to get started

[weeple2000]

I have 67 lbs of range lead. I haven't cast this into ingots yet. I am trying to get started. I have bought, from Midsouth: Alox, 6 Cavity Mold 452-200-SWC
by Lee Precision, Double Cavity Mold C309-200-R by Lee Precision for my 30-06 rifle. I also bought a 420 pot, a ladel, and the 6 cavity handles.

I picked up a coleman gas stove off of Craigslist. I am hoping that I can use the stove to cast ingots, and to use those ingots to cast bullets.

I may have made an error, but I did purchase some linotype. I purchased 40 lbs off of eBay. I believe this material is not cast into ingots yet.

My question is, should I try to get some pewter? Obviously I need to see what the BHN of my range lead is. But is there anything else I can do to help myself along this journey until then?

I am hoping I can do all I can to be able to hit the ground running once I start. I am not able to dedicate time actual melting/casting quite yet. But once I can, I would like to have everything in place that I need.

Thanks,
Andy

[44Blam]

If you have 67 lb of range lead and 40 lbs of lino, you are in good shape.
I tend to mix 3 lb of rl to 1 lb lino. I also tend to throw in a 1/8 lb of tin... I tend to get a really hard boolits after a month or two.
With that mix, you should powdercoat and then resize within a week or two. Then shoot a few weeks later.

[wv109323]

If the .452 boolits will be used in a , 45 ACP then the range alloy should be fine. You may want to add some lino type to up the tin which is easier to cast a nice boolit base. Your alloy is probably OK with the rifle but you may be limited on velocity with your lube. Matching boolit diameter to bore diameter is critical. I think you need a hot plate to preheat your molds and a pot thermometer so you know what temp your lead is at.

[sigep1764]

Give us a location and maybe someone on here is close enough to help you out from time to time! If you are near St Louis, I'd be happy to drink a beer and melt some lead.

[clintsfolly]

As said above if you find a mentor you will get a huge jump on the learning curve! I have started a few people and I find it helps me as much as them!

[OS OK]

Making ingots is best done in large batches of at least 50 pounds, 100'+' pounds even more desirable for well blended batches. Contents change from small batch to batch.
That coleman stove is going to struggle making heat and take much more time even at the small batches...since you are getting well prepared, consider getting a sturdy 'turkey frier' type stove, high BTU output & one of the VS-vendor sponsors here sells custom pots made from propane bottles.

Make it easy on yourself and you'll enjoy the work...especially your new ingots of bullet metal custom blended...don't get no better than that.

[bangerjim]

If your lino is still in “lines-of-type” - - - leave them that way!!!!! DO NOT EVER ingotize. Leaving them in the native format preserves the value. If you melt them down, nobody will believe what is in there if you ever have to sell them. And it is so easy to cut/break off a piece for your pot. I have many SFRB boxes full of strips. Those boxes are perfect for storing most lino strips.

Download the FREE alloy calculator on here to calculate your mixes for your future mixing/casting projects. A great tool!

Good luck in your future casting endevors!

Bangerjim

[Kraschenbirn]

As said above if you find a mentor you will get a huge jump on the learning curve! I have started a few people and I find it helps me as much as them!

+1 on the above. Many who participate on this forum have been at this for quite a while and are often willing to share their expertise.

Bill

[weeple2000]

I am in Madison, WI. I did update that on my profile. There is someone at my club I know that casts, so I may reach out to him. I got some bullets from him a little while ago. I wanted to call him and ask some questions about the alloy he used as well as how he lubed them. I haven't had a chance to load any of those yet. I am still working on going through a bulk order from bayou bullets from a couple years ago.

I talked myself into the Coleman stove up from a hot plate. I thought the stove would be easier to store than a turkey fryer. I do already have a turkey fryer, but I don't want to mix my cooking items with my casting items.

The pistol bullets are in fact for a 45 ACP. I am shooting bullseye, so they won't be going very fast. I have been doing 4.15 grains BE powder for my 185 grain bayous, for example. I intended to step that down a bit for timed and rapid fire actually, I just haven't gotten around to it. I figured I'd just load up the rest of what I have with the same recipe just to get rid of it.

If you're hunting with a 308 bullet, do you need to use a gas check to take down a white tail?

