new here

[quickshot]

Hey all been lurking for a little while around here for a few weeks and decided that if I want to keep all my toys happly fed and my trigger finger sasified...I'll need to start casting my own. So that brings me to my first (and not last) question..

What does a guy like me on a seriouly short $$$$ need to get to get this party started? All questions, comments, flames, uncontrolled laughter, cash or equipment donations, etc are welcome!!!


TIA
quickshot

[wills]

Mold, camp stove, iron/steel saucepan, slotted spoon, ladle. Gun to shoot the boolits out of would be nice too.

You'll get to the point you may want a furnace, lubesizer, turkey cooker and some other things to make life easier.

Go to the top of the main page, click on search and search for the term 'newbie' you'll find a lot of stuff about getting started, without having to wait for the cogniscetti to respond.

[mooman76]

You can save a few $$$ by shopping for some of these items at a thrift store or garage sale. An Aluminum sauce pan will work if it's one of those real thick ones! Lee moulds aren't the best but do work good. They are by far the cheapest!

[wills]

But see

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=4802&highlight=aluminum

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=3124&highlight=aluminum

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=4758&highlight=aluminum

[imashooter2]

You can save a few $$$ by shopping for some of these items at a thrift store or garage sale. An Aluminum sauce pan will work if it's one of those real thick ones! Lee moulds aren't the best but do work good. They are by far the cheapest!

The tip on thrift stores is right on, but...

Do not get an aluminum pot. Thick, thin or in between an aluminum lead pot is an accident waiting to happen. Standing in a puddle of molten metal will ruin your day. Steel and iron are awfully cheap insurance.

[Goatlips]

Quickshot,

You might find this useful for startin' out, lotsa pitchers anyways.

http://goatlipstips.cas-town.com/index.html

Goatlips

[waksupi]

Aluminum = Chernobyl

[357maximum]

TAKE MY WORD ON THIS.

A boot full of molten lead from using an aluminum pot is not worth the thrift involved. Got the scar to prove it. Use stainless steel or cast iron to melt in.


When aluminum goes it gives no warning just splosh, lead everywhere. JUST DON"T USE IT....


Welcome by the way

You'll find every piece of knowledge you'll need right here on this site, great bunch of teachers here. I thought I knew it all till I landed here. Since then my casting has improved vastly in quality and in quantity.

I'd like to say thanks again to the board of sages here....

[9.3X62AL]

Welcome aboard, Quickshot.

I got started with casting to get boolits for calibers not serviced by the component makers--32 revolvers, in the late 70's/early 80's. My first tools were a 10# Lyman iron pot and hand ladle, which got used on my well-aged Coleman stove. Next purchase was the Lyman 450 sizer/luber, with dies for the 32 wheelers (.311", .312", and .313"). The results were so positive, I began feeding my service revolver with practice loads containing home-cast #358477's. That worked, too--onward to the 45 ACP........and the rest is history. Presently, the only calibers that DON'T get castings are 223, 22-250, and 6.5 x 55--and I reload 33 centerfire calibers currently.

I now use a bottom-pour pot, but there are many here who prefer the ladle (sometimes called "dipper casting"), esp. with large caliber rifle boolits.

There will be a lot of production and processing modes discussed on this thread and on similar threads posted previously. Look them over and see what works for YOU in your situation. There is no need to spend tons of money to get started, or to advance your hobby effort.

[1Shirt]

All the stuff that the others suggested, but forget the alum, as that advice is excellent. However, probably one of the best investments you can make would be the latest Lyman Manual on cast. Read it cover to cover, than read it again, and periodically, go back an refresh yourself. There is much info on the web, and various threads, but the printed manual would always be available. Good luck!
1Shirt!

[475/480]

What does a guy like me on a seriouly short $$$$ need to get to get this party started? All questions, comments, flames, uncontrolled laughter, cash or equipment donations, etc are welcome!!!

TIA quickshot[/QUOTE]


**If you are in the Houston area I have an extra 20lb cast iron pot and ladle you can have.

Sean

[felix]

Where do you live? ... felix

[quickshot]

Thanks for the warm reception! For all that are interested I live in Midwest City Oklahoma! The calibers I will be casting for to start with is .38 and .45acp. Once I get that down I'll be casting for 7.62x54r,.308,30.06,and 30/30,45-70.


TIA
Quickshot

[Pystis]

Welcome aboard, quickshot!

I´m also a newbie on casting boolits and I have to admit that I´m extremely cheap. :violin:
I study now and winters are not the most
€€€€ -rich time for students. I cast my boolits for my 7.62x54R with LEE C312-185 mould that is lapped to drop .313", and I melt the lead with cast iron pot over propane ring burner. Go on guys, laugh at me [smilie=p:

Handling the temperature isn´t the easiest thing, but hey, I got decent boolits that shoots well enough for me. I am going to get electric pot and better loading equipment as LEE Loader isn´t the most perfect way to load... [smilie=b:

Jukka

[Dale53]

Jukka;
I have been casting for over 55 years. When I started, I used a Lyman cast iron pot on the kitchen stove (gas) , after hours. My parents were extremely encouraging to a young feller. After I had an accident or two, I decided to get out of the kitchen and started doing it at our family business (appliance repair). Then after I got married and got my own home, I had a place for it. I cast for years in our "Florida Room" (screened and glassed in room). Now, I have a nice, heated and cooled utility barn with a dedicated casting station.

Believe you me, it was not always this way :razz:. Never apologize for economic hard times. Nearly all of us had to get started, and we started with very little.

Dale53

[BruceB]

Quickshot, welcome!

I have an excllent-condition Lyman 2-cavity .45 230-grain roundnose mould sitting here. It's doing nothing, since I got a 4-cavity jobby for the identical design (452374).

I'll donate this 2-cavity mould to help you get going. Send me a Private Message with your mailing address by clicking on that department at the top of the page. Just type in "BruceB" for my address, and I should get it. I may even have a suitable .38/357 mould here, too, and I'll check on that tomorrow morning.

You will still have to find some handles for the Lyman mould, but at least it'll get you started. The bullet is surely no slouch, as it duplicates the "hardball" shape and feeds easily in every .45 I've owned (quite a few, at this late date). I have adopted it as my "standard" .45 ACP design, and you could do a whole lot worse.

[Blackwater]

Like Dale 53, I started out casting on the stove, but I didn't have a nice, store bought lead pot. Had to swipe a stainless pot from the wife, but the handle was loose, so she didn't mind too much. Started with Lee moulds for the .45 ACP and .357 Mag., and shot many, many, many pots of WW's up with those moulds. Used the 190 Gr. HP for the .45 and the 150 SWCHP for the .357. Only things I actually paid for were the moulds and a ladle. Got WW's for free back then, too, but no more. They're 20 cents a lb. now.

All I did was just experiment with the alloy temp, and used straight WW's. Got best accuracy with frosted bullets, but tried to keep the frosting down to a minimum. Learned to cast pretty fast, too.

For lubing, initially used the Lee NRA alox (50/50 beeswax & alox) with the little cake cutter thingies they used to make. I haven't seen them in a long time, and assume they don't make them any more.

All you really need is a mould, a pot (stainless cook pot will do nicely), some lube (recipes for cheap home made lubes that WORK are plentiful here and elsewhere), and you MAY want to size the bullets. I'd try as cast at first, and if you stick with Lee moulds, you'll likely not need to size them - just use as cast will likely be fine. It'd be neat to have a hot plate of good wattage capacity to melt on outside, and they're real cheap, and might be picked up second hand. A cast iron pot may be had used as well.

First "deluxe" thing I'd buy, if it were me, is a good sizer, and the RCBS would be my pick of the litter. Then when I could, I'd add a Lee Magnum Melter, but I'm prejudiced about bottom pours. Had one (a Saeco) open up and spill out almost on me once, and I've been skeered'a that ever since. I may be over that now, and am thinking of trying a bottom pour. I can see they do have SOME advantages .... sometimes.

Biggest expense, these days, is finding cheap WW's. I used to get them free, and shot up tons and tons of them. I doubt I'd ever have gotten to be a pretty decent pistol shot if I hadn't cast my own bullets.

The best news for you is that if you're used to shooting cheap store bought cast, your own cast will likely be MUCH more accurate. You just have a tad of learning and experimenting to do. Then you'll be home free, and will look down at those bargain basement cast bullets. Good cast bullets CAN be bought, but once you get to casting your own, and doing good, you can shoot .45 ACP for about $3.00 a box - maybe even less, if you use a low charge wt. powder, like BE or 700X or 230, etc.

Whoever it was who recommended the Lyman Cast Bullet Reloading Handbook gave good advice, too.

Only other thing I can recommend is to read the posts on this site about "Lee menting" a Lee mould, and BruceB's speed casting thread. They're both stickies, and my CRS disease prevents me pointing you to them.

That ought to get you started in good style. Welcome to the wonderful wacky world of casting.