First casting session in over 30yrs...

[PhilB]

Didn't know a fellow could forget so much.[smilie=l: Bet I cast several hundred bullets and ended up keeping only about 75.:-( I was happy in the end though. I learned a lot and next time I'll be keeping most of the bullets. My biggest problem was the pot temp wasn't set high enough for the first hour. Once I figured that out things went a lot smoother. Did get enough bullets cast to see how they shoot with one coat of LLA and un-sized. I'm trying the Lee TL 158gr SWC.

[noylj]

Let us know how they perform.
I find that as long as the base is filled out, the bullets are good for at least 35 yards.

[ColColt]

I've been exactly where you are. Up until a few months ago it had been about that length of time since I had done any casting as well. fortunately, I still had all my necessary equipment-Lyman Model 61 pot, all my molds, some old Leadex and Lyman black graphite lube, ingot trays, etc.

I've learned a wealth of information here since joining and what I knew before, although I turned out good looking bullets that shot well, was what you could hold in a thimble compared to what I've learned here. Moreover, I'm still in infancy compared to most here even though I started before many were born.

My first suggestion is get yourself a good thermometer. I relied on the setting of my Lyman pot and found after I purchases a thermometer here it was off some 25 degrees or so. It's the only way you can really know if you're casting at 675 or 750. I'd also recommend reading these forums and the pertinent threads about casting and lead alloys-it'll take a long while but that's what I did.

Lee makes some good molds. Lyman does also if they ever learn to make them a proper size. You buy a mold for a 38 caliber you don't want it producing bullets .002-.003" smaller than the throat diameter of revolvers. Mine was doing that and it's a detriment to accuracy as well as laborious cleaning the lead out of the barrel.

[gray wolf]

Nice to have you back at it and glad your are asking questions.
I asked plenty of them and got excellent help. Mold temp is very important to having nice clean bullets. Melt temp is important also, most times 100 to 125* above melt is all you need as long as you cast at a nice pace and keep that mold hot.

[williamwaco]

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Did get enough bullets cast to see how they shoot with one coat of LLA and un-sized. I'm trying the Lee TL 158gr SWC.

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You are going to love that bullet. I bought a two cavity to try it out and liked it so well I bought a six cavity.

I size with the Lee sizing die and tumble with LLA cut with 25% mineral spirits to make it flow easily.

[PhilB]

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You are going to love that bullet. I bought a two cavity to try it out and liked it so well I bought a six cavity.

I size with the Lee sizing die and tumble with LLA cut with 25% mineral spirits to make it flow easily.

Thanks for the info. I'm going to try shooting them un-sized first and if they don't shoot well I'll start sizing them. Guess I'm getting lazy in my old age.:lol: Eventually I'd like to get one bullet mold that shoots well in each of the 5 handgun calibers I shoot. Fortunately I have a friend who has several molds in each caliber and he lets me try out all of them to see what works best in my guns.

[GP100man]

1 mold that surprised me was Lees 158 rnfp boolit , it shot good in every 38/357 I owned at the time .

I LLA at first ,then switched to a Lyman 450, seems I could wring out a little more horsepower filling the groove with carnauba red !

[Catshooter]

Welcome back to the fold, and welcome to the forum.

I too used to cast like crazy in order to get enough boolits to keep. Yesterday I cast 429421s. I needed 55 and so that's how many I cast. First boolit from the mould was perfect and so were the next 54.

This is a great site.


Cat

[WHITETAIL]

PhiloB, Welcome and keep asking
questions, because we all learn
as we read.:holysheep

[JeffinNZ]

That must have been quite some stockpile you case to get you through 30 years! ;-)

[SciFiJim]

Phil, While you are waiting for the LLA to dry, read this post.

Tumble Lubing--Made Easy & Mess-Free (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=67654)

It will make life more enjoyable.

[PhilB]

Phil, While you are waiting for the LLA to dry, read this post.

Tumble Lubing--Made Easy & Mess-Free (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=67654)

It will make life more enjoyable.

Thanks, I've read that particular sticky twice and will probably read it again.:bigsmyl2: There is so much good info on this site, I will likely be doing a lot more reading than posting.

[PhilB]

That must have been quite some stockpile you case to get you through 30 years! ;-)

I wish.lol Actually I sold off almost all my guns when my wife and I had our kids. That was in the days before gun safes like we have now. Just really started shooting much again in the last 2 yrs. I always enjoyed the reloading part of shooting as much as the shooting part. After I got all my reloading equipment I started buying the casting equipment I needed. With my youngest son(29) back home it doesn't take long to go thru several hundred rounds. LOL He's not into reloading just shooting. Just today he came in the house and asked to take out my .357 Handi and my CZ-75. Since he helped me build my pistol range and he's building my backstop for the rifle range I let him shoot when he wants.:bigsmyl2: