New Dood.

[Wag]

I signed up here a while back and never posted up. You guys already know everything and every question known to man has already been asked in here. :D

Right after I signed up, life took me by the horns and wrestled me to the ground. Nothing bad, just very very busy. However, I'm thinking I can resurrect this project again and I'm looking for equipment to buy. The bad thing, of course, is that I have to post 25 meaningful posts first. I just don't know what I can add. :coffeecom

Maybe I can go troll the politics and religion forums. [smilie=1: :D

Anyhoo, I've learned a lot in here. Thanks to everyone!

Update: Last summer, before I dropped off the face of the earth, I did manage to smelt out about 200 or so pounds of ingots from wheel weights so at least I got that much done. Just need to pick up some molds and handles and a thermometer and I'm good. Two Christmases ago, my wife bought me the Lyman starter pot/kit and now I'm finally dyin' to try it out. :D

See ya out in the forums!

--Wag--

[fishhawk]

you may buy at any time you are even grandfatherd in so you may sell already. steve k swapping and selling moderator

[gbrown]

Welcome to the forum! Great place. You need help, just ask. Molds, bullet, go to Molds, Maintenance & Design. People here are just waiting to help. You need equipment? Go to swapping and selling to the Want to Buy forum. Post up or ask. Again--people waiting to help. List exactly (as close as possible) your wish list. Plenty of people waiting to help and will provide you what you need. Watch the PIF area, also. Lots of good stuff for free! Just be ready to ante up something of equal (or close) value that you don't need. You will love this site and the people on it.

[Longwood]

Howdy.

[OBIII]

Welcome aboard, and try out chat sometimes.
OB

[Mk42gunner]

Well, if you already have the Lyman starter kit, and a couple of hundered pounds of WW ingots; all you really need is a mold. Lee two cavity molds are cheap, like $18.00 at Midsouth. You may need a sizing die also.

What caliber are you looking to load for?

Robert

[Wag]

Thanks for all the warm welcoming! Greatly appreciated.

I posted a bunch of pics last year over on TFL from my ingot smelting project.

I'm thinking I'm going to start with a 230gr boolit for .45 ACP. It's the round I shoot the most followed closely by .38spl/.357 magnum. I'm looking at Accurate Molds but before I actually order anything, I'm going to head over to the gun show tomorrow and see what is available over there.

Again, thanks for the warm welcome!

--Wag--

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

if you have the funds for a mold from Accurate Molds, NOE or Mihec...that is surely the way to go.
Jon

[Wag]

Have it all picked out and ready to order.

:D

--Wag--

[Echo]

Way to go, Wag. Welcome to the best board on the net. I might also suggest checking ebay - there are occasionally some very good buys there. Not Lee molds - sellers of those on eBay ask, and get, more than the retail from Midsouth.- Midsouth is great, and the aforementioned custom manufacturers are the best.
So go pour yourself a hot one!

[Wag]

I like that!

--Wag--

[Wag]

Well, I'm back, more or less! :D My casting project got derailed by time spent in school getting a degree in finance and now, I'm finally ready to roll. Ordered my 45-230O mold from Accurate just yesterday and I can't wait to see it come to my door. :D

The lead time is three weeks, though so it's going to be a long hard wait. Dang. Nevertheless, it gives me time to read up on a sizing/lubing press and dies and mold handles, etc. etc.

Also, I finally slugged the barrel on the P220 and it came out to a perfect .451". That might explain why reloading has been so successful for me lately.

Even though I have a lot of ingots from the smelting project a couple years ago, I think I should go get some more wheel weights. Assuming I can find 'em. [smilie=b:

--Wag--

[Bad Water Bill]

Welcome back.

Now start telling us what you shoot where and why. Posts add up quickly when you talk to us.

Then go to the casting places and ask more questions.

Before you know it you will be able to view everything.

[Moonie]

Well, I'm back, more or less! :D My casting project got derailed by time spent in school getting a degree in finance and now, I'm finally ready to roll. Ordered my 45-230O mold from Accurate just yesterday and I can't wait to see it come to my door. :D

The lead time is three weeks, though so it's going to be a long hard wait. Dang. Nevertheless, it gives me time to read up on a sizing/lubing press and dies and mold handles, etc. etc.

Also, I finally slugged the barrel on the P220 and it came out to a perfect .451". That might explain why reloading has been so successful for me lately.

Even though I have a lot of ingots from the smelting project a couple years ago, I think I should go get some more wheel weights. Assuming I can find 'em. [smilie=b:

--Wag--

Tom over at accurate molds is usually much faster than his quoted time frame, I'd bet you have that mold no later than middle of next week.

[Wayne Smith]

Yup, if you are shooting that much you will need a lube sizer. You have chosen two of the easiest cartridges to load, low pressure, accurate, and fun. Welcome back!

[Wag]

Thanks for the thoughts. If it gets here next week, I'll be in hog heaven!

I stopped by the local scrap yard and they have a TON of lead wheel weights. I'm going to take the truck and four hundred bucks and get what I can. Two years ago, it was $0.85/lb. I have no idea how much it is now. Come to think of it, though, last time it had a lot of zinc in it so the price averaged up a bit more than that.

