Whatever you do, don't buy a Magma Master Caster!

[AbitNutz]

Don't do it...don't do it....it will ruin you! I have a ton tied up in various aluminum molds and 4-6 cavity molds and I'm not wanting to touch one. The Master Caster I have is sooo much easier to use and makes me cast far more consistently that I get good...no great! Bullets, right from the first or second drop.

I have been casting for 30 years and have accumulated a large variety of molds, handles and 3 different pots, an old Lee that has never quit; a really old but wonderful RCBS Pro-Melt and a fairly recent Lyman Mag 25. None of them holds but a candle to the Magma Master Caster.

I had to use the Lyman today because it had the right alloy mix in it and I thought I was going to slash my wrists after just a few minutes. I have the M/C mounted on a tall bench so I can see directly at the pour spout. So what this means is that I don't have to lift anything or lean over or smack anything with my beloved rawhide covered mallet. The sprues drop in one slot, the bullets in another, very little mess, very little cleanup.

Am I saying that the Lee, RCBS and Lyman pots along with my Accurate, Noe, MP, LBT, Ideal, Saeco, H&G, RCBS, Lyman, BigLube or Lee molds are junk? Heck no! They're all excellent...but the Magma Master Caster and Magma molds just work that much better....

I have been ruined *sob*.

Yeah, I know, it's a weird way of saying how much I like the Master Caster...but hey, it's an election year.

[bstone5]

A used Master Caster found it's way to my shop and after some refurbishment I cast with it in the manual mode for several years.

Read about how to automate the Master Caster on this site, it took a while to get the machine automated, but now the machine will cast 800 bullets per hour with automation.

Over the years have acquired 16 molds for the machine some new but most are used. Have had a few two cavity steel molds converted by Magnum Engineering for use in the Master Caster. A few molds were made for bullets I designed by a commercial mold maker in Utah.

Cast during the winter and make several thousand bullets with the same mold over a weekend.
Keep an inventory of cast, powder coated and sized bullets for my family and a few friends who help making the cast bullets. The cast bullets are of high quality from the Automated Master Caster.

Still hand cast for a few rifle bullets using molds got before the Master Caster. Sold most of the Lee 6 cavity molds for common pistol bullets I purcashed years ago.

Chasing lead has been fun, myself and a few friends are always looking and scrounging for lead to use in the Master Caster. Often when low on lead I just purchase 300 pounds of #2 alloy from a local commercial lead supply company here in Houston, Lead Products.

Never though I would make large volumes of cast lead bullets but stuff happens as we get old and have time and some money available after we retire.

[wlkjr]

I bought mine used a few months ago. It was my first experience in casting, and a learning one to say the least. Since I'm retired it serves as a good hobby and allows me shoot a lot more than I normally would. Sometime I struggle getting the temp just right but I love using this machine. I use Hi-Tek coating on the three calibers I shoot and it is working well for me.

[rancher1913]

go ahead and rub it in our faces

[Bzcraig]

go ahead and rub it in our faces

Snobs.......all snobs!!

[AndFereira]

I jumped right in the deep end of the pool. started casting a few months ago and got a master caster and had hatch hook it up with w control panel. Couldn't be happier. Makes casting very enjoyable

[ReloaderFred]

I've got two Master Casters, one that gets used all the time, and one that I'm repairing. I've also got a Bullet Master Mark 6 automated casting machine that will make a grown man cry when it screws up, but when it's running right, it's nothing to put out 20,000 bullets in a day. It very seldom goes that well, though.

I much prefer to cast small amounts on the Master Caster. By small amounts I mean 3 or 4 thousand of any one bullet. Between the machines, I've got well over 200 molds for them, plus about 50 molds for hand casting that I haven't touched in about 5 years or so. My RCBS pot hasn't been warmed up in that long, either. I'd rather go to the dentist than hand cast anymore..........

Fred

[Tazza]

I was all set to defend the MC, good to see i didn't need to.

Mine was bought pre-loved, I too have mine automated and I love it. I just need more moulds for it

[denul]

Has anyone managed to modify MP molds , especially the hollow point ones, for the master caster?

[AbitNutz]

The best one to ask that of might be Erik at Hollow Point Mold Service. I had him mod a Magma mold to HP...wonderful the way it works.

[AbitNutz]

I think that moving from hand casting to using a Master Caster is as big or bigger jump as moving from a single stage press to a Dillon 550B. The act of hand casting is very labor intensive and the Master Caster almost removes that element entirely.

[Bzcraig]

Ok you guys knock it off! My 'want glands' are beginning to swell! I swear I won't come back to this thread to check for new posts! No really, I won't.

[dragon813gt]

When I started casting w/ molds other than Lee I seriously considered a MC. Then I found the custom makers and I put that thought on the back burner. Bought way to many custom molds over the years. I should have bought a MC years ago. W/ Accurate making molds for them I would be able to get almost anything I wanted. But he doesn't make them small enough for everything I shoot

[ascast]

So,my question is this: can you get the quality for 600yd to 1,000yd shooting with the MC? Are the boolits good enough to win? or at least practice with? Combat pistol craft is a whole different game than BPCR and the required level of perfection would be very different, I think.

[chloe123]

Once the mold is heated, I always get good looking boolits. For me, more consistent than by hand. I sometimes get unacceptable weight variation but that's only when I use wheel weight Ingot alloy-- I think diff elements solubilize at diff temps affecting end weight, but dont know for sure . I think good molds are key. hope someone else chimes in

[AbitNutz]

For me, the M/C is a better way to cast bullets...period. There is no downside to it. I put off buying one for years because of the cost. Also, people who own one, including me, will tell you that a 6 cavity gang mold is actually faster than an M/C. But that's not exactly true because you can't keep it going as long as you can with an M/C. I always get more good bullets with my M/C than I do compared to hand casting. In fact, that's all I get with my M/C is good bullets. Once it start dropping good ones, it never stops.

[rondog]

OK, I gotta admit, I just watched a video of one in use and it ain't nothing like I imagined! Does it make flat-based bullets? All I've ever seen from them were bevel based.

I had a ton of bullets I'd bought years ago from Z-cast, and I ended up melting those down into ingots. I just don't like bevel based bullets, give me nice flat, square bases thank you. Can't powdercoat store-bought boolits with that waxy blue lube either.

[Tazza]

I rather bevel bases, flat base seems to be more fussy when you get anything between the mould and the sprue plate, you can get small dags that can put the shot off a little bit. Also, the bevel base seems to slide into the case mouth a little easier too. Flat base doesn't align quite as easy, and you stand less chance of scraping any coating off the projectile when seating it. That is just me, some like flat base, others like bevel base.

I see no reason why a MC can't give the same quality as the commercial units do. If the lead and mould are right, why would they be of lower quality? I only make pistol projectiles with mine, they land where i point them. The only issues I have had is not every style works in everyones gun, but that is not unusual. Some like RN, some like conical.

[runfiverun]

I tore one of my M/C's apart to make a hand caster out of the pot.
I'm much quicker with a good 4-5 cavity mold than with the M/C 2 hole bang bang output.
the other one and it's molds just sit's there gathering dust.

[AbitNutz]

I tore one of my M/C's apart to make a hand caster out of the pot.
I'm much quicker with a good 4-5 cavity mold than with the M/C 2 hole bang bang output.
the other one and it's molds just sit's there gathering dust.

To each his own...no way would I want to produce the same amount of good bullets by hand casting than by using an M/C. Where are you located? Care to get rid of your dust gathering M/C?