Running of a quick bunch?

[armoredman]

Am I the odd one out, because I like to run into the garage, set up and cast maybe 100-150 at a time, then shut it down. I think most here go do all day/marathon 1000 boolit sessions, maybe. Anyone else like to just dash of a few pounds worth at a time?

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b13/armoredman/casting%20stuff/024.jpg

[zombiekiller]

That's what I do. I don't have the large chunks of time to cast 1000s of rounds nor would I want to spend all day casting. I'm lucky if I can empty my 10lb lee pot in one sitting. I try to do 100-200 at a time and I think my all time high was close to 300. I do this for fun and when it stops being fun I stop casting till I get the extra time and the urge to cast again.

[dragonrider]

That's how I do it, I seldom cast more than two hundred at a time. If I cast 1000 or more at at time I wouldn't have to cast again for several years, I like casting.

[357maximum]

For me it all depends on the boolit and my needs for that boolit, the weather and my current mood. I have been known to cast 200-250 of something I do not use that much. I have been known to cast several K of something I use alot of. I would say my average casting cycle was about 500 boolits per sitting. I think the most I ever made was a batch of 35 caliber soft alloy plinkers........I did not count them but I 3/4 filled one of them large Christmas popcorn tins, but then again it was the middle of Janruary and there was nothing else pressing to do.

[Echo]

I find that I use my Cute Little Thing (Potter 3-pounder) for most of my casting. I cast maybe 100-150 of whatever for testing. Once I have something that works, and I really like, I will break out a bigger furnace and cast a bunch.

[462]

Yep. Cast up 168, last night, using a 4-cavity 452374. A quick session, for sure.

[mooman76]

I didn't used to but lately I have been. I might go into the garage board and think why don't I cast? I have so much built up though, I don't need much. I find sometimes the past few years I have trouble getting modivated to start large projects so to talk myself into it, I will tell myself I will just do a little or a small part, but once I get going I don't want to stop.

[armoredman]

Ah, I AM among friends. :)

[crabo]

I try to do at least 3 or 400 at a time.

[gray wolf]

You sure are among friends

This summer has been hot and dry here in Maine so my set up has been on my deck day and night. Julie and I put up a nice tarp over the deck and the sun and rain leave me alone.
I know a nice tarp-sounds a little tacky Eh. But no it's very nice and neat looking.
My friend asked me if we bought an awning kit and put it up, nope just an $8.00 tarp.
Any way now when I step outside the front door my casting set up is 5 feet away.
I step out, plug in, and do something else while it all gets hot.
Sometimes I cast 200 bullets and sometimes I cast 3 or 4 huned. All depends on the mood
and how long the old body holds out.
I love to cast bullets, and try to make the best bullets I can.
I thought it was all over for me when I ran out of metal, but out of the blue I got holt of a
5 gal. bucket full to the brim, and 50 pounds of lead--So off we go,
I stop --when It stops------------------being fun that is.

Sam

[jmsj]

I started casting using 6 cavity molds but lately I have found it more enjoyable to get away to the shop and cast up a 100 or so. Over the long 4th of July weekend I casted 400 Lee 429-200-RF in three casting sessions.
That said, I am not a high volume shooter. Because of my work schedule, I have virtually no time to shoot from the start of June till the end of August. The other months I shoot between 250-500 a month. Much of my shooting time is spent helping/teaching my wife and kids with their shooting

[iammarkjones]

Same here I will cast for an hour or two, the heat in Alabama prevents much more.

[mpmarty]

I don't cast too often but when I do I go for broke. Usually five to six hundred of each boolet type. Last time I cast up about a thousand 425gr 459/460 ranch dogs.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I live in a mobile home. There is just Sgt. Rambo and myself. When I get the urge to cast I plug my pair of Lee 4-20's get out all my casting stuff and go for it.

I usually cover the floor with about 4 layers of newspaper in the area where I will be working. I put on my leather apron, safety glasses, tune in my favorite station on the computer and turn up the volume. Then I pour myself an adult beverage into one of those plastic mugs with the frozen water between the layers. I keep three in the freezer so each time I pour I have a really cold mug to keep my beverage frosty and cool. I put down my 4 gallons of water in a 5 gallon bucket and sprinkle the layer of packing peanuts on top. I assemble all my casting equipment and place them in the appropriate locations and check the temp of my alloy. I then dip my mold into the alloy to get it up to temp and go for it.

Some days I just make a couple of hundred boolits and on other days I fill up the bucket half way with gorgeous boolits. It all depends on what is going on. If the mold is dropping good boolits without me having to fuss too much then I keep on trucking. If it gets bothersome and I have to stop and fiddle with the mold too much I tend to put it away for another time. If it is not fun then I cease beating myself up over it and shut it down. One day I made over 3 gallons of boolits. I had to remove some of the water from the bucket as it was spilling onto the floor and it had become hot water instead of cool water.

