My First Casting Session 45-70

[1989toddm]

I finally got to cast my first boolits yesterday. My father in law has cast since he was a kid and taught me to reload. Just yesterday we spent the afternoon at their house and cast a few Lee .457 slugs..

[cummins05]

Looks great you are a good learner

[glockky]

Your hooked me and my Dad started casting last summer now we have 8 molds and about 500lbs of lead. Needless to say we are hooked.

[grampa243]

looks good :) got to love the big ones :)

[454PB]

I use that same boolit in both my 45/70 sized .459", and in my 454 Casulls sized .452.

[Bullshop]

I am a tough critic and I have to be because I sell boolits. I am as tough on myself as on anyone else. I have been known to toss back large runs of custom orders because like I said I am a tough critic.
In the pic of the single boolit I see nothing to criticize. Clean sharp lines and square edges are the results of proper casting procedure and technique.
You have done well.

[1989toddm]

Thank you for the encouragement! It took a bit to get square clean edges and consistent pours. I have a good teacher. Got to get the Rcbs .458 sizer die yet then I'm ready to load!

[Bullshop]

I doubt you need a sizer die. RCBS molds seem to run on the minimum diameter side. I doubt your boolits exceed or even quite reach .458" diameter. Just dip lube or pan lube and load away.

[1989toddm]

Bullshop, the ones I checked are .456-.459 out of round. They are also from a Lee .457-340 mold. Reason for the die was to use the luber sizer my father in law has. Seeing as he lives an hour away I would like to be able to tumble lube and load. Is the out of roundness critical?

[Walter Laich]

some say 'yes'
I always figure the barrel will take care of any out-of-roundness
course I'm shooting cowboy where the targets are big and close
I can hit the 250 yard target from a rest--too shaky in my old age to steady the rifle freehand

[Bullshop]

Sorry for my mistake. For some reason I was thinking RCBS.
At any rate the out of round matters not. Think of it this way your die will size them or your barrel will size them neither of which are guaranteed to be perfectly round. My preference would be to let the barrel do the sizing. If lubed in a lubrisizer my preference is to use a die that is equal to or .001" over the largest dimension of the boolit. That way your not sizing but only lubing.

[gemihur]

I love it when a plan comes together.
Thanks, Todd, I just got the same mold for Christmas and your success may be all I need to embark on a casting session.
... just been waiting for the Ice Age to pass. These polar vortexes are for the birds! ... penguins, I mean!

[1989toddm]

No worries Bullshop. I will try a few first only tumble lubed. Appreciate the advice from all!
Gemihur, I hope you can cast soon, it is a blast! Almost more fun then loading! :guntootsmiley: Another question, is it ok to load a gas check boolit without a gas check on it? Is accuracy affected at all?

[Bullshop]

"""" Another question, is it ok to load a gas check boolit without a gas check on it? Is accuracy affected at all? """"
Here is a good answer--- One of if not the most accurate loads from my 22 CCM is with the NEI #2 boolit a 48gn gas check type but with out the gas check. 2gn AA#2 shoots a raged hole at 50 yards and hangs about 1 MOA at 100 yards.

[1989toddm]

That answers that! Thanks again!

[1989toddm]

Finally got the 340 grainers lubed and loaded and shot a few yesterday over Trailboss. I was a bit concerned since I also installed a crescent butt plate on the 1895 but recoil was quite soft! Perhaps because of the powder used?? Anyway, only shot them at 25 yds and had only a few but they were accurate!

[TXGunNut]

Obviously you're doing something wrong, it's not supposed to be that easy. ;-)

Good job! The 45-70 is a very forgiving cartridge and there are dozens, if not hundreds of ways to do it "right". Welcome to the affliction!