New guy ready to take the plunge...

[acl864]

I'm ready to get started casting and could use some opinions. Like most folks in this day and age money is tight right now so I'm trying to get started as cheaply as possible. If things work out I can always upgrade later but here is what I've got on my Midway wish list so far:

Lee Production Pot Four
Lee 2 Cavity 365-95-1R for 9mm Mak
Lee 2 Cavity 358-148-WC for 38 Sp/357 Mag
Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook


I've got some wheel weights lined up but I'm thinking about ordering 7 lbs of the Ney hardball lead just so I've got clean lead of a known composition to practice with. I'm planning on tumble lubing with Lee Liquid Alox that I've already got on the shelf.

Now to the noobie questions:
Do I have to size the bullets? For 38/357 I've been shooting cast bullets from Tennessee Valley Bullets sized to .358 with good results. I've looked at the Lee Lube and Size kit in .358 diameter but I'm not sure I need it. For the 9mm Mak I'm shooting Meister cast bullets sized to .364. I can't find a Lee Lube and size for that diameter. For that matter I can't seem to find any sizing dies in .364 diameter.

I've read some very informative posts on this forum about pan lubing and will probably give that a try. Do you buy the hollow sticks from Midway and just melt them down or is there a more economical way (or a better place) to purchase lube? Is there a preferred type of lube for this method, and how much will I need to purchase, to pan lube?

Is there a better place to buy lead already formulated for casting? Or a better type of lead to purchase? The Ney hardball is listed around 16 bhn and thats a little harder than the Tennessee Valley bullets (around 12 bhn) that I've been using, I'm not sure of the bhn on the Meister 9x18 bullets.

It's been said that the only dumb question is the one that goes unasked. I'm sure I'll be putting that statement to the test in the coming months as I get started casting. So thanks in advance for your patience and your advice.

Andy

[bedwards]

If you buy the Lee tumble lube moulds (marked TL Micro Bands for Tumble Lubing with Alox), your supposed to be able to shoot as cast. I have a Lyman 4500 that takes the hollow sticks, but I have to admit, its hard to do it cheaper than the Lee TL. I just recently bought the Lee Lube and Sizer kit for .429 but I have yet to load and shoot any to see how well it works. I size all of mine anyway though. You really need to slug your guns to see what size you need. Having said that, I cast w/w and shot for years without doing that. I just got lucky I guess.

be

[Calamity Jake]

"New guy ready to take the plunge... "


You don't want to do that!!!! You'll fall in so deep nobody will be able to
fish you out!!!:bigsmyl2:

Don't ask me how I know!!!! [smilie=s:



Welcome aboard

[acl864]

Thanks bedwards, I'll take a closer look at the TL 148 gr WC mold. I've got a variety of 38/357 guns that I shoot and all seem to work well with the standard .358 bullets so I've just stuck with that size. The 9x18 Mak is a little tougher. I can only find the one mold from Lee for that particular round. No TL variety is offered. I only have one 9x18 a CZ-82 but it's one of my favorite shooters and the LRN bullets are hard to find. One of many reasons I want to start casting my own.

Thanks for the welcome Calamity Jake. I've been pretty well over my head since my Dad helped me buy my first revolver at 16. I'm just jumping in to deeper water:)

[JRW]

Welcome aboard! Just remember, you are SAVING money doing this stuff! Keep telling yourself that each time something new comes home!

Good Luck,

Jim

[waco]

as far as better, cheaper stick lube goes
buy your lube from lars
scroll down to the bottom of this page and click on LAR45'S LsSTUFF
$1.90 a stick
a good assortment of lubes that will cover any of your needs
hope this helps
BTW
WELCOME TO THE MADNESS!!!!!:bigsmyl2:

[runfiverun]

some advice.
i sense you are pretty young and wanna start out and actually enjoy this right?
get the lyman book and the lee 20 lb pot.
then get a decent heat source and a cast iron pot.
read the book and the posts here and use subjective thought.
there is the fast way,the cheap way and the way you really want to do it.
an rcbs or used lyman [mold,sizer] will last forever and be mostly trouble free.
lee molds do work but can be very frustrating to start,and their 6 cavity molds are much better than their 2 cavities.
quality only costs money once.

[Bret4207]

I wouldn't bother buying "hard ball" alloy. I'd buy WW and spend what I saved on other stuff. You can lap a Lee sizer out to what ever you want with abrasive cloth on a rod rolling it across your thigh like it was a wheel. .364 from .359 should take about 400 cycles give or take with 220 paper.

You'll need a separate pot to melt the raw WW in, a ladle is a big help when making ingots. By all means- get the Lyman cast bullet book. The RCBS book is good too, but out of print.

[snaggdit]

Do I have to size the bullets? For 38/357 I've been shooting cast bullets from Tennessee Valley Bullets sized to .358 with good results. I've looked at the Lee Lube and Size kit in .358 diameter but I'm not sure I need it. For the 9mm Mak I'm shooting Meister cast bullets sized to .364. I can't find a Lee Lube and size for that diameter. For that matter I can't seem to find any sizing dies in .364 diameter.

Welcome! What no one has mentioned yet is until you get your mold you do not know what size boolits it will drop. Manufacturing variances and different alloys will affect final boolit size. Even if a boolit is not a tumble lube design you can lube it as is (with LLA) and load and shoot it, if it isn't too big. Finished size of .001 to .002" over groove size is ideal. Slug your barrels so you know what size you need. +1 on opening up a Lee sizer is easy.

[Wayne Smith]

Even if a boolit is not a tumble lube design you can lube it as is (with LLA) and load and shoot it, if it isn't too big. Finished size of .001 to .002" over groove size is ideal. Slug your barrels so you know what size you need. +1 on opening up a Lee sizer is easy.

I agree with everything snaggdit said except one thing. You can load and shoot it well as long as it isn't too SMALL! Your barrel or forcing cone is an excellent sizer, it's the too small boolits that cause trouble. A lube sizer is handy for lubing, sizing to ideal size for your barrel, but not necessary. If your mold casts close to size but not small and they will fit in the cylinder/chamber you can shoot them. You may not get the ultimate in accuracy but you will have shootable boolits. Read posts on pan lubing.

[HORNET]

If you PM Buckshot, he can make you a Lee-style sizer just about any size that you need for a very reasonable price and MUCH faster delivery than Lee. Get your molds, slug your barrels, and go from there. Also keeps him from getting bored........

[Landric]

Welcome to the club. I'm still very new at this, only casting about three months, but I've learned a lot both through trial and error and this site.

I'm pretty much in the dark ages when it comes to casting technology, I'm using a Lee 20 pound pot (not bottom pour) and an RCBS dipper. All my molds are one or two cavity, all bought used. I still have issues from time to time, but the learning curve, at least to where I am, isn't too steep. Most of the problems I have had were solved with more heat, either to the melt, the mold, or the dipper, or some combination thereof.

I started out tumble lubing, and it worked fine (and my molds are not TL designs since they are not Lee). However, I got a deal on a used Lyman 4500, and I much prefer it to tumble lubing. I am still using the tumble lube for my .32 boolits since I don't have a sizing die for the 4500 in .314 yet. I might just stick with the TL for them since they are so small.

For the 9mm MAK, while I'm all for casting your own, if you want to buy boolits, Missouri Bullet sells a 9mm MAK bullet at a very reasonable price and their service and shipping times are excellent.

www.missouribullet.com

[TAWILDCATT]

I would also get Lees handloading book as it has very excelent information on all aspects of loading.I have them all.you can pay big money or a lot less but all will work.its the operator,not the tool.as long as you can load the cases and fit in the gun they will shoot.especially pistols.its YOU that makes the difference.if you get mad and throw the mold at the wall dont blame the mold.

[azrednek]

Andy the Lee 148 TL at least in my experience is the most accurate when shot as cast with no sizing. I cast them with pure wheel weights and lubed the with Lee's Tumble lube. I tried them sized and with hard lubes and accuracy suffered very slightly when compared to shooting them unsized. My experiences though with the now discontinued Lee full wad cutters in 41 and 44 were the oppposite. They shot better when sized. You will never know the best method in your gun untill you try it both ways.

After you become totally hooked and begin a mold buying frenzy you might want to consider the Lee 125 RF. The accuracy results I'm getting out of the low cost Lee mold really surprised me. I've been shooting them unsized with tumble lube and sized with hard lubes. So far I haven't seen a difference on paper with either method.

[acl864]

Wow! Great info. Just the type of feedback I was looking for. Thanks guys!


Andy

[cajun shooter]

Be careful about buying hardball or bullets that are sold by commercial casters. The alloy tends to be very hard and can cause leading if not sized just right. At the top of page you will see Roto-Metals, buy alloy from them if you must. Some known WW alloy will work just fine for your casting needs. Lee molds are cheap and good for starters but they have some problems and running undersized is one of them. Make sure you have some digital calipers to check on this before loading. You will also need to read the sticky section on all this as it is covered very well.

[dogbert41]

If I could do it all over again, I'd start out with the Lee Pro 4 20lb bottom pour for about 20 bucks more.

[acl864]

...took the plunge! In the water paddling around and I like it! First batch of 158 gr .358 Tumble Lube SWC's. My only question is HOW DID I MAKE IT FOR 45+ YEARS WITHOUT LEARNING HOW TO CAST???!!! I'm hooked... bad.

Andy

[HamGunner]

You will find plenty of lead, WW, solder/tin, and etc. right here in the buy/sell/trade forum. Maybe not the best quality if a certain pure alloy is needed, but I would imagine that it would meet your needs and for a lot less money. I have bought and traded with several of the characters here and they all have been good to deal with.

Glad to see you enjoying the hobby.