Making your own - Casting Slugs and 380

[fishindad]

I have been trying to getting into casting for some time now. Recently, through some acquisitions I have started making my own jigs and bullets. I have been collecting supplies for about 2-3 years now and finally had the right things to start. Its hard to believe that I bought the lead pot frankly almost 3 years ago from Cabelas.

MANY thanks goto this site and the folks here. I have been a "luker" for a while now and hope my "newbie" experiences help others. I will be reloading these sometime next week. The bullet molds used were the 1oz 12 gauge Lee and the 102 gr Lee 356-102-1R.

Safety is key. Here are the big ones...
1) Good ventilation. Use a cross blowing fan.
2) Wear gloves, jeans or apron and covered shoes.
3) Water is BAD. Do not let water come near the melted lead.
4) Do NOT eat or drink while you are doing this.
5) Wash your hands well after touching ANY lead. Frankly, we should all do this after even touching slip sinkers.
6) Be organized. You don't want to be running back and forth trying to find something and leave the lead unattended.

**** These are suggestions. Anyone doing this should do alot of research and ask alot of questions.

Ok with the above disclaimers..... Here we go. Overall I really enjoyed it. I acquired lead through various sources, made ingots and was ready to go.

First step: Melt the lead.

I had a thermometer and the spout seemed to work best at setting it 5-6 which was about 600 degrees. I put about 5 small ingots in and let it all melt. That took about 15 minutes.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-lTnt1vz25Ow/T_Gfnajd6pI/AAAAAAAAGpo/Jx__vlfGf-U/s640/20120630_125838.jpg


Second step: Mix the lead and skim impurities.

I dont have a picture for this but, the important part is you will have a sludge on the top. pull it off with a dedicated spoon and mix the lead. Fluxing the lead is really what I should have done here. By mixing sawdust and letting it rise to the top, it makes it easier to get the sludge out. I have also read that leaving a layer of burned sawdust on the top of the lead, helps prevent the oxidation. Regardless, I did not do that this time, and things seemed to be jsut fine.

Third step: Smoke the mold cavities and then heat the mold

Use a lighter to get carbon on the cavities. This will help in the release process. Place the mold on top of the pot for a few minutes. Casting into a cold mold will cause the lead to cool too quickly. -- yes this is a fishing mold. I was casting multiple items that day! :-)

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-l1g-EwYVBY4/T_Gfnx21_bI/AAAAAAAAGpw/HzYk2MtA8lo/s800/20120630_130158.jpg


https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-yNBbP38mWLE/T_GxMAmElXI/AAAAAAAAGqc/nRG_j1SJRQc/s800/20120702_103016.jpg

Fourth step: Place spout into the hole of the cavity and pull lever.

Pour evenly and do not stop until you see the cavity fill up. If you stop and start, the mold will not fill out correctly.

Fifth step: Count to 5 then hit the sprue plate with a wood dowel.
Put the sprue in the pile to be remelted!

Sixth step: Open mold and dump molded items on a folded towel.

--- Start process again until you get the total quantity you want!


When you get done, (after they have cooled) it should look something like this.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2jtbZjJkeGs/T_GfwmafPzI/AAAAAAAAGqQ/QAKGgKAIkmE/s800/20120630_151756.jpg


https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-m8kblR0UcWE/T_GxMrwVZBI/AAAAAAAAGqk/HTbDaRHqVs8/s800/20120702_103053.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-w47oH6iSiwU/T_GxNblW4DI/AAAAAAAAGqs/bdk4ZmD5VbA/s800/20120702_103113.jpg


Fishindad

[Lonegun1894]

I dont know how much it will affect things with the shotgun, but you have a few small folds in the 12ga slugs, so you may want to turn the heat up a little bit to avoid those. Like your set up though.

[geargnasher]

Moulds WAY too cold, lots o' wrinkles. Not the alloy too cold, the MOULDS. Preheat them by dunking a corner in the pot for 30 seconds or so and cast faster, grasshopper!

Gear

[Lonegun1894]

You're right, the moulds, not the lead. I should have been more specific, but that was what I was thinking, and thought I typed. Apparently, it's past my bed time.

[fishindad]

Great feedback. I suspected that was the case. I like the hotplate idea. Dunking a corner would definitely work better too. I think I have one lying around here. Based on reading more on this forum, I think that the lead temp might need to be higher too.

Once I get the second run completed, I will post a new / updated set of steps. Thanks for the feedback. These bullets are going back in the to be melted pile!

I did get in my .357 resizer / lube yesterday. Looks like that going to have to wait!

[Lonegun1894]

Dont feel bad. When I first started, seems like the majority of mine were either too cold like yours or very frosty (too hot).

[fishindad]

Saw this on another thread... This is pretty exact so I am going to give it a try! Good stuff. Thanks everyone.


"New to casting but using the same mold and pot as the OP. I heat my molds on a hot plate and keep track of their temp with a infrared thermometer, I've found about 400deg mold temp and lead at 700deg gives me good results. But I'm sure my lead id not the same as what your casting with. My sprue takes about 6 sec to solidify. Just what I've found so far. I also check my mold temp when I'm finished and it's about 425. "

[ilcop22]

I'd read around a bit more on the forum, and ask questions when appropriate. You can learn a lot from the information here. Generally, tutorials are found in sticky threads on the various forums.

[JIMinPHX]

That slug mold can be a tough one to run. Keep it hot. Keep it lubed. Keep at it. With enough determination it can be made to produce good projectiles.

That little semi-wadcutter is a real gem. That boolit works well in every gun that I've tried it in from .38 to .357 to 9x19 to .380.

[geargnasher]

If you're using pure lead or nearly pure lead, it's ok to go ahead and crank up the heat on the pot since there's little or no tin to worry about. This will help keep the blocks heat-soaked during casting and seems to improve the "fluidity" of the lead. I cast pure lead at a pot temp of around 800 degrees sometimes, which is WAY too hot for wheel weights or most other boolit casting alloys.

Gear

[JIMinPHX]

I concur with Gear. I've gone as high as 850F pot temperature with pure lead in that Lee slug mold & still had good results.