Finally getting started!!! [Archive]

inuhbad

02-25-2009, 03:47 PM

SO, I've been reading around here for a while, lurking for quite a while, and I'm about to get started in Casting VERY soon!

I'll be heading out with cash in hand from my tax return to buy my wife the Ruger SP-101 she has been wanting for a while, and I'll also be purchasing a couple Casting Molds (Lyman 38/357 mold, and a Lyman 225g LRN 45 ACP mold), probably a Lyman or RCBS bullet sizer/luber. As for the pot, smelting, and pouring...

I've decided to start out on the 'low-cost' side of things and use a Castiron Pot, a Ladle, & thermometer to start out with my first bullet castings. I can upgrade later to a better electric pot as more funds become available for a bottom pour pot.

In the meantime, I think this little setup will work okay for me.

I also finally found a decent scrap yard that might just GIVE ME LEAD FOR FREE on the one condition that I cast a few fishing jigs & sinkers of a couple sizes for him from time to time! :-D

I'm getting excited about this!

Also, if another 7.62x39mm Mold buy rolls around, I'll hopefully be able to get one of those nice 6-cavity molds ASAP too! :drinks:

Forgot to add - Do you guys see some problems starting out with such a setup??? Or do you think this will work find to start?

inuhbad

02-25-2009, 04:45 PM

I wasn't sure if I should buy a book or not...

When I first bought my reloading equipment a number of years ago (while I was still a poor starving college student living off Ramen Noodles and occasionally throwing in a hotdog for some protien), I bought my equipment used! I got it from a man who works for Federal Ammunition / Alliant Techsystems as a Ballistics Technician! I bought his whole setup for about $200 bucks.

Unfortunately I had no idea WTH most of it was at the time, and since it was all sitting in a box in his garage for 10-12 years rusting unused. I wasn't sure what was salvageable or not.

It came with pretty much everything pictured here:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/bannie/MiscGuns/reload1.jpg

With the exception of a couple things... The off-brand tumbler, the beretta, and the Speer #13 manual I bought... It DID come with another "press" as well, but that's not pictured. Every 9-12 months I moved from one apartment to another, so I had to make a loading bench that was 'mobile'. I went to home depot, bought a 'bathroom cabinet' that was on sale, a hacksaw blade, a thing of medium sandpaper, some hardware, castors, and a piece of plywood. Cut the plywood, sanded edges, bolted it to the top & bottom of the cabinet, bolted on castors & loading stuff, and bent a coat hanger to stick out the side & catch any 'overspill' powder from the powdermeasure.

The 'box' of misc reloading stuff came with a 500rd box of .38/.357 lead semi-wadcutters, a 500rd box of .230gn Lead Round Nose 45 bullets, and some lead 90-grain 9mm bullets (for 380 ACP). I've since loaded those all up & shot them all! I quickly learned the value of cast lead bullets and I LOVE 'EM!!!

It DID come with a nice old Lyman Reloading Handbook which was incredibly comprehensive and discussed a lot of the history of loading, casting, etc... And it has plenty of old recipe's for cast bullets. However, some of the powders listed there are no longer available so perhaps a new manual is a good thing to use. The speer manual has a couple 'cast' recipes but not much.

Since I graduated in 2005, and now I'm married and have a house, I was able to expand into a more 'Permanent' loading / work bench setup that I use to build guns from parts kits, and do some fun small metal fabrication projects.

This is my new loading & gunbuilding bench setup...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/bannie/MiscGuns/Loading3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/bannie/PB030019.jpg

My wife got me a nice used Craftsman 35-230 Amp AC Stick welder for Valentine's Day $80 on Craigslist! :drinks:

I'm going to use the welder to speed up my two current gun-build projects so I can move onto another one... I'm currently working on an MG-47 Frankengun, and a PPSh-43 Submachinegun converted to Semi-Automatic-only (with buttstock pinned & welded up to make it a 'pistol').
PPSh-43 SMG
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/bannie/GunbuildMisc/43_a.jpg

My MG-47 will have a number of 'modifications' to its original 'ES' design version created by 'the Master' homebuilder, Tom Hartman!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/bannie/MG47Stuff/0618081238.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/bannie/MG47Stuff/0513081953b.jpg

The welder should speed things along well.

Given the SERIOUS lack of available 'Commercial' reloading components, I've decided to take matters into my own hands to start making my own bullets now! Thus I have to start acquiring the means to make 45 ACP, 38/357, 7.62x39mm, .223(.224), and .308 bullets of my own!

I'll likely be Swaging the jacketed .224 bullets from .22 LR casings (eventually - when I have the $$$ for the dies), and possibly swaging jacketed .308 bullets (maybe casting gas-checked ones instead), and the rest will all be cast bullets.

As for the 'Press' that's not pictured - it was all rusted up pretty good and I wasn't sure if it would work or even WTH it was -- so I threw it away!!! Then after I started reading further, I wished I hadn't thrown it out! It was an old Lyman Lubrisizer & dies!!! UGH!!!

Now that I know WTH that was, I shouldn't have thrown it out! I should've tried to salvage it!!! :(

What an IDIOT!!! I guess that's why I call those years my 'Young, Dumb, & Stupid' years!

I just hope I can start making some decent 45 ACP bullets pretty soon here! I hope that since I'm heading to the Funshop to pickup my wife's CCW piece tomorrow, I'll hopefully get started casting my very first 45 ACP bullets starting this upcoming weekend!!!

Then I can proclaim to all my friends that... :castmine: