I want to get back into casting after a 37 yrs hiatus

[Gundogblue]

Back in the day when I was a spry young healthy, strong as a mule and twice as dumb kid I used to help my dad cast our bullets. He was the brains of the outfit, I was more the go for anything he would need. But I did learn a lot from him, but it’s been 37 yrs since I last did any casting, so I might have forgotten a thing or two. Unfortunately the only casting equipment that I still have is my dads Lyman Moulds which are .454190, .452490, 429244 and .358311. That’s it, so I’m getting together a list of things I’m gonna need. Like a furnace, and ladle, a set of Lyman Mould handles for two cavity Moulds. Now it gets tricky, I’m gonna need bullet sizers, and lubricators, I not sure which to go with,the Lee stuff or a Lyman 4500, my dad had Lyman 450. Can the Lee sizer/ lubricator do as good a job as the Lyman 4500, and is tumble lubing as good as injecting the lube into the bullets lube groove like the Lyman 4500 does? Now the trickiest part of all, what size should I size my bullets! I’m shooting a Herritage big bore .45, the bullets I’m using come from Dardas bullets, and are sized to a .453, they work great in my Herritage.45, accurate, and no leading. But I can’t find any sizers that size to a .453. I’m guessing my dads mould .454190 would be a good mould for use with that gun.
I also have a Marlin 1894 in 44 special/44 mag, I haven’t slugged the barrel yet, and won’t be able to until it comes back from Marlin, but that’s another story. I’ve heard Marlin bore diameters run big, so what would I have to do if it’s a .432, or .433? I can’t find any 44 Moulds that cast a bullet to that diameter. I guess maybe I did forget a lot, but any tips and advice you guys can give me about the equipment I’m gonna need will be greatly appriciated

[Gtrubicon]

Hello gun dog blue, I can't speak to how to size your bullets, but if you have the means to get a Lyman 4500 do it. The Lee push through dies work very well. They are quite messy with the liquid Alex lube. If you powder coat it's a different story about the Lee push through dies. Someone will probably come along that can help you with your sizing questions. There are some pretty sharp people on this forum.

[Beagle333]

For sizing, let me recommend the NOE push through "bushing sizing" system. http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/index.php?cPath=104
Once you buy the push-through size die body, then you just add any size bushings that you will be sizing to.

and once you have your boolits sized to your preference, you can lube with just about any lubrisizer out there. I prefer the Lyman 45's. There are still a LOT of them in circulation and you should be able to pick up one or two at around $50-60 each. I like to have a couple, just so I can keep different lubes loaded in them. And with the boolits already sized, there is only the business of lubing them for the 45 to do, so it will last practically forever without the sizing stress being put on it.

If you were going to let the lubrisizer do both the sizing and the lubing, I would recommend the RCBS unit. It is really tough and can handle sizing and lubing of just about anything you want to crunch through it. I just prefer the two step method of push through sizing and then lube with the machine of choice. Good luck and have fun!

[10gaOkie]

When I was loading and casting for my Browning B92 44mag rifle, I used these tools...
Lee TL430-240-SWC 6-cavity mold....my bore slugged at .429 so I sized this bullet with the Lee push through sizer that is .430". I tumble lube with 45-45-10 lube before sizing and again after sizing.
I have a RCBS Lube/Sizer but no longer use it and have switched to the tumble lube with the Lee sizer. Much much faster and easier than the old way. /Chris

[Grmps]

Lee Precision has a .452 push through sizer you can easily enlarge with sandpaper around a dowel.
https://leeprecision.com/new-lube-size-kit-.452.html

Since your hiatus from casting many of us have gone to powder coating or Hitek coating or bullets eliminating the need for lube.
With powder coating. it is easy to add dimension to a cast bullet just by applying more coats.

