Howdy! New Member from behind the Iron curtain

[Usmc1968]

Greetings from Maryland!

New Member here. Just wanted to introduce myself. I have been reloading for years and just started to get into casting my own bullets for many reasons. Actually, I just got a Lyman big dipper kit for Christmas and tried it out this morning with some lead I bought on Ebay (60lbs of clean, double fluxed lead from a sailboat).
The bullets (.40S&W Lyman double mould 2660638) turned out OK. Out of the 150 I cast about 50 were keepers. Some were wrinkled, some were shiny, some dull. I am slowly learning what all that means and why :-)
I have no clue what the alloy is but I can barely scratch it with my fingernail. I will do more research into this before mixing alloys like Rotometals', "super hard" etc into this lead. If this turns out to be a fun and economical hobby I will start to cast for my .30-30, .30-06 and .45ACP
My brain is buzzing by all the information on alloys, etc but I will take it one step at a time and probably ask a ton of questions on this forum! I am looking forward to it.

Thank you for reading my intro.

Semper Fi

[gon2shoot]

Welcome to the addiction. There's a lot of good info here, that and practice will get you where you want to be.

[Sasquatch-1]

I feel for you. I lived in the Peoples Republic for close to 50 years. Move to the Eastern Panhandle of West By God nine years ago.

[koehn,jim]

Welcome, there is a lot of good info here.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Greetings,
Lots and lots on alloys in the Link at the bottom of the page "Cast Bullet Notes from lasc dot us"...a great resource, I've read through it many times.

http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm

[DeadWoodDan]

welcome, lots of good info and reading. Spend most of my winter hanging out and reading, learning and trying to improve.
DWD

[MtGun44]

Welcome!

Don't overthink the alloy stuff. If it casts well - sharp fill out when hot enough, then add some tin
and try again.

40 S&W is a difficult cartridge to learn on. It operates at high pressures and near the edge of disaster
compared to .38 Spl and .45 ACP. Fit is critical, make sure you are not using undersized. Hardness is
not a critical issue, but size is.

Use a good lube, NRA 50-50 is never the wrong answer, others are available. Tumble lube can work
but is riskier with 9mm and 40 cal.

Bill

[Usmc1968]

Thank you everyone for the quick responses and greetings :-)
Yeah, I read that about the .40S&W. The kit came with "Orange Magic, "Super Moly", and "Alox". Trying to figure out how to use them.
My model is a 1996 H&K USP .40 and was wondering if I should get the .400, .401 size die or what? The .45ACP is a Colt 1911 Series 70 Gold Cup.

Semper Fi

[RayinNH]

Welcome and thanks for your service...Ray

[AlaskanGuy]

Welcome to our world... And SemperFi to you too...

First thing you need to do is slug your bore before you invest in a sizer for your new boolits.... Slugging your bore will be easier if you field strip your auto's.... It is just a simple matter of driving a chunk of lead thorough your barrel with a mallet and rod of some soft metal or very hard wood... Dont try it with a cleaning rod...lol... Been there already... And it aint purty... A hard wooden dowel will work best, if you use metal rod, make sure it aint a hard metal rod.. Once you drive a soft lead boolit through grab your calipers and measure its width... That will give you an idea on the size of your bore, and you can then get a sizer .001 or .002 larger... Cuz your just starting out, get yourself a push through sizing die from Lee Percision for about 25 bucks for each of your autos. That is a good starting point, and will solve most of the leading problems that most folks face when shooting cast bullets.. Any other problems can be solved with lube, and loading for slower speed then copper bullets... Hot rod loads can be a problem with casting until you get the hang of things... Than you can start tweaking for speed and such...

What kind of pistol powders do you have in your collection????

Feel free to P.M. One of your new brothers here, or you can PM one of your brother in arms as well, there are many of us here....

Oooo Raaaaa


AlaskanGuy

[bhn22]

Thank you for contacting Radio Free New England, the voice of freedom.

[RED333]

Welcome, molds is gone be your down fall, it is mine.
Just cant seem to have all the ones I want, much less need.

[jeepyj]

Welcome aboard,
One opinion. I would stick to the calibers that you shoot lots of ammo out of untill you get the basics down. Since your already a reloader you know about testing. I started casting with a buddy many years ago we both picked one caliber and did our best to test and prefect to the best of our abilities then just so happed I may have picked up a few more moulds along the way.
best of luck.
Jeepyj

[Bad Water Bill]

Welcome to our happy home.

