mikegonzo0351
02-05-2012, 11:38 PM
Well where do I start. I have been lurking on here for about 3 weeks now. I'm not sure what got me into the itch to cast boolits. I have been an amateur reloader for the last couple of years. I started with a dillon 650 (go big or go home). I do a lot of .40 and .223 with it and I use my small lee press for my odd calibers like 30-06, 6mm rem, 38/357, and soon .308.
Well one day in the last 3 weeks or so I decided out of the blue to cast. I wasn't sure if I wanted to or not but said ehhh. I called a buddy that got me in touch with a tire shop willing to give away their WWs. I went over and picked up a 5 gallon bucket and a half of them. I then went to my parents house and low and behold my mother had some cast iron pots she was not sure what she was going to do with in her new house. apparently she bought the things before I was born (29+ years ago) and never used them. I grabbed some old stainless steel utensils and went to town on melting the lead. I tried to be cautious and try not to get zink in it. I do not believe I have zink in my alloy.
just a couple days later I get my lee 4-20 pot in the mail from midway (great service BTW) and went to town with my newly created lead muffins.
the first attemp I was rushing because I had to go to work for the mid shift and decided to try it with the hour and half I had to experiment. That was a bummer because I didn't fully understand about the cold mold to much. I had a lot of wrinkles and it really made me wonder about my alloy. Well today before the super bowl I decided to give it whack again. I now understand about pre-heating your mold. I dip the lee mold into the molten lead prior to casting. works great.
Well here is my outcome for you to see. Please pardon the image as it was taken with my iphone. These have been lubed and sized in a lee .401 sizing die. I used the lee lube. These photo queens (or shall I say ugly ducklings) were wiped with a towel for photo purposes.
They were also water dropped during the casting session. I did about 200+ of them that were not water dropped. I did cull some of the crappier ones out of the batch though and still ended up with that many.
Anyways I hope you all enjoy.
401-175-TC lee 6-cavity.
http://i983.photobucket.com/albums/ae311/spacemarine0351/photo.jpg
Well one day in the last 3 weeks or so I decided out of the blue to cast. I wasn't sure if I wanted to or not but said ehhh. I called a buddy that got me in touch with a tire shop willing to give away their WWs. I went over and picked up a 5 gallon bucket and a half of them. I then went to my parents house and low and behold my mother had some cast iron pots she was not sure what she was going to do with in her new house. apparently she bought the things before I was born (29+ years ago) and never used them. I grabbed some old stainless steel utensils and went to town on melting the lead. I tried to be cautious and try not to get zink in it. I do not believe I have zink in my alloy.
just a couple days later I get my lee 4-20 pot in the mail from midway (great service BTW) and went to town with my newly created lead muffins.
the first attemp I was rushing because I had to go to work for the mid shift and decided to try it with the hour and half I had to experiment. That was a bummer because I didn't fully understand about the cold mold to much. I had a lot of wrinkles and it really made me wonder about my alloy. Well today before the super bowl I decided to give it whack again. I now understand about pre-heating your mold. I dip the lee mold into the molten lead prior to casting. works great.
Well here is my outcome for you to see. Please pardon the image as it was taken with my iphone. These have been lubed and sized in a lee .401 sizing die. I used the lee lube. These photo queens (or shall I say ugly ducklings) were wiped with a towel for photo purposes.
They were also water dropped during the casting session. I did about 200+ of them that were not water dropped. I did cull some of the crappier ones out of the batch though and still ended up with that many.
Anyways I hope you all enjoy.
401-175-TC lee 6-cavity.
http://i983.photobucket.com/albums/ae311/spacemarine0351/photo.jpg