[sigep1764]

I have only shot cast through one rifle as of yet, a 270. There are some that are able to shoot a powder coated plain based boolit at speeds above 2000fps. My boolits have a gas check shank and get a gas check and are lubed traditionally through a lubrisizer. I do keep mine around 1500 to 1700fps, but I don't mind the gas checks. I am waiting on an order from Pat Marlin for a gas check making die set to reduce costs. I plan on shooting a lot of rounds through this rifle now that I can load on the cheap. Im up to around 500 so far with good results.

[Kraschenbirn]

...If you're hunting with a 308 bullet, do you need to use a gas check to take down a white tail?

I'd say that might depend upon distance to the deer. I get good accuracy with PC'd plain-base .30s at 1650 fps from a .30-30 bolt action and, for practice, a buddy shoots conventional lubed boolits without GCs in his Win 94 in .32 WS at about the same velocity. Both guns will easily produce minute-of-Bambi groups at 100 yards but, much farther out, bullet drop becomes a factor.

Bill

[Grmps]

weeple2000 - welcome to CB. If you decided to start casting to save money, forget it. You won't, you'll just shoot more.
Casting boolits (lead bullets) properly is a science, once you know the basics, not a hard science.
There is a lot of good information on CB. The Google search (top right of every forum page) is a gateway to all the knowledge on this forum. IF you can’t find your answer there ask the question (Please be as detailed as possible, pictures help http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?344661-Capturing-amp-Posting-screen-shots I would be very surprised if there wasn’t someone on this forum that could answer ANY question you might have)
http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm
1. Boolits need to be cast .0005 to .003 over the slugged diameter of your barrel for accuracy and to avoid leading. If the fit is wrong nothing else will work right.
a. slugging a barrel (it is safer to use a brass rod or a steel rod with a couple of coats of tape to avoid damaging your barrel http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinSlug.htm
b. chamber casting https://www.brownells.com/guntech/cerrosafe/detail.htm?lid=10614
or pound casting http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?356251-Pound-Cast-instructions-(for-rifle-chamber)
2. the right alloy needs to be used for the velocity and purpose of the boolit (don’t fall into the trap of going with to hard an alloy
Economical way to easily test lead hardness
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?355056-Easier-pencil-lead-hardness-testing
https://i.imgur.com/TGUQsIe.jpg
Some alloys harden over time
http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Chapter_3_alloySelectionMetallurgy.ht m
different alloy’s different end sizes
https://i.imgur.com/emuBC2T.png?1
Lead alloy calculator
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=45784&d=1341560870
3. velocity the bullet needs to be pushed hard/fast enough to get the proper spin, have the proper velocity to accurately reach the target but not so hard as to be dangerous or strip the lead off in the grooves instead of spinning the boolit..
Powders range from fast to slow, you need to choose the right powder for your application.
Loading manuals list the best powders for certain calibers and boolit weights.
NEVER use any posted noncommercial load data without first checking to see if falls in the safe parameter for your firearm!! There are several firearms out there that can handle much higher pressures than others!!
Link to free online load data
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?337910-CB-load-data-online-sources

[weeple2000]

Thanks Grmps, there was a lot of good information there.

I have been working on reading From Ingot to Target for a while now. I am on Chapter 13. I think this is a book I will want to read more than once, as well as referring to it throughout casting. The other book that I have read a couple times is Modern Reloading by Richard Lee. I quite enjoy reading about such topics. There is something very rewarding about reloading bullets. I haven't been doing it that long, a bit less than a year and a half.

There is a Lee group on Facebook that is fairly active. People were posting about casting. My interest grew and I watched a few videos about it. I asked and it turned out that a fair amount of people start casting the same time they start reloading, while others reload tens of thousands of rounds before they cast their first bullet. According to Richard Lee, only 1% of reloaders cast. And only 1% of firearm owners reload.

I realize that saving money is the wrong reason to get into reloading and casting. But I think I am learning a lot about shooting as a hobby. You can't put a price on that. Sure, I could just go place a bulk order for bullets and spend more time shooting rather than reloading. But there is something very therapeutic about walking down into my basement at 10:30 pm and reloading 200 rounds, or priming some brass. I actually feel that reloading is more rewarding than shooting. I am hoping casting will be the same.