You will NEVER save money casting or reloading. You never own enough STUFF.

You will shoot WAY more because it costs so much less per round doing it yourself.

Have fun and ask away.

[MtGun44]

When in doubt, go bigger. .45 ACP use .452, highly recommend H&G 68 clone (200 SWC) for that one.
Use the Alox of the three you mentioned. Buy a micrometer that reads .0001" for measuring boolits,
calipers are not accurate enough. If you don't have one, check Enco Tools online, look for a Fowler
brand, should be well under $50, probably $28-35 most of the time.

Bill

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

like MtGun44 said FIT is #1

I haven't been at this long about 3 years now , I read and read and read when i first started reloading


i do cast for 40 S&W and 9mm , the important thing is fit , not just what you put it into the case as , but what it comes out of the case as

you need a bullet puller , even before you need to buy powder or primers

when you can load a dummy and it chambers fine and you can pull the bullet and it is .001 to .002 over your groove , you are ready to add powder and primer

I run a LEE 356-120TC dropping boolits at .360 and a LEE 401-175TC dropping at .403 neither are tumble lube designs but I tumble lube them both

I like Power Pistol 4.5 gr in the 9mm and 6.3 in 40S&W

[WILCO]

Welcome to the addiction. There's a lot of good info here, that and practice will get you where you want to be.

Welcome aboard!!!

[mikeym1a]

It is fun, and therapeutic, and challenging. Economical, eeehhhh, maybe, maybe not. First you want this die, then that die. Then you accidently buy a mold for which you have no firearm, and decide to remedy that. SO...... But, fun, definately. Do have fun. :-D

[starmac]

Accidently buy a mold???? Hmmm I am guilty of buying what I think I will probably own (hope to own) mostly dies and oddball brass, but never on accident. lol

[RED333]

It is fun, and therapeutic, and challenging. Economical, eeehhhh, maybe, maybe not. First you want this die, then that die. Then you accidently buy a mold for which you have no firearm, and decide to remedy that. SO...... But, fun, definately. Do have fun. :-D

Accident is what happens when you mess your pants from to hot a load,
not buying something ya do not need.:bigsmyl2:

[Usmc1968]

Holy smokes, thanks for all the great info and advice already :-) Haha, never thought about buying a die for a caliber I do not have...hmmm interesting strategy :-) I have always wanted that.308...
Now I have to go looking for a micrometer. Hmmm maybe you all are correct, economical..ehhhh..fun..yup :-)

Semper Fi

[Usmc1968]

Oooooooooooooo Raaaaaaaaaa Alaskanguy! Thank you I will bore size both of them.
Currently in stock I have Hodgon Clays, and a few lbs of IMR 700x and 800x (all I can find at the moment in this state)

Semper Fi

[OBIII]

Welcome to the Forum! I also live in the Peoples Republik of Marylandistan, out in the little pinched neck of the Western part of the state. The Forum also has a "Chat" section, where lots of people gather to ask, share, and learn. Hope to see you there sometime.

Semper Fi!

OB

[Blacksmith]

I'm also trapped behind the OWEMalley Iron Curtain in the extreme North East corner of the Peoples Republic. There are some other powder choices available in Delaware and Pennsylvania if you are close enough.

Just wait till you have had time to read all the stickies on the site they contain a virtual encyclopedia of casting knowledge. It won't be cheap when you find out all the neat toys that are available but it sure is fun.

Maybe we will have a chance to get together at the Maryland 2ATuesday event at the state capitol on February 4th.

https://www.marylandshallissue.com/share/2A_flyer_pt2.pdf

[Usmc1968]

I live in the Frederick area or Fredneck as it is also called ;-). Hmm there is a Bass Pro shop close to Gettysburg....Road trip :-) Need to buy primers as well..Road trip...

Semper Fi

[Char-Gar]

Good to have you here. Don't be put off by the flood of gnat straining information you receive. This stuff isn't near as complex and some folks like to make it seem.

[Wayne S]

Good to have you here. Don't be put off by the flood of gnat straining information you receive. This stuff isn't near as complex and some folks like to make it seem.
Welcome aboard, and +1 for what Char-Gar said

Semper Fi

[Wayne S]

Good to have you here. Don't be put off by the flood of gnat straining information you receive. This stuff isn't near as complex and some folks like to make it seem.
Welcome aboard, and +1 for what Char-Gar said
Just my openion , bit I slug the throats of all weapons I'm shooting cast in and size to the nearest .001 above that. Do a search for "alloy mixing alloys" blending alloys" there is an XL spread sheet where you input the amount, and content of the alloy's you have, and it will give you the poundage and % of Sn,Sm, & Pb plus the BHN of your new alloy

Semper Fi

[Usmc1968]

Thank you! An XL spreadsheet sounds great! I will search..Thanks!

Semper Fi

[Blacksmith]

Gun show in Frederick on Jan 4&5, 2014:
http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=140982

Might find some primers and powder there.

[Menner]

USMC1968 Welcome ( Go Navy) while I have not been at it very long about a year my buddy that I shoot and cast with ( he's one of Uncle Sam's misguided Children also) has been at it a long time (and I blame him for saving me all this money) he has been a great help to me his very first advice is get a good manual and read read read and when I found this site I was very impressed with the knowledge and willingness to share and help people work out problems. I also load for 40s&w and if you make the trip to the Beaches (Lewes, Rehoboth, or OC.....) you don't pass far from me if you want to see anything or want to work on something or just want to shoot I belong to a local range (if you can stand being around a Sailor that is ) I would be happy to have you stop by.
Tony

[Usmc1968]

Cool. Thank you for the information Blacksmith, the fairgrounds are like 15 minutes from my house! Menner, good to go, thanks. I have not been to Delaware since my good 'ole days at the U of D.. Go Blue Hens!!!

Semper Fi

[wv109323]

Thanks for your service to our country and welcome to the board.
I just bought a used Fowler 0-1" mic on Evil bay for $9.99(with free shipping) that measures to the nearest .0001". So don't spend a fortune for a mic.
If your alloy is soft enough you can use a fired case to cast a sizing slug in. If not find a muzzleloader and get one of his bullets to use for a slug. Muzzleloaders use pure lead.
The Gold Cup should be a "give-me" for .452 boolits. Any alloy will work for the .45 ACP if loads are at target velocities.
This is one of the more civilized forums that I have found. If you need something just holler. Someone will get back to you.

[Usmc1968]

Hey MtGun44- For that H&G 68 clone, who makes an affordable die? I was doing a little research and saw some brass ones for mucho $$. Is there a Lyman or RCBS die that is close? Also, what powders do you all use for cast boolits? Can I use my 700x, 800x or Clays? I think I got the bug now, I am looking at dies for my .30-30, .357Sig...ohh boy
Thanks again

Semper Fi

[gbrown]

Hey MtGun44- For that H&G 68 clone, who makes an affordable die? Also, what powders do you all use for cast boolits? Can I use my 700x, 800x or Clays?


Semper Fi

SAECO makes an 068 that is very close, if not the same as the H&G. Look for a used one. I use Clays, Unique or Bullseye for .45, 9mm & 38 super. All do a good job for me. Go to CastPics for load data--infinite amount of information there, as well as a lot of reference materials.

[Blacksmith]

CastPics link at the bottom of this page.

Also read the Cast Bullets Notes from lasc.us right next to CastPics.

For molds check out our group buys section. That will end your ideas of economical. They are economical for custom made molds. My wife won't let me go there unless I have some extra money because she knows I will buy something.

[Bad Water Bill]

. My wife won't let me go there unless I have some extra money because she knows I will buy something.

You better behave Mr Blacksmith.

After all we expect to see photos of your 55th anniversary.

[AlaskanGuy]

You aint living right, my awesome wife goes to group buys to buy me Gifts...he he.. Who says you cant train them to put the seat up....lol... hope she dont see this post.... [smilie=1:

[Bad Water Bill]

OOPS

MRS AlaskanGuy SAW THE POST.

Funeral services for AlaskanGuy will be held as soon as the coroner can find all of the missing remains.:kidding:

[Dean D.]

Welcome to our forum usmc1968! We pride ourselves on being the best site on the net for Cast Boolits, for our sense of community and welcoming atmosphere. You have gotten some spot on advice so far, I can only add emphasis to the suggestion of reading the stickies here. Just about any question you can think of has been asked at least once and if it was worthy enough the thread was made a sticky.

As OBIII suggested, drop into chat sometime when you have some spare time, great folks and great conversations there.

[AlaskanGuy]

Oh Crud.... Bad Water Bill musta emailed her with the link... The toilet seat was down this morning....lol