What is the maximum number of boolits you have cast in one session? One person only, no help.
My maximum was right at a thousand by weight with culls removed during casting. Two boolit mold. 140gr 6.5mm. My wrist hurt afterwards.
What is the maximum number of boolits you have cast in one session? One person only, no help.
My maximum was right at a thousand by weight with culls removed during casting. Two boolit mold. 140gr 6.5mm. My wrist hurt afterwards.
1200 ish after culls removed...but it was a Lee 6 gang mold (120 tc)...I'm sure others have gone gang busters on a mold in a day though... interested to see the numbers on this!
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Most was about 500. After inspection.
Since I do not usually count boolits when casting, and I do multiple calibers using different cavity moulds I usually go by the amount of ingots used for guesstimate of how many cast in a session. I also set a certain amount of time I will cast before I am going to get tired of it, and that is another limitation.
So, I would have to say the most I have ever done is, guessing 75 lbs of lead in a session. I remember the very last session was that amount anyway. Others may have been less than that, but not more. I do a bunch of boolits in the Fall before the cold of Winter comes since I work with lead outside.
Converting to numbers, for one sample session( the last most recent one)
If I use 20 lbs for 230 SWC or RN that would be a little over 600 boolits
If I do 10 lbs for each(20 lbs) 120 TC or 124 TC that would be a little over 580/560
If I do 10 lbs for 124gr RN that ends up being a bit over 560
If I do 5 lbs for 102 RN it comes to a little over 340
If I do 10 lbs 158gr SWC the total would run over 440
and if I do 10 lbs of 148gr DEWC it turns out about approx. 470
Equals 75 lbs. and somewhere close to the amount of 3450 or so boolits in that session, before culling. I don't inspect "every" boolit while casting. The obvious bad ones go into the pot & then I cull almost every step of the way up to & including as I raise the press to seat them. Obvious culls when first starting out if the mold is not hot enough or something like that, would not be in the counts above. The amounts above are solely by the amounts of lead & what each pound will produce +/- of good boolits.
That is an honest & as far as I can say, accurate amount cast. I would guess that I get somewhere in the range of 90-95% make it into a case, so if that was part of the figuring then around 3100 get used to completed rounds.
I hope ya find that info interesting, as I did, since I had not figured it out before. I think I average prolly 40-50 lbs each session the rest of the time. Like I said, the last time for before Winter & cold set in. I would have to do the math to get an "average" for boolits each session & it would depend on what caliber & weight boolits I needed as well.
One can cast a lot of 102 gr. boolits out of just 5-10 lbs of lead, and obviously less for 230 gr. boolits out of 5-10 lbs, so the amount of "boolits" might not be so important as the amount of lead cast.
Anyway, I hope I helped out in what ya wanted to know.
ETA - BTW, If I got the right pic, I "think" this is around 600 - 230 SWC & RN in just those 2 piles ( 300 each or so). :
Here is another pic with more types, both on the shirt & in the cup behind and that was not all in that particular session as I still had more to cast, IIRC.
Last edited by JBinMN; 01-15-2019 at 03:23 PM. Reason: added a pic or two
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I have an automated master caster, so my production is far less taxing than people using hand held moulds, i stop when it gets dark, or when things just aren't running right.
I have done 8-9,000 9mm 125 conicals in one session before. I was running the mould really hot, very short cycle times with a mould that didn't want to play unless it was super hot. It did the job, i have since replaced that fussy mould. It ran so hot that there were multiple culls due to the fact the projectiles were still soft when being dropped.
About 2000 by weight using a 10 cavity H&G 50B.
Last edited by dverna; 01-15-2019 at 09:42 PM.
Don Verna
I enjoy casting but, after 15 to 20 pounds out of a Lee 20 lbs pot I get bored. I know I've done 25 lbs before, of course 350 grain bullets drain a pot much quicker than 115 grain bullets. I've probably done 700 to 800 bullets in a single session. After that I'm ready to check out.
1800ish, using a 8 gang 9mm mold probably wont do that much of a marathon again in the future, I'm usually good for about a solid hour maybe hour and a half then my feet get cold. (winter casting)
"Yes or no will almost always suffice as the answer"
2500 cast, sized and lubed. 125gr 9mm and 230gr 45acp ball. It was a long day and evening. 4 cavity molds.
You guys are making my wrists and hands hurt just reading . I get about a cool whip tub filled with a 2 cav.mould ladle pouring and that's about all I got in me for one day .
If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck!
I only have 2 cavity molds so about 350 keepers. any more than that I just REALLY want to move on to the next step.
I don't rely count bulets I go by pounds.the nost I ever cast in one day was about 65lbs.and I am sure that was 320gr lee TC from a 6 hole or 180gr NOE WFN 5 hole.I would say my more norml day would be 30 to 40lbs.like said above after the day I casting I get sore hands and back.
I often stop too, because my feet get cold.
About 1200. A normal session will run 600-800 depending on when my back decides its quitting time. This is before culling but I don't have many culls. Sizing and lubing would be at another time but I usually size about the same number in a session. It is easier to interrupt a sizing session than it is a casting session.
About 50 pounds or about 2100 boolits. That was a lot of inspection, coating and sizing to follow!
Combination of NOE 5 cav, LBT 4 cav, and one or two double cavity, if I recall correctly.
The longest cast session I ever did lasted about 6 hrs plus. I was casting a Lyman SC .439 mold. I think I loaded around 240 boolits before my arthritis kicked in and I had to quit for the day. I am getting too old for stuff like that. james
Mine was 30+ lbs of a mix of 200 gr and 230 gr boolits, running both molds at the same time. The final count was almost 1,000 boolits.
Plata o plomo?
Plomo, por favor!
I'm up to about 10 bullets now.
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 |