Kinda thinken getting into this hobby.

[Atlast357]

Been hanging around for a long time . Looks to be complicated , finding lead , mixing the brew, buying tools and equipment and above all.... knowing what to do first.
"Finding lead" uhm in Calif, the wheel people tell me ( real lead weights are getting rare due to higher content of other metals used today) and they will need a receipt to satisfy the government but are reluctant to sell to me . Another Big Brother control :sad:
I want to see if it is for me or not, so as a start ,
I have a box 350 pcs plus of .356 115 gr round nose for 9mm shooting ,from Missouri Bullets that been tring to sell, but takers.
Question: can these be melted down and recast after sckimming off the cannelure lube ? These are Brinell 18.
I shoot .454 and .451 round ball in an Italian made cap & ball revolver, so at least I could use them.
Just a thought.

[jmort]

Melt them down. May be too hard for cap and ball, but i don't do cap and ball. The best "deal" on alloy here in So Cal is reclaimed lead shot or even new shot. Chilled is close to COWW at 2% antimony, and magnum is around 6%. I use the chilled shot and add some tin. Recycled shot can be had for around $1 a pound. Buy alloy from on the members or vendors here around a $1 a pound. That $1 will get you around 45 150 grain bullets. Around 2 to 3 cents a bullet.

[smoked turkey]

..."Looks to be complicated , finding lead , mixing the brew, buying tools and equipment and above all.... knowing what to do first."

You called that right. It is complicated. In fact it is almost "rocket science". However...if you read a few the stickies at the top sections of the sub-forum for casting, you will gain a whole lot of info. I also suggest you get yourself the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook (they don't spell it quite right as it should be "boolit"-but that is another stickey). That handbook has a lot of very useful info. Then ask a few pertinent questions here and the answers will get you on the right track. Lastly a big welcome to the home of some of the most knowledgable folks on this subject. I think you will like it.

[btroj]

Three words

Find A Mentor

find someone local who casts and get first hand experience if possible

[Atlast357]

Checking out black powder shooting crew at a local range, they cast "Boolits"........ Just realized the I passed
the first step by using the correct word.
Step 1 Boolits
Step 2 read
Step 3 mentor
OK got it

[longbow]

I will contradict some of the previous comments about "complicated". It can be but doesn't have to be.

I started out 40 some odd years ago... hmmm almost 50 years ago (time flies!) with no mentor and a lot of ignorance but since I started casting shotgun slugs and black powder projectiles pressures were not high and lubes need not be complicated.

I have worked my way to smaller bores and higher velocities since.

Your .454 might take a bit of work to get near "J" boolit velocities but the cap and ball, well, cast balls from soft lead, cover loaded balls with lube and shoot. Little to worry about.

However, you may find that anything much beyond pure or at least very soft lead may be difficult to ram in the cap and ball.

Anyway, do some reading (search this site) and start slow and you will be alright. Don't try to duplicate "J" bullet loads in your .454 right off ~ start with light loads and work up. I am not personally familiar with .454 but I know it runs fairly high pressure so gas check boolits are a must for anything but low velocity (low pressure) loads.

You can buy lead and lead alloys to suit what you need if you can't get wheelweights and you can be a scrounge like me and mine the range berms. I have been shooting mostly reclaimed range lead for some time now mostly in my .44 marlin and .303 Lee Enfields. Heat treating wheelweights or range scrap can take it from mild loads to pretty wild loads too.

Get your self into casting and feeding your firearms and enjoy! It is a lifelong learning experience.

Longbow

[derekmelton]

Longbow, what do you mean by "heat treating" the wheel weights? Are you referring to water quenching to increase hardness?

[flyingmonkey35]

How much do you want for the 9mm

Some one might trade you lead for them.

[dakotashooter2]

For lead talk to your local plumbers or contractors who do waterline/main work or demolitions. In my area we still have some lead water lines in older homes. I have a contractor that lets me know whenever he runs across some. I also get some from our city maintenance shop...usually an occasional bucket with few wheel weights and battery post clamps........

[Plate plinker]

It's not a hobby it's a disease.

just buy some lead and away you go.

[MtGun44]

Started in '75 with one Lee mold, a Lee ladle, a tiny Lee pot for my propane camp stove
and a Lee rig to push thru size after pan lubing. Worked great for my 9mm for a few years,
and I gradually got more molds, a lubrisizer, a bottom pour pot, etc, etc.

Does not have to be complicated.

[country gent]

You can order known lead from roto metals, Buffalo Arm company, and several others. For the cap and ball revolvers and muzzle loaders you need pure lead or very close to it to making loading easier. As to lube the black powder revolvers crisco shortening works very well for lube and such a finger full to fill chamber mouths after loaded and your good to go. Starting out with new equipment and learning as you go buy some "known lead from above and start that way it takes alot out of the equasion for a start. You can scavenge lead whie working thru the actual casting process and learn smelting blending later.

[dh2]

Cal. has its own rules. Casting alloys are out there to be found. If you can read a book and fallow instructions you can do it. I started casting to feed one gun then one more now it's like an old lady feeding cats I have no idea how many I am feeding

[patrick_sween]

Here's what I did, may not be the best approach but was cheap and painless. Buy Lee mold, $20 shipped. Buy Lee #20 pot, $60 shipped. Buy clean smelted wheel weight ingots from a vendor here in the Sale forum, I bought from Captain and was very satisfied, $60 for a 50# package shipped. Read the stickies here and the instructions that come with the gear, then fire up the pot and start pouring. First bullets were shootable, next few were better yet. Lube with Lee Liquid Alox ($5 shipped). Find appropriate load data online, load and shoot. I've only been doing it for 3 months but am having a good time and getting better (more efficient) each session. You can make this complicated and costly, or you can get the bare minimum and just dive in like I did. I've even gone so far as to hack up my first and only mold to make it how I want it, and even that has been relatively successful. So far so good. Remember, folks did this around a camp fire hundreds of years ago so it isn't rocket science.

Patrick

[Wayne Smith]

DO NOT use that lead for a cap and ball revolver. You will break your loading lever trying to load them. This is a specific use for pure lead because you need to use a slightly oversize ball and scrape off an edge of the ball to ensure a seal of the chamber. Trade it to someone for pure and enjoy your revolver.

[longbow]

Yes, oven heat treating and water quenching.

I found that my heavy .303 boolits were leading and accuracy was not terribly good. A few recovered boolits told the story. In the bore lands and groove are equal width. On the boolits the grooves were about half again the width of the lands. Boolits were swaging(skidding) during rotational acceleration. I have never run into that before but the .303's with 1:10" twist rifling and 200 gr. (and heavier) boolits were giving me grief until I heat treated boolits.

Powder burn rate may well have had an effect too but nonetheless, harder boolits fixed it.

Longbow

[Efin]

Same way I felt when I finally jumped in. I had been saving lead from years of construction, from the demo waste that mysterious disappeared ;) ;)
And as others here have said, buy it here, it's a good deal, and Rotometals, I get my superhard from them to mix into the 100% from the demo waste.
I'm in SoKal(Kalifornia), so I know the regulations are difficult but it's worth every minute, I love casting. I also agree on the mentor part, check your LGS's they most likely can point you in the right direction to others. We're all a big shooting and casting family, and love to help.

[Atlast357]

Elfin A local guy !
Is Rotometals in LA ?

[44man]

Cast is not a hobby, it is a way of life. Takes more thought but in the end you will never go back.

[Efin]

Elfin A local guy !
Is Rotometals in LA ?
Rotometals is in the East bay area.