Experienced reloader - but totally new to casting

[LouNC]

Hello,
I just found and joined the forum and would appreciate a pointer to some reading I can do on the process of bullet casting (before I dive in with both feet).

I learned a lot about reloading many, many years ago simply by reading the textbook portion of a Speer reloading manual. Of course, over the years I expanded my knowledge via experience, lots of additional reading, and online forums.

I'd like to do some similar reading to find out just what's involved in bullet casting before I dive in. I think I understand the basic concepts of casting, but have some gray areas on certain subjects - how to go about sizing and lubricating (exactly what gear is/isn't needed, what is the best approach, etc). I'm sure there is also a lot that I don't even realize I don't know.......

I'm approaching this as a new hobby, not necessarily as a way to save money (reloading taught me all about that concept!!). So, I'm not looking for the cheapest way out, just the information I need to make informed decisions.

I intend to begin with casting handgun bullets, .38, .40, .44, .45.

Thanks,
Lou

[Sundogg1911]

LouNC
Welcome!
You will find tons of good advice here from tons of good people! :drinks:
Here's a list of a few book to get you started;

Cast Bullets and the Cast Bullet Supplement No.1, published by the NRA
Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook, published by Lyman Publications
Jacketed Performance With Cast Bullets by Veral Smith

there's a pretty good one you can order from www.magmaengineering.com it's geared more toward commercial casting, but does have some good tips for the beginner as well. I have a listing on my home computer of some good bullet casting websites too. i'll try to post them this evening.

Good luck and welcome to the wacky world of pb projectiles! :-D

[mooman76]

Try Lymans Cast Bullet Handbook. It has the most information I know of or if you can get a Lee manual it does some talking about it also.

[looseprojectile]

LouNC
Welcome to cast boolits.
Every thing you will need to know is in the NRA Illustrated RELOADING HANDBOOK.
Good luck in finding one in the used book stores.
My copy has been around since the early sixties. Excellent reprints of articles out of American Rifleman. Nearly all the info in it is still viable. Perhaps the only area where some improvement has happened since then is in boolit lube.
Happy Shooting

[Bigscot]

Welcome Lou,

If you hang out here you will learn alot as I have, and the folks here are very nice and willing help. I have also found the search funtion most helpful. Many of the questions you will have, have been asked before, so check that out too.

If I can help let me know. I live down the road in Apex.

Bigscot

p.s. Where do you shoot?

[klausg]

Lou-
Welcome aboard! I guess the nicest thing about casting is you can make it as complicated or easy as you want to. You can get buy with next to nothing or go all out on your equipment. I am definitely not one of the gurus, but I got by with a ladle, Coleman stove, and pan-lubing for quite awhile. I do now have a Lyman 450, which makes things nicer. Do a search for a thread I started awhile back "Casting for Dummies", the responses I got really helped me get started. It's easier than you think, but be fore-warned you'll soon be buying moulds for guns you don't have yet like the rest of us. [smilie=1:

-Klaus

[lurch]

Another welcome aboard here. I work in Cary, and live a little ways East of Raleigh just off I40. Maybe we in the area should have an RTP get together sometime.

[9.3X62AL]

Welcome aboard, Lou!

No disagreement with the guidance given on sourcebooks--my first casting primer was the Lyman publication. Their recommended "Lyman #2 Alloy"--90% lead, 5% tin, and 5% antimony is awfully tin-rich in light of today's metal prices, but that's the only debate I have with the Lyman text.

Check back in with questions as they come up--you'll get a number of prespectives and ways of doing a thing or viewing a concept.

[LouNC]

Welcome Lou,

If you hang out here you will learn alot as I have, and the folks here are very nice and willing help. I have also found the search funtion most helpful. Many of the questions you will have, have been asked before, so check that out too.

If I can help let me know. I live down the road in Apex.

Bigscot

p.s. Where do you shoot?


Howdy neighbor! I shoot mostly at Sir Walter Gun Club in Creedmoor NC. However, it seems that over the past few years I've spent a lot more time helping run the club's junior rifle program than actually shooting myself! I hope to find a little more time for my hobby over the coming months.

Lou

[mag_01]

Welcome aboard Lou ------ Good people and good info here---Just ask ---- Mag

[Goatlips]

Howdy Lou,

Most everyone here has more time in grade than me, but I got pictures!

http://goatlipstips.cas-town.com/casting.html

Some stuff on casting and pan lubing, I currentlyshoot nothing but Cowboy Action.

Goatlips

[Hunter]

I be dog two folks right close to me. I live outside Raleigh not far from Apex. I shoot at SSI outside Rolesville now and IDPA style at Range 1. I do shoot at PDHSC in Garner from time to time though I do not love indoor ranges. If I can help yall let me know and I will try.

[crossfireoops]

Newby mesself.....

