Newbie needs advice from the Wise

[foesgth]

If you are going to powder coat you will want a push through sizer. The NOE system works great! After you purchase the die you only need to get the bushings. NOE has every size unlike Lee.

[Rich/WIS]

Suggest you start with the 41 or 45 they are large fat bullets and IME large fat bullets cast easily. Even new Lee melters, mold and sizer kits are not too pricey and although often called "entry level" will serve far beyond the beginner phase. If going Lee suggest the 20# pot, its a few dollars more, but worth it. Titan Reloading, a sponsor here, is a good place to start your search for equipment, as well as posting a WTB on the S&S forum.

Best advice I can offer is don't get discouraged, casting is as much art as science and there is a learning curve. A little practice and you will surprise yourself at how quickly you master the skills involved.

[Rich/WIS]

FYI Midway is listing the Lee molds and 20# furnace on sale now.

[murf205]

FYI Midway is listing the Lee molds and 20# furnace on sale now.

I just checked the Midwayusa site and the 10lb pot is $72 and the 20lb is $80. Do your self a favor and get the 20 lb. Especially since shipping is free.

[murf205]

FYI Midway is listing the Lee molds and 20# furnace on sale now.

I just checked the Midwayusa site and the 10lb pot is $72 and the 20lb is $80. Do your self a favor and get the 20 lb. Especially since shipping is free. I would skip the 6 cavity molds for beginners and go with the 2 cavity ones. Just my experience anyway.

[Combatmedic63]

Thank you guys again. I just ordered the 20lb pot, but will have to wait until next month to get a couple of molds. I might put a WTB ad for a couple of used Lee molds. I might be able to get a couple that I can afford this month.

[Rockingkj]

I want to start out with 9mm, .41 Mag, and .45 colt

Tell you what, PM your name your name and address. I have a Lyman mold 454424 the book says casts a 255gr bullet for 45 colt I will mail you. You will need to find a set of handles but this might get you a bit of a start. Not looking for $ just a thank you for your service. Tim

[El Bibliotecario]

I began casting using a Lyman iron pot and a Coleman stove on the patio. It was hot, slow, and it worked.

Lee products are cheaper than others because Lee finds ways to make them cheaper, in order to target economy minded customers. Because of this Lee products may look cheap, but typically work as well as the more expensive brands.

I'd recommend looking at used equipment--reloading gear seldom wears out.

[Combatmedic63]

Tell you what, PM your name your name and address. I have a Lyman mold 454424 the book says casts a 255gr bullet for 45 colt I will mail you. You will need to find a set of handles but this might get you a bit of a start. Not looking for $ just a thank you for your service. Tim

Wow, that is so generous of you. I appreciate your "Thank you for my service" but it was totally my honor to serve our country, or what's left of it now. So sad...

[405grain]

A million years ago when I first started casting, all I had was a single burner Coleman stove, a 7" cast iron skillet, and a ladle to pour with. I made decades worth of mediocre bullets that leaded the bore, had so-so accuracy, were messy (because of bullet lube), but allowed me to shoot and hunt all the time using tire weights and scrap lead (which, back in those golden days, were free). The one thing you should never cheap out with is the molds. Bad molds are a lesson in frustration and a waste of money. Lyman, rcbs, Saeco & NOE molds cost more than Lee, but IMHO they are of such better quality that they're worth saving up for. If your budget only allows for a set of Lee molds, consider them as "starter" molds.

Today I have bottom pour pots, a bunch of molds and handles, and a cabinet full of trays of different size & weight cast bullets. Looking back on my flat broke younger days, if I were going to start casting with a wallet so thin that I could shave with it, I'd start out with a dipper style pot (one where you ladle the lead from the pot to the mold). Do Not use your stove to melt lead or cast bullets! Your wife/girlfriend Will beat you! Do your man stuff in your man cave. Get the best set of molds that you can afford. If they're good, and you take care of them, they will last you a lifetime. Buy a Lee push through sizer. These work great on a single stage reloading press. They're inexpensive, they seat gas checks perfectly, they size bullets perfectly, they're worth it. I also own the NOE sizing equipment, but it's more advances & expensive. I'd highly recommend getting a lee push through sizer to start with.

Powder coating is a world changing innovation. Personally, baring a global thermonuclear war or some space alien invasion, I will never go back to using conventional bullet lube. Traditional lubes are a huge mess, I never got away from barrel leading with them, they made my revolvers a sticky mess, they smell, they're a pain to make, the list just goes on and on. Do yourself a solid and step out of the stone age: either get a bag of powder from Smoke (in the vendors section), or buy some Ford light blue from Eastwood. Of the powders that I've gotten from Smoke, signal blue seems to work the best. Read up in this forum about the "shake-n-bake" method and you'll be on your way. If you want to use bullet lube, swirl lubing with 45-45-10 or Alox would be the way I recommend. Some may say that you don't need to size your bullets, but: you will always get better accuracy with bullets that are sized to match up with your particular firearm.

So, in retrospect; you'll need a way to melt your alloy, a mold to cast your alloy, a way to size your bullets, and a way to lube or powder coat your bullets. Once you have these requirements you are on your way to making your own cast bullet ammunition.

[OS OK]

Thank you guys so much for the advice and knowledge. I have two single stage presses that I use for reloading. I think I will buy the Lee dies and do the powder coating. I have about 100lbs of lead that I have been accumulating for the last few years. I assume that Lee molds are probably the least expensive available.

Here's how your Lee size die will set-up on a single stage press. (I added a spring over the post that is about 1/4" taller so that my shaky old hand wouldn't have to follow that post up to the die bottom hole holding the cast on evenly...no pinched fingers when you get going faster)...Put a rubber band around the red container so you wont fill it and dump it on the floor like I've done so many times.



You may need to hone the tooling marks in the die entrance or may have to size it up a few thousandths...if so post what you want to do and there will be a dozen methods suggested here to help you with that part.

If your broke, take your time, save some $'s as your getting quality tools because if you make this a lifetime endeavor, your going to spend even more money getting what you really want and need over buying things quick & 'cheapLEE' just to hurry and get started.

[Minerat]

Thank you all for the great ideas and information.

Minerat I looked at the NOE link in your post, but the information is vague. Is the $46 push through size die body what I need to get started? Or should I just bite the boolit and find a used Lyman or RCBS sizing press? Which would be cheaper in the long run?

The link went to just the tool (die set). You would the need to buy the right size bushing and push rod for sizing for a 45 probably a 0.452 bushing and a 45 push rod. I'm cheap so I use a 44 push rod in my 44, 45 and 50 dies.

They both have their advantages. With the Lyman or RCBS you can size and lube in one step, but if you decide to powder coat then you have to back the pressure off the lube and then clean the boolits before PC'ing to get any residual lube off. Cost wise the the press will be more and the dies run about $35.00 each.

With the push thru if you have to put lube on to size you will again have to clean before powder coating. They are cheaper, what I like about the NOE is I have about 20 dies that fit in a single plastic tray. So takes up little shelf space and I use them on my Rock Chucker. I also have a old lee press that I c clamp upside down to my bench put a piece of 1.25" tubing on the end and let gravity drop them in a coffee can.

I started using the lee push thru before a friend gave me a LAM (RCBS). I now use the NOE dies since I have gone to PC on pistol boolits and doing big boolits for my 45-90 that I dip lube using SPG black powder lube.

[BLAHUT]

Thank you all for the great ideas and information.

Minerat I looked at the NOE link in your post, but the information is vague. Is the $46 push through size die body what I need to get started? Or should I just bite the boolit and find a used Lyman or RCBS sizing press? Which would be cheaper in the long run?

I have been using the same lee pot I bought many years ago, Lee molds are reasonable cheap, no need to size, shoot as cast till you find if sizing is needed, pan lube is cheap and easy, go slow, get what you need as you need it, too many people dive in and think they need the top of line, best of everything equipment, all that is really needed, is lead, a heat source, a mold, powder, primers, lube, shells, a spoon, a gun to shoot you reloads in. Just have fun, learn, then get better equipment if you really need it ?? YOU can buy the most accurate equipment available, but if you are not all that accurate

[murf205]

Doc, if you will send me your address I have some of Smoke's black powder I will be glad to send to you. It's black but I works great with the shake and bake method. Did you do MTC at Ft Sam Houston. I was there in the summer and you could powder coat on the pavement !!

[jonp]

Stainless pot and ladle from Walmart, mold and your in business. Cast thousands with just that. Lube? Alox is cheap and works

[Combatmedic63]

Doc, if you will send me your address I have some of Smoke's black powder I will be glad to send to you. It's black but I works great with the shake and bake method. Did you do MTC at Ft Sam Houston. I was there in the summer and you could powder coat on the pavement !!

I did train at Ft Sam, started in Aug 81. The riverwalk was a favorite hangout; a little place called Dirty Nellys Irish Pub. Thank you for the generous offer, I will PM you.

[Combatmedic63]

You guys are so great. So much knowledge to run with.

[GregLaROCHE]

I really like the NOE system for sizing and they also have a great system for case expansion too. The big benefit is once you get starred you you only need the new bushings and maybe a push rod if you are changing calibers. I’ve heard a lot of people saying that it’s not easy to figure out what you need to start with on NOE’s site. I believe now days they offer a kit by caliber to get started.

I PC many of my .45 and 30 caliber boolits, but Lee’s Alox works great for my smaller diameter boolits, that I find too hard to keep standing up in the oven.

[Land Owner]

Wow, Greg ^^^ post #5000 ^^^, (as if that had relevance except to say LOYALTY and a tip of the hat to experience offered). I thought it needed a placeholder, in case you had not noticed, as soon it will be 5001 and counting...

Lee molds are inexpensive AND good, if you treat them right. My first mold was/is a Lee, single cavity, aluminum, 357 WC, with handles, economically purchased in the S&S forum here (shipping in a SFRB was almost more than the mold), which came with many "miles" on it. It is STILL my "first love" and favorite. I have poured an additional thousand from it, one at a time. I LIKE shooting "ash cans" for fun down range in both revolver and single shot Handi-rifle.

Thank you for your Service (Vet to Vet).

[Sasquatch-1]

If you decideto go the Lee alox route check the link below. I just checked and it is $14.93, for 32 ozs. I doubt this includes shipping. At Midway a 4 oz. bottle is $8.00.

https://lsstuff.com/store/index.php?...products_id=11

This is an old thread that came up while doing the search for alox.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...x-Lube-vs-Alox