Lee has decent reloading equipment at a reasonable price -- a good place to start back in unless you want to jump back in.
I got a lot of Lee to start with and have found no reason to change/upgrade

You can get can get a 20# bottom pour pot for <$100 I prefer bottom pour to dipper but there are some old timers that are more comfortable with the dipper

454190 is a great mold for 45 colt & rifle

You should probably start by slugging your barrels so you know what you are working with and what size bullets you need to cast Some guns like 1 to 3 thousandths over bore diamiter.

near the top right of the forum page is a google custom search which is a great resource/link to all the previous posts on this forum.

[Gundogblue]

Tumble lubing has been brought up a few times. I’m not adverse to tumble lubing useing Alox and paste wax or some variety there in IF it’s as effective as injecting the lube in the greas grooves like the Lyman 4500 does. I fact, for the cost of a Lyman 4500, I can get the furnace, mould handles, and a Lee, or NOE sizer kit. I just want to make sure the boolits are lubed well enough to prevent leading up the barrel.

[Bookworm]

I mostly use tumble lube. I started with 45/45/10, and went to BLL #2 (with the Lundmark liquid paste wax, instead of the discontinued Johnson's).
With BLL, I have taken 357Mag (gas checked) to 1300fps and no leading.

With 45/45/10, 44 Mag to 1250fps, plain base, no leading. Even used these in a Marlin 44Mag lever gun with no problems.

I like both, and plan to continue using tumble-lubed boolits. Lubing 50 boolits in 3 minutes, plus drying time, is the way to go.

I also have a Lyman 45, and use it for some rounds, but individually handling each and every boolit to lube is cumbersome at best.

[Gundogblue]

This forum is GREAT, it should be called cast boolits school,I’m really getting a refresher, and learning a lot. The boolits I plan on casting are going to be for a single action .45 Colt, and an 1894 Marlin 44 special/44 mag. I want to shoot light loads out of both guns, in the 1894 Marlin I’m mostly going to use 44 specials. I don’t have my loading manual with me right now, but I don’t think I will be pushing the boolits out of both guns over 900 FPS. So that would work in favor of the tumble lube method? One of my dads Moulds is Lyman 429244 which is a gas check mould, if it will feed through a lever action gun I imagine it would be a good choice if I load to 44 mag velocities in the 1894 Marlin. Again I want to thank all you guys for your time in giving me a real good education.

[Wayne Smith]

Basically the higher the velocity the less reliable tumble lubing is - with the possible exception of Ben's Red. Fine for low velocity pistol rounds, for 45-70, etc. Once you get to the smaller caliber rifle rounds - and high pressure cartridges - the more you will want lube in the grooves or PC.

[SkookumJeff]

Tumble lubing has been brought up a few times. I’m not adverse to tumble lubing useing Alox and paste wax or some variety there in IF it’s as effective as injecting the lube in the greas grooves like the Lyman 4500 does. I fact, for the cost of a Lyman 4500, I can get the furnace, mould handles, and a Lee, or NOE sizer kit. I just want to make sure the boolits are lubed well enough to prevent leading up the barrel.

I'd hold off on investing in a lube machine unless you really want to go that route. I'm getting ready to test the BLL #2 formula for tumble lubing, everything I've read about it is positive regarding no leading of barrels. Last summer I spooled up to powder coat, spent $6.00 on a used toaster oven to bake the powder coating and after a couple of batches proving out the process, I dedicated my 25 year old vibrating tumbler to powder coating and bought a new machine for cleaning brass. PC'ing has removed most of the gun cleaning I used to have to do. Zero leading with cast boolits has been my experience with PC'ing up to (so far) 1400 fps over my chrony. It's cheap, easy to do. The BLL tumble lubing looks even cheaper and couldn't be easier. I use Lee push thru sizers for ALL of my sizing now and my RCBS lube machine is sitting unused gathering dust in my shop.

Skook.

[Gundogblue]

I’ve never heard of powder coating until yesterday when I posted this thread. I watched a you tube video on it and it looks easy enough, just put the boolits in a container,poor the powder over them, close the container then shake. Then put the boolits on a try,and bake at 400 degrees for 20 mins.
But my question about that is first, do you size the boolits before or after you powder coat them? And second , who makes the powder and where do you buy it?

