If you had to condense your best advice for new casters...about the workspace or moulds or the lead pot or maybe about smelting...
What would your 3 most important points be?
NO. 1
NO. 2
NO. 3
If you had to condense your best advice for new casters...about the workspace or moulds or the lead pot or maybe about smelting...
What would your 3 most important points be?
NO. 1
NO. 2
NO. 3
a m e r i c a n p r a v d a
Be a Patriot . . . expose their lies!
“In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” G. Orwell
#1 Read this forum as much as possible .. MUCH MUCH good Info here
#2 Save a lot and buy a good RCBS Bottom Pour Pot and PID .. will eliminate many headaches
#3 see #1, and 2 again
[SIZE=4][B]Selling Hi Quality Powdercoating Powder
I carry a Nuke50 because cleaning up the mess is Silly !!
http://www.bing.com/search?q=nuke50&...7ADE&FORM=QBLH
I am not crazy my mom had me tested
Theres a fine line between genius and crazy .. I'm that line
and depending on the day I might just step over that line !!!
1... keep moisture away from the pot.
2... Wear a face shield, cotton clothing and heavy gloves when casting.
3....pay attention to what you're doing.
Tom
μολὼν λαβέ
Did I ever mention that I hate to trim brass?
1) Forget all about saving money unless you are shooting an all but obsolete cartridge. By the time you buy all the gear, you could buy a lot of factory ammo!
2) ***** your needs, current and future, when buying equipment. If you are or are thinking of being a competive shooter, get a progressive press and six cavity molds to start with. Put a lot of thought into what you think you may do in the future, and try to accomidate those needs with your purchases.
3) Sometimes it's worth buying boolits! I know this will be heresy on this forum, but if you work full time and shoot competitively, when are you really going to have time to cast that many rounds? I've got nothing but time and a good amount of the membership is retired so it's a hobby for us, but even I get burnt out dropping 200rds with a two cavity mold, a six would be faster, but how much?
Just some things from another perspective.
1. Read a LOT before you start.
2. Get some sort of PID controlled pot and a hot plate.
3. Cast fast, until you learn how slow you can go. Don't stop and sort/look/cull while casting. Just cast!
KE4GWE - - - - - - Colt 1860, it just feels right.
1. READ - this forum, casting manuals, wherever. You will find some opposite suggestions, so go with the majority, or what your own mind tells you.
2. I always suggest starting with Lee equipment, 20-pounder and 2/6 cavity molds. If you find you like it, you can sell and buy a better (?) pot and more expensive molds &cetera.
3. I don't us a face shield or welders gloves. My glasses will protect the eyes, and leather gloves from Costco (3 pair for $20) are just fine. Always socks, no matter if you are wearing sandals! And cotton clothes - long sleeves NOT mandatory! So you get a speck of melted lead on your arm - BFD - small speck of a burn, man UP!
Echo
USAF Ret
DPS, 2600
NRA Benefactor
O&U
One of the most endearing sights in the world is the vision of a naked good-looking woman leaving the bedroom to make breakfast. Bolivar Shagnasty (I believe that Lazarus Long also said it, but I can't find any record of it.)
From a new caster's perspective:
1) Read all that you can here and bug'em with any questions to which you don't already find answers posted.
2) Don't neglect old references -- castpics.net has some archived until you luck on to hardcopies.
3) Start casting. Today when so much of our work is almost only between our ears; casting is a great way to fulfill a need to actually create something interesting, valuable, and tangible. I love and value the rest of loading, but it is still but assembly. Casting is creation.
The first purpose of the Second Amendment is too often overlooked, fostering a liberty of mind and action necessary in the people of a free republic.
“Ironically, the only gun control in 19th century England was the policy forbidding police to have arms while on duty.”
~ Don B. Kates, Jr.
1.) Get a large capacity melting pot. The 4 lb. Lee precision melter is a handicap . I tried the 10 lb. Production pot IV....better but the 15 lb. Magnum Melter is even better.
2.) You can cast good bullets with a dipper ladle , like the Lyman dipper with a side spout and an open top pot. You do not Have to buy an expensive bottom pour to get going.