The way things are going these days, I want to get it while I can. It looked like they had at least a thousand pounds there today and most of them are those huge truck wheel weights. Very easy to deal with those. I'm hoping they'll let me pick out the zinc before I take it away.

Wish me luck!

--Wag--

[OBIII]

If they won't let you pick through the pile to eliminate zinc or iron, you may want to consider pure lead, and learn how to alloy with other types, lino, mono, isotope, etc. etc. Lots of people selling different types of alloy on the site for reasonable prices. It also depends on what they will pay to buy back the zinc. Good luck, and you can always ask to borrow a mold, to see what the differences are between aluminum, steel, brass types.
OB

[Blacksmith]

At the scrap yard negotiate. Point out all the useless Zinc and Iron in the mix maybe you can sort on site.

Go look in the group buys sections for some great molds. Warning some of the wait times are looong.

[Wag]

Outstanding advice.

btw, is there a mobile version of the site?

[OBIII]

For smart phones? Yes, something called tapatalk (sp). I have a dumb phone so I can't help more than that.
OB

[Wayne Smith]

Don't ignore the zinc. We have a member who will trade you straight across, lead for zinc. He shoots it out of his cannon, so he uses a lot!

[Wag]

Great tip. Lead for zinc! :D

Also, got an e-mail this morning. Order is about to ship already. I bow to the prophet Moonie! :D

--Wag--

[Wag]

Went to the scrap yard today. Picked up 480 pounds of lead. Wheel weights were $0.65/lb and clean lead was $0.95/lb. Pretty typical, I expect. I love collecting junk, though so here are some other observations. Believe it or not, there are some stories in this load of lead. What's interesting is that there was enough scrap lead from some various sources, I couldn't even begin to say where it all came from. I think I could have filled the bed of the truck with lead quite easily. The bank account wouldn't allow it, though. :D

Some pics:

These are the ingots I smelted two years ago from wheel weights

http://thumbnails107.imagebam.com/28935/d6595b289341949.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/d6595b289341949)

A bunch of fishing weights. These are obviously not factory, they are hand made.

http://thumbnails104.imagebam.com/28935/4be443289341700.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/4be443289341700)

Some of the other scrap lead, including some ingots that someone cast:

http://thumbnails101.imagebam.com/28935/9a8cb5289341863.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/9a8cb5289341863)

http://thumbnails107.imagebam.com/28935/b32ac5289341777.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/b32ac5289341777)

Some clean lead ingots. Someone spent a lot of time melting these down and pouring them. They're heavy and soft and squishy. Very cool stuff.

http://thumbnails108.imagebam.com/28935/604d7d289343143.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/604d7d289343143)

http://thumbnails106.imagebam.com/28935/a4a423289342991.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/a4a423289342991)

A sheet of pure lead my neighbor gave to me two years ago. I melted a corner of it and used it to make the slugs I used to slug my pistol barrel.

http://thumbnails106.imagebam.com/28935/ac1ce0289343222.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/ac1ce0289343222)

(Continued)

[Wag]

(Continued from above)


A bucket wheel weights I picked up, next to the burner I use for smelting them.

http://thumbnails108.imagebam.com/28935/69cedd289342461.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/69cedd289342461)

http://thumbnails106.imagebam.com/28935/e9c1ed289342824.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/e9c1ed289342824)

Here's where the story seems to start and gets somewhat interesting. This was a bucket of cast boolits. I didn't check their sizes but they appear to be mostly .357 caliber boolits in relatively good condition. In other words, I may not need to cast this size if they're as clean as they appear to be.

http://thumbnails104.imagebam.com/28935/e352c0289342316.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/e352c0289342316)

I saw this ammo can of boolits and snapped it up, intending to melt it all down and return the copper to the scrap yard.

http://thumbnails107.imagebam.com/28935/69f06e289342125.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/69f06e289342125)

Once I got everything home, I decided to separate out the boolits in this can. As I did so, it became clear that a lot of the content is perfectly good boolits of various sizes. If they were beat up, I'd have no problem melting them all down but except for the shotgun sabots, I think I'm more interested in seeing what is actually usable.

Someone put a lot of time and effort into making these, the ingots above, etc. etc. I'm thinking that someone fell on hard times and sold all of their lead to put some food on a table. Or it could be that someone's father passed away and they dumped all of this at the scrap yard to clean out a garage. Either way, sad story. The more I think about the old-school style of these ingots, sabots and boolits, the more I think that's probably the case.

The copper boolits are mostly .30 caliber rifle boolits of assorted sizes. Some of them looked funny to me, though, like they didn't come from a factory and soon enough, I found a short length of lead wire such as you might use in a swaging process. No way for me to know for sure, but I suspect that that's what these are.

http://thumbnails107.imagebam.com/28935/df65fe289343290.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/df65fe289343290)

Some pics of some of the assorted boolits from the ammo can.

http://thumbnails106.imagebam.com/28935/777cec289343350.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/777cec289343350)

http://thumbnails108.imagebam.com/28935/4429ad289343437.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/4429ad289343437)

Interesting stuff, to me, anyway. Sorry if I bored anyone!

