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g17
04-01-2016, 03:30 PM
Hello to all, been reading here for some time learning about casting and several months ago bought a lee pot, pro420, along with some molds for .44 and .357 and finally broke it all out this week and had some fine results. Following tips, I cleaned and smoked the molds with a butane long stem bbq lighter and laid it on the pot to get it heated up. I don't have a thermometer but having the the thermostat set at 7 on the pot, I noticed a little smearing from the sprue plate after a few casts so turned the pot down to just under 6 and everything worked fine from there on. Only thing I placed in the pot on top of the lead was some sawdust I got off the floor under my table saw. I turned out somewhere around 700-800 boolits....was at 600 and said what the heck, I'll just add more lead and keep rolling. They all came out looking as good as any I've bought. I even went to harbor freight and bought some red powder coat and did the shake and bake method on a couple hundred and they came out looking pretty nice. Have to wait until next week before I can shoot some of them to see how they work out but I have high hopes. I started reloading back in the 80s and can't believe I waited this long to start casting. This is great! Many thanks to all who have posted tip and tricks on here! I plan on lubing some with the 45/45/10 method to compare to the pc but for what it's worth, if the pc ones have all the benefits I've read about, I think that's how I will finish them out in the future. Here's a few pics of my first batch's progression.

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Pine Baron
04-01-2016, 03:44 PM
Hey there g17,
those are some good lookin' Boolits! What alloy are you using? What mold are you using and what were they dropping at? Are those .357 & .38? did you size? inquiring minds want to know:bigsmyl2:

Yodogsandman
04-01-2016, 04:24 PM
You can't do it like that! You're supposed to have all sorts of start up problems!:bigsmyl2:

Great job!

tazman
04-01-2016, 04:37 PM
Welcome to the addiction.
That appears to be the tumble lube SWC version from Lee. I use that boolit in my 38 special with great results. Haven't tried it in my 357 mag yet.

Tatume
04-01-2016, 04:43 PM
Welcome aboard, and enjoy. Take care, Tom

g17
04-01-2016, 05:16 PM
The molds are .44 caliber/.430 Lee 2 cavity, tumble lube molds I think they're called. I didn't have to size any of them. I bought Lee sizing dies for both .357 and .44 but they come out pretty close to spec as cast, was worried the pc may add to them but it wasn't enough to make a difference and none of cases had any sort of perceivable bulge after seating them. The alloy is lead wheel weights and I dropped them into a bucket of water as they came out of the mold.

tazman
04-01-2016, 05:45 PM
When you baked the powder coat, you softened the lead back unless you dropped them into water when you took them out of the oven.

g17
04-01-2016, 05:47 PM
When you baked the powder coat, you softened the lead back unless you dropped them into water when you took them out of the oven.

I dropped them into water out of the oven.

tazman
04-01-2016, 05:51 PM
You should be good to go then.

Yodogsandman
04-01-2016, 06:07 PM
I dropped them into water out of the oven.

They won't be fully hardened for a few days. I wait at least 5 days after quenching to allow boolits to age harden up to almost their full potential hardness. Be sure to do any sizing as soon as possible after quenching your PC boolits, once hard, it's a lot more work. Broke my work table trying to size using a cheater bar on the handle after a few days.

jeffkopf
04-02-2016, 10:51 PM
Those look awesome. I have all the stuff I need to have my first casting session. I hope it goes as smoothly as yours did. How long does it take to cast 600 bullets?

ccjcc81
04-02-2016, 11:11 PM
Very nice for your first time. That red looks cool, I'll have to get some.

g17
04-04-2016, 12:31 PM
Those look awesome. I have all the stuff I need to have my first casting session. I hope it goes as smoothly as yours did. How long does it take to cast 600 bullets?

