New member , new caster

[Eric H]

Well this is a great sight.

So I ordered my first set of molds today, I am prety excited about my next step in my reloading addiction, So I have about 50 pounds of Range scrap and 20 pounds of wich were once someones cast boolits. I have been doing a lot of research and compiling the nessary Items. Now I am ready to put it in to practice. There isnt any Good sources of WW for aloy around here and was wondering what my options were for making my alloy harder if nessasary ? . I figure once I get my 45 acp down I was thinking about trying my 30-40 out. But being a new guy to casting .I figure on trying to figure it out on a easier round.

Sorry for rambling on. I get excited just thinking about making my own boolits

[stubshaft]

Welcome to the asylum!

Keep an eye out on this site and others for Linotype or type metal. It works great as a hardener. I generally do not use WW, personal preference is to mix varying ratios of pure and lino.

[littlejack]

Hey Eric:
Welcome to the CastBoolits, from a fellow Eugeneian.
Jack

[41 mag fan]

Welcome to the addiction hobby.
Word to the wise from someone whose wiser than me:
You'll know you're an addict when you remelt your casts, just to cast again, because you need a fix.

[SlippShodd]

The one common theme on this forum is that boolit fit and good lube is more important than alloy hardness in the majority of cases. I occasionally have to relearn this when I get off on a "I think I need a harder boolit" tangent. I recently stiffened up the alloy for my .45 ACP load a bit and lost reliability of function -- the boolit wouldn't seal the bore properly and the gun wouldn't cycle. Those all got melted down and alloyed softer. My guns feed and cycle with 100% reliability using range scrap hardness boolits. If you need to alloy in some tin and/or antimony, 50-50 bar solder is a not horrifically expensive small batch solution for tin, judicious addition of a little melted pewter picked up at Goodwill or yard sales is an even cheaper alternative. There are lots of economical sources and the folks on this forum are obviously happy to help.
It's getting to be daylight here... maybe I oughta go fire up the Pro-Melt.
Welcome to the dark side.

mike

[Shiloh]

Welcome to the addiction hobby.
Word to the wise from someone whose wiser than me:
You'll know you're an addict when you remelt your casts, just to cast again, because you need a fix.

Run em' down a barrel first. Then dig 'em out of a berm.

Shiloh

[Dennis Eugene]

and another ones down, and another ones gone, and another one bites the dust. Dennis

[dlviolin]

Hello Eric,
Welcome to the forum...you'll find everyone here friendly and helpful.

<There isnt any Good sources of WW for aloy around here and was wondering what my options were for making my alloy harder if nessasary ?>

If you need a cheap source of tin, find an old time radiator shop that actually rebuilds radiators. They will end up with buckets of very nasty solder drippings that you can smelt....OUTDOORS! This stuff is usually 40-60% tin and will do a nice job of hardening your mix. You can use an old cast iron dutch oven and a propane burner like a turkey fryer. I wear a respirator cause this stuff really stinks and I have no idea what's coming off of it. There is a lot of refuse, probably 75% by volume, but it's quite a bit lighter than lead, so the by weight yield is more like 70% solder, 30% junk. Don't pay much for the raw gunk as you'll have some time and potential suffering in smelting it ;)
Keep the questions coming...there are no stupid questions.
Dan in Kansas City

[Echo]

Greetings, Eric, and welcome to the best forum on the net. Re alloy - a member here (The Captain) sells alloy for a very reasonable price. The last I bought was range scrap, ingotized, 50 lbs delivered for $51. WW's are a little more expensive (not much), and lino is also available. Give her a shout and ask about her stuff. Tell her Echo said her stuff was great...

[williamwaco]

You will not need to harden that alloy. I use reclaimed range scrap all the time. It will measure around 9 to 10 BNH.

About three ounces of 50/50 solder in ten pounds of range scrap will help you to get better fillout and "prettier" bullets but will not really make "better" bullets.



.

[Texantothecore]

Welcome to the forum, from a relative newbie.

One tip I can give you is to read threads that don't seem to apply to you as many times there will be something said that will be exactly what you were looking for or will increase your knowledge. This has happened of number of times.

[monge]

i have bought lino type lead from ebay for about 2bucks a pound shipped little pricey but when you mix it it goes a long way! make room for al the boolits your going to cast some days I cant stop casting till my wife threatens to leave ! then again I do miss her!:lovebooli

[Longwood]

Welcome stranger.

[292]

Welcome and good casting. You will find these guy's to be the greatest.

[Eric H]

thanks for all the greetings. I cant say enough about this forum and the friendliness of the folks on here. My boys and I get our range scrap from the local shooting areas in the hills. It is easy to pick up around 20 or so pounds in about a hour. My wife even gets into it also. I like it even better when I find some of my own rounds I loaded.

Glad to meet you little Jack. I often wonder about the folks around Eugen, I dont run into many reloaders , let alone casters.

I Have met alot of friendly folks out shooting though. Its even nicer when they dont pick up there brass. Some of my buddys think Im nuts, I will purposly go looking for brass while out in the woods. Especialy when I hit the brakes and jump out to pick some up. My boys get down right territorial about picking up brass and range lead in the woods. kinda like berry picking, You better find your own bush. Take care all, I will post some pics. when I get my first cstings done.

[littlejack]

Hey, again Eric.
There is another member (WACO) that lives in Springfield. Maybe he will chime in later.
If there is any way I can help you, let me know.
Jack

[winchester85]

i have found tin at thrift stores. old jello molds usually pink colored are tin.