Recently I messed with a couple of Mihec's European brass molds and the boolits were coming out so good I did not want to stop. I went through 5 pots of alloy that day and I have enough .44's for the next year or so unless I go crazy shooting. Those molds are a work of art and are well worth the money. His 6 banger that throws the .44's of 256 gr are really wonderful.

I was having so much fun knowing that I was making excellent boolits for little or next to nothing in cost that I had to force myself to stop.

[armoredman]

Hah, nice! Never tried a brass mold, all I have is three Lee 2 cavitys. Tomorrow I may put together some 358 158 SWC boolits for the 38. Probably no more than 100 or so. :)

[lwknight]

About 2 hours or an empty pot. Whichever comes first.
Usually makes from 600 to 900 boolits of average size.
Generally speaking of course.

[Rick N Bama]

An hour (especially in this heat) is a long casting session for me & that includes the melting & prep time.

Rick

[okksu]

I'm just getting started. most of my six or seven sessions so far produce a 100 or so per.
Out of ignorance, I went at starting completely backwards. Got the mold, then then gathered lead and made some only to then figure out the gun I was intending to cast for measured all wrong for the boolit, but it works well in a different rifle. Pure luck there. I only have a Lee 6 cavity right now (two 2 cavitites are on their way, though) One session, it all went well, and I turned out 4 hundred. I'm a low volume shooter, a 100-125 a month, so the rifle the boolit fits is fixed up for awhile.

[mold maker]

Casting top quality FREE boolits, to me is a hobby in it's self. I've got really bad cataracts, that will soon be removed. That will enable me to see the sights and shoot lots more. That will in turn require lots more boolits. I smelted all Winter and made up alloy. I can cast in the shade on cooler days now and reload in the AC, now that the 90's rule the day.
I have 6+ hrs a day between taking Grandchildren to and from school/ camp. That time, a couple days a week, is spent building boolit inventory, with the 40+ molds.
For those of you, still lucky enough, to have regular work, I envy you but at the same time retirement sure allows more fun time.
Life is really good and will soon be even better when I can again see like you younger folks.

[Jack Stanley]

Rarely do I only cast a few but I did need some to send as a sample for a star die I needed so I cast long enough to get a few good ones and quit . Normal for me is cast about six hours each day untill I have the amount needed . The up side to that is some calibers I won't need to cast again for several years .

Jack

[EMC45]

I only do limited casting as well. All my molds are either 1 or 2 cavs so it would take a long time to knock out a big pile of bullets. My back starts to ache and it is hot in my side room where I cast.

[WHITETAIL]

I do most of my boolit making in the winter time.
Here in north east Pa. it can get cold and snowy.
So after late season deer, it's fire up the pot
and make more boolits![smilie=w:

[qajaq59]

I will generally cast 150 - 200 rifle bullets. That's enough in one sitting because my back gets mad at me. Plus I only shoot a 100 a week, so I'm always ahead of the game.

[cajun shooter]

I have all the intentons of casting at least three hundred or more a week. I have some bad medical conditions to where I am breathing with just my left lung. I shoot three times a month in Sass matches. That is the three hundred I need each month and also 75 shotgun each month. So it keeps me busy and I always try to have at least 1000 or more than needed. The temp has been a killer the last three weeks and there has been three different times that I turned on my pots and then pour about 18 bullets and then shut it all down because of the brutal heat. The 375 that I shoot does not count any big three day matches and that is where you burn much more.

[OutHuntn84]

If I am by myself I'm good for about 10#s. If I can get with a buddy and have a casting party and get a couple different molds going I can make a day of it!

[armoredman]

No casting buddies here, heck, no shooting buddies! Oh well, It's still a great way to kill some time and be productive!

[ItZaLLgooD]

I am just getting started with casting but I can only do about 3-400 at one time due to a small pot and long heat up time. With better equipment I would more done with my time.

[fishnbob]

Can I use my bottom pour Lee 4lb pot to pour .45 200 gr. boolits in my new MiHec mold or would I need to ladle the lead to get a good fillout. Maybe open up the spout a tickshade to increase the flow if necessary? Whadda you guys think?

[ghh3rd]

My first boolit was from a Lee .38 FWC (soupcan). I didn't realize it at the time, but I must have cast nearly 2,000 of those little buggers, cause I still have about 1,000 left, and have put many downrange. After that, I began casting .40 and .44, and cast perhaps 200 each session.

I just alloyed 65 lbs of WW with 2% tin, and intend to produce about 1,600 or 1,700 Ranch Dog 265gr .44 cal TL boolits, since they have been very accurate. I would be nice to have a nice supply on hand, already gas checked and lubed, since I have been using about 100 almost every weekend.

For those that I'm still experimenting with, small batches. For those that I have found a satisfactory alloy, sizing, etc., larger batches.

[fredj338]

I seldom cast for more than 90min, regardless of what I am casting. That's long enough for me. Depending on molds used, that's 500-1000 bullets.