I started filling the mold (dual cavity) at around 1300 and was cleaning up around 1630 so about 3 1/2 hours is how much time I spent total, not counting the time the pot was heating up. When heating the pot first time plugged in, I set it on 7, not all the way up, went back inside and had some coffee etc prob 30-40 mins. I set my pot up with a pan beside it and a pan with a towel/water in it below and away from the pot. I also placed the mold on the pot while heating with the corner touching the lead so when I went back the lead was liquid and it didn't stick to the outside of the mold. I've been impressed since doing it, have more lead on the way to go along with what I have left. I sweated this whole thing because of hearing all of the woes but I was fortunate to not have any. In fact, the very first bullets that came out of the mold (I kept them) look fine enough to shoot. Here's how they turned out right out of the mold with no sizing which they wont need. I pulled several randomly to check weight and most are right at .241gr with a couple i found close to .242gr. I'll say this, name brand bullets I've purchased have a greater variance than these.

There hasn't been a day since that I've wondered why it took me so long to do this. I say go ahead and take the plunge because you'll be glad you did. Never mind the naysayers, this is very doable. One of the first things I did this morning was spray my 357 mold with some carb cleaner and then smoked it up. I have plenty of bullets in that caliber but am going to cast some just to see if it goes as well which I believe it will. If nothing else, I'll learn more on the process. Read and learn right here on this forum and watch some videos on youtube about every aspect. It will come together when you start casting. I don't have a thermometer and I may be wrong here but I kept an eye on the sprue plate when dropping the boolits and when I noticed a small amount of smear, I cut the temp down and kept going. The only time I paused was after adding lead into the pot and that wasn't but maybe 5 minutes, gave it a stir, and left the mold sitting on the pot during that time. I didn't make large puddles on top of the sprue plate after the first few bullets but rather just a small puddle covering each hole. You'll get the hang of it after doing a few and just as soon as sprue frosted over, I count 5 and tap the plate open.

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g17
04-04-2016, 12:41 PM
For the powder coating, I took a sour cream bowl, didn't have cool whip, placed some plastic bb's in with the powder and shook the bullets. Some had a heavier coating of powder than the others but all I did when taking them out was dip my needle nose pliers in the powder and would give them a tap on the side of the bowl to shake off the excess powder and then stood them on a foil lined pan and dropped them into cold water after baking. They will stick to the foil and even though it will peel off, I'll try some non stick foil next time or maybe even try a silicone mat.

jeffkopf
04-04-2016, 05:40 PM
Awesome! Thanks for the reply! My dad casts bullets all the time for his cowboy action shooting but I have just recently come on to the reloading scene. I probably have 200 pounds of pure lead and alloy waiting to be fired up. I got a couple molds from Mihec so now all I need is a free Saturday!

Nose Dive
04-04-2016, 11:23 PM
Welcome to the addiction son. I can tell you....it only gets worse!! NICE BOOLITS!!! I want to read a 'range report' on them!!

Nose Dive

Cheap, Fast, Good. Kindly pick two.

Wayne Smith
04-05-2016, 08:52 AM
Awesome! Thanks for the reply! My dad casts bullets all the time for his cowboy action shooting but I have just recently come on to the reloading scene. I probably have 200 pounds of pure lead and alloy waiting to be fired up. I got a couple molds from Mihec so now all I need is a free Saturday!

Unless you are casting for a cap and ball revolver save that pure and trade it for some ww lead from one who shoots cap and ball. Pure is precious, once alloyed it will never be pure again.

OS OK
04-05-2016, 09:26 AM
I'll whisper so the other guys here don't hear…"I can't figure that danged caliper out…I use a dial type for simpletons like myself…what size did they end up being?"
I have heard that the tumble lube variety cast the size you want to begin with, increasing that by .002" with the PC'ing could make them a might to large, did you try them in the cylinder for fit? Could be that they are a perfect fit in the cylinder throats and thats the idea for revolvers anyway. When casting/PC'ing for the autoloaders you have to pay attention to that part of the cast that sticks out further than the brass or they have trouble going into battery.

Good work Pard…welcome to the addiction…OS OK

ArrowJ
04-05-2016, 09:56 AM
Showoff :)

blikseme300
04-05-2016, 09:55 PM
Awesome start. All you now need is more molds, pistols, rifles, etc... Resistance is futile...

BNE
04-05-2016, 10:25 PM
Happy to hear. I hope it is as good when you shoot them.