Nothing more gratifying than smackin' an 18" cultivator disc, at 1123 yards, with a bullet you poured (even though the field was plowed and leveled by stickin' it on a 10' wide buffallo silhouette)

this is a NEAT site.

GTC

[Bigscot]

I shoot down at San-Lee.

Bigscot

[John Boy]

Aw Shucks, Goatlips ... you beat me listing your link.

Anyway Lou ... click here http://www.theopenrange.net/forum/index.php?board=15.0 and read the 8 Phase Casting Cycle and be sure to download the Alloy Calculator program.

And Welcome to the World of Casting

[LouNC]

I am still reading and learning before I "take the plunge" but I wanted to ask a fundamental question that may determine whether I continue pursuing this hobby or not.........

Is it absolutely necessary to buy a sizing press and sizing dies in order to use the bullets I may cast? Or, can I simply lube the rings some other way and proceed directly to reloading?

My main interest is creating pistol bullets, for action shooting. I'm not interested in sub-moa accuracy here. I am however, interested in doing this safely and would desire at least a reasonable level of accuracy.

Thanks,
Lou

[Ricochet]

Lou, lots of us like to tumble lube unsized boolits for that kind of shooting. Various lubes are used for that, Lee Liquid Alox being the most popular. I like White Lightning bicycle chain lube a lot for tumble lubing, and lately I've been using a homebrewed mixture of various waxes and LLA. Lee makes a line of boolits with "microbands" that are supposed to work better with tumble lubing than the standard big grooves and bands, but the standard boolits often work very well with it. Sizing is unnecessary if your boolit will seat into the case without bulging it so it doesn't fit easily into the chamber. As long as it'll fit, generally the bigger the better anyway. It doesn't have to fit the bore and should be a little oversized. The throat is what you want it to fit snugly in.

[Ricochet]

One more thing: Lee's Carbide Factory Crimp dies size down the outside of the loaded case to maximum loaded cartridge specs to prevent the sort of thing I was talking about with bulged cases hanging up in the chamber.

[waksupi]

Richocet, does the White Lightning dry? The smell of LLA gives me a headache, and would be willing to try something else.

[OLPDon]

Welcome
Don't worry about diving into it to fast. It's like a black hole once your in ya can't get out. I can't say it saves me $$$$$$$$ at 70 something moulds, hard to justify saving me money. But you can't find a better group of guys and Gals with best knowledge and great hearts.
Don

[LouNC]

Thanks for all the help folks, now I came up with another couple of questions..........

It appears as though this casting business may really two steps, depending on where you "start" the process.

Step 1 - "Smelting" your wheelweights, scrap, etc. into ingots. This includes screening out the junk, fluxing, and casting ingots of "clean" castable alloy to be used later for actual bullet casting.

Step 2 - Actually casting your bullets using a melting pot or drop furnace, by melting your "prepared" ingots and making bullets.

It seems as though there are a lot of sources for ingots (Ebay sources for about $1 per lb, delivered) so that a beginner might start right with step 2 if they so choose?

Now I'm also wondering about hard vs. soft. It appears that to make "soft" bullets into "hard" cast bullets (assuming you start with wheelweights), you have to heat-treat them? In your oven?? Can I skip the heat treating and use gas checks instead to "control" leading?

Your thoughts, please!!

And thanks again in advance,
Lou

[Bigscot]

Lou,

I have never heat treated any boolits as I have not needed them that hard. I think people who are heat treating in an oven are probably pushing them at higher velocities.

For my shooting (.44 mag and 30.30) plain cast or plain cast with some tin solder or plain cast with tin or w/o tin and water quenched and gc'ed have worked fine for me. If your boolits are lubed and sized correctly and gc'ed and shooting at moderate velocities, you should not have any problems. My velocity is always 2000 fps or below with the 30.30 and way less than that for the .44.

I have had problems with plain base boolits in .44 mag leading some but with a gc have had no problems.

I'm sure there are others here who can enlighten you more.

Bigscot

[Poygan]

Lou, I have never bothered heat-treating boolits. If I want a harder variety, I usually water drop them into a five gallon bucket. Or, I might add a bit of linotype to the WWs. My frugal nature would preclude buying ingots on ebay. I mooch WWs from my mechanics and melt them down in a Lee electric pot. Skim off the steel clips and assorted crud and ladle the lead into a heavy muffin pan. Those ingots go into my Lee bottom pour pot when I cast. I usually do some minor fluxing at that point. I have found boolit fit more important in eliminating leading than extremely hard boolits. BTW, I cast mostly for pistol and revolver with some M-1 carbine and SKS occasionally.

[Kraschenbirn]

Welcome to the funny farm...where the inmates really do run the asylum!! I've only been aboard a few months but am absolutely convinced that there's very little in the areas of casting and/or reloading that hasn't been tried (or tinkered with) by someone on this group.

Bill