2012, 01:10 AM
you are getting the melt too hot waaay too hot.
that gold stuff on top is your tin.
and you'll want to throw those wooden matches in the pot when done with them.

Yes. Throw the matches in with some sawdust to reduce that tin oxide back into the melt.

Gear

Moonman
02-06-2012, 09:54 AM
Too much heat, running a really hot pot is not good. Get a thermometer (Tel-Tru) 200-1000 degrees with a 5"STEM (model LT225R) for your bullet casting pot and probably an 8" STEM for your smeltling pot. You don't want to make a mistake and melt a ZINC wheel weight and ruin your batch. The Lead will melt at a lower temperature than ZINC. This gives you time to strain the ZINC weights out of the pot if you've accidently missed one or some during your separation of the LEAD wheel weights and junk materials.

Flux your pots with DRY SAWDUST, and not from PLYWOOD (Glue) or TREATED wood (bad chemicals or Arsenic). Try Pat Marlins Sawdust (CFF) he's a sponsor. (California Flake Flux). Keep stirring the down into bottom of the pot so your alloy remains blended.:lovebooli

Virginian
02-06-2012, 10:39 AM
Thank you every one for you comments. They really do help. I had trouble keeping the turkey fryer lit, thus all the matches in that picture. I'll have to rethink my melting process of WW's. What would the ideal temp be for casting bullets then. I casted 200 rounds yesterday of 45 LC, sized and lubed them. Temperature that I was casting at was 675- 700 degrees.

My work depicted here in these pictures from wheel weight to bullets are pretty bad. But! I'm trying and working on it. It was my first batch. Thanks for being patient with me.

Eric
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u29/DeathWraith07/reloading/IMG_1079.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u29/DeathWraith07/reloading/IMG_1082.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u29/DeathWraith07/reloading/IMG_1080.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u29/DeathWraith07/reloading/IMG_1081.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u29/DeathWraith07/reloading/IMG_1083.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u29/DeathWraith07/reloading/IMG_1084.jpg

geargnasher
02-06-2012, 02:06 PM
Shootable, not perfect, but shootable, and not bad for a first try!

Correct two things and I think you'll have it: Not enough lead and the mould is too cold. At least fill it half way up, so that your thermometer reading will be accurate. The thermometer probe has to be 2-3" in the melt (there should be a mark) before it reads right. 675-700 degrees is just right for the alloy you're using, but your MOULD is too cold! That's why your boolits don't have sharp base and band edges and are poorly filled in places.

Here are some tips to conserve mould heat. First, cast faster. Rip through about 20 pours as quickly as you can without being sloppy or unsafe, don't even look at your boolit quality. After 20, start looking at them, but just a glance. Keep your mould blocks closed at all times except when ejecting boolits, and never pause with the mould empty. If you have to pause for a few seconds, do it right after you cut the sprue and before you open the mould, that way the heat is still being held in the blocks and is evenly soaking through, not creating cold band edges and hot spots while you pause with the blocks open in the cooling air. Base fillout is also a function of venting and sprue plate temperature, so make sure your sprue plates aren't tight enough to bind, and contol the sprue plate temperature by the size of the extra dollop of lead you pour on top of the sprue well. For now, pour about a nickel-sized overflow on each sprue hole, which should overlap and run together on a 2-cavity Lyman.

Gear

Moonman
02-06-2012, 02:27 PM
Virginian,
You were casting at 675/700, but at what temp. did you run the run the turkey fryer smelting pot at.

Your ingots look like you melted at TOO HIGH a temp.

Virginian
02-06-2012, 02:56 PM
Virginian,
You were casting at 675/700, but at what temp. did you run the run the turkey fryer smelting pot at.

Your ingots look like you melted at TOO HIGH a temp.

Moonman,

I did not check the temperature of the turkey fryer. It was considerably hotter. I will have to buy another thermometer and check. I'm going to purchase a cheap camp stove and give that a try. My turkey fryer is either flame on or it goes out.

What are the ideal temps for melting WW and casting bullets? At roughly 700 degrees I had some decent consistency casting.

Thanks,

Eric

Virginian
02-06-2012, 03:03 PM
Shootable, not perfect, but shootable, and not bad for a first try!

Correct two things and I think you'll have it: Not enough lead and the mould is too cold. At least fill it half way up, so that your thermometer reading will be accurate. The thermometer probe has to be 2-3" in the melt (there should be a mark) before it reads right. 675-700 degrees is just right for the alloy you're using, but your MOULD is too cold! That's why your boolits don't have sharp base and band edges and are poorly filled in places.

Here are some tips to conserve mould heat. First, cast faster. Rip through about 20 pours as quickly as you can without being sloppy or unsafe, don't even look at your boolit quality. After 20, start looking at them, but just a glance. Keep your mould blocks closed at all times except when ejecting boolits, and never pause with the mould empty. If you have to pause for a few seconds, do it right after you cut the sprue and before you open the mould, that way the heat is still being held in the blocks and is evenly soaking through, not creating cold band edges and hot spots while you pause with the blocks open in the cooling air. Base fillout is also a function of venting and sprue plate temperature, so make sure your sprue plates aren't tight enough to bind, and contol the sprue plate temperature by the size of the extra dollop of lead you pour on top of the sprue well. For now, pour about a nickel-sized overflow on each sprue hole, which should overlap and run together on a 2-cavity Lyman.

Gear

Gear,

Some great hints in this post. I have been only allowing a "pea" size dollop and they do not run together with my 2 cavity Lyman. It never even daned on me to keep the sprue plate temp even.

Thanks for the pointer!

Eric

Floydster
02-06-2012, 03:10 PM
Eric, build a wind break around your turkey fryer out of some tin, very easy and works great.

Floyd

Wayne Smith
02-07-2012, 12:31 PM
Moonman,

I did not check the temperature of the turkey fryer. It was considerably hotter. I will have to buy another thermometer and check. I'm going to purchase a cheap camp stove and give that a try. My turkey fryer is either flame on or it goes out.

What are the ideal temps for melting WW and casting bullets? At roughly 700 degrees I had some decent consistency casting.

Thanks,

Eric

Keep it under 700 degrees and the zinc ones float out. That's the critical temp. You don't want zinc in your melt and this is the easy way to prevent it.

Virginian
02-07-2012, 10:05 PM
Keep it under 700 degrees and the zinc ones float out. That's the critical temp. You don't want zinc in your melt and this is the easy way to prevent it.

Thank you!