Super newbie looking to do 45 ACP super cheap

[runfiverun]

yep.
I mix my stick-ons in with the clip-ons at a rate of 3 co's to 1 so's by weight.
your mix is exactly why I do that.

jeez:
powder come in, stopped by and bought a bucket of ww's, range had brass and lead all in the same day.
that wasn't a good day, that was a great day.
you shoulda bought a LOTTO ticket since you was out, could have paid for it all and bought gas too.

[Harter66]

I'm using a bathroom scale so the weights are a little off. I started with 49 pounds and got:

35# of COWW
10# of SOWW
5# of steel
3# of zinc

Yes, that adds up to 53# but it is close enough for me. So, $5 for 35# of the good stuff seems nice. I was not happy with how long it took me and my hand hurts from using a pair of cutters to do a real test. I know I will get better with processing but half way through I was ready to quit.

Soon enough you'll be sorting range metal too,on top of figuring out how to get more faster.
You'll get a feel for what doesn't look and feel like lead ww and have to check 1/3 or less and be making up a bucket of zinc,clean steel,and #2 or 3 copper jackets to buy the next bucket of WW or mould.....

[Foto Joe]

The sorting is a pain I will agree but...As you get more familiar with what you're doing things will get easier. A lot of folks hand sort all their WW's, I personally quit sorting a year ago. Once you get some miles under your belt you'll be able to smelt and control your temperature so that things don't get too hot and melt zinc. At that point you just start with a known lead alloy in your pot at the right temp and start dumping in weights. As soon as the new weights hit the melt it cools of course then just start fluxing and skimming as soon as things melt again.

The upside to this method is that you no longer have to sort WW's. The downside of course is that if you don't pay attention you could easily wind up with at least a 25 pound door stop. So far all my doors open and close freely.

[rmcelwee]

Yeah, I've already started looking for a thermometer. I found one for $20 on ebay and might get it. I wanted to try for as cheap as possible but you know that you cannot stay cheap for long. Building one of these right now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83B1hAdZIQo

[Animal]

Hold on the the SOWW and Zinc. The SOWW (as long as they aren't the coated SOWW) are great for mixing with harder COWW if you want a softer bullet. Zinc, while there isn't much use for it now might become our future.
Be organized with you alloy. All my lead gets smelted, fluxed and poured into the same 3lb ingots. I label them as the alloy they are along with their weight. That makes it easy to blend them later in a precise ratio. Keep track of what blend is what by pouring them into different style ingots. after a session of bullet casting. This makes it easy to identify what you have made to prevent mistakes in the future.

[Foto Joe]

A thermometer for smelting isn't really necessary, you should have one for casting though and not a cheap one. During smelting a constant temperature really doesn't do much for you and a thermometer will be in your way in the smelting pot and more a hindrance than a help.

[rmcelwee]

I'm using a bathroom scale so the weights are a little off. I started with 49 pounds and got:

35# of COWW
10# of SOWW
5# of steel
3# of zinc

I smelted them today. Ended up with 30# of COWW and 9# of SOWW on a good scale. I soaked the SOWW in old gasoline over night to get rid of some sticky and paper. My ingot mold was adequate but not great. I think I made it too large (it took a few scoops to fill each section so they came out looking funky). I had, I think, two close calls with zinc WWs. I kept the heat way down and that let me find the offenders pretty easily.

[pls1911]

Remember the good/fast/cheap triangle.... you can have any two points, but never all three.
However, for your stated purpose, a minimal cost hurry-up prep for quality time with Dad, you can come close.
Any of the .45 caliber plain base Lee molds, unsized, lubed with Liquid Alox will fill the bill, wether or not they're noted "TL" for tumble lube.
You're not casting for a bulls eye match, so perfection is not required and unsized "as cast" will work fine. In fact, bullets with slight wrinkle (no voids or rounded bases) will shoot ok.
The little extra smoke from Lee Liquid Alox (LLA) won't be an issue.
I've been in the game a long time and have burned plenty of ugly bullets set aside for plinking and they kill rocks and cans, and horse apples just fine. When I picked up a wrong box, I've also hunted with less the perfect bullets in a 30-30, and the dead deer or pigs never knew my error.

Have fun, learn together, and let us know your progress!

Beware though, that you are starting down a slippery and addicting slope to a new sport...casting and loading your own slugs...in the end it's going to cost you some time and money, but IMHO, it's well spent.
Cheers and welcome!

[Foto Joe]

I had, I think, two close calls with zinc WWs. I kept the heat way down and that let me find the offenders pretty easily.

As you go along you'll figure out why a lot of us don't bother to sort weights anymore. Zinc melts at between 780°-800°F which in actuality is pretty hot. The trick is to NOT let the weights sit in the pot and "simmer". As soon as the lead melts I dump a hand full of sawdust into the mix, stir it up and pull the clips out then dump more weights in which cools the pot.

I'm not too sure about soaking the SO's in gasoline though, try not to burn down the house.

