Have I got the process down?

[Comrade Mike]

So I'm beginning to toy with the idea of casting my own finally. I want to start with .38 special bullets as it's a cartridge I have loads of experience with. I'd like to buy a lee six cavity mold for starters that throws a .358 slug so I can shoot the bullets as thrown rather than having to
Mess around with sizing.

Buy ready to cast lead (Ill let you guys handle the smelting and alloying for now)

Melt it down in a casting pot

Spoon lead into the mould, let it harden and whack the sprue plate.

Drop the bullets to air cool

Check for casting defects.

Pan lube

Shoot!

I read somewhere about treating the mold so that bullets drop more easily. I've also read some people water cool. Anything I'm missing in this whole thing?

[harvester]

Some guns will like the projectile sized to some specification to fit a little better.

[bangerjim]

Well, you do not want to "whack" the sprue plate handle on a Lee 6 banger! It is a wooden handle that you use to open the plate with when the temp is right. If you mold/plate temp is too low, it will not open easily....that tells you that you are NOT up to temp. Whacking the wooden handle will cause it to splinter over a period of time. I rarely have to use much force to open any of my 6 bangers................as long as the temp is up where it belongs.

There is really no "messing around" with sizing........it's as simple as pumping the handle on your loading press!

I size EVERYTHING. Lee sizing dies are less than $20 and are WELL worth it. They even come with that horrible crapola called liquid Alox.....I have 8 bottles of it I will never use. Sounds like you are only interested in 38's, so buy one. If you want to go all the way, slug your barrel and get a die of the correct oversize. I use the standard size and it shoots well in all my 38's, both revolvers and long guns. I PC everything so that eliminates any of the leading and lubing problems you will have with greasy lubes. Pan lubing is somewhat difficult....I tried it......."with very little success & a whole lotta mess". You might have better luck in colder climates than Arizona.

Sizing is just part of the reloading process we do. Some do skip it, but I like the confidence of knowing that ALL my slugs (223/9/30/38/40/45) are of the correct diameter when loading and shooting. I size TWICE.......once when the slugs are cooled and again after I PC them.

Good shooting!

bangerjim

[Wolfer]

I started out not sizing. Worked fine in what I had at the time. I didn't have much luck pan lubeing lee boolits. The groves are pretty small. A Keith style would no doubt work. Now I dip my boolits up to the crimp grove and set them on a piece of glass. Once cooled I run them thru the lee sizer to clean the excess lube off. The ones I don't size I slide a cut off cartridge that's slightly bigger than the boolit and shoot as is. I'm pretty wasteful with the lube but I make my own and it's pretty cheap.

Lots of people just tumble lube in LLA and get by just fine. I just started trying stuff til I found what I like.
The 38 is a good one to start on. It's very cast friendly. Woody

[MtGun44]

You can often get by without sizing, but sizing will give you more consistent results. I recommend
it. Pan sizing is a good intro to conventional boolits, if you shoot a lot you will want to go to a
Lyman or RCBS lubrisizer fairly soon. If you don't shoot a lot, you can stick with pan lubing and
a Lee push thru forever. Dittos on not "whacking" the sprue plate. Push or gently bump it open
if it is a 2 cav Lee or any cav anybody else. Lee 6 cavs have a handle that you can break if you
get carried away. WIth the Lee 6 cav molds, only cast with the first two cabs closest to the
sprue plate hinge at first, then add one more periodically as the mold warms up. Folks are
breaking the handles because they pour metal into a cold mold and try to cut 6 cold sprues
at once. Bad idea.

Bill

[Bret4207]

I suggest, in the strongest possible terms, that you start off with a single or 2 cavity mould. You need to learn to cast and a 6 banger will give you 6 times the problems. Also remember the mould has to be HOT to cast well. All the incomplete, wrinkled, not completely filled out boolits are caused by a cool mould 98% of the time.

When learning the ropes, you stand a fair chance of trashing an aluminum mould, especially the top surface. Better to hurt a $20.00 mould (or whatever a 2 cav Lee costs now) than a $50.00 mould. But to guard against that, as soon as you see lead on the top surface of the mould or anything that looks like streaking, get after the top of the mould and bottom of the sprue plate with 4/0 steel wool to get the lead off. A razor blade will work too. That's the damage I see on 99% of the used Lees I see for sale.

[bobthenailer]

See if there is a fourm member in your area that can mentor you ! it will save you alot of frustration & time.

[Garyshome]

You won't have it "Down" till you cast a few thousand! So get going.

[DRNurse1]

Great information and I concur: keep the mould up to temperature, do NOT force ('whack') anything, lube and size your work, and shoot a lot of this stuff you make to get a feel for your work. A mentor is a HUGE plus, you can really improve your learning curve with one.

[trixter]

"Lots of people just tumble lube in LLA and get by just fine. I just started trying stuff til I found what I like."

I got back into this relaoding thing about 3 years ago. I cast Lee TL 200 SWC, I started with LLA and still use it exclusively. I love it. I work on the KISS principle.