Begginers thread?

[iloveguns]

Hey guys Is there a intro into casting Boolit's thread? I looked around and could not find anything. Sorry if this is a topic that gets brought up often. I am completely new to this whole process.

Thanks

[Certaindeaf]

This site is all about casting and shooting cast bullets. Check out the "sticky's" up top here and there for starts.
Welcome to the club.

[Blacksmith]

Down at the bottom of the page click the box where it says "Cast Bullet Notes From lasc.us" which will take you to a page with a link to Glen E. Fryxell's online book
From Ingot to Target: A Cast Bullet Guide for Handgunners
Which is a good starting point then start reading all of the stickies at each of the sections here starting with the ones devoted to casting and metals. By then you will know what direction to further your interests.

[geargnasher]

Welcome to the madness! You have asked the best question first I believe, so do take Blacksmith's tip and Read From Ingot to Target first, let it sink in a few days, and read it again. You'll enjoy the read and there's lots to learn that applies to casting for rifles too. This will save you a lot of time.

Our Classics/stickies section is a good one too, but not in a very newbie-friendly, chapter-and-verse format. If you have specific questions, try the forum search feature, and/or go the appropriate sub-forum and browse the sticky titles first. Most of the questions you're likely to have have been asked and answered many times, but don't be afraid to start a thread if you don't find what you're looking for or just want a sanity check!

Good luck,

Gear

[runfiverun]

some of the information is a bit scattered.
there are a bunch of us here, if you get stuck gohead and ask.

[missionary5155]

Good morning & Welcome to our place !
Good to have you with us. This is a great place to start your life of liberty making your own custom fit amo. Just take the time to hunt about.. there are some real trophies waiting to be read. Problem is digesting it all.
Mike in peru

[Sasquatch-1]

Good luck with your new endevor. I have enjoyed many an hour melting lead to shoot.

Now, just don't catch the swaging desease. That can be expensive.

Hey, I wonder if I can claim my expenses for this desease under Obama Care? :twisted::twisted:

[largom]

Welcome aboard! If you are totally new to casting your own boolits I would suggest two books for you to read: First, The Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook. Second, Jacketed Performance From Cast Bullets by Veral Smith. These books will give you the knowledge to begin and then ask questions on this forum to clarify things you need help with. The knowledge on this forum is far greater than any book could encompass.

Larry

[iloveguns]

Thank you guys for the warm welcome. Thanks for the advice just started reading "From Ingot to Target: A Cast Bullet Guide for Handgunners".

[nwilson1024]

the search button will be your best friend!! im new here to and everyone is more than willing to help you but most of the time i can find my questions have already been asked. welcome!

[44man]

Welcome! Never worry about asking about what you can't find. Nobody cares about repeating things if it helps. Any one of the great guys here will go far out of their way for you. [smilie=s:
They have given some good advice so far.

[ErikO]

I second Blacksmith's suggestion. Fryxell's book is on my iPhone for reference. :)

[Colorado1135]

I recently started casting myself, I read a lot before starting, and youtube has some good videos that show you a how to step by step if you don't have anyone around to show you, thats what I did and it helped a lot.

[mdevers]

I recently started casting myself, I read a lot before starting, and youtube has some good videos that show you a how to step by step if you don't have anyone around to show you, thats what I did and it helped a lot.

That's what I did as well. Thanks to this forum and others in the last year I started shotting more which required me learning to reload first my 308 then 12 Guatemala then 38 Special
and finally casting. Followed all the good advise and now casting up a storm with no burn marks to show for it. At least yet. Backyard foundry may be necessary for temps needed to mix alloys. Antimony. Requires over 1200f I hear. Locating enough lead is my problem. Up next is making my own lead shot. I use about 25 lbs a week of #8. Sure glad al Gore invented the Internet..

[myg30]

Welcome to the best forum on casting boolits. You can not go wrong here. Everyone is very helpful and it where most get their starting info.
Read all you can and then read some more. The vids on you tube are very helpful for casting and different methods of reloading, sizing and lubing boolits.
Good luck, its a great habit to get into.

Mike

[kappy]

I got into this casting thing not that long ago. It's a lot of fun. I learned by asking someone at my local range. Books and video tutorials can only get you so far.

My suggestion (and like I said, I'm not much of an old hand when it comes to casting) is to buy the Lyman kit which comes with a luber-sizer, furnace pot, ladle, ingot mould, and a REALLY good book on casting. For... I think $150, it was a great investment. While I no longer use the furnace except to cook up ingots, I still use all the other stuff. I'd actually still be using the pot as well, but I bought a Lee with one of those down spouts, which makes things a lot easier.

[Bullet Caster]

Welcome to cast boolits and now you're addicted to what is supposed to be a hobby. Turn back now before you become more addicted. It's not to late. Oh well...I guess it's too late. Now you'll be looking down in every parking lot, just trying to find one more piece of lead to melt. Then it spreads to your significant other, then to your children. If you're doing this to save money, then let everyone chime in at once...it will not save you money. You'll just shoot more. Then you'll start thinking about saving the lead you shoot and will make a boolit stop. Then you'll start to wonder just how hard is it to make black powder. One thing leads to something else. Sounds like you've gotten off to a very good start. BC

[kappy]

Welcome to cast boolits and now you're addicted to what is supposed to be a hobby. Turn back now before you become more addicted. It's not to late. Oh well...I guess it's too late. Now you'll be looking down in every parking lot, just trying to find one more piece of lead to melt. Then it spreads to your significant other, then to your children. If you're doing this to save money, then let everyone chime in at once...it will not save you money. You'll just shoot more. Then you'll start thinking about saving the lead you shoot and will make a boolit stop. Then you'll start to wonder just how hard is it to make black powder. One thing leads to something else. Sounds like you've gotten off to a very good start. BC

Odd. Mine turned me into some kind of loner, freak, weirdo relegated to the garage for the day. She won't even visit me. The only human companionship I get during a casting session consists of, "Are you wearing your gloves?" which is followed by "Why not?!" I can't even get a class of water out of the woman. Of course... what do you expect from someone who won't shoot anything but rimfire?

[Stick_man]

Kappy, if you want her to shoot something other than rimfire you might try some subsonic cat sneeze loads. That will get her going with a little bigger gun and you can gradually load them up a little more and before she realizes it, she will be shooting real boolits and enjoying your company more. She may even decide to help you a little in the garage. Who knows, she might even take drastic steps and actually even TALK with you on occasion.

Of course, then SHE'd be shooting up all your ammo, so maybe that's not that great an idea.

:kidding:

[kappy]

Kappy, if you want her to shoot something other than rimfire you might try some subsonic cat sneeze loads. That will get her going with a little bigger gun and you can gradually load them up a little more and before she realizes it, she will be shooting real boolits and enjoying your company more. She may even decide to help you a little in the garage. Who knows, she might even take drastic steps and actually even TALK with you on occasion.

Of course, then SHE'd be shooting up all your ammo, so maybe that's not that great an idea.

:kidding:

I've invested considerable gray matter into this problem. She just won't do it.

According to my wife, she feels some kind of concussive force in her face every time she shoots centerfire. Other shooters tell me they feel it, but don't mind it. I have never felt this force. I've tried loading .40S&W down to bare nothing so that it just dribbled out of the barrel... no good. I tried loading 7.62x54r down to the bare minimum (16gr of 4759)... no good. We're talking less than 1500fps, which is just 200fps more than HV .22LR.

Now... the good news is that she can shoot VERY accurately, but only one round. Then she just puts the gun down.

On the other hand... she shoots .22lr just fine. Maybe I can get her into some kind of .22mag? As soon as I build this AR, I'll see if that is more her speed. They have virtually no kick.