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Mattog22
07-13-2010, 02:36 PM
I have made my ingots and tonight or sometime real soon I will cast bullets. I don't have the most ideal setup but it is what it is. I am using a turkey fryer, cast iron pot, and a 6 cavity lee 230 gr .45 mold. Any ladleing tips for the 6 cav mold? Also, how long do I wait before I can load up the bullets? I will be air cooling and tumle lubing with thinned down alox.

Thanks

Matt

MtGun44
07-13-2010, 02:51 PM
Start with one cavity only, then when it is taking a bit of time for the sprue to harden, go
to two cavities, then three. Start far away from yourself to make the sprue cutting easier
when the mold is cold and the sprues are strong, keeps stress on sprue handle down.

Personally, not a fan of mule snot. Good luck, hope it works for you. Make sure you are
at least .001 larger than bore. What does your bore slug at? Are you planning on sizing
or not?

Bill

JIMinPHX
07-13-2010, 02:54 PM
If you are using a 230-grain 6-banger, you will go through the lead pretty quickly. If you can find a slightly larger than normal ladle, it might be nice. Otherwise, just dip 2 or 3 times as needed.

As soon as the boolits are cool enough to handle with bare hands, you can lube them up & load them. The hardness of air cooled boolits may change a little over the next few days, but they should be OK to use right after you make them. .45 acp doesn't usually need a real hard boolit anyway.

Mattog22
07-13-2010, 03:39 PM
I am going cheap at first, I haven't slugged the barrel yet, I was planning on casting a few, load a few dummies and see if they will chamber. If not I have the Lee push sizer set aside if they are too big. I have a kid being born in a few days so I am keeping it cheap as possible until I can get funds for better equipment. If the Alox doesn't work out do you lube the TL bullets the same as normal ones? Also thanks for the tips guys.

mike in co
07-13-2010, 04:02 PM
I am going cheap at first, I haven't slugged the barrel yet, I was planning on casting a few, load a few dummies and see if they will chamber. If not I have the Lee push sizer set aside if they are too big. I have a kid being born in a few days so I am keeping it cheap as possible until I can get funds for better equipment. If the Alox doesn't work out do you lube the TL bullets the same as normal ones? Also thanks for the tips guys.

me thinks alox will work in a 45..its just messy.

MtGun44
07-13-2010, 05:17 PM
If alox doesn't work, you need a "normal" design mold for a full lube groove.

Bill

Mattog22
07-13-2010, 05:41 PM
If alox doesn't work, you need a "normal" design mold for a full lube groove.

Bill

well then I guess I will just have to make it work for the time being. I was hopint the normal lube would still sit in the TL grooves alright. Oh well, won't know til I try. Thanks again for the info

JIMinPHX
07-13-2010, 07:00 PM
Alox should work fine. I just don't like the way it smells.

chris in va
07-13-2010, 07:10 PM
I use thinned Alox with my 230gr TL boolits in my Sig. Works fine, not much leading with low end loads. Once I crank it up toward max though, it's time to clean the barrel after one mag.

CiDirkona
07-13-2010, 07:34 PM
Alox should work fine. I just don't like the way it smells.

If it doesn't, would the Recluse 45/45/10 mix work any better?

Mattog22
07-13-2010, 07:43 PM
I don't plan on going too hot with them, probably 3.7 or 3.8 gr of Clays. I was going to try Recluse's recipe or a 50/50 mix

HammerMTB
07-13-2010, 08:40 PM
I have made my ingots and tonight or sometime real soon I will cast bullets. I don't have the most ideal setup but it is what it is. I am using a turkey fryer, cast iron pot, and a 6 cavity lee 230 gr .45 mold. Any ladleing tips for the 6 cav mold? Also, how long do I wait before I can load up the bullets? I will be air cooling and tumle lubing with thinned down alox.

Thanks

Matt

Do ya have a hot plate available?
Warm your mold on the hot plate and it will be ready almost right away, if not first cast...
You gotta wait until the boolits are cool to put the LLA on them. Once that's dry, load and shoot- then repeat often! :Fire:
The .45 ACP is pretty forgiving, as a low pressure load. As long as your boolit fits- and it likely will, the Lee 6 cavs are often kinda big- some LLA will do the job for ya.
I thin my LLA with about 25% white gas. Why that product? Cause I had some ancient Coleman fuel sittin' around. Normal common sense rules of flammables apply.... :roll:

JIMinPHX
07-14-2010, 12:38 AM
If it doesn't, would the Recluse 45/45/10 mix work any better?

Any of the commercially available lubes or any of the classic home brew lubes should work find in the .45acp. Once you get up into rifle velocities, then the lubes start to get stressed a bit more & you need to start worrying about which one you are using.

AzShooter
07-14-2010, 12:51 AM
Thin the Alox ith 50% mineral spirit ( paint thinner ) they will dry faster, will not smell as bad or stick. It works great for me and others on the board that I learned from.

Mattog22
07-14-2010, 09:31 AM
Thin the Alox ith 50% mineral spirit ( paint thinner ) they will dry faster, will not smell as bad or stick. It works great for me and others on the board that I learned from.

I read that a lot of people use that mix. I will try that first since it seems easier than most other recipes.