[Animal]

I'm not too sure about soaking the SO's in gasoline though, try not to burn down the house.[/COLOR]

Agreed. **** floats. Don't increase the fire hazard associated with casting over a few floaters. You will find it is very easy to skim it all off.

[Foto Joe]

I understand the reasoning for wanting to get as much of the plastic and adhesive off prior to smelting, the stuff smells awful and I'm pretty sure it's not good for you. I've got long hair and after smelting SO's I need a good scrubbing to get the smell out of my hair not to mention clothes.

I guess I'll advise what has become my normal song and dance...Use what works for you, have fun and above all be careful and don't tempt Darwin to check your name off his list.

[rmcelwee]

A thermometer for smelting isn't really necessary, you should have one for casting though and not a cheap one. During smelting a constant temperature really doesn't do much for you and a thermometer will be in your way in the smelting pot and more a hindrance than a help.

What is the thermometer used for during casting? I must have missed this somewhere.

I'm about 6-7 days away from casting my boolits. Getting ready to have some fun...

[MBTcustom]

The thermometer is used to maintain an ideal temperature in the pot. When the lead starts to melt and has liquid as well as solid in there, it will hold temperature for a while, and only start climbing when all the metal is liquid again. You want to let it climb 100 degrees hotter than that transition temperature and try to hold it there more or less. its a powerful tool for casting, but honestly, I did just fine without one for years casting pistol bullets. You're lucky to have one so early on.

You mentioned that you plan to cast from a skillet? Not the best lead pot in my opinion. What you should do is go to the store and find any stainless steel container about 4-5 inches in diameter and about as deep. This makes an excellent lead pot, and I cast from one heated on a Coleman stove for about 15 years before I upgraded.
Other than that, it sounds like you're in for some fun! I have that same revolver and I love it. Very fun to shoot!

[Wayne Smith]

So, when is your dad visiting? Let us know how it goes, and how addicted you find yourself after this experience!

[Foto Joe]

When you start casting boolits keep in mind that you want to keep your temperature as low as possible and still turn out good boolits. Too many folks (myself included) when they start out get their temps way too high when it's not necessary. Too hot won't turn into a disaster but you run the risk of overheating the mold and winding up with lead smears on the sprue plate. It also causes more shrinkage to the final product and if you're using a high percentage of lead versus tin/antimony that can have adverse effects on the size of your boolits. Pistol boolits are pretty easy and forgiving, have fun with what you're doing and remember that when you mess up it's just a matter of tossing 'em back in the pot. Heck, some people have so much fun casting they throw 'em back just so they can cast 'em again.

As a tip to the new caster: DO NOT spray release compound on your molds and keep in mind that molds (even iron) need time to season and break in so your first casting session may not yield perfect boolits.

[rmcelwee]

So, when is your dad visiting? Let us know how it goes, and how addicted you find yourself after this experience!

Counting down the days (6 left). I will make a web page and post it here when the project is complete.

[rmcelwee]

Picked up 78.5# of COWW and 7# of SOWW (after they were melted down) for a $3.05 dozen doughnuts today. Spent 9.5 hours picking them up and melting them down. This hobby is fun because it is so time consuming.

[Wolfer]

I started out with a yard sale pot, a two cavity lee mold and a lee dipper on a Coleman stove. I still use this setup sometimes.
Started with lee liquid Alox, very easy, cheap and effective.
When I decided to make my own lube I used toilet bowl rings mixed with parrifin about 50/50. This will work very well at the velocities you will be shooting. Toilet bowl wax is way too soft by itself.

Over many years I've graduated to a bottom pour pot and who knows how many molds, sizing dies etc. I can't think of anything I've bought that I've regretted though.

Yes it is an addiction. I'm sure I could quit anytime I want. I just don't want!

[Bongo Boy]

Best wishes and good luck. Have patience, take your time, don't get frustrated if things don't work perfectly first time around. I would say your number one initial issue may likely be pouring into a mold that's too cold--at least I expect that will be the first surprise you may have--they have to be far hotter than one might expect to properly fill and produce nice bullets. Come back here with all the questions you might have. Keep the notion of getting a thermometer for the lead pot in mind if you decide to continue down the road...and a warm welcome to the club. You will have a blast, and you will be able to turn out excellent bullets for next to nothing.

[rmcelwee]

OK, the project has been completed. My webpage isn't "published" yet (no links to it from my site while I do some editing) but you can view it here:

http://www.lightweightmiata.com/guns/casting/






I did run into one problem that I cannot figure out. When seating the PC'd boolits everything was fine. When seating non-coated bullets (I would smear them with synthetic motor oil during resizing) the boolits would push all the way into the brass and stick in the press (lowering the ram would leave the boolit in the press where I would have to turn the adjusting knob in until it spit the boolit out). I have no idea why it did this. The boolits would have been a few .001" smaller but I cannot figure out why they acted like this. It makes me wonder if I would have been able to reload normally lubed (alox tumble lube) boolits. Any ideas?