3.) Become friends with people in the tire/wheel weight business. My school buddies daddy was in the tire business, my buddy and his daddy had 4 tire shops , I always bought my tires from them and had an unlimited free supply of wheel weights .
4.) Get the Lyman Cast Bullet Manuals #3 and #4 . Study them carefully...the older ones are helpful .
Gary
Certified Cajun
Proud Member of The Basket of Deplorables
" Let's Go Brandon !"
1) Get a big enough pot-- The man who introduced me to casting said get a 20 pound pot and I did-- still seems small.
2) pay attention to all the safety rules (including good ventilation)
3) Start with alloy you know is good (from someone who casts, a good wheel weight or linotype source, or buy from a good source-- like rotometals).
Hick: Iron sights!
#1 Think. Everything about casting is logical.
#2 Read. Get as much info as you can from different sources.
#3 Practice, practice, practice. One old feller once said "The only way to learn to cast bullets is to cast bullets".
Alslo be aware that there are more old wives tales about cast bullets and casting than anything else about shooting/reloading. You don't need to get the most sophisticated/expensive equipment to make good boolits...
My Anchor is holding fast!
Alright...some good information here already...thanks for kicking in fellas.
NO. 1 I found a terriffic knowledge base in the first reading suggested to me, still use it to refresh my old tired memory...
http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm ... 'From Ingot to Target' an outstanding read and reference. I can't say enough good about this reference.
NO. 2 http://www.lasc.us/LASC_Article_Index.pdf ... from the The Los Angeles Silhouette Club this is an index page with links to all their articles and references, invaluable information here.
NO. 3 Temperature, Temperature, Temperature....always measure it with a verified thermometer, not only the melt but moulds also. Believe it or not but, when you get a little time under your belt and a few burns to remind you of safety...well, minding your temperature will enable you to cast keepers from the 2'nd mould full...sometimes from the first, no kidding.
a m e r i c a n p r a v d a
Be a Patriot . . . expose their lies!
“In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” G. Orwell
1) Casting is as much art as science.
2) You don't need a $300 pot and a PID.
3) Cast. Learn the art.
”We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying, yet they are still lying.” –Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
My Straight Shooters thread:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...raight-shooter
The Pewter Pictures and Hallmarks thread:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...-and-hallmarks
1. Casting is fun.
2. You can remake your mistakes
3. Use common sense and have fun, remember your really bad mistakes can be recast.
Boolit casting is fun, so have some fun, use what you got, you don't need the newest or greatest.
1. Read enough to get a good idea of what you should be doing; then start casting, it isn't all that big a mystery.
2. Bite the bullet and buy a lubrisizer; Pain lubing gets old in a hurry.
3. Set yourself up for success-- start with a cast-friendly caliber like .45 ACP or one of the lower velocity rifle cartridges first, then branch out.
Robert
1 read, learn and ask. It aint rocket surgery
2 safety first, if you wouldnt want your mom to see what you have done, dont do it!
3 be patient, it is a long slippery learning curve, expect failures and learn from them.
Be safe
When you read the fine print you get an education
when you ignore the fine print you get experience
Read and if two sources vary find out why. Some folks are OK with just making something go bang, others are dissatisfied with less than moa. Make your set up suit you and your budget.
Get a 1 lb ladle and learn how to pour with it.
Buy quality measuring equipment and remelt what isn't square, poorly filled out and out of round.
[The Montana Gianni] Front sight and squeeze
1) Use safety equipment Safety glasses, heavy pants, leather shoes, gloves, Apron if available and billed hat. 2) have you workspace open with a good avenue of escape if something happens or goes wrong so you can get away from it. 3) Work at a comfortable height and position ( sitting or standing) with everything laid out in a comfortable easy to reach spot. This saves fatigue and looking for things when your up and running good. Also remember when casting cast when sorting sort don't do both together. And the last one, No matter how pretty that new bullet is its still hot don't touch it.
Before you load your first round:
1. READ
2. READ
3. READ
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same......." - Ronald Reagan
"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived." - George Patton
The second amendment is a nail on which hangs a picture of freedom - member Alex 4x4 Tver, Russia
1. Read everything you can find on casting.
2. Follow what you read
3. Don't overthink it, but be safe about it, and use common sense.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |