Why People Give Up On Casting

[Echo]

AJ, I will just describe my own process for casting. Take it for what it's worth...
I start by filling my SAECO 10-pounder with ingots and turn it wide open. I put the mold I will be using on the lip of the furnace to warm up, and also put another ingot on the lip. In 10-15 minutes the lead is melted, the mold is hot, and I'm ready to pour. I put the hot ingot in the melt and put a couple more ingots on the lip. I try to keep the pot as full as possible, so I replenish the melt every few minutes with a hot ingot off the lip, put another ingot on the lip, and press on. Usually the mold is turning out good boolits very shortly. I use a thermometer, and turn the control down to about 725 when the thermometer shows that it has gotten up there, from wide-open.
I pour the mold and watch the sprue. When it sets, I give it another couple of seconds and whack the sprue plate with my plastic hammer. Drop the sprue on the folded towel next to the furnace, inspect the boolit bases, then drop the boolits on the towel, pick up the sprue and return it to the pot, and repeat.
If the sprue doesn't clump up on the plate, but runs off like water, the sprue plate is too hot. When I see that starting, I turn the loaded mold upside down and set it on a sopping-wet rag, in a tray made of Al foil, and let it steam for a few seconds. Continue the process.
Differences here are my returning the sprues immediately to the pot, and keeping the pot full by replenishing with hot ingots from the furnace lip. Since they are pretty hot when they go into the melt, and there are already 9 lbs of up-to-temp alloy in the pot, adding the hot ingot, or sprue, isn't going to disturb the pot temp significantly. Boolits are observed, but not inspected, as I go. Any anomalies are dealt with.
So Hang In, Bro! You'll get there!

[EDG]

Everyone explains this from their own perspective and experience without qualifying some very important details.

I cast a few bullets many years ago and had no problems at all. But I stayed away from it while my kids were young.
Years later the kids are adults and I am trying to cast again without any luck at all. What changed?

Well I originally cast for a .357 and a .44 magnum. Back then lead was cheap and I had a source of solder dross that allowed me to cast with a high tin alloy.
Nothing to it.

Now I am trying to cast 500 grain rifle bullets in a large cast iron mold using 20-1 alloy and it does not work so well.

I take casting comments with a grain of salt because in many cases people that cast in large volumes are pistol shooters that are casting very easy to cast designs. Casting large rifles bullets is not the same kind of casting exercise.

[dondiego]

Everyone explains this from their own perspective and experience without qualifying some very important details.

I cast a few bullets many years ago and had no problems at all. But I stayed away from it while my kids were young.
Years later the kids are adults and I am trying to cast again without any luck at all. What changed?

Well I originally cast for a .357 and a .44 magnum. Back then lead was cheap and I had a source of solder dross that allowed me to cast with a high tin alloy.
Nothing to it.

Now I am trying to cast 500 grain rifle bullets in a large cast iron mold using 20-1 alloy and it does not work so well.

I take casting comments with a grain of salt because in many cases people that cast in large volumes are pistol shooters that are casting very easy to cast designs. Casting large rifles bullets is not the same kind of casting exercise.

You might want to try a ladle for those large boolits.

[JimA]

And I guess I am one of the unlucky ones.........I have never been blessed with a free-form lead stalagmite under either of my 4-20's in many years. They just do not leak. And....I never use sawdust in them! Mabe some correlation there?!?!?!?!

Works for me.

My Lee 4-20 pot has never leaked either and I've used charred sawdust on top for a couple of years. Maybe we are doing something else wrong

[DerekP Houston]

My Lee 4-20 pot has never leaked either and I've used charred sawdust on top for a couple of years. Maybe we are doing something else wrong

lmao you just jinxed it I said the same thing a month ago. Now I've taken it apart twice and cleaned still got the dreaded drip .

[OS OK]

lmao you just jinxed it I said the same thing a month ago. Now I've taken it apart twice and cleaned still got the dreaded drip .

You know I think I'm going to try lapping the valve in mine with valve lapping compound…whacha think?

OS OK

[44man]

I did not read all the pages posted. But to see failure and give up so soon means a fella will never make a good load for a gun either. There are NO instant results. You need to work until it works and becomes so boring you would cut grass with scissors first.
I HATE casting and loading because it really is a chore that defines BORING.
I need to define BORING for you, it is when stuff works AFTER you do the work that takes work and thought.
Many have a book for every mold and what temps or special moves with times to the second. My Lord, use the pages to start the wood stove. NOT A SINGLE MOLD NEEDS what is special until you get to heavy brass or the nutty 6 cavity stuff. Bottom pour is where I won't go either, never made it work. I can drain a 20# pot to the bottom without a reject and the bottom pour is plugged with a tapered brass pin. I refuse to fool with the stupid leak-a- matic that changes each pour so you need to clean the spout or clean the pot. Why in the world would you EVER need to clean the pot?

[DerekP Houston]

You know I think I'm going to try lapping the valve in mine with valve lapping compound…whacha think?

OS OK

Give it a whirl, mine has been working fine since I cleaned it out. I'm guessing over the year oxided bits and "unclean" lead from starting accumulated. I found about an 1" of just **** sitting in the bottom I dumped out. It has been working much better just haven't had the need for more boolits yet, still loading up the already cast.

[Boolseye]

I will just weigh in with some encouragement. If you truly want to cast, and you have a modicum of mechanical ability, then it is doable. It may be harder if you're not so good with tools, or have a short attention span, but the only good reasons to stop are 1)lack of mechanical aptitude (dangerous!) 2) no attention span (also dangerous!) or 2) Ya just don't want to. If none of these apply to you, keep at it. You can do it.

edit: of course, there are other reasons to stop (health, money, etc.) I'm talking about people for whom these things are not the obstacle.

[44man]

I will just weigh in with some encouragement. If you truly want to cast, and you have a modicum of mechanical ability, then it is doable. It may be harder if you're not so good with tools, or have a short attention span, but the only good reasons to stop are 1)lack of mechanical aptitude (dangerous!) 2) no attention span (also dangerous!) or 2) Ya just don't want to. If none of these apply to you, keep at it. You can do it.

edit: of course, there are other reasons to stop (health, money, etc.) I'm talking about people for whom these things are not the obstacle.

Real good. My grandson lives with us. Super smart and never forgets anything. Has hearing like a bat too. But he is Bipolar and can not wipe his butt. He can not even rake leaves and is as useless a human i have ever seen. He will never drive a car so if we are gone he will starve to death.
We are not the same. Dave can't cast and can ruin a mold, can't hit a deer if tied to the barrel.
Called a while back. Asked when deer season opened---HEY it was March!
I do not know what the OP wants. But it takes brains and work. This is not a school funded by liberals or left wing collage professors.

[hickfu]

I wish I lived close to ya, I remember the frustration of my first day casting... I bought everything all at once along with 1100lbs of lead alloy and 3 molds (350gr, 430gr and 540gr) after the first try and no success. I got on here and started to read all the threads about casting and what worked and didnt work for others. the next day I got a hot plate. I took the time to figure out my pots settings by turning it up a little at a time to find where 650 was on the dial... then I stopped for the day. The next day I turned on the pot and set the hotplate to med/high and set my mold on it. I just puttered around for 30 or so minutes while they both heated up.

When the pot hit 650 I took the mold off the hot plate and casted the first perfect boolits (I forgot to add that when I got the mold I washed it with dish soap and a toothbrush to get off the oil that the manufacture used) The next day I used the next mold and so on until I could cast good boolits with all of them.

I was lucky with the PC I guess, I got great coverage from the first try with the shake and bake method, but I lived in a very dry area with very little humidity.

Take it slow, figure out 1 thing at a time.. it will all fall into place and you will laugh at how easy it seems when you get there.

[runfiverun]

EDG try the ladle it seems to do tons better with the heavier boolits.

if your stuck with the bottom pour, open the valve further and shoot the alloy straight in the sprue hole as quickly as possible.
that's how I deal with long skinny boolits, and my 435gr 45-70 mold.

[Shiloh]

Because of the posts here on the forum, I cast much better boolits than when I started. Fewer rejects, faster production.

Shiloh

[Shiloh]

Because of the posts here on the forum, I cast much better boolits than when I started. Fewer rejects, faster production.

Shiloh

[ArrowJ]

I do not know what the OP wants. But it takes brains and work. This is not a school funded by liberals or left wing collage professors.

I am not sure what to say to that.

[ArrowJ]

I have stayed away from the pot since my post to regroup. I am excited to try again.

I slugged the barrel on my 9mm Springfield Armory XD Mod 2 sub compact with a 3" barrel. It came out as .354". I have to say I was not expecting that. So if my mold drops at .356 and I powder coat to .358 do I need to resize to .356?

I filled a 9mm case with soft lead, pulled it with an inertial puller, lubed it with Rem oil, started it down the muzzle with a brass punch, and pushed it the rest of the way through with a wooden dowel by hand. I measured from one side to the other where the groves left lands on the slug using my Frankford Arsenal digital calipers.

[Yodogsandman]

Did the slug start out at that diameter? I'd also think that it would be a bigger diameter.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

SNIP...

One problem I have is that I have read so much that I have all these warnings going off in my mind, and contradictory opinions etc. As an example, I worry that I am losing tin because my melt is too hot, and because it is taking me so long to get my temp to settle. I leave wood chip ash on the top, but then have to move it to dip my mold. It feels like I have read too much, but I refuse to carpet that that is possible Time and practice are the solution as you say.

I believe this is your MAIN problem...You've read too much here that is advice for the advanced caster.
You need to put all that out of your mind and just cast.

You have a pot thermometer, get your alloy stabilized to around 700º. Then leave it, don't add any more ingots or sprues.
Get your mold pre-heated, with hotplate or dipping the corner of the mold in the alloy.
have your mold guide adjusted so the sprue plate is about 1/2" from the spout.
then start casting...don't stop to inspect the boolits, just cast.

The sprue puddle should take 3 to 6 seconds to freeze.
If it freezes quicker than that, you'll probably see shiney boolits and you need to cast faster.

If it takes longer than that to freeze, your boolits will be quite frosty, you need to slow your casting cadence.

Once you get to the correct casting cadence, your boolits will not be shiney or thickly frosted, they should be a uniform dull grey.

You need to simplify your thinking...once you get a few successful casting sessions under your belt, you'll have a grasp on the what, when, where, and why.

[ArrowJ]

No, it cut a ring of lead off by the time it got started down the barrel, although I did not measure it prior. Still, I had to pound it into the barrel.

[44man]

I am not sure what to say to that.

I meant that everyone here will have more knowledge and help then you can ever get in college.
Kids today don't want to learn either, just party and protest!
We all know a million posts can be read but you need to put things to use by yourself to find what works and never, ever give up because you will find it so much easier then you can think.
I could say "May the force be with you" but I have not found it. I started pouring my own sinkers when about 6 years old so I have poured the magic metal for 72 years.
I want the OP to just not give up and put some time in it, the flow will come and soon he will be posting answers to new guys too.
In the mean time I can be a tough taskmaster and will rap knuckles with a ruler.