A newbie needing equipment

[bassfishindoc]

Hey everybody! I am new to this site and new to casting and need to know where to begin. I have been handloading for about a year and a half and am ready to make the leap to casting my own boolits. There is a wide array of equipment out there and and need some advice on what exactly is needed to get started. Midway USA has a sale on the Lyman Mini-Mag Furnace Master Casting Kit which seems to have all the necessities. Any comments on the kit or recommendations for something else would be much appreciated. Plus, I am at that stage where I don't know what I don't know so any advice would be great! Thanks!

[462]

Welcome, Doc.
I started with the Lyman Master Casting Kit and progressed from there, as my experience-created needs changed.

Spend as much time as you possibly can reading the stickies. The archive -- http://castboolits.gunloads.com/arch...x.php/f-8.html -- is invaluable.

[Catshooter]

Welcome to the site doc, you've come to the right place to learn what you're lookin' to learn. Spend a week or two reading here, you'll soon know where to go.


Cat

[onondaga]

The Lyman kit is nice and will get you started. I have always preferred Lee Stuff. A good start with Lee would be their 4-20, it holds 20 pounds of lead and is a bottom pour pot, also on sale at Midway: http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=645810The pot in the Lyman kit is a 10 pounder and has no bottom spout so it is for ladle casting only. Lee's sizing equipment is a totally different system that requires no top punches and a Lee lube and size kit for any caliber can be used with any nose shape or weight as the bullets go nose up through a die and are pushed through the die from their base, so the nose is never touched. The Lee lube and size kit fits on your reloading press and requires no separate press or accessories for each caliber. It is a die and a punch that fit your press and comes with a bottle of lube that will lube over 2000 rounds. The Lee will also seat and crimp gas checks in the same pass as sizing. The Lee liquid Alox with the lube and size kit is popular and easy to use on any bullet shape with a simple method that works fine with traditional lube groove bullets or new tumble lube groove bullets. Many prefer to modify the Liquid Alox to make it dry non-sticky in 5 minutes by mixing 45% Johnson's paste wax, 45% liquid Alox and 10 mineral spirits. Melt the wax first gently in a pan, then remove from heat and add the other stuff and stir. When cool, put it in a squirt bottle and it goes twice as far after it is mixed too.

The size and lube systems are methods and products of great variety and debate here. I prefer the Lee easy way , but both do an excellent reliable job.

Casting is my favorite part of reloading, I'm 60 and started casting when I was 7. When you gain experience and grow to enjoy casting. ten pounds is a small pot also. I cast twenty pounds of 340 grain .458 Win Mag bullets in less than 3 hours with a two cavity mold. That is only 411 boolits! I'd like a bigger pot than 20 pounds.

Gary

[canyon-ghost]

I liked the Lyman Master Casting Kit so well, I bought it twice! I have two of everything. It's the right size to take out into the carport and pour with, for an afternoon once in a while. With molds and handles, you can make bullets for several firearms (me? about 12 calibers!) It isn't automated for extreme speed but, I can get 500 lots of bullets poured up from 2 cavity molds.

Then, all you'll need is sizing dies and gas checks, lube for the sizer. I've used this small set up for 10 years now. I always do ladle cast. I like it.

Take a look at this page, I use Carnuba Red, it's about $2 a stick. Great price, good people : http://www.lsstuff.com/lube/index.html

Ron

[mdi]

Basically all you need is a good heat source, a heavy pot, a ladle, skimmer, and a mold. The first heater I used was a Coleman single burner stove. My pot was a homemade steel unit that holds about 35 lbs. (I still use this set-up for smelting small batches of alloy). I started with a Lee dipper/ladle that worked quite well for 240 gr SWCs. (I made about 1,000 boolits before I was told my ladle was junk and didn't work). I used a Navy surplus spoon, a junk store slotted spoon, and a soup ladle for tools and saw dust, newspaper, wax, paint sticks and twigs for fluxing. I think my total investment, including the Lee mold was less than $50, not counting lead.

I still pan lube and tumble lube and use Lee push through sizers, which works very well for me. I've always shied away from "kits" as most times I think some components of a kit are compromises, and I prefer to choose and/or mix manufacturers to suit my needs. But the kits mentioned will get you started casting...

BTW, a great source for casting info is Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook. A must for new casters. Also a huge amount of info here: http://www.lasc.us/ArticlesFryxell.htm

[bassfishindoc]

For the initial melting down of wheel weights and other sources of lead to be made into ingots, will an unseasoned cast iron dutch oven work or are the sides not smooth enough so lead will stick to them?

[jcwit]

Nope, lead will not stick to the sides of the dutch oven, no more than it will stick to a mold. You're good to go.

[GP100man]

I got started as cheap as possible with a lyman ladle & a Lee 2 holer mold ,that`s the only items I purchased untill I foud out I love it !!!

I melted in a stainless cook pot on a propane burner !!!

[*Paladin*]

I just got a Cabela's Fish Fryer last night for smelting. Comes with turkey fryer style propane burner and a cast dutch oven. It was on sale for $79. I figured that was a decent deal, since the dutch oven alone would be at least $30.

[mroliver77]

I use a Wal Mart single burner hot plate to preheat molds and sometimes to pre melt my lead. I use a sturdy steel pan to melt the lead in. I have a cast pan (same size) but it somehow requires more heat than my HP produces. I sometimes use only the HP and sauce pan along with a Lyman ladle to cast with troublesome molds. I can produce very nice boolits with the ladle with less rejects than the bottom pour furnace. If I wanted to get my feet wet I would start with q hot plate or some other cheap form of heat., a cheap mold and a stick of lube from one of the vendors here. I think handgun boolits are easiest to cast so I would start there if it works for you. IF boolits need sizing then buy a lee sizer My .02.
Jay

[calaloo]

Doc... You have a PM.

[RKJ]

I bought the kit from Midway and haven't used the ingot molds or the furnace, but for the price it was a good deal (they are on sale at Midway fairly often) and I figured they would make good backups or trading material someday. I got a 1000W hot plate at Walgreens for $10.00 and use it for smelting with a SS pot from Goodwill. I use SS condiment cups from Walmart (4 for $1.00) that weigh about 1 lb when full. I got a bunch of ideas from folks here and learned from their (and my) mistakes. I'd bet you'll enjoy casting once you get started, it's pretty neat seeing the pile of nasty WW's or range lead become shiny (new) lead.
Oh, I found a pair of welders gloves (also at Walmart) for $10.00.

[bassfishindoc]

Thanks for all the advice. I went ahead and got the Lyman starter kit and a Lee .452 boolit mold to cast for my Ruger blackhawk. I also have an old propane stove and cast iron pot I will be using to melt down wheel weights.

[cajun shooter]

Remember to flux that lead. The better that you flux the better your finished product. Wood shavings work better than any oil product. Lee molds are for the most part a starter style that may cause you problems. The two cavity are a PITA at times. The six cavity will work for a while but may be over or under size. When your pocket is flush enough to spend $119 look at the Accurate mold site. His work is as good as any I have seen in my 63 tears. If you stay with it you find all the problems that the cheaper equipment brings. The RCBS bottom pour is the top of the heap along with the Wagge being the best of the laddle pour pots. Enjoy