As stated, I've been reloading for a bit, but have just been buying jacketed bullets. A couple months ago I saw a youtube video and it got the ideas rolling. Ever since then I've been reading. So far casting seems like reloading in the sense that it's complicatedly simple. So, I've decided to start with only a few calibers and work from there. I have a Rock Island 1911 45ACP that will be my first attempt. I'm mainly just looking for reassurance that I'm starting off on the right foot, but any pointers are appreciated. The only shooting I really ever do is on a range.
For lead I've got 100lbs of pure lead, and grandparents who've got an Intertype machine they no longer use. Which gives me a good bit of lynotype I can pull from. I recently found the alloy calculator which, I'm very thankful for, and see that if I mixed those two in a 1:5 ratio I should come out with a hardness around 11ish. Which seems to be about what I need, from what I can tell.
I'm planning on a 10 lee pot, and can snag some of the old smelting equipment from the print shop. They've got some flux left over, but I don't know if it's any good still. I've got plenty saw dust and am figuring on using that.
As far as a mold is concerned I've got my eye on Lee's 6 cavity TL452-230-2R. From what I've read the SWC seem to give people trouble in 1911. My only concerns for a mold is something I can get to shoot in a decent group without giving me too much of a hassle to load. In reality most anything I load will probably out shoot me in accuracy, but it'd be nice to have a good starting platform. I slugged the barrel and it came out at .451, so I'm not sure if I'm going to need to size them. I'm also planning on starting off with powder coating to keep equipment cost down.
I've read a couple books, but don't know enough to know what I don't know. Though I figure it's time to give it a try, and find out what I don't know.