How fast do you cast?

[30hrrtt]

Shooting is my hobby. Reloading keeps my sane, 15 minutes here 30 minutes there. Thinking about casting as I have about 400 pounds of pure lead and 300 pounds of ww (so far) sitting in the garage.

I can buy them cast but I do like to putz.

Iv'e heard how long it takes to clean and get ww ready for the pot.

Questions.

How many bullets do you cast in a couple hours with a 2 and with a 4 bullet mold?
Mold would probably be Lyman and for 357 and 44. I know to begin with as I have a few other calibers. Things just keep growing.

How long does it take to lube, size, check them in something like the Lyman or RCBS sizer?

[45nut]

First off,, Welcome to :cbpour:

Time for one person scales out quite differently for another. BruceB can put out boolits with a 2cav at a prodigious rate with his technique, others cast at a much more leisurely rate. 400 per hr or 100 matters only to the person pouring the lead though.
Same as the progressive press vs the Rockchucker type. I feel quite comfortable with my Dillon 550 while some would rather eat spiders than give up the single stage press.
Its the same with the sizers, which to me is a mind numbing exercise. For the real production it's a Star or Ballisticast lubers, I still have a Lyman 45 but the Saeco is my preferred system now due purely to the better alignment I believe I get from the Saeco. No more shaved sides means fewer culls and wasted effort.
The actual time to size a single boolit can be measured in seconds or milliseconds.

Again, welcome and feel free to wander through the "Classics and Stickies" sub forum , there is tons of info in there.

[AZ-Stew]

As 45nut says, it depends.

It partially depends on the alloy I'm using, it partly depends on the number of cavities in the mould I'm using, it partly depends on the material used to make the mould (iron, aluminum), it partly depends on the size of the bullet being cast, it partly depends on the shape of the bullet, it partly depends on how long it takes to get the mould and alloy to a compatible temperature for my casting technique.

Once I get things adjusted so I can cast a given bullet design at the rate (rythm) that suits my mood at the time, I can crank out about 100/hr from a single cavity mould, about 200/hr from a double cavity mould and about 400/hr from a six banger. I only have one 4 cavity and it's been a while since I cast with it, so stick it somewhere between the 2 banger and the 6 banger. These rates are for GOOD bullets, not the rejects that have wrinkles, base voids, incomplete fillout or rounded corners at the base.

You may wonder why the total rate falls off as the number of cavities goes up. In my experience, it's hard to get 100 percent good bullets from a multi-cavity mould over a sustained casting period. There's one or two lost in each cast, due to the above mentioned imperfections.

My casting rate may seem slow to some, but I usually inspect bullets as I cast them. Others start casting and don't inspect until they're tuckered out or out of alloy. They stop their uninterrupted casting marathon and spend an interrupted period inspecting. My way probably wastes a little more time, but I do it for pleasure, not as a commercial operation or as a complete substitute for the evil "J-Word" bullets, as some here do, so I don't HAVE to produce at a particularly high rate. If I have enough to fill my shooting requirements for a particular gun, that's all I need. If not, it's time to heat up the pot and cast until I have what I need. Time is not of the essence.

In addition, I do another "evil" thing as I cast: I return rejects and sprues to the pot as they're produced. This slows things a bit, but I do it while I'm waiting for just-cast sprues to harden. Once my pot temperature is properly adusted, putting the cooled metal back in the pot merely drops the temperature to the proper average for my casting rythm. This method results in a higher total number of good bullets from a pot of alloy. Those who collect sprues and rejects after the pot is empty have to start over from the beginning to make as many good bullets since they have to wait for all the sprues and rejects to melt and come up to the proper casting temperatue before making more bullets from the leftovers.

The exception to this is the folks who use a double-pot system. They keep a second pot heated and pour from it into the main pot to replenish as they use the alloy in the main pot. The sprues and rejects can be put into the second pot for melting after the main pot has been replenished and will be up to temp before the next replenishment is necessary. The only differences between this method and mine is the main pot can be run cooler, the cost of the second pot and the problem of getting both pots to nearly the same temperature so that replenishment of the main pot from the second pot doesn't screw up the casting rate from the main pot due to temperature differences. The cost of the second pot is usually negligible, since it is usually one that the caster has used for years. The real cost is in the price of the shiny new (and usually larger) main pot that the caster has decided he deserves after many years of dedication to the silver stream.

Regards,

Stew

[45nut]

Very well written Stew.


I get a chuckle everytime I read the sig line about intolerant people BTW. Priceless.

And the other sig line is repeated in history, over and over resulting in millions dead.
I suspect you know that.......as most of us here do.

[Banana]

Yeah,Very well written Stew.

[charger 1]

Shooting is my hobby. Reloading keeps my sane, 15 minutes here 30 minutes there. Thinking about casting as I have about 400 pounds of pure lead and 300 pounds of ww (so far) sitting in the garage.

I can buy them cast but I do like to putz.

Iv'e heard how long it takes to clean and get ww ready for the pot.

Questions.

How many bullets do you cast in a couple hours with a 2 and with a 4 bullet mold?
Mold would probably be Lyman and for 357 and 44. I know to begin with as I have a few other calibers. Things just keep growing.

How long does it take to lube, size, check them in something like the Lyman or RCBS sizer?

Firstly Welcome
I can only relate to rifle as that is all I do. I get fairly picky. In a 2-3 hr session I may only turn out 80-100. That seems a little slow to my buddy who spends a weekend casting thousands. Yet its funny because when he's working up a load for something new and things are not going well he'll ask me for a dozen out of my bunch that I strived for perfection on and even admit that he wants them so as he can aliminate caster failure from the process. So in short I guess I dont even think about quantity

[44man]

I am one of those slowpokes and get super bored casting. I need dancing girls out front to keep my mind occupied. Most times I fire up the pot for 100 boolits and quit. When they run out I make more. It takes a lot of will power to stand there for several hours at a time.
If you need thousands of boolits for steel shooting or something else, then you will be looking for speed. I only work with accuracy and hunting loads so I don't need as many at a time. Yeah I cast more often but I also have so many different boolits I work with that I don't make too many of one at a time.
My suggestion is to relax, find a pace you enjoy that gives you perfect boolits and never count while casting.

[Forester]

I will chime in as one who is focused on high production rates. I cast, load and shoot somewhere in the neighborhood of 20,000 200gr .45 SWCs a year and I do almost all of my casting in the winter months because this time of year it is a lot more like work than fun to me. The volume of shooting is because of an IDPA/USPSA habit that has me shooting a few hundred rounds per week in practice and 1-200 a week in matches. I also cast a fair number,3-5000 maybe? for a .38 and maybe 500 for various rifles, most for an old 30-30 I like to shoot.

I am switching to a double pot system this year so I am not sure how much additional volume that will yield but with a single, Lee Pro 20 and 1 6 gang Lee mold I can cast in the neighborhood of 1000/hr for about 3 or 4 hours before the constant activity has me losing focus. With a Star sizer plus the air pressure lube system I can size somewhere in the neighborhood of 1200/hr. As someone said though it is mind numbing, I sized 2000 last night so I could finish up one caliber before switching to another and it was all I wanted to do and then some.

My casting method is similar to BruceB's but probably not quite as efficient, I would pay $$ to see a video of him casting so I could understand more exactly than you can from a written description. I am another who adds the reject and sprue back to the casting pot, I have not found a reason not to yet.

I for one do not see any correlation between speed and a lack of quality. Since I need all of my ammo to be "Match Quality" I don't accept any imperfections. If anything I find that when I am up to speed my rhythm (the key to good boolits for me) is more precise than when I cast at a more leisurely rate.

I weighed 500 of my 200gr SWCs last winter to prove to a doubter that I could make a better boolit than I could buy for a reasonable price and came up with less than half the total weight variation and a much, much smaller SD than the commercial LSWCs.

[Newtire]

I also am a slowpoke most times and there are some times it is hard to sit for that long in one place but I will do a 1 hour stint & get 200 out of a 2-cavity mold. I have a couple of single cavity molds and I can only tolerate about an hour at a time. If I get 100, I feel good. I use the method some folks taught me here of cooling the sprue plate on a water soaked rag and that gives me real smooth cutoffs. The Bullshop bullplate is the best stuff for lubing the sprue plate & pivot. I also find that trying to cast with more than one mold just slows me down. Each person finds his own way. Just think about not having to pay $10 each 100 and that helps. Cast a little at a time or alot. Pretty soon you will have 500 boolits and that's a bunch if you had to buy them.

[44man]

And that is the difference, some guys need to work at it and some do it for enjoyment. I am the latter type. I can fiddle for hours with a few loads that go almost into one hole and others need good boolits fast. You have to judge where you need to be and what and how you shoot. Reach for the level you need.
NO, I don't have any extra dancing girls to lend out!

[targetshootr]

Using a 20 lb RCBS ProMelt it's not hard to cast 500-600, 250 gr boolits in 30 minutes with six cav molds. But I hold the mold over the pot and let the sprue drop straight in while it's plenty hot. So far I haven't noticed it affecting the pot temperature.

[trickyasafox]

i like casting, but 2 hours is about my limit. i just can't stand to wear a face mask and other stuff too much longer than that. I put the sprues right back in the pot as I go as well.

you guys think your slow! in a good 1.5-2 hour session i'll get 500-600 keepers out of a 6 banger. i still have only fired the pot up about half a dozen times though, and that rate more than keeps me flush for bullets at my current consumption.

i too have had better luck as i try to go quicker. i think im still at the point where i am borderline too slow and have the mold cool down on me. man it is addicting though!

i tumble lube, so dry time is really the only limiting factor in my production. the actual lube time is measured in minutes for probably a 1000 bullets.

i don't size them, i load as is and run through a FCD as a final step. not sure if this is recommended but it's how i've gotten the best accuracy for me in my gun.

good luck! it is very addicting!

