first cast

[miner49r]

Thought I'd go ahead and give it a go.
I dropped 4 ingots of WW into Dads pot and dialed it up gradually till the metal started melting. At 550deg. on the dial the metal was fluid. Since the thermometer is still in tha mail I increased the heat by 25deg. increments and at 650deg. on the dial I was getting consistant boolits. Crisp lands were achived at weights of 206gr and up with the heaviest being 209gr.
One major thing I learned today. Keep moving. (Pour, Cut, Drop, Close... Repeat) I still have a lot to learn.

Don't laugh. This is a days work. There was a lot of trial and re-melt to get me to this point. The good thing about this is nothing is wasted. Just toss it back in the pot.

[captaint]

Nice job !! And welcome. As you will see, we learn every time out. Most of the iron molds work well at around 650+ deg. Looks like you have a nice light frost going there, so - good. Is that the RCBS 200 SWC or the Lyman 452460 ?? Hard to tell from here. Just the same, nice work. Fun, ain't it ?? enjoy Mike

[Ole]

Welcome to the club friend! You are now a bullet caster! Some serious value added thing going on there. Take junk and turn it into bullets. :mrgreen:

[45nut]

thats what this forum is all about,, learning new skills! Thanks for the positive reinforcement that the mission continues as designed!

[Doc65]

Nice looking boolits. I was making Lee's version of HG #68's earlier today myself.

[runfiverun]

well now you know how that mold works.
give the heat another 25-f, that will help a little.
now to size/lube and get them into some brass.
oh and you only need to fill the bottom groove on those.

[miner49r]

Thanks for the encouragement and thanks for the forum. Without the knowledge on this forum I would not have progessed as quickly as I did.

The equipment is 50+ year old Lyman that I watched my father use. (sitting on a stool at a safe distance) The mold is in fact a 452460. Sadly, I never had the pleasure of reloading with him. He was a Crew Chief in the Army Air Corp so he left behind a copious amount of notes.

Comparing the weight of his boolits to mine tells me he used the alloy recommended by Lyman.
All of my WW metal is from different batches smelted over campfires thoughout the years. I am thinking that I should smelt it all in one batch to one homogenized alloy.

And yes... It was fun.
57825

[Wal']

Your father had a great setup.............you say he was in the Air Corp's............what plane did he borrow the prop from for the fan.

Theres no way of you will have to ever worry about lead fumes......:bigsmyl2:

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

Welcome to the nut house!
I've been at this only a touch over 2 years now.
The old boys that showed me the ropes of casting,
said that if you don't learn something every time you
cast or shoot or load cast boolits,
"You ain't payin' close enough attention!"

Your first time looks great.

[miner49r]

Now that's funny! It would have been a B-17.