I'm new to casting and I want to know....

After being nudged into casting my own bullets, I took the plunge.
I got a Lee progressive loader with all of the attachments for 38/357 and 38 super.
I am good friends with a local station owner and he gave me all of his lead tire weights.
I ordered 38 casting molds along with a bottom pour melting pot.
Then after casting 20 pounds of semi wad cutters I came across an interesting article.
The article read: When casting, drop your hot castings into cold water. This process will make the lead bullets harder!
I'm thinking this might be of use as some of the castings had small chunks missing and will have to be recast.
Then last night I was talking to a long time casting buddy and he suggested tumbling the wad cutters in moly to make them slicker.
I know how soft the lead was after I cast them and I'm thinking they will beat themselves to a pulp.
Add to this a recent viewing of one guys reload station, I noticed he had a vibrating pot at one end of the bench.
Before I could ask, he said I polish them after I make them. As you can see, they come out looking like new without the problem of getting all that medium in the shells.

So, here I am, wondering if I should follow their lead and chill my castings the next time I pour?
Then the moly suggestion has really got me wondering.
I think I need, no; I know I need the forum's advice before I cast again.

Some of the best information can be found in the pinned threads at the top of each forum. As far as water dropping, it is typically not necessary to water drop for hardness. Although, I always drop into water simply because I go from my final cast straight to the lube process and they are not hot. If you have "chunks" missing that is likely due to incomplete fillout of the mould. You may have to add some tin to your lead to help them fill out and have sharp edges. You will most definitely need lube of some sort. Good luck choosing from the many options. I use the old nra formula and pan lube. Again, check the stickies in the lube section of the forum. You will have no problems lubing and sizing the boolits you have already cast. Just cull out the bad ones (throw them back in the pot for next time) and lube up the good ones to be loaded. Prepare to be thoroughly addicted!

KimberLover:

From your post, it sounds as if your lead may be too soft. Higher velocities will require a harder cast boolit, particularly as you move into Magnum velocities, and even more important if you go into rifle boolit casting. Recommendation for adding tin by MiCompound is valid, as well as preheating the mold (get yourself a hot plate) and making sure your lead pot is at correct temperature (get yourself a lead thermometer). Recommend you do a lot of reading in this forum on various lead alloy's, all lead is not the same. Also do a lot of reading on lubes, although making your own is not necessary as there are some really good products such as White Label, their web address is: http://www.lsstuff.com/ .

Dropping your cast bullets into water will quench them and makes them slightly harder. With the clip on wheel weights I don't think water quenching is necessary unless you are going for maximum velocities. I don't like to get water near where I am casting due to the danger. Proper bullet size to the bore is far more important than bullet hardness.
Small chunks missing is a casting problem that you will need to address. I got some chunks missing when the molds/lead got too hot. Are your bullets frosted?
The lube and the way you want to lube your bullets is personal preference. Many ways and lubes are successful.
I don't understand your statement about tumbling/polishing the bullets. You can apply a soft lube by tumbling but I have never tried to polish my cast bullets. I would not tumble loaded rounds if that was what you saw.

Several people here have posted about moly coating but for 38 spl loads it is not necessary and the 38 super may be a more difficult animal. Water dropping your clip wheel weights will make then significantly harder which may be required for higher velocities. It takes 2 to 3 weeks for water cooled bullets to harden up.

Another alternative is to alloy up a mix of 2% tin and 6% antimony with the balance of lead. Water dropping usually not required but will make really hard bullets wit this mix.

I have been considering moly coating for my 9mm which has been a problem child for me.

I don't know why anyone would polish bullets. Maybe its just a vanity thing.

Are they clip-on weights or stick-on? Clip-ons should be hard enough without water quenching, but stick-ons will most likely be close to pure lead and too soft. Water quenching them won't really make any difference.

Like they said, read, read and then read some more! The stickies have a LOT of info in them, along with the various posts. Try searching the forum for specific subjects, but be prepared for lots of reading - you're not going to get a grasp on all of this in a day or two! (Quite a few of us spent weeks, even months, lurking, reading and learning before joining and even then I felt like I had barely scratched the surface).

But it's worth it.

I would not tumble loaded rounds. There is probably a small possibility that a round could go off, but I would be more concerned about changing the burn characteristics of the powder if tumbled too much. Get your brass pretty before you put it together. Tumble before you deprime.

762

Good advice there.It pays to lurk and read up...Getting the right shape and flawless boolits takes a few attempts.

Are you fluxing your smelt enough? That,done correctly ,will give you a nice,shiny smelt with enough tin 'restored'
Enough stickies on fluxing.
My personal choice is pine shavings, plus I stir the shavings and lead alloy with a wooden spoon.Once all the wood shavings are charred, I dunk them out, stir a few times and toss in a marble size bit of beeswax,as an additional form of flux.
I get my mould, heat it up, then pour a dozen from the smelt to see how they pour &look like.If there are gaps and ugly cracks, ,the mould needs more pre heating or alloy may benefit from another bit of fluxing.if the fill out is still bad, I would THEN add some 50/50 tin/lead solder. I ensure the alloy is cleaned,fluxed and is good for casting ,then pour into mould/muffin tins,label accordingly.
Enjoy

For 38 super I have found an alloy of 3% tin, 3% antimony gives me good accuracy and no leading in my 38 supers even at 1300+ fps. For 38/357 you can go with a 2% tin, 3% antimony alloy for top end loads and straight COWW's for target/plinking loads. Clip on wheel weights are generally thought to be minimal tin and 3% antimony so a lot of us add tin to get 1.5-2% content for good mold fill-out. Stick on wheel weights are almost pure lead; I mix it with linotype and tin to get to the 2/3 alloy I use the most of. Boolit fit to the firearm is more important than the hardness of the cast boolit. "Hard Cast" boolits are not necessary even for rifles IMHO. And - Welcome to the forum !! Welcome to boolit casting !!

I have tumbled boolits for 10 min or so to apply powdercoat, didn't hurt 'em.
You could put 'em in a ziplock bag & tumble by hand.
Search here for posts on tumbling loaded rounds. I don't do it but it seems harmless,
& the powder should be OK. I clean brass before loading, then use a rag after.

Things I have learned mostly from reading a lot of good information here or from links posted here.

Clip on wheel weights (COWW) have antimony in addition to the lead, this makes them A). a harder alloy of lead. B). responsive to being quenched in water when still hot to make them harder still.
Stick on wheel weights (SOWW) are just about plain lead, no antimony so A & B above don't apply to these wheel weights.

Tin, often added in the form of solder makes lead flow better. This helps it fill in the bullet mold. It also adds a small amount of hardness.

Temperature of the melt and fluxing help keep the good antimony and tin from cooking out of the lead which would leave much of your melt as plain lead. COWW with a little tin should make hard enough bullets for most pistol uses you outlined without water dropping them.

After casting you have to apply lube to the bullet, some people melt moly grease and bees wax mix as a lube, or many other things, this is used to fill in those lube groves around the base of the bullet. Or coat the bullet in the case of tumble lubes.

You have the information here but finding it and digesting it takes a bit of work, then more work to try out what you think you have learned, repeat as needed until actually learned.