[Grmps]

smoke 4320 a vendor/sponsor on this site sells PC (powder coating)
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...owder-For-sale

Here is a good thread on PC
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...ange-PC-method

[RogerDat]

You might want to just by some ready made 45/45/10 lube from LsStuff http://lsstuff.com/store/index.php?m...=index&cPath=2 Save you a whole lot of fiddling around trying to get it "right" when you are just getting started. They also make lube sticks for lube / sizer use. http://www.lsstuff.com/lsstuff-stuff

Tumble lube will get the job done and what it won't do one can do with PC (powder coat paint baked on) Fast as dumping them in 1/2 gallon zip lock bag, tumble, then dump on tray to dry overnight. The lube grooves aren't really filled the bullet just has a thin haze of lube on it. Although for higher power rifle some people dip the base of the bullet in the tumble lube and that puts a fair amount in the lube grooves.

Lee sizers work very well. I keep an older C press mounted to my bench and it works well for sizing bullets or seating a gas check on them. It works fine and the cost is very modest.

If you decide to ladle cast (as opposed to a bottom pour pot) I would suggest the Lyman lead dipper for filling molds. https://www.amazon.com/Lyman-Casting.../dp/B001OPLJUU

Thermometer is very useful Tel-Tru has one https://www.amazon.com/Tel-Tru-LT225.../dp/B0055777EU

Or Lyman makes one about same price if you have Amazon prime for free shipping. https://www.amazon.com/Lyman-2867793.../dp/B001TQ8Y6Q

Going to want some leather gloves, I like welding or fireplace gloves, some just use regular leather work gloves. Face shield or safety glasses. Wood hammer handle or mold mallet which is a wooden handle to tap mold with but only on the mold handle never on the mold itself. Some sprue plate lube would be nice too.

Lee 6 cavity handles should fit Lyman 2 cavity molds and cost less than Lyman. People often pull the wood part off and slip some JB Weld inside it then rotate and pound back on. The JB Weld helps keep the cheaper wood handle on the metal. At $13.50 I'm willing to fiddle around a bit to improve the serviceability of the mold handles, others would rather spend more and purchase more substantial handles. https://www.titanreloading.com/lee-c...mold%20handles

One thing I can add. You can invest a modest amount in equipment and be up and casting. Upgrade or add tools as you find a need that you have to address. Or some would advocate to buy the higher end gear since it won't lose much value over time if maintained. Either one is a sound approach depends on what you are comfortable with. Me I hate spending piles of money up front only to find out I either bought stuff I didn't need or my own use doesn't warrant the super deluxe equipment I bought. I'll buy the cheap used guitar until my playing and time investment warrants the $$$ on a better one. But that is me, and not holy writ.

[RogerDat]

size before or after. I size before and put on gas check, then PC for rifle. For 357 magnum plinking I PC then size. Some people put the gas check on after PC and some like me do it before. If you order from smoke (good product & straight shooter) don't forget to get some black airsoft BB's with that powder order. If you buy PC from harbor freight only their red will work with shake and bake method, and it is clearly not as good of coating as smokes powders are. I suggest one or two of his sample packs of powder is a great way to make you some purdy bullets.

[wv109323]

I have a Marlin in 44 mag. It needs a fat bullet due to bore size. The nominal size for a 44 mag rifle is .431 versus the bore of .429 for a pistol. I have settled on powder coating a bullet for this rifle. A powder coated cast bullet is about right. Powder coating adds .002-.003 to diameter.
Consider a bottom pour Lee potfor casting.

[P Flados]

You have guns that are a lot of fun with light to medium loads.

I started casting in the 70's, tool a long break and got back into it a decade or so ago.

I am really enjoying the technology improvements for both light - medium loads (tumble lube) or stout loads (ASBB PC).

If you can get tumble lube to work, it is just great and so much less effort than any other choice. For the guns/loads you have described, I expect that you will be able to to use tumble lube for much if not all of your shooting.

Unless your molds cast more than 0.003" over you bore size, I would also recommend trying out "unsized" before investing in any sizing equipment. I load a good portion of my ammo (including 44s and 45s) without any sizing. I have just found that I shoudl probably go from "sized" to unsized for my highest volume boolits (all 9mm, most 38s & most 357s).

With the above, your minimum up front outlay would be actual casting equipment, one bottle of tumble lube (I use BLL, but recommend 45-45-10 at $12.95 for 16 ounces from http://lsstuff.com/store/index.php?m...f804fb78186f6e), and then lead (there are some great sellers that sell on the forum).

If you want to push you loads harder and/or you have a boolits/gun combo that just does not like tumble lube, then you can get into ASBB PC for less than a lubsizer. PC is more work, but it lets you get lead free performance for combinations where neither tumble lube of traditional lube can.

[bbogue1]

Whether yo are shooting an auto or revolver he first thing I would do is slug your barrel (or measure your cylinders and slug your barrel). Without that knowledge you really do not know what size your bullets need to be. You are familiar with Dardas. They will measure your slug to 4 decimal places at no charge and make a recommended size to boot. Then you know for sure. I had terrible leading in my 9mm I thought the factory barrel was .355 so I shot .356 come to find out my barrel was .356 thanks to Dardas. He recommended .357 or larger for cast bullets. Now I shoot .358 powdercoated then sized to .358. The result of that knowledge is a little powder dirt in my barrel after quite a number of rounds but no leading. You need to get your barrel slugged. I have a foolproof method of making tapered slugs for practically no cost (I learned it here) that do not roll or skid in your barrel like the soft balls do. I'd love to share that with you.

[D Crockett]

what kind of lead are you going to use ??? are you going to get clean lead from someone like the Captain ??? or are you going to get used wheel weights lead pipe or what ever comes your way that is dirty an full of God only knows what ??? if you are going to use dirty lead you will have to get some equipment for that to. here is a list of a few things you will need for that a smelting pot , ingot molds , a ladle , and a slotted spoon to get the junk out of the pot you are cleaning your lead in. you are going to have to get some kind of fluxing agent a few of those are. any kind of wax bees wax candle wax, old motor oil, a hand full of oak leaves but I think any kind will work, pine pitch, pine saw dust, these are a few of the things I have used over the years what ever you do do not use an aluminum pot (bad things happens if you do ) do not let any lead that is wet go into a pot that has melted lead in it that is BAD BAD BAD (a steam explosion will happened) and if you use a cast iron pot do not hit the side of it when it is hot that can turn ugly fast I hope this can help you some D Crockett

[country gent]

Another route to go if your moulds cast to size is to pan lube the bullets. A lot of bullets can be done quick depending on pan size. The lyman or RCBS ladles are preferable to the lee version. Bottom pour is also an option here. The Lee sizing kits are good and easy to modify if a slightly larger dia is desired. The lyman sizer is good as is the rcbs version. A lot like the star also for higher volumnes.
You need to decide on amount needed, time you want to spend doing them, and what your comfortable with. Bullets in the 250 grn range arnt to bad with a 10 lb pot but bigger bullets ( 400-500+ grns) empty the pot pretty quick and a 20 lb pot may be a better choice. Same for sizing lubricating. Running for 50-100 bullets a month can be quite different than running for 500-1000 a month

[Gundogblue]

I pulled the trigger today and bought a Lee bottom discharge 10 lb furnace, and mould handles, as far as PC,I’d like to try it but for the time being I’m gonna try tumble lubing. I’m going to order the 45-45-10 from the guy who belongs to this forum. When I was a kid my dad would send me scrounging to the gas stations and tire shops for wheel weights,he would use 9 lbs wheel weights, and 1 lb 50-50 barsolder he said that was a #2 alloy. I just got the Lyman cast boolit handbook and it says the same thing my daughters boyfriend who works at a tire shop said,and that wheel weights today are not lead like they used to be. So I checked the internet and found Roto Metals who is also a sponsor here, so I thought I’d give them a try unless you guys recommend someone else.