I have a Lee turret press and...

[MarkK]

I am contemplating on getting into the cast bullet scene. Will this press serve my needs? I guess what I'm asking is, what do I need beyond moulds and something to melt lead in? TIA, Mark

[Buckshot]

..............The reloading press is just for the reloading of the cartridge. So far as cast boolits go, the only thing you'd need a reloading press for is if you got some of the Lee push through size dies. Other then that, the foundering of lead projectiles uses equipment that doesn't cross over into the reloading aspect of this whole wild past time :-)

For casting you need a heat source capable of melting lead.

And you'll need some lead, too :-)

A pot to hold the lead and preferabley of cast iron or steel, NO aluminum!

A dipper to transfer said molten alloy to a mould, and.................

.............a mould.

Oh yeah, some lube.

That's the bare basics. Cost would be negligable other then the mould. However there are items beyond the bare basics that make your production faster, and easier but they tend to cost you. So it depends on how deep you want to get into it, but for starters the above will get you going.

..................Buckshot

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

A turkey fryer makes an excellent heat source for turning wheel weights into lead ingots (smelting). You can often pick them up at Wal mart and such outfits relatively inexpensively.

For actual pouring into molds, you're probably better off to get something like a Lee or other brand bottom pour pot.

Lots options, were I you, I'd read back over the past year's posts and look for the link to Goatlips website where he covers his casting process. That and BruceB's postings will give you some great information.

Regards,

Dave

[MikeSSS]

My cheap rig is this:

Lee Production Pot IV ( I think ). It is a bottom pour pot that holds 20 lb of lead. It works well with the heat set on 5.5.

Lee bullet molds. Brush them out very well with hot soapy water, a few times. After drying, smoke them with a butane lighter or match. Smoke the cavity, the mold half faces, the steel alignment pin, the top of the mold, the sprue cutter. If there is a problem with defective bullets, read the "Lee Menting" article on this site.

A water bath to drop them in. I use a cutoff 2 liter pepsi bottle. Keep this away from the lead pot....no kidding.

When you mold bullets it is good to have a foot long, stout stick to tap the mold when closing it (make sure the sprue cutter is not against it's closed stop, but is a bit away from the stop). After pouring a bullet, and pausing a moment for the bullet to solidify, use the stick to whack the sprue cutter open more than enough and closed again, almost to the stop. Then open the mold over the water and whack the mold with the stick, as needed, to cause the new bullet to fall out. Close the mold, whack the handles lightly and pour the next one.

After casting the bullets I dry them and scrape off any flash that needs to be scraped off. Bad bullets are set aside for remelting.

The bullets are sized in a Lee push through sizer that fits on top of a reloading press. I lube the bullets with a smear of Imperial sizing die wax, place a Hornady gas check and pump them through the sizer. The sizer sizes the bullets and crimps the gas check on.

The sized bullets are placed in a zip lock bag, 40 at a time and some Lee Liquid Alox Bullet Lube is squeezed into the bag. Then close the bag and smush the sized, gas checked bullets around. The newly cast, sized and lubed bullets then go into a plastic tub leftover from some food product. I leave the lid open in a clean area for a while so that the solvent in the Liquid Alox evaparates away. In a day or so the lid is closed.

The bullets are loaded over a light charge. I use a four station Dillon 550B for rifle loading. Station three has a Lee Case Expanding die to very slightly bell the mouths on my rifle brass. Bullet seating and a slight crimp is done at station four. I have to reach through the Dillon to position a bullet for seating but that is no problem, but you won't have to with a Lee turret press. ( I use Lee dies on the Dillon, collet die for bolt action rifles and full length die for the M1 Garand.)

Well, that's the cast bullet boogie. It is easier to do than to say. Accuracy in my US 1903 A3 has been better with the cast bullets than with jacketed bullets.

Cartrige cost, excluding brass (which lasts a long time) is about $85/1,000 for 3006, using gas checks and about $60/1000 for plain base bullets. That ain't bad.

See the group buy section for Plain Base (no gas check) molds.

Bullet casting is fun and gives a lot of satisfaction.

The Lee Turret Press is way better than a single stage for this because you can load your ammo faster...and important point when you can afford to shoot a lot!

Let us know what you do and of your progress. Ask when you are not sure, there is a huge amount of information on this site. Experience is knowledge and there is lots of it here.

Happy casting, loading and shooting.

Mike S

[Buckshot]

............If you're reloaidng for a pistol, say a 38/357 and just want some good plinking ammo consider this.

You can reload a box of 50 plain based lead boolited ammo for $1 for the primers, $0.55 for a 4 grain powder charge, assuming $20/lb. The cost for the Lee Tumble lube isn't worth figuring in. Nor do I know what you might have to pay for WW or scrounged lead. But you can figure a 50 round box will cost you about $1.75 maybe?

So for every 50 boolits you cast you saved at LEAST $4 or more. Heck, I have no idea what cheap factory plain jane 38 ammo costs but it HAS to be more then $6/50 ?

...............Buckshot

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I am contemplating on getting into the cast bullet scene. Will this press serve my needs? I guess what I'm asking is, what do I need beyond moulds and something to melt lead in? TIA, Mark

Your press will do a wonderful job of reloading any bullets you cast. You'll need a casting setup to cast the bullets, but once they're cast, sized and reloaded, they'll load on your Lee turret just like any other lead bullet does.

Regards,

Dave