:D

--Wag--

[jmort]

"Sorry if I bored anyone!"

No way. Interesting story, great pictures. Like you said, there is a story behind all of it. Love trips to scrap yard.

[woolfey]

Awesome find at the scrap yard... Best deal I ever found like that was a bunch... Like 6 30 caliber ammo cans filled with those old Louverin style boolits 7mm and 30 cal... The 30's are long like 230 grains long... I haven't had that good of luck with them... thought I might size them down and paper patch them... Also a pile of 30 carbine sized boolits in the louverin style... We've had a blast with them...

[Bzcraig]

Welcome back, now get busy brother!

[Bzcraig]

(Continued from above)


A bucket wheel weights I picked up, next to the burner I use for smelting them.

http://thumbnails108.imagebam.com/28935/69cedd289342461.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/69cedd289342461)

http://thumbnails106.imagebam.com/28935/e9c1ed289342824.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/e9c1ed289342824)

Here's where the story seems to start and gets somewhat interesting. This was a bucket of cast boolits. I didn't check their sizes but they appear to be mostly .357 caliber boolits in relatively good condition. In other words, I may not need to cast this size if they're as clean as they appear to be.

http://thumbnails104.imagebam.com/28935/e352c0289342316.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/e352c0289342316)

I saw this ammo can of boolits and snapped it up, intending to melt it all down and return the copper to the scrap yard.

http://thumbnails107.imagebam.com/28935/69f06e289342125.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/69f06e289342125)

Once I got everything home, I decided to separate out the boolits in this can. As I did so, it became clear that a lot of the content is perfectly good boolits of various sizes. If they were beat up, I'd have no problem melting them all down but except for the shotgun sabots, I think I'm more interested in seeing what is actually usable.

Someone put a lot of time and effort into making these, the ingots above, etc. etc. I'm thinking that someone fell on hard times and sold all of their lead to put some food on a table. Or it could be that someone's father passed away and they dumped all of this at the scrap yard to clean out a garage. Either way, sad story. The more I think about the old-school style of these ingots, sabots and boolits, the more I think that's probably the case.

The copper boolits are mostly .30 caliber rifle boolits of assorted sizes. Some of them looked funny to me, though, like they didn't come from a factory and soon enough, I found a short length of lead wire such as you might use in a swaging process. No way for me to know for sure, but I suspect that that's what these are.

http://thumbnails107.imagebam.com/28935/df65fe289343290.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/df65fe289343290)

Some pics of some of the assorted boolits from the ammo can.

http://thumbnails106.imagebam.com/28935/777cec289343350.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/777cec289343350)

http://thumbnails108.imagebam.com/28935/4429ad289343437.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/4429ad289343437)

Interesting stuff, to me, anyway. Sorry if I bored anyone!

:D

--Wag--


That is one of those things that I get all excited about thinking I will discover something very cool!

[Wag]

Welcome back, now get busy brother!

You know it! As soon as my mold comes in, I'm all over it. In the mean time, I have some more stuff to order. Mold handles, thermometer, etc.

I've been reloading for a lot of years with just the basics. I'm thinking keeping it simple here is going to be just as workable.

I feel like I'm waiting for Christmas................... :D

--Wag--

[Mk42gunner]

The only time I found boolits at the scrapyard, nothing I found would fit anything I had. Plus they were all coated with a heavy (like 1/16") coat of LLA; talk about a black gooey mess on top of the smelting pot.

Woolfey, just an idea, but maybe someone with a .300 Blackout would have better luck with your 230gr Loverin style boolits. Who knows.

Robert

[Blacksmith]

Wag
Go back to the scrap yard and ask if the people who dropped off the lead also scrapped anything else. You never know there may be molds, swageing machine, even presses and dies.

And only three more posts and you get access.

[Wag]

Funny you say that, Blacksmith. While I was combing through the ammo can, I was thinking about what could have happened to the equipment that went with it. I suspect it's possible that it's all there somewhere but probably in a different section of the yard. The place is huge, though, so the chance of finding it may be somewhat remote, especially for anything aluminum. Might be worth a shot, though.

Also, in the pile of stuff where the ammo can and the yellow bucket of boolits were were some HUGE barrels of old brass and some lead that was obviously dug out of the side of a hill at one of the local outdoor ranges. The place was a lead mine, to be sure! I don't know what copper sells for these days, but I expect it would be worth the time to melt out the lead and sell the copper back to the scrap yard. And buy more lead, of course!

--Wag--

[Wag]

Okay, so what DOES happen at 25 posts?

--Wag--

[Blacksmith]

Okay, so what DOES happen at 25 posts?

--Wag--

You get access to "The Pit" which is appropriately at the bottom of the list of topics.

WARNING

Do not enter the Political and Religious section if you have uncontrolled high blood pressure.

Do not eat or drink while in the Humor and Off Topic section, we no longer provide keyboard and monitor cleaning services.

[Wag]

LMAO! I'll sneak in very very carefully on both counts!

--Wag--