Had a Bunch of "Firsts" Today

[Alan in Vermont]

Landmark day for my return to casting.

First time I used my RCBS Pro-Melt.

First time with a Lee mold, 410-195-SWC

First time using sawdust for flux.

First visit from the Tinsel Fairy.

Pro-Melt is working super after the repairs at RCBS to get it to melt properly.

Lee mold did OK but,,,,,,,,, it needs a lock screw on the sprue plate holddown screw. It also throws a bit bigger than I like, .415. I was hoping it would be small enough that I could pan lube some and try them as is because I don't have a .410-411 sizer. I don't think it will work being that big. That is with a very hard alloy, I added some pure lead to the pot and will see how that throws at the next session.

Sawdust works VERY nicely, I was pleasantly surprised at how little metal there was in the skimmings.

The Tinsel Fairy SUCKS! No damage to me other than some small red spots, only a couple made any sort of blister. I got dumb but now I'm both smarting and smarter. I had a fresh layer of sawdust on the pot and a bunch of cull boolits (429421) that I could not get to stop wrinkling, thought I had the mold free of any oil but apparently not. I picked up a handful and gently rolled them onto the sawdust which turned out to be not as dry as I thought it was. Some of it was charred but apparently where I laid the boolits on it it was not charred enough. That dozen or so boolits sunk a big slug of sawdust and the TF immediately puked up a gob of tinsel. Most of it got my forehead and glasses. Luckily what landed on the glasses wasn't enough to scar the plastic lenses and the forehead will be fine in a couple days.

[ShooterAZ]

Glad you are OK...Coulda been a lot worse. I once put a cold spoon in the pot that had some Frankford Arsenal flux on it...apparently that stuff will absorb moisture. My visit from the Tinsel Fairy was much less severe, but it spattered quite a bit. I now use only paraffin to flux, and preheat ANYTHING that goes in the pot!

[Hurricane]

Tomorrow is a good day to buy a face shield like the make for woodworkers. I will not go near my pot without one.

[runfiverun]

when i first started doin 41 mag i didn't have a sizer either and i could not chamber anything over about 411.
i run my loaded rounds back into my sizer die [with the primer punch pulled out] just enough to get them to chamber.
it worked till i got my sizing die.
you may not be able to do this with a 415 size boolit however.

[stubshaft]

Glad the tinsel fairy didn't damage you.

[Bob Krack]

Glad you got a wake up call from the tinsel fairy. Not that I think it was good - except that it was mild enough to make you remember she can be a real Witch! She appears not to have been a terribly bad mood... We are not all lucky enough to get a strong warning with no serious injury.

Sometimes the first visit is catastrophic! Strangely enough, the most serious injuries are NOT from a small splash but from what our reflexes cause to happen next....

I mean this in the kindest and most friendly way. Glad you were not hurt seriously.

Bob

[Alan in Vermont]

While I haven't cast for the better part of 20 years I did a LOT of casting for about 15 years before that. Started with a little Lyman iron pot on a coleman stove and a single cavity 429244. I found the original dipper I used when I was digging through my stuff in the past month or so, the pot is long lost. Moved from the original SC mold to a 4C 429421. I was stylin' then! Had to get an electric pot to keep up with that mold. Still got that mold, it was one of the ones I played with today. Won a bunch of silhouette trophies with that bullet, launched ahead of WW-296, H-110 and IMR 4227, out of a 7 1/2" SBH. Moved to a Contender in .357 Herrett and shot a lot of 358315s out of after I opened it up to eliminate the GC. My wife and I cast a lot of oddball stuff for a LGS that made a lot of obsolete ammo, six cents a bullet out of his molds using our lead. Wasn't bad money in 1974.

I sort of rambled through all that to say this isn't my first rodeo but it was my first visit from the Fairy. I've had some little pops before but this one qualified as an event. Now I know that unless sawdust is all charred black it is not wise to dump sprues/rejects back through a layer of it.

I had never heard of fluxing with sawdust before seeing it here. It sure does work some nice! This was some stuff I used to tumble loaded rounds in, with a little mineral spirits mixed in, to get the case lube off them. I'm going to grab some softwood shavings out from under my buddys lathe tomorrow, it's fairly dry material and I will dry it further before I out it to use. I think I'll rip a few stir sticks out of some hardwood he has there while I'm at it, I couldn't find a stir stick anywhere here this morning.

[44man]

I have been burned when welding. The first thing to do is run and get the burn under cold water. If it is bad, keep cold water running on it for as long as 20 minutes.
That will stop any blisters from forming and reduce scarring.