[Milltown353]

You sure are among friends

This summer has been hot and dry here in Maine so my set up has been on my deck day and night. Julie and I put up a nice tarp over the deck and the sun and rain leave me alone.
I know a nice tarp-sounds a little tacky Eh. But no it's very nice and neat looking.
My friend asked me if we bought an awning kit and put it up, nope just an $8.00 tarp.
Any way now when I step outside the front door my casting set up is 5 feet away.
I step out, plug in, and do something else while it all gets hot.
Sometimes I cast 200 bullets and sometimes I cast 3 or 4 huned. All depends on the mood
and how long the old body holds out.
I love to cast bullets, and try to make the best bullets I can.
I thought it was all over for me when I ran out of metal, but out of the blue I got holt of a
5 gal. bucket full to the brim, and 50 pounds of lead--So off we go,
I stop --when It stops------------------being fun that is.

Sam

That's a good idea, we use massive one for the deck at our camp near Andover. I'd definitely consider putting one up at the house for casting now that you mentioned it.

[qajaq59]

I cast and loaded outside on picnic tables for years when we were traveling in the motor home. I had a folding 3 sided 18" high plywood wall to keep the wind off the pot and molds. And I met a lot of other loaders and casters, since people could see me as they walked by. The gun people knew what I was doing immediately and would always stop and talk.

[redbird1976]

I cast as many as I can stand to cast at one time. Casting is a lot like work to me. Of course, I'll burn through as couple thousand rounds in a month if I can afford it.

[captain-03]

It all depends on what I am casting ... if for pistol/revolver, it is usually a 20lb pot at a time per caliber ... If for rifle, I usually use several/multiple moulds and empty a 20lb pot ... Of course if you are casting for a 9mm you will get a lot of boolits -- casting for a 500S&W, not so many!!

[armoredman]

Cast 9mm, 38, and 7.62x39mm. :) Yes, i can get a lot of smaller boolits from a 10 pound Lee pot.

[geargnasher]

I usually take a block the time out of a weekend once or twice a month and cast 500-1000 of the kind I need most. Most of my moulds are two-cavity, so that takes three-four hours and I usually can't feel the pad of my left thumb for several days afterward (pinched nerve). Give that a couple weeks rest and have another go.

Recently I bought my first Lee six-banger, and did my usual four-hour session with it, not realizing the mountain I was creating. Refilled the pot six times and ended up just weighing them on the bathroom scales to count. Something like five thousand .30 caliber boolits. Sheesh. I only needed a couple hundred. I was so impressed I just bought another for my .38-357s from Midway (on sale) because I might actually NEED that kind of production.

I take a great deal of care in production, culling as I go, keeping careful eye on things to make sure I get the most consistent boolits I can, because I don't cull later except if I see something really obvious when sizing (like a base inclusion or shrunken driving band).

Gear

[qajaq59]

If I'm going to be working up a new load, and I'm bored out of my skull, I'll weigh and sort a few hundred. But to be honest I don't see much difference from the ones I didn't sort. Of course I'm 71, so I'm no longer measuring groups in tenths of an inch either. LOL

[armoredman]

:) I doubt I'll even make it to 71!
Gonna cast some more 9mm in the next day or so, time permitting - this setup is just too easy to use! :D

[qajaq59]

armoredman, getting to 71 is easy. All you have to do is keep breathing and put up with the aches and pains. And when I was young, and doing all the nutty stuff, people made book that I'd never see 21. LOL

[Beau Cassidy]

I try not to cast if it is over 90 degrees. I also won't fire up the pot if I don't have at least 3 hours to cast- 6 or more is preferable. I consider each session a different lot even if using the same mold. 500, preferably 1K or more, of each bullet is my target. When I have the 10 cavity H&G mold it's Katie bar the door! That sucker is getting cycled every 45 seconds.

[mroliver77]

I used to be able to cast for hours at a time. I have a lot of boolits ready to go and packed away. I have more 311440 than I will shoot in two life times. Now I cast till it hurts then take a break and do something to position body differently. I leave pot on and come back to it in a while and cast some more. I would rather do this when shop needs heat as the "wasted" heat from keeping the pot warm is used to heat the shop. Like Crash said, some days it does not go well and I hang it up. Sometimes comming back to the same mold and the same everything and it casts great. I can lose myself when all is running smoothly.
Jay

[qajaq59]

I suspect that the older we are the less time we spend casting in one session.

[warf73]

If you fellas that only cast an hour or so at a time can get a 6 cavity mold you will be amazed at how many boolits you can drop in 30~45mins casting session.
Once you get the alloy and mold up to temp, it very easy to drop 300+ boolits in 30 mins.

I still use my Lyman Postell mold (1) cavity and it pains me to use it as I cast up 100 at a time. But to get that 100 it takes me around an hour.

[qajaq59]

If you fellas that only cast an hour or so at a time can get a 6 cavity mold you will be amazed at how many boolits you can drop in 30~45mins casting session. Not sure I want to do that. All I shoot is rifles, and even with a double mold I can already cast them 3 times faster then I can shoot them. With the 6 cavity my wife would need a shovel to find me in the garage. LOL