I was warned...

[newton]

...that casting was addicting. I finally decided that this past weekend was going to be the time I first fire up the melting pot that I had acquired over a year ago. I had been working up to this for a while making sure I had read as much info as I could before doing it.

It is a bottom pour lee pot. I am guessing the 10# model. I felt like a little kid the first time I pulled up on the lever and saw the shinny metal flow out. I cast some boolits and they turned out so so. But I could not stop pouring lead. I spent a lot more time out there than I had anticipated and paid for it the next morning.

After that, the next day the same thing happened. And after those two casting sessions I had made almost 100 good bullets of each of the molds I had bought. However, I probably had to sort through 200 or more of each of the molds. A lot were wrinkled, not filled out, or extremely frosted.

All new mistakes which I know the causes of and will have to work through the learning curve I'm sure. But last night was the interesting part. I decided I was going to melt down a little bit of my wheel weights. The prior casting was done with the ingots I had gotten with the casting equipment from the gentleman who gave them to me.

With the equipment he gave me a little lyman melting pot. "Mini Mag" I think is the name. And I know, its a big no no to smelt ww in a pot like that, but I was just wanting to do it for the heck of it and the ww were pretty clean.

So after doing that and having a nice shinny pot of metal calling to me I decided I would try my hand at dipper casting. The guy also gave me a lyman cast iron dipper. So I got the molds out, heated them up, and poured some lead in them.

Wow. It was not as easy as the bottom pour, and it was a lot messier, but within two casts I had the best looking boolits I had ever seen(in my whole two day pouring carer). The only thing I can think is that the lyman pot was keeping the melt at the perfect temp. It was slow going, but with the last pours I was only keeping a 1/3 of the boolits I cast. With that pour I kept nearly 3/4 of the boolits I cast.

There are a LOT of variables, temp and alloy being the main ones that could be different. But there is one question I had. What is considered a "keeper" verses remelt? Should they look absolutely perfect? A lot of my shooting at first will just be plinking. Eventually I want to get some nice looking ones for hunting accuracy though. But even still with plinking I want some decent accuracy. Will less than perfect boolits shoot decent? Is it just the base that needs to be perfect?

[beagle]

Welcome to the addiction. When I started pouring and make shiny bullets out of old grungy scrap lead, my mind said there must be something illegal or sinful about this. It's too much fun.

The next phase is to acquire as many different moulds as you can for the calibers you own and then, there's acquiring sizing dies./beagle

[6.5 mike]

Not to mention moulds & dies, ect for calibers you THINK you might be interested in [smilie=1:. I keep some of my culls to use for dummy loading. And you might be surprized how well the ones with slight flaws shoot. :Fire:

[SlippShodd]

Yeah, I had lots of important stuff to do yesterday, but my pot kept calling to me and just wouldn't leave me alone until I'd scratched a couple itches that didn't turn out like I'd hoped. But, while the pot was on I consoled myself with filling a few cavities in my favorite mould. This is the best I could come up with for good and bad examples of boolits for me; some of the true boolit crafters on here can do much better. The boolits are RCBS 45-201, dropping at 206 grains with this alloy. #1 & #3 are supposed to be the good examples -- well filled, sharp edges, clean lines, no wormholes or potholes. #2 would normally be a "plinker" for me; that front driving band has rounded edges that make me crazy. I looked for a more exaggerated example, but the first culling caught all the real bad ones; this is where I always look first when culling. This one might clean up in sizing okay, but I'm gonna toss it. #3 was supposed to show what an acceptable base looks like, and in a normal inspection it's a pass, but super macro showed me that pinhole at 6 o'clock; I'll conquer my OCD and shoot it anyway. Otherwise, no smearing or tearing of the sprue, no obvious voids, flat, even surface, sharp trailing edge... unlike #4 whose problem is obvious. All of these have acceptable, crisp trailing edges. Any rounding there at all and they get a do-over.
Normally, unmagnified, well-lit visual inspection is good enough for my purposes. That #3 bullet for expample would work for me for plinking, or hunting. A benchrest shooter or serious competitive target puncher would probably 86 it. I'm really sorry I took this picture. Now I gotta make an appointment with the eye doc.
Welcome to the nuthouse.

mike

[rockrat]

The bottom pour should work OK, also. You might have had a bit of oil in the moulds , in addition to the metal temp of the pot being a bit cold. I always warm my moulds now, on a hot plate, prior to casting. Then I dip the end in hot metal for about 30 seconds, wipe it off, wait 10 seconds then start casting. Sometimes, I have to wait for the third cast for good boolits. Frosted boolits are OK with me.
A bit of wrinkling on the nose of a pistol boolits might be OK for plinking, to me. On the base, no. Rifle, well, it depends on how fast I am pushing them and where the defect is. Bit on the nose, used at 100yds or less, maybe. Pushing fast and farther, no obvious defects.

[sisiphunter]

Get things warmer bud. I like to cast hot generally. I dont mind frosty bullets at all. The base need to be good. No ripped sprue and a nice sharp bottom. Small defects on pistol bullets for plinking are ok with me. I still weight general plinker pistol bullets within a grain and a half. Plinker rifle within a grain and 22 and hunting/serious target rifle with in .5 grain. Keep up the good work and warm your mold up a little........also i know im gonna get it good here.......try wiping out the cavities of all oil then smoke them. i like smoked molds personally.

[41 mag fan]

Some people smoke their molds, some prefer not to. That's a subject of personal preference. I got Lees I have to smoke, just to get good reliable drops, even after Leementing. Then again I got 6 banger Lees that require no smoking.
All my NOE's, Mihas, and Accurate molds I dont nor need to smoke.

[geargnasher]

I don't smoke my moulds. Never could keep them lit long enough.

Gear

[dbarnhart]

Welcome to The Addiction. I too have the 10# Lee bottom-pour pot. After half a dozen casting sessions I have it down pat and get almost no rejects.

I urge you to stick around here and avail yourself of the tremendous knowledge found here. There is no way I would be casting if it were not for the patient knowledgable folks here.

[leadman]

gear, have you tried dipping them in diesel first?? LOL

[Sonnypie]

Keeper Vs: remelt?

Take a look at it, if you like it, keep it.
If you don't like it, remelt it.

That's the beauty of it, being able to reform it if you'd like to.
Unlike woodworking, were you use your rejects for firewood. :groner:

My furnace usually has some rejects sitting on the top of the pot waiting for me to plug it in and reform them.
No harm in that.

You'll get the hang of it.

[gwpercle]

I get better boolits with a dipper also. I tried the bottom pour method but never got any more or better boolits than with the dipper. Could be because all my moulds are 1 or 2 cavity.... I believe to realy use a bottom pour effectively you need a 6 cavity mould or I'm just not doing the bottom pour correctly.

For now I will just stick to my dipper, though I sometimes use two moulds... filling the first, setting it down to cool while filling the second. When everything is hot and you get a good rhythm going, you can cast a lot of boolits.

Maybe we need to form an organizatio called BCA... bullet casters anonymos for us addicts , wait never mind ...thats what this site is all about.

Newton, just enjoy the addiction...it's FUN....gary

[DLCTEX]

I smoked my moulds in the past, but I didn't inhale. For plinking the rounded front band wouldn't bother me a lot as long as the base is sharp and no wrinkles. +1 on a hotter mould, not hotter melt.

[stubshaft]

You aren't truly hooked until you buy molds for calibers you don't own yet!

[newton]

Yea, I am already thinking about some other calibers I have a desire to shoot. Then I can convince my wife that I can save so much money in bullet cost alone to buy the gun and molds....

In all honesty, she was really quite intrigued when she came out last night while I was making the last batch. But I quickly made it look uninteresting...cant have her wanting to do it too... haha.

I do think it was the mold being cold too. One thing that let me on to it is the fact that the nose of the smaller boolits were the part that was wrinkled the most. And the faster I would cast, the better the boolits would come out. I did preheat them by leaving the corner of the mold in the lead for a little bit, but I am sure like all newbies, I had to occasionally stop and see the neat little shiny things I was dropping and inspect them a bit which probably let the mold cool down enough to cause the wrinkling again.

And I also think that one reason I was getting better boolits out of the dipper pour was the fact that the bottom part of the mold was directly over the lead while pouring the mold. That would definitely help to keep it warm over the bottom pour pot with no heat whatsoever below the mold. I guess what I need is to set my bottom pour pot over a hot plate. ha ha.

Along with all the casting stuff I got was some lyman molds for .54 cal BP. Roundball, mini, and maxi I think. I am going to see about trading them off for some other molds in my calibers because I just don't see me getting a .54 cal any time soon. Not that I don't like BP, but I have enough of them as it is. But you guys are right, before I know it I will have just about every .30 cal boolit mold there is. It is just too stinking fun to sit there and pour them things.

I'll take some pictures of what I am putting out for you guys to comment on. Like I said, I know the 'basics' of too hot=frosted, and too cold=wrinkled, but maybe there is something else you guys will see and know what I should do.

[9.3X62AL]

Ya fell right into the pit trap, Newton! :)

I don't usually re-melt my frosted boolits, just about all of them have shown no differences in weight or diameter from shinier castings. "Raisins" are another story, though--weight and diameter variations abound.

[geargnasher]

OK, Newton, time for a briefing now that you're in The Club: You'll find these things to be true one way or another, so be prepared!

Gear’s rules
#1 When pouring or transferring materials, the quantity spilled is directly proportional to either it’s value, hazard, or the degree of difficulty in cleaning it up.
#2 Improve our national marital statistics: Stay out of SWMBO’S kitchen with boolit stuff.
#3 Box o’ Truth rule: Shooting stuff is fun.
#4 Just because others couldn’t do it doesn’t mean you will. Think about it.
#5 The mould will finally start dropping gems five minutes before suppertime.
#6 Don’t argue with stupid people, argue with interesting people who are smart enough to keep you humble and open-minded.
#7 Properly stored ammo doesn't spoil, eat, or increase your rent. So stock up.
#8 It's true that you can't shoot wheel weights out of your guns. They have to be made into boolits first.
#9 Hodgdon will discontinue the only powder that ever shot straight in your favorite rifle.
#10 Things go awry when you least expect it, and are most deficient in PPE and armor plate.
#11 Beware the loose nut holding the handle on someone else’s reloading press.
#12. If one accumulates more than 1,000 rifle or 2500 pistol cases of a given caliber, it becomes immediately necessary to purchase a gun chambered in that caliber, along with dies, moulds, sizers, top punches, powder, primers, membership to a public shooting center with a long enough rifle range, ad nauseum.
#13 Your best groups will be multiple, 10-shot ragged holes you made with no witnesses and won’t ever be able to duplicate again with the same gun and load, even when alone.
#14 No matter what you think now, you will never have enough gun stuff. Only the President does, he’s got the four long arms of the military, plus about 2500 ICBMs with the trigger in a suitcase.

Gear

[6.5 mike]

#15 just when you think you have it all figured out, the gun will tell you otherwise.
#16 PAY attention to rule #2

[Mk42gunner]

You aren't truly hooked until you buy molds for calibers you don't own yet!

I resemble that remark:roll:


Robert

[Bullet Caster]

Just fodder for the big silvery stream of hot molten material. Welcome to the addiction and may you never look back. You're in this now and there's no turning back. Now there's one more vying for the silvery stream. Guess we'll all be called Leadheads now. BC

[blikseme300]

OK, Newton, time for a briefing now that you're in The Club: You'll find these things to be true one way or another, so be prepared!

