I cast last night for the first time

[Bkid]

I casted last night for the first time. It was actually around 6.00pm with a couple hours of light left,ended up in the dark when said and done. I had some trouble getting the bullets to fill out ,mainly because the flow of the lee pot. I figured the flow out,and temp. Then technique of the whole process. Then I got it.I could not stop. I had a huge pile of bullets.I am talking about more than a thousand bullets.:holysheep:holysheep I think I am addicted to this.:cbpour: I will post some pics after I get back from working out.

[chris in va]

Yup, sounds like me the first time I got the bottom pour. It's seriously addictive and I had several plastic bowls of boolits after a week. What caliber are you casting?

[MtGun44]

Not getting the metal and mold hot enough is the most common failing in beginners, sounds
like you figured that out.

Well done - it is great to make exactly the RIGHT (your personal definition!) boolit in the RIGHT
size with the RIGHT lube - all selected and adjusted by you for your purposes.

Pretty neat.

Welcome the asylum. ;-)

[9.3X62AL]

Welcome to the hobby/addiction. Taking charge of a large element of the component supply chain is quite satisfying.

[Bkid]

I got some pics, I must say they do not look as good as I thought they did last night. I got some frosted. Then some have lines in the castings . Some have holes in them. I think those were the first ones I casted. Oh well I will pick through them and melt down the bad ones.
The bullets that are blue are ok , I think. The yellow are frosted , and if I wipe them with a rage they shine up. The red and orange are bad.

[wallenba]

Frosted boolits are just fine. Better than average for a first caster.

[Bkid]

Frosted boolits are just fine. Better than average for a first caster.

I was kinda going for the frosted type,because LEE says the allox will work better. Now I want to make shiny boolits.How do you guys get the boolits to come out shiny?
:coffeecom

[AZ-Stew]

Except for the little bits of extra heat, indicated by the frosting, they look pretty damned good! Unless you have some obsession to make them all perfect (nothing wrong with that, but not needed for plinkers), don't bother sorting, melting and re-casting. Just go shoot 'em all! Give yourself a party for a job well done. If you need perfection, save it for the next batch. You'll find there's a lot of learning and experimenting on the road to perfection. You're well on your way, though.

Regards,

Stew

[Bkid]

Not getting the metal and mold hot enough is the most common failing in beginners, sounds
like you figured that out.

Well done - it is great to make exactly the RIGHT (your personal definition!) boolit in the RIGHT
size with the RIGHT lube - all selected and adjusted by you for your purposes.

Pretty neat.

Welcome the asylum. ;-) Thank you MtGun,yes I agree it is pretty neat.I hope my lube or Alox works for me here in the desert heat. I have heard good things by guys who use it here. I guess I will find out,I got some lightly coated dring in the sun.


Yup, sounds like me the first time I got the bottom pour. It's seriously addictive and I had several plastic bowls of boolits after a week. What caliber are you casting?
The bottom pour is great once you figure out the flow screw.:roll: I am casting 45 caliber 200 grain SWC`S. I like these bullets .:Fire:

[Bkid]

Except for the little bits of extra heat, indicated by the frosting, they look pretty damned good! Unless you have some obsession to make them all perfect (nothing wrong with that, but not needed for plinkers), don't bother sorting, melting and re-casting. Just go shoot 'em all! Give yourself a party for a job well done. If you need perfection, save it for the next batch. You'll find there's a lot of learning and experimenting on the road to perfection. You're well on your way, though.

Regards,

Stew

Thank you Stew I feel a bit better now. So can I shoot the boolits with the lines in the castings? I do not think the few I found with holes would be safe to shoot ?:?: I hope I do not have to weigh these my scale does not even go to 200 grains. :confused:

[AZ-Stew]

"Shiny" comes from additional tin (straight, or in the form of linotype) and lower heat. Linotype will also add hardness to your boolits and is expensive, so use sparingly. When the mould gets too hot, the boolits frost, sometimes unevenly, leaving you with low spots (out of balance) and voids (inconsistent weight and possible balance issues). Cool your mould by slowing your casting rate or lowering your melter temperature. Even at that, I occasionally get a frosted spot or area on a boolit. Before the next cast I separate the mould blocks while holding the mould in one hand by the handles and carefully blow some air between the blocks, making sure I don't get them too close to my lips. That's about all it takes. I don't like to use water on my moulds when they're hot. Others will differ with this opinion.

Regards,

Stew

[AZ-Stew]

Your boolits are safe. I would avoid shooting the ones with the lines (wrinkles) running through the aft-most driving band, as this will allow high temp, high pressure gasses to pass and may cause leading. The boolit base should be as perfect as possible for best accuracy, but imperfect bases can be shot for plinkers where accuracy is not critical.

The holes, or voids, may throw the boolit slightly off balance, depending on its volume and location with respect to the boolit axis, but won't cause any other problems.

Regards,

Stew

[Bkid]

Your boolits are safe. I would avoid shooting the ones with the lines (wrinkles) running through the aft-most driving band, as this will allow high temp, high pressure gasses to pass and may cause leading. The boolit base should be as perfect as possible for best accuracy, but imperfect bases can be shot for plinkers where accuracy is not critical.

The holes, or voids, may throw the boolit slightly off balance, depending on its volume and location with respect to the boolit axis, but won't cause any other problems.

Regards,

Stew Thank you Stew, that is what I thought. I am glad you confirmed it for me. I have been seperating for awile. I had to take a break. I think that is harder than casting them.[smilie=l: Thanks a bunch Stew.
This forum is great with all the nice helpful people here.

[Blacksmith]

Bkid
You should be extreemly picky in going through your boolits. Then send all your rejects to me. I wish you could be a little more careless because at the rate you are going you won't have enough rejects to keep me in lead. Good job.

Blacksmith

[Bkid]

Bkid
You should be extreemly picky in going through your boolits. Then send all your rejects to me. I wish you could be a little more careless because at the rate you are going you won't have enough rejects to keep me in lead. Good job.

Blacksmith

LOL HA HA HA that is good! I do have quite few at this point,still sorting. I got lucky on the way home came across a garage sale. I got a 5 gallon bucket of WW`S for 10.00. That was just crazy fate!
Hey Thanks for the support Blacksmith.:drinks:

[chris in va]

Don't bother with 'shiny' boolits. Once they're coated in ALOX that goes out the window.

[WHITETAIL]

Bkid, Verry good for the first time.
AS said before don't get hooked on shiny.
And it is good that you want to make
good boolets.
THe great thing about making boolets
is you just put the rejects back and remelt.:coffeecom

[44man]

Very nice job but I need to know where that garage is at! :-)
AZ gave good information and you are on your way but holy smokes, I hate to lube that many boolits, after 100 I want to quit! :groner:

[Bkid]

Don't bother with 'shiny' boolits. Once they're coated in ALOX that goes out the window.Thanks Chris


Bkid, Verry good for the first time.
AS said before don't get hooked on shiny.
And it is good that you want to make
good boolets.
THe great thing about making boolets
is you just put the rejects back and remelt.:coffeecom That is so true, I will just melt them down. More practice with bad bullets.Thank you Whitetail


Very nice job but I need to know where that garage is at! :-)
AZ gave good information and you are on your way but holy smokes, I hate to lube that many boolits, after 100 I want to quit! :groner:
LOL that almost made me spit coffe all over my screen. Thank you 44 man.