First cast

[mdevlin53]

Today my pot and molds came and i set it up and cast a hundred bullets. I have about half that many that could be shot but i think that it turned out pretty well for the first time. for a while i think the pot was a little cool and i turned it up a smidge and it went much better. No frostys and not much in the way of voids. I have been buying Boolits from various places and they have all been sized so they look a bit sharper than mine but next i will run them through a sizer and perhaps they will look a little more like store bought. This was pretty cool to say the least. I do hate buying them so from now on its make my own. They weigh just what the die box said they would but they are a thous. over on diameter.
I read a lot here before i started and it made it much eaiser thhanks to all of you for your help.
Michaelhttp://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_237434ff7491a21874.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=5796)

[GSCSA]

They look pretty good. I was the same way. I hated buying commercial bullets knowing that I could just cast my own. This place rocks and is full of good info. I've been at it for a year now, but still have tons to learn!

[1Shirt]

Welcome to the addiction!
1Shirt!:bigsmyl2:

[mdevlin53]

I thought loading my own was an addiction but this is much better. I have several cans of powder, 20 pounds of lead and enough empty cases to keep me busy for some time. I can only get out to shoot twice a month but 4 hours at the range gives me several days in the shop. Keeps me out of mischief at any rate.
One question, when you are done casting for the day do you leave the pot full or empty it into an ingot mold. Is there any rule of thumb for emptying the pot to clean it or do you just wait untill it looks like it need it.

[plainsman456]

You are hooked now.
It will only get worse from here on out.

I just leave about an inch or less when I am done for the day.

[Cherokee]

Welcome to casting, good first effort. I leave lead in my pot for the next session. I empty and clean the pot when it seems to need it.

[GSCSA]

I leave the pot full.

[MikeS]

I leave the pot full. But I run it down to about half full when I'm done, then I refill it with ingots to the full level, and by doing this it usually freezes the lead that's in the pot, so I can go ahead an leave it alone without worrying about it deciding to empty it's contents while I'm not watching! While I've never had it happen to me YET, being that I have the relatively inexpensive Lee 4-20 pot which is famous for leaking I don't like leaving a pot with liquid lead alone. I figure it's better to be safe than sorry.

[Bad Water Bill]

We lost a member last year that started casting in 1936 and he was still learning. That is one reason many of us are here.

By the way [smilie=s:[smilie=s:

[mdevlin53]

Second casting session wend very well today, but i have to say i stepped away from the traditionalists. On the fist casting i was having a lot of trouble getting the boolits to drop from the smoked mold. So yesterday i completly cleaned both the one time used .379 mold and the my new .309 mold. After cleaning i inspected them and burnished out a couple of blemishes. I found a pencil eraser works well for this. Then i sprayed them with a coat of moly. I am impressed with this. the boolits droped mostly with a little shake. they were shiney and well formed for the most part. I have to tell you i made about a hundred bullets in 45 minutes from turn on the pot to everything put away so i am so pleased that i can get off the midway BACO hook them store bought boolits were going to break me.

[Hamish]

Nice feeling, isn't it? I generally leave it about half full at the end of casting. That allows a quick start if I need to, or if I have time I fill it with sprues and start with a full pot.

[Cherokee]

Congratulations again, whatever works for you is great.

[500MAG]

Now, you done did it. You won't be able to sleep thinking about what you will cast tomorrow. You will be constantly thinking about where you can get some more lead. You will never think that you have cast enough, even if you have thousands casted. Isn't it great?

[mdevlin53]

At least for now i dont think i will need thousands but its nice to know you can keep ahead of how much brass you have. There is nothing worse than comming back from the range with 50 empty cases and to know you only have 30 bullets left in the box and its at least a couple days turnaround to get more from buffalo arms and a week from anyone else.

[monge]

Welcome I have been casting for about a year now , your boolits look great keep up the good work this site has a wealth of info from alot of good people ! Its great to be in control of your shooting supplies try some of lee sizers they work good and can be sanded to fit your size needs. Cast on JOE!

[geargnasher]

You just THINK you're saving money. Tell us that again in another year or two! Ok, cat's out of the bag. Now go enjoy yourself anyway!

Gear

[Bad Water Bill]

Only my estate will ever be able to even guess what I have spent on casting equipment.

They will be able to confirm that I NEVER ran out of boolits right to the end.:bigsmyl2::bigsmyl2:

It will also keep you busy on those cold winter nights when even the dog will not go outside.

[canyon-ghost]

Congratulations on finding the way to building your own ammo! I love to cast and pour powder. It has kept me in shooting ammo for the last ten years. My first couple of times were experimental until I figured out how simple it really is. Almost like the movie, "The Patriot", where they melt the lead over a campfire! Really a rewarding hobby to take up, I can't imagine why more handloaders don't just cast lead. You don't need quite as much velocity so, you save on powder a little.

Good Luck,
Ron

[mdevlin53]

I keep saying once i get all the parts and tools i will be able to start to see the savings but there always seems to be one more die or one more something that needs to be bought. Having said that i just bought my second thousand primers this year an there aren't many sitting around in loaded cases. I am shooting more and really enjoy being able to tinker with the load rather than just accept whatever Remington or Winchested thinks is good for me

[41mag]

Well your in it now. If I could turn back the hands of time, I would have started this when I was a youth, and been happily supplied with great quantities of raw materials. For me however I finally jumped in last year due to the appetite of my Raging Bull in 454. Those commercial 265's and 300gr cast were killing me on cost. I picked up the Lee 300gr GC mold and went to town. To date, I have added around a dozen molds to my inventory for other calibers, and half a ton of alloy. :bigsmyl2:

Once you find something that works and works well you might as well pour ya up a decent supply. I started out pouring up a hundred or so, then would wait the needed time to size and load. Well that got old quick being I would shoot them up and have to wait the allotted time for the next round. So I started scrounging up small 4"x4" or so boxes at work and simply pouring till I have enough to at least get them half or more full. Now I have plenty sitting there ready and waiting in the wings for their trip down the pipe.

[Wayne Smith]

Any decent mold should not need smoking or anything else. Since you have already put moly on it check your diameters with a micrometer. Moly may cause your boolits to be a touch smaller. You can clean it out but you will probably never get it out of the pores - and don't need to. As long as you get it back to the original diameter if it is smaller that's all you need.

[mdevlin53]

The mold in question is a lee that is for my 38-55. It says on the box it will cast .379 but with 20-1 it casts at .3795 to .380. this was without the moly just smoke. the diference in diameter with the moly cant be measured by my caliper. I size them to .379 with a lee push thru die in any event. When i used this mold with just a smoke job the bullets took quite some effort to remove. Perhaps when i can swing the bucks i will buy a high dollar mold and i won't have these problems. Now that i see the whole process and i am going to continue to cast my own i will upgrade equipment a bit at the time.