Need help getting started

[Pitchnit]

I have been a member for several months and have been reading up a storm. This is a great site. Anyway, I am ready to start smelting and casting. All my stuff came in the big brown truck yesterday. I’m wondering where to start and how to get organized smelting with the material I have. Should I smelt enough of one type then move to the next then come back to the smelting pot after I have at least some of each and alloy it together or alloy it in the smelting pot initially or should I alloy it in the casting pot (Lee 4-20) after I have made some ingots from each material. I shoot a 45 ACP and bought a Lee 200 SWC 6 cavity die. Currently I have 200#s of sorted wheel weights, 50 #s or range lead, 50#s x-ray shielding and 25 #’s Roto-metal Royal Babbitt (80% lead, 5% tin, 15% antimony). How would you alloy this or would you? I would like to start by working enough material for 3-4000 bullets which may get me through the summer although I’m hoping I will be enjoying this enough to shoot twice that!

I also need some ingot forms. What can I use that is easy to find. Most muffin tins are coated with anti-stick material. If I get steel ones can I throw them in a campfire and cook it off or should I bite the boolit and buy cast iron. I haven’t been able to find any plain steel ones at the local thrift shops.

Thanks much, Regards-Pitchnit

[letsmeltlead2693]

If you have non-stick muffin tins, use them as is. I have a non-stick muffin tin and the lead comes out great and that is with no modifications to the tin.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

The only thing I am going to say, is I would not mix a lot of alloy until you find one that your weapons like. If you get a big batch of something you don't like, it takes a lot more to make it into something you can use. I smelt everything into its own ingots. Then weigh and alloy a batch to cast with if I alloy at all. My Argie likes straight wheel weights, so that's what I feed it :)
My 44 likes a softer mix, So I mix WW & pure 50/50.

[bumpo628]

Smelt everything individually and mix when you are casting boolits. You never know when your requirements are going to change and you can't separate it later.

Throwing the muffin tins in a campfire will burn off the non-stick coating, but just stay upwind! There are lots of things that can work as ingot molds at a thrift store, so look around. You can also try those stainless steel condiment cups at Wal-Mart (4 for $0.88 or so).

For 45ACP, straight WW or even Range lead will probably work fine. Many people use a mix of WW and pure (50/50) with a little tin to help it fill out.

That being said, here's what happens if you mix all of your alloys together in the ratio that you have in stock right now (divide everything by 25):
8 lbs WW + 2 lbs Range Lead + 2 lbs Pure Lead + 1 lb Babbit = alloy with 0.7% tin, 3.15% antimony, 0.15% arsenic, 96% lead.

That mix looks like it can handle a wide range of calibers. It is similar to WW with a little extra tin. Of course I have to make some assumptions of the composition of WW and range lead, but I'm sure it will be close.

[runfiverun]

bumpo's numbers look good to me, and is super close to my everyday alloy.
i would most likely leave out the rotometals alloy though.
and only add it if needed to make things cast a bit better.
the 45 isn't that demanding.
make up a batch in your smelt pot and flux it well then cast with it.
see what you can do with the mold.
that gives you a baseline alloy.

[jsizemore]

Since you haven't cast before you need to practice and you can't go wrong casting with straight clip-on ww. I recast my first batch 5 times before I got it right with test loads out of each batch to test in my gun. Even if you mess up you can just remelt and try again.

[dbarnhart]

Welcome to The Addiction.

Either the range lead or the wheel weights should work for .45acp so smelt just enough to get about 10 pounds worth of ingots.
It took me a few casting sessions before my boolits stopped being ugly so be patient. ;-)

[kbstenberg]

Bumpo is very good at figuring different combinations of materials to get to a predetermined end. He also has several adjustable alloy charts.
Since you are a new-be GO SLOW, Learn as you go. Smelt everything separate. Mark everything as you go with what it is, an when you did it. In case something gets contaminated. You know what is bad an what is good.
I made the mistake of trying to go too fast before I learned the BASICs. At first your acceptable bullet pile will be very small compared to the rejects. Keep adjusting how you cast, write in a log what works an what doesn't. Don't be afraid to ask questions!!!! Everyone makes the same mistakes at first. So don't get discouraged.

[AR-15 Cowboy]

I agree with the don't get discouraged advice. My first casting sessions were a nightmare. I shook too much, I splashed some lead when I cut the swage too soon and all the boolits were frosty or layered. But then... all of a sudden I came into sync and the mold found it's temperature, my wait period between pours stabilized and the boolits just came out perfect. I ran about fifty good boolits and became hopelessly addicted. I make small muffin tin ingots of all my raw stock and then mix according to my needs. I picked up a good xcel worksheet from one of the fellows on the forum and use that as a guide. If I can find the link I'll post it for you. Good luck. Here is the link:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=105952
Just noticed this is Bumpo's link. But anyway it's a good one and thanks Bumpo for doing the good work on it.

[cf_coder]

Yeah, I'm somewhat new to this casting stuff as well. Keep reading here and you'll get the hang of it... and the burns will heal too! :D

[William Yanda]

I would start by ingotizing your various types of lead. WW's need to be cleaned before you can cast anyway. You may find that air cooled WW's perform admirably for you. You can experiment by alloying WW's with the range lead or lead sheeting. This will be easier if they are in ingots. I use 6 and 12 hole aluminum muffin tins for ingots. Since you will be probably be using smaller quantities of the Rotometals alloy, you could make smaller ingots of that in the same molds. For larger molds I have been collecting mini loaf pans from Thrift stores-usually $.69 ea but I found a four banger for $1.69 yesterday. I have a set of stamps from Harbor Freight that I use to mark similar ingots for their content.
Good luck and remember, free advice is worth exactly what you pay for it.
Bill

[12DMAX]

Well, being a rookie myself the only advice I can give you is this. "Walk before you run" all the info that you have been absorbing is priceless but it will all go to **** when you pour that first boolit.

[Pitchnit]

Thank you for the advice and the encouragement. I think I'll start out with a small pot of wheel weights. and if that goes well I'll take on some of the range scrap. That will save the pure and the Royal for latter after I start getting things figured out. Again, Thank you. Best regards-Pitchnit

[44-40]

Don't make things too complicated when starting off. I used to search for lynotype to alloy pure lead but anymore I just cast using wheelweights. I cast a lot of .380, .44 and 45 ACP. It works fine. As for ingot molds I suggest you purchase a Lyman 1 lb., 4 ingot mold. I suggest this because I went from pouring lead into a mold from a laddle to using a Lee Production furnace and 4 ingots can be placed in the pot when it is cold and melted down. Because of its size & shape muffin ingots will not go into the furnace like the 1 lb ingots will. And the Production pot temperature can be controlled and sure beats dipping a laddle.