First casting sessions a success!

[shagg]

I received my casting supplies a few days ago and set out to cast 45 acp (230 gr. lee aluminum mold). First session was a bit on the hot side, a little frosty in appearance but solid and crisp. The next 2 sessions started out too cold but once the mold heated up the bullets looked great. I water dropped them and i like the results. My only complaint is that its hard to see your bullet quality at the bottom of the bucket as you work. Now i have to wait for the rest of my stuff so i can load!

[RobS]

Welcome aboard..................let us know how the rest comes out for you when you finally hear, "Bang".

[ghh3rd]

Welcome to the addiction!

[lathesmith]

Way to go! We love success stories! That frost on your bullets won't hurt a thing, they'll load and shoot fine. Keep up the good work!

lathesmith

[shagg]

Thanx! I tried to take some pics and post them but its damn hard to get a good close-up image of shiny things...

[gray wolf]

Good for you,and glad you are happy with your casting.
It sure can be fun.
I think it would be OK for me to say "you don't have to water drop those bullets for a 45 ACP.
At normal 45 velocity's that 230 grain bullet should do fine just air cooled on a nice dry towel.

and may I say nice to have you here ?

[Recluse]

My only complaint is that its hard to see your bullet quality at the bottom of the bucket as you work.

I generally drop my boolits on an old towel at the beginning of a casting session to check the quality. Once I'm cleared of wrinkles, poor fillout, etc etc that normally comes with the start of just about any casting session, and the boolits start looking the way I want them to, I then begin dropping them straight from the mold into the water bucket.

The "test boolits" that were first cast, or "lead sacrificials" as I call them, well they go back into the pot.

:coffee:

[canyon-ghost]

Graywolf has it right, you shouldn't need water quench on pistol bullets. I just shot some 41 magnums @ 1315 fps from a Blackhawk. When you get into high velocity, around 1900 fps, then water quench is in order. I do that for 7mmTCU with 135 grain Lyman bullets, and some rifle bullets of the same diameter. Smaller diameters help too, I have a 22 Hornet that shoots around 1800fps, and it doesn't need water dropped bullets.
It's a little misleading because, wheelweight has tin and antimony in it to make it harder. Some guys use pure to make soft pistol bullets. That 41 magnum uses wheelweight/ac (air cooled) just fine. At fifty meters, I shot the 2x2 in half with the Contender in 41 magnum. Blew it apart like a toothpick. I guess you CAN get pretty high velocity with air-cooled wheelweight!
Ron

[AZ-Stew]

If you happen to find some of your water dropped boolits that don't pass inspection, DO NOT add them to a pot of molten alloy!!! Place them in the pot before you turn it on to boil off any water that may have collected in base voids, etc. before the main load in the pot reaches melting temperature. Water below the surface of a lead pot will prompt a visit from what we call "The Tinsel Fairy". While this description sounds somewhat innocuous, believe me, a fraction of an ounce of molten alloy popped onto any exposed skin will change your mind instantly. Several ounces distributed about your epidermis will probably cure you of casting.

Be careful.

Regards,

Stew