Newb questions

[Elrodog]

First off I would like to say hey guys, long time lurker but first time poster. Anyway I have a few questions after reading every thread I could find about 9mm.

1. I slugged the bore of Taurus and it came out to .356 exactly, so should I get the 124 RN Lee mould and hope it drops them about .357? or should I purchase the 125 RN Lee .38 mould and be able to use it for both my 9mm and .38 without buying 2 sperate moulds?

2. My only source of lead right now is range scrap, what I have been doing is throwing the bullets into the pot and fluxing from there, do I need to get a sperate set-up for melting range lead into ingots or is this fine?

And finally, not handgun related, but I have been casting the Lee key slugs, as I fig I would get the ropes down with something simple first, but some of them come out a bit wrinkled until the mould gets hot, my question is, will these wrinkles really affect the "accuracy" of the slug?

Thanks for the help!

[HangFireW8]

First off I would like to say hey guys, long time lurker but first time poster. Anyway I have a few questions after reading every thread I could find about 9mm.

1. I slugged the bore of Taurus and it came out to .356 exactly, so should I get the 124 RN Lee mould and hope it drops them about .357? or should I purchase the 125 RN Lee .38 mould and be able to use it for both my 9mm and .38 without buying 2 sperate moulds?

2. My only source of lead right now is range scrap, what I have been doing is throwing the bullets into the pot and fluxing from there, do I need to get a sperate set-up for melting range lead into ingots or is this fine?

And finally, not handgun related, but I have been casting the Lee key slugs, as I fig I would get the ropes down with something simple first, but some of them come out a bit wrinkled until the mould gets hot, my question is, will these wrinkles really affect the "accuracy" of the slug?

Thanks for the help!

Welcome aboard!

1. Depends. Have you slugged your 38 yet?

2. How clean is your scrap? Bottom pour pots clog easily...

3. Maybe. You have to try to find out. Preheat your mold better to avoid this.

[Old Caster]

Wrinkled bullets will affect accuracy but when shooting things like a person would in an IDPA match it likely wouldn't matter.

[canyon-ghost]

1. I slugged the bore of Taurus and it came out to .356 exactly, so should I get the 124 RN Lee mould and hope it drops them about .357? or should I purchase the 125 RN Lee .38 mould and be able to use it for both my 9mm and .38 without buying 2 sperate moulds?



Either or both, were it me, I'd end up with both molds.


2. My only source of lead right now is range scrap, what I have been doing is throwing the bullets into the pot and fluxing from there, do I need to get a sperate set-up for melting range lead into ingots or is this fine?



I've been using the same mini-mag ladle pot to make ingots and pour bullets for 10 years now. It's not handy as some setups but, it works. Just saying, it can be done.

[canyon-ghost]

And finally, not handgun related, but I have been casting the Lee key slugs, as I fig I would get the ropes down with something simple first, but some of them come out a bit wrinkled until the mould gets hot, my question is, will these wrinkles really affect the "accuracy" of the slug?



It effects accuracy. It lightens the slug or bullet so, it won't be a consistent shot at anything. Like throwing an out-of-balance baseball at a target.

[Elrodog]

Thanks for the replies so far guys. In response to some of the advice, I do clean the range lead throughly with water, then let it dry a few days before using it, and I always add it to a cold pot in order to avoid the tensil fairy. I just didnt know if after cleaning it I should still flux and ingot it seperatley.

Actually Old Caster, I am loading my slugs for eventual partcipation in 3-gun or a tactical shotgun class, so the most I expect/need is to hit a man size target at 100yrds with it. and I know with factory Remington slugs the gun is capable of some pretty nice groups at range, but frankly being on a college kid budget I cant afford to shoot $1 per shot slugs and practice alot. hence why I took up casting to begin with. That and $90 per 1k berrys bullets for my 9mm.

Another question is how hot should the melt be, I usually crank mine up, but I noticed last night after I had it on 8 or 9 for awhile (Lee PP 10#) that the melt looked red hot almost, so I turned it back down, is this normal?

And I have yet to slug the barrel of the Colt to get the true bore size, but it does seem to shoot .38 and .357 magnum lead factory without any leading problems.

[zxcvbob]

Why are you washing the range lead? You're losing a lot of the lead dust. Maybe the range lead you collect is different that the stuff I get. Mine is pistol bullets that I scoop up under metal targets. and they are pretty well disintegrated.

Melt the lead in an old steel or iron cooking pot from The Salvation Army thrift store, flux with sawdust or Crisco or old motor oil, and ladle or pour into ingots. Get 99% of the dirt and junk out of it before it ever gets in your casting pot and your casting will go a lot better. I use an electric hotplate that I bought from Walgreens for $5, and melt about 10 or 15 pounds at a time, and pour them into 2.5 ounce stainless steel cups. They look like little muffins and weigh about 27 ounces each. A 5 gallon bucket will hold several hundred pounds of these ingots and they don't even stack all that well.

[HangFireW8]

Zxcvbob is right, unless you're digging range lead out of dirt you shouldn't need to wash it.

I would definitely flux in a pot and make ingots. If you flux a lot in the smelting pot, you'll need to do it very little when casting. While I prefer mini-muffin pans, you can use standard muffin pans as long as you keep the ingots thin, like 1/2 inch. I haven't tried the stainless steel condiment cups at Wal-Mart, which is what I think xczvbob is referring to. The price is right.

HF

[Elrodog]

Ya, I have the small stainless cups, somewhere an Outback is missing a bbq cup haha. But no my range lead is pretty much whole bullets, recovered from a dirt berm, so I usually hose it off really well then dry it, and cast whenever I feel the need. I dont put jacketed bullets in the pot, since alot of folks at my range seem to shoot lead (at least out to the 50 yard berm, which usually has the most cast in it) I just avoid the jacketed bullets to cut down on crud. But it seems that I need to smelt and ingot before I put it into the pot.

[Old Caster]

Elrodog, It won't matter in your 9 mm exactly what the bullets look like but will matter how soft the lead you are using is. This caliber is one of the worst to use soft lead, primarily because when a soft lead bullet is installed into the rather stiff brass, it typically swages the lead down to about .352 which is just about always smaller than the bore. Sometimes it is possible to get fairly decent accuracy when suddenly one out of 10 or 20 will come out and hit sideways at 25 yards and miss the point of aim by 18 inches or so. You probably need to keep your BHN somewhere about 18 or so to keep this from happening. The brass can be enlarged with an expander but it might have to be so big that the round won't fit in the chamber. Other bullets like a 45 APC don't cause this problem and it probably will be the same for the slugs, it might be an advantage to be a fairly soft mix primarily because it is so much larger of a size. Experimentation is the only sure proof. A thermometer would be a good idea but of course so would a lot of things that cost money. If you can't get rid of the wrinkles, it is because of a too cold mould or mix or oil in the cavities. Keep experimenting and you will get it. Wrinkles might bother your shotgun slug but no guarantees.-- Bill --