casting up a bunch

[krallstar]

Question for you long time casters. When you go to casting, how many of each caliber do you cast. Do you just keep going till you run out of lead. Reason i ask is i read here that the lead after sitting awhile will eventually get a bit softer.

[Airman Basic]

I have a ProMelt and usually cast until it's almost empty. Just shy of 20 pounds. Might load another potfull, but I'm usually through by then. Never pondered losing boolit hardness. I store and size-lube as needed.

[azrednek]

Calibers I shoot often I usually use nearly the entire potful per caliber. My last batch of 38/357's. I had some pretty rich alloy and used a little better than half for some hard 357's. After using apx 50% +. I filled it back to the top with pure lead and used the entire pot casting Lee 38 125RF in a 6-banger I will use for both 38 Special and 9MM.

[Beesdad]

109896

I cast in 100 lb. batches... It is a two person job and I run 3 six cavity molds.

Empty one pot and move to next while it reheats...

[Cherokee]

I usually do a pot of alloy 20# at a time, sometimes less, as that's about all my old hands can take in one session. However, I cast frequently and always have a "bunch" for each cartridge. I size/lube a few days later and store them.

[gray wolf]

When I have some metal to cast I usually cast for about two hours with a 2 hole mold.
That gets me about 11 pounds of 357 or 44 bullets, 350 to 500 boolets on average.
Now that metal is scarce I cast a little bit just to stay in the game.

[dh2]

a ten lb. pot full how ever many bullets that happens to be of what I am casting

[C. Latch]

i read here that the lead after sitting awhile will eventually get a bit softer.

Where did you read that?

[krallstar]

Not sure if this is the one i am referring to http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?24652-How-long-can-bullets-sit/page2&highlight=cast+bullets+lose+bhn Maybe not so important when it comes to pistol boolets, but rifle boolets that get heat treated. If you work up using these and make a bunch. If they sit for awhile it seems they will loose some of their bhn. After finding that sweet alloy that shoots oh so great, and then to have them change abit. Am i over thinking this.

[Garyshome]

Until I'm pretty sure I have way too many!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I usually cast as long as I am in the groove or til I start having problems.
it seems problems always arise :oops:

[C. Latch]

Not sure if this is the one i am referring to http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?24652-How-long-can-bullets-sit/page2&highlight=cast+bullets+lose+bhn Maybe not so important when it comes to pistol boolets, but rifle boolets that get heat treated. If you work up using these and make a bunch. If they sit for awhile it seems they will loose some of their bhn. After finding that sweet alloy that shoots oh so great, and then to have them change abit. Am i over thinking this.

I don't water-quench for hardness, and I don't do a lot of rifle shooting with cast (I do some, but not where BHN is critical) so I can't say that you're overthinking it.

[dragon813gt]

One mold per day. Sometimes it's one 20# pot. Other times I cast for 8-10 hours and lose count of how many pots I used. W/ hunting bullets when I'm using a specific alloy I will cast up one pot and be done w/ it. I try to cast up as many as possible so I have a large batch to shoot up. This means there is little variation between bullets and no changes have to be made to the load.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Other then when casting for my 45/70, where I use a different alloy and a single 4 cavity mold and want a high degree of quality and consistency, I will run until I'm tired if by myself.

I will run 2 - 3 molds, all of 4 or more cavities if I have them, while if team casting we will run 4 - 5 molds.

I cast from an open pot with a Rowel Bottom pour ladle and my pot holds 40 - 45lbs.

Using an old Coleman gas stove with plenty of available heat, I can add sprews back to the pot as well as fresh ingots of about 3 lbs each and keep right on casting. I need to pause only occasionally for fluxing and skimming.

Unless the day goes sour for some reason, if casting, I'm there to turn out a bunch of bullets. More the better.

During team casting sessions, the two of us, with me pouring and the friend opening and dumping bullets into the water bucket, we will cast a lot of bullets in a 2 - 3 hour session.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[Jupiter7]

I'm good for about 2hrs, done standing. Usually try to cast with two 4 cavity molds unless I'm trying to catch up on something I shoot a lot. I shoot up to 1k rounds a month of pistol, mostly .40&45. It's enough to keep up with.

[JeffinNZ]

I generally run a 20lb pot of the casting and a 10lb pot for the sprues and topping up. That way my top up is always at temperature. As such I can cast, cast, cast. I actually don't like casting much BUT once up to speed and in full production I often find it hard to stop. I also tend to cast with two moulds whether I need the projectiles at the time or not. Just seems to make sense in use of time. I guess I stop when I get hungry, sore of need a leak.

[HeavyMetal]

For my SC HP molds I have a Lyman mag 20 dipper pot, casting 457122 HP's I'll run out of steam at about 200, the 45 ACP devestator will go 400 as well the 429421 or 358429

Now move up to 125 gr RN for the 9mm or the 200 H&G copy by Lee and it's a different story!

I have a pair of Lee's 6 bangers for both boolits and a pair of 10 Lb pots stacked on top of one another, in 2 hours I can generate a pretty good sized pile!

These get sorted on QC and put in plastic tubs for future lube and sizing I've never worried about age hardening or softening as it's lead going down a Steel barrel!

[bobthenailer]

I usually only cast /lube indoors (with proper ventlation) in the month of Febuary when there is not as much to do outdoors . i usually cast & lube at least 10,000 boolets in that month to top off my supply of cast boolets in various calibers & styles.

[bangerjim]

I use a 4-20 pot and keep it full from the start. When it gets down about 11# I add my custom alloy mix (12bhn) back in after preheating on the hotplate.

That gives me hundreds of boolits of usually ONE of the molds I use at a time.

As far as lead losing hardness???????? That only counts if you are trying the old-school miser method of water dropping Sb rich boolits to gain hardness. Today hardness is not as critical as fit. And if you powder coat all your boolits as I and MANY others now do, you really do not worry about hardness anymore. I use 9-12 for most everything subsonic and PC them. No greasy lubes, no smoke and .....NOT a bit of LEADING!

bangerjim

[Bonz]

sounds like a great question for RotoMetals...

[leadman]

Veral Smith of LBT molds did a study of boolits losing hardness. He found if they were put in the freezer the rate of losing hardness was slowed to almost nothing.

I have cast up to #200 of alloy in a day. One time! Usually between #50 and #75 a day.
For those that have the Lee #20 pots, they only hold just a little over #15 of pure lead. Yes, I did fill the pot with weighed pure lead. The RCBS does hold just shy of the advertised #22.

[jiandawg]

I typically cast as many boolits as I can until my pot runs out. I typically start with a full 20# pot and add ingots as I go. In my most recent session I cast up about 2100 358-125-RF. This is because I don't have a permanent casting station and the more I cast the less often I have to set everything up. And while its probably not necessary for 9mm, I usually let them set around for a week or to age harden.

[popper]

Tin, not Sb causes decreased hardness. Ageing increases hardness, WD increases faster and more.

[country gent]

I ladle cast and also sit while casting. My pot is gas fired and holds just over 100 lbs. I flux roughly every 100 bullets or so. I may cast for a couple hours or up to 6 hours depending on heat, How im feeling and what I need. I like to cast enough bullets to last 3-4 matches if possible. I use single cavity molds and run at a comfortable pace. Health issues are a issue for me. WHy I sit with balance issues standing isnt an option for me. I also recently tried the cabin tree locking mold handles to increase consistency and ease of casting.