First time casting

[T_McD]

These are the best ones from the batch I did. Are these acceptable? Feel free to criticize.

[zymguy]

Looking back in ten years they may not be your best . They shouldn’t be .
I’d put gas checks on them, powder coat or lube them up and shoot them ! Ultimately your group size ought be the judge of how good they are , right?
Welcome to the club !


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[rancher1913]

it gets better each time you do it and oh the savings you will start to enjoy. welcome to the rabbit hole.

[Taterhead]

Looking pretty good! Welcome in. I started casting 3 years ago, but still feel like a noob. Learning from these guys all the time.

[T_McD]

Yup waiting on powder and gas checks. Just making sure they are worth loading, I threw most back into the pot

[reddog81]

Those look good. Your first casting session is as much about learning how everything works once you actually start pouring lead and getting a good feel for the process as it is about producing useable bullets.

[EMR]

I think hands down the best thing I did was to get a hot plate and preheat the mold before casting. I went from culling the first 15-20 casts to only the first one so I could fill the cavities so I could lube the sprue plate.

Welcome to the club!

[Conditor22]

My best move in casting was to make a PID control my pot temperature. I do most of my casting between 680° and 720°. the only time I go higher is when I cast with pure. If you don't have a PID at least get a thermometer so you know the temperature of your pot
rule 1, make sure your alloy is clean / well fluxed before putting it in your pot

like many others, I use a hotplate with a 3/8th inch piece of steel on top to evenly preheat my molds to apr 380°

if you boolits aren't filling out completely add a little more tin. I smelt pewter then cast it into 1/2 oz boolits I use for alloying and sweetening the pot.

I helps if you label all the lead/alloy you have so you know what you have and how to mix it.

I think you did darned well for your first time, maybe 1/2 oz of tin would have helped.

[Cherokee]

Welcome. Size, lube and shoot. Practice casting and it will get better, and build your confidence.

[Sig556r]

welcome to casting anonymous...it's an addiction, really

[asmith80]

welcome to casting anonymous...it's an addiction, really

That's the truth. I've been known to take a day off work and not tell anyone, so I'd be the only one at home and could have all day to cast and reload. Don't do that with any of my other hobbies

[dverna]

Before using up components, weigh your bullets. if they vary by 1% or less, shoot them. Pistol bullets are more forgiving as the ranges are shorter so start there. Cull bullets that have imperfections, bad bases. Like I said, for most pistol applications, there is less need to be anal.

Keeping a log of the variation is bullet weight (say do 100) for each casting session will tell you if you are improving.

Do not admire your work as you cast. Keeping a constant cadence is often overlooked by new casters and it will improve consistency.

[T_McD]

Before using up components, weigh your bullets. if they vary by 1% or less, shoot them. Pistol bullets are more forgiving as the ranges are shorter so start there. Cull bullets that have imperfections, bad bases. Like I said, for most pistol applications, there is less need to be anal.

Keeping a log of the variation is bullet weight (say do 100) for each casting session will tell you if you are improving.

Do not admire your work as you cast. Keeping a constant cadence is often overlooked by new casters and it will improve consistency.

Unfortunately my immediate plans for casting are limited to my 35 Whelen. Could not find cheap bullets like I can for pistol and .223.

And I definitely caught myself checking each bullet, and remembered that I read on here not to. So that helped.

I am hoping to avoid a hot plate, but you really just stick the mold into molten lead like the directions say? That just seems abusive to my newly purchased mold! I ask because my best guess is my mold and spruce plate were too cold. I had a few not fill out because the lead hardened too quick... again semi wild *** guess on my part

[asmith80]

Unfortunately my immediate plans for casting are limited to my 35 Whelen. Could not find cheap bullets like I can for pistol and .223.

And I definitely caught myself checking each bullet, and remembered that I read on here not to. So that helped.

I am hoping to avoid a hot plate, but you really just stick the mold into molten lead like the directions say? That just seems abusive to my newly purchased mold! I ask because my best guess is my mold and spruce plate were too cold. I had a few not fill out because the lead hardened too quick... again semi wild *** guess on my part

It won't hurt anything to dip the mold in the melt. I mean, you're going to be pouring molten lead in it to cast, so why would lead on the outside hurt anything?

[lightman]

Those look good. No wrinkles and the bases look sharp as do the driving bands. Good Job!

[Static line]

Those look terrible.

[georgewxxx]

How deep you put the mould in the hot lead and for how long makes a difference. I usually put my moulds about a quarter to a half inch into the lead making sure you hold them tightly closed, and count to slowly to 10. Try casting and see how the boolits look. If they're still wrinkled, try and heat the mould a bit more. Make sure the lead on your sprue plate has a frosty look before you open the mould. If you cut it off too soon you'll get lead smears on the top of the mould and bottom of the sprue plate. Then you're in trouble. In time you'll learn to build a cadence time frame from each time pour and drop the boolits.

[robg]

If the bases are good shoot em .good looking boolits

[Markopolo]

Welcome to the Cast boolit 12 step program.

I cast with my mold much hotter. If it’s a lee mold and alum, I do a 10 count.. but steel molds and brass, take longer to get to temp... I dip just a corner of the mold and sometimes count to 30 depending on how big the mold is. You will know how long by the lead sticking on the mold... I use a plastic hammer and just tap the mold lightly, most lead falls off pretty easily with tiny bits hanging on here and there, but the lead should come off real easy if it’s up to temp... that is my way to tell. For me, the lead on the spru should solidify in about 2 sec or so... if it takes much longer, your mold is too hot. If it solidify’s right away, it is too cold. It’s a little red riding hood kinda thing, and experience will show ya...

Marko

Marko

[ghh3rd]

They are looking good.

My stove spewed gasoline on my hand and ignited it on my first try. I took an Oxy and tried again 20 mins later and got my first boolit. I just couldn’t wait!

Fun times and reward at the range are in your future.