[Bret4207]

1 cav- at least 80-100 per hour. 2 cav- 150-225 per hour, depnds on the mould. 4 cav- 200-350 per hour. 6 banger- I have cast over 500 good booilts per hour, it's exhausting. 10 cav H+G 750-900 per hour, if my arm can keep up. This is on a good day when things go right. Some days it's all I can do to get 50 keepers in an hour with any mould. Thats all ladle pouring using a dutch oven and gas furnace, WW alloy, 1lb Rowell ladle for the 4 plus cav moulds, and using the Bruce B method for all but the 10 cav. It's work. No mask, gloves, space suit, etc. That just slows me down. I wear safety glasses usually, but not always. Stupid, I know.

Get the alloy hot, the mould hot and go like crazy. With a big enough pot you can dump the sprus back in the pot.

[1Shirt]

Like Tricky, about two hours is my limit in casting. My biggest concern is setting a rhythm and trying to maintain it to keep everything as consistant as possible. There is a real joy about being retired and being able to set your own pace. I am happy if I get 200 an hour after culling from a 2 cav. mold. Don't like the heavy ones bigger than 2 cav. Think I average about 225-250 an hour depending on the mold, and figure that 25-50 will be culls. Am not so fussy about handgun projectiles as long as the base is good and sharp I will load and shoot them. I water drop everything mostly because I find it convenient. However, am not much of a handgunner anyway. T'aint speed that counts, it is consistancy.
Good Luck
1Shirt!:coffee:

[Shiloh]

When I start getting good boolits from the melt, I keep a rhythm going.

Rather than speed, although this is still a good thing, I strive for quality boolits. This is especially true for my rifle boolits.

Remember the the commercial " The Heartbreak of Psoriasis" ?? I deal with the "Heartbreak of Flyers":( I believe that consistent boolit casting helps keep this phenomena in check.

Shiloh :castmine:

[dromia]

I'm not a high production caster, an hour at the pot is about as long as my back will take.

Bottom pour for .45" cal or smaller with WW+ alloy gets me around 200 good boolits an hour.

Dipping for .45 cal and over up to .590" with pure lead or lead tin mix, then around 80 good boolits and hour. If I do an hour a night they soon start stockpiling.:-D

[armoredman]

First time was an hour, got 7 useable boolits. Oops. Second time, with reccomended adjustments, 1 hour, 113 usable boolits. Third time, 45 minutes, 80 useable boolits. That's not counting the 30 minute melt time, as I set it up, and go do something within eyesight while it's melting.
I only have a 2 cavity mold for now.

[mooman76]

Usually I think I get about 200 PH on a 2 banger if all goes well or roughly 100 with a 1x.

It's been awhile since I have done the 6 banger. It is harder to get going so once I get it going I don't want to quit and once done I don't need to make any more of that bullet for at least a couple years or so but I'd say about 5-600 PH on those but I;m not as picky as I used to be on bullets. As long as it comes out filled out properly and not oversized too much I don't care how purty it is!

And by the way my sessions usually last about 3-4 hours unless I'm feeling good so then I will add another 3-4 hour session after a break.

Smelting for me goes perty fast. I do about 120-150 lb in 3-4 hours.

[buck1]

1 or 2 cav about 100-150 4 or 6 cav 200-300.
I can cast faster, but I enjoy it and if I make too many at a time my hands start cramping up a bit. If I use bruces method or bullshops I can flat make a lot of boolits per hour! But I havent bothered to count them.

[GLynn41]

I thought I was slow but I seem normal -much to my surprize --1 cav 90+ 2 cav --a good one 150+ but I inspect as I cast --when my water measuring cup gets warm or full -- I stop flux remelt and start again--_ weigh my bullets before checking them and sizing them --so I inspect as I cast -- as I weigh -- quick look after sized to make sure all is well-- I seem to do better if I go steady -- than just all out -- of course I have nothing bigger than 2 cavs

[Goatlips]

Hello 30hrrtt,

When the lead and the mold are in sync I'll do a thousand per hour with a six-holer. Since I shoot Cowboy Black Powder the targets are deliberately easy to hit, (to encourage more shooters,) so I can get away with loading up anything that even looks like a boolit. The sprues go back to the pot and most everything else goes down range. I also use a feeder pot.

You asked about lubing; I pan lube and use a Lee sizer to scrape off the excess, so things go rather quickly. At the risk of posting this site too often, here's my rotogravure on speed casting, shows my usual setup and results:

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

Goatlips:Fire: