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okiecruffler
08-11-2006, 10:09 AM
Well I started looking into casting many moons ago,, but things kept coming up and it got put on the back burner. But yesterday I had a deal fall into my lap that I couldn't pass up. A set of handles and 3 lyman molds (358156,358091, and 452374) for 25 bucks. So I'm more or less good to go. Just a few questions.
How long does a bullet have to sit in the mold before dropping? When I was doing fishing gear it was almost immediately, but I wasn't really that worried about perfection.
I was thinking of buying some lead from Midway to start with. More expensive, but I don't have the time to run around looking for lead right now. They sell a "hardball" lead, anyone ever use this?
Be many more questions as time goes by, but just by searching I've found the answers to most of my questions.

Bass Ackward
08-11-2006, 10:53 AM
How long does a bullet have to sit in the mold before dropping? When I was doing fishing gear it was almost immediately, but I wasn't really that worried about perfection.


Okie,

The simple answer is when the sprue changes color and hardens, the mold has done it's job. The complicated answer is that it depends on the caliber and the design for me.

So if you are water dropping or molding short thick bullets, you can remove them from the mold as soon as the sprue changes color.

But if you are trying to air cool and you are running long for caliber bullets, especially those with a long, reduced diameter, bore ride nose, I would open the mold for a couple of seconds and then remove them. This can minimize bending or damaged bullets that you won't notice until later when it can be very inconvient and frustrating. A stich in time, ...........

Lead is how and where you can get it. If you are buying, never go over board on quantity. Sooner or later, you will locate a cheap / free sourse that will spoil your stash. Hardball is basically Tara Corp alloy and will be about 15 BHN air cooled. I use 14 BHN or softer most of the time which works for me. It will HT fine if you can add some arsnec. Sometimes it is in there and sometimes it isn't. So you just have to try HTing and see what happens.

klausg
08-11-2006, 11:15 AM
Okie-
Let me second Bass' thoughts, and try to give you the 'idiot-proof' answer; I know when I was first starting, (not that long ago [smilie=1: ) that was what I needed. For the moulds you have, Bass' first statement is exactly right. Once the puddle on top of your sprue plate solidifies and then goes from shiny, mirror-like to dull gray, you're good to hook. Depending on the mould, I sometimes find that giving a 6-Mississippi count after the color change makes the bullets drop better. If you're really rolling along your mould may get too hot; I usually judge this by how long it takes for the color change. I keep a pie pan with some water & an old washcloth folded-up in it; just touch your mould to it to cool her off a little. As most of the guys on this board will tell you just give it a try, start casting, be safe, and experiment a little. If you're having difficulties, post a thread and you'll have any number of replies before you know it. Good luck & welcome aboard.

-Klaus

Dutch4122
08-11-2006, 11:33 AM
Just a thought in case you'd like to start out casting with an alloy similar to wheel weight alloy. If you purchase the midway hardball alloy and a roughly equal amount of their pure lead alloy you can melt the two together in equal amounts. This will produce an alloy that is approximately 3% antimony and 1% tin; which is close to wheel weight alloy composition with 1% tin added. Midway's Hardball Alloy is listed as a Brinnell Harness of 16 and the pure lead is listed at 6. This mixed alloy should come out at 10-12 Brinnell Hardness, which is close to wheel weight.


This softer alloy might work better in many pistol applications that are used for plinking and punching paper.

HTH,

1Shirt
08-11-2006, 06:55 PM
All the advise given is good. But, in addition, since you made a killing buy on what you got, get yourself a Lyman Manual and read all the info on casting in front of the load data, then read it again. Then go find an experianced caster in your area, ask him to sit in on a casting session, and then start casting. Oh yah, get yourself some Bullplate ( see threads), best thing for casting since dry toilet paper.
1Shirt!