Gear’s rules
#1 When pouring or transferring materials, the quantity spilled is directly proportional to either it’s value, hazard, or the degree of difficulty in cleaning it up.
#2 Improve our national marital statistics: Stay out of SWMBO’S kitchen with boolit stuff.
#3 Box o’ Truth rule: Shooting stuff is fun.
#4 Just because others couldn’t do it doesn’t mean you will. Think about it.
#5 The mould will finally start dropping gems five minutes before suppertime.
#6 Don’t argue with stupid people, argue with interesting people who are smart enough to keep you humble and open-minded.
#7 Properly stored ammo doesn't spoil, eat, or increase your rent. So stock up.
#8 It's true that you can't shoot wheel weights out of your guns. They have to be made into boolits first.
#9 Hodgdon will discontinue the only powder that ever shot straight in your favorite rifle.
#10 Things go awry when you least expect it, and are most deficient in PPE and armor plate.
#11 Beware the loose nut holding the handle on someone else’s reloading press.
#12. If one accumulates more than 1,000 rifle or 2500 pistol cases of a given caliber, it becomes immediately necessary to purchase a gun chambered in that caliber, along with dies, moulds, sizers, top punches, powder, primers, membership to a public shooting center with a long enough rifle range, ad nauseum.
#13 Your best groups will be multiple, 10-shot ragged holes you made with no witnesses and won’t ever be able to duplicate again with the same gun and load, even when alone.
#14 No matter what you think now, you will never have enough gun stuff. Only the President does, he’s got the four long arms of the military, plus about 2500 ICBMs with the trigger in a suitcase.

Gear

Good stuff, Gear. I especially agree with #12.

Stop this insanity. :lovebooli

Bliksem

[PbHurler]

Gear’s rules
#5 The mould will finally start dropping gems five minutes before suppertime.

:groner: or before bedtime, church, rain, visiting relatives / friends (very talkative ones), important long distance phonecallc etc..etc...etc.
I can't count the times [smilie=b:
Great post Gear

[John Boy]

Newton, you didn't mention using a thermometer. To determine and maintain the melt at a constant temperature where the bullets are fully formed and within a tight weight variance ... a thermometer is a must tool for casting

[41 mag fan]

I don't smoke my moulds. Never could keep them lit long enough.

Gear


I smoked my moulds in the past, but I didn't inhale.

PLEASE don't tell me you got a blue dress with white stains on it lying around somewhere!! :kidding::bigsmyl2:

[mold maker]

You aren't truly hooked until you buy molds for calibers you don't own yet!

The very first mold I ever got was in a deal (1960) for reloading stuff. It was a HG 230gr TC, and I only shot 38/357 and 22.
I now have 4 45ACP that love it. Of course I still cast 38/357 and 11 others. I knew I wanted a 41, thats why I bought 3 molds first. factory ammo is outrageous
I'm not addicted, I just can't quit.:bigsmyl2:

[newton]

guys...its bad... a fellow brought a 45acp to work looking to sell it. I started thinking of the different ways I could afford it. Then, a light sparked, and I thought back to my deep desire of wanting a SA .357. I then proceed to look at what it would take to buy the gun, and all the things needed to load for it. I think its doable.

So now...what is the best advice on how to sweet talk your wife into letting you get the stuff? Forgiveness verses permission?

[Texantothecore]

#17 The ability to make your own black powder on the kitchen table is not a sales point to your wife. "Sure you can do it, if you want to be single".

[41 mag fan]

guys...its bad... a fellow brought a 45acp to work looking to sell it. I started thinking of the different ways I could afford it. Then, a light sparked, and I thought back to my deep desire of wanting a SA .357. I then proceed to look at what it would take to buy the gun, and all the things needed to load for it. I think its doable.

So now...what is the best advice on how to sweet talk your wife into letting you get the stuff? Forgiveness verses permission?


Buy it, hide it, months later bring it out a little at a time. When asked, just reply ohhh I bought that months ago. Works for me, esp now when it's summer and we're buying for the yard.