Ragnarok
12-23-2012, 07:16 PM
I've had a reliable plinking load up and running for my .45-70 for some time. Nothing fancy..just a Trail Boss/405gr Lee hollow-base LFP bullet greased up with SPG. My old trapdoor rifle plinks just fabulous with this round!
I tried some of these loads in my cool newly aquired Browning 1886 carbine...and they've proved ridiculously fun in it too!!
So then I decided to throw the old factory back into .45-70 production. I have 21 bullets left from last spring's production....I fix up some Star Line brass and load-em up.
Out of bullets...must cast more. I get my gear set up and check-out my Lee mold...pot heating up...all good.
That's when I decided to add more alloy into the pot...a rather crudely smelted chunk of wheel-weight alloy with some plumbing-pipe blended in. Must have been wet at some point and retained some moisture in a crevice..'cause as soon as it hit the pot and heated-up...it was like a 'mini depthcharge' went off in the lead-pot!! "CRACK"...molten lead alloy splooshed at least two and a half feet up the garage wall...all over my little bench...and on ME!!
Fortunately...I was wearing a heavy insulated button-up shirt over a T-shirt and a pair of safety glasses...got a couple 'hot-spots'...but no burns. I was lucky...wasn't going to wear safety glasses...but thought "what the heck?"...The glasses were right there on the table so I put them on. They stopped some lead for sure!!
I added more alloy with the pot off and part-cooled after that...then plugged it in and got away from it!!
Anyhow...other than that casting was a struggle...my pot mysteriously quit regulating temperature...and gradually gets too hot....Lee 405gr hollow-base mold I've used twice is going to have to have some work on the sprue-plate and a work-over.
I did cast enough good bullets to get my .45-70 'cowboy load' production rolling for a bit though.
No moral to the story other than safety pays and might save you some grief if your being an idiot!!...(not sure that makes sense?)
I tried some of these loads in my cool newly aquired Browning 1886 carbine...and they've proved ridiculously fun in it too!!
So then I decided to throw the old factory back into .45-70 production. I have 21 bullets left from last spring's production....I fix up some Star Line brass and load-em up.
Out of bullets...must cast more. I get my gear set up and check-out my Lee mold...pot heating up...all good.
That's when I decided to add more alloy into the pot...a rather crudely smelted chunk of wheel-weight alloy with some plumbing-pipe blended in. Must have been wet at some point and retained some moisture in a crevice..'cause as soon as it hit the pot and heated-up...it was like a 'mini depthcharge' went off in the lead-pot!! "CRACK"...molten lead alloy splooshed at least two and a half feet up the garage wall...all over my little bench...and on ME!!
Fortunately...I was wearing a heavy insulated button-up shirt over a T-shirt and a pair of safety glasses...got a couple 'hot-spots'...but no burns. I was lucky...wasn't going to wear safety glasses...but thought "what the heck?"...The glasses were right there on the table so I put them on. They stopped some lead for sure!!
I added more alloy with the pot off and part-cooled after that...then plugged it in and got away from it!!
Anyhow...other than that casting was a struggle...my pot mysteriously quit regulating temperature...and gradually gets too hot....Lee 405gr hollow-base mold I've used twice is going to have to have some work on the sprue-plate and a work-over.
I did cast enough good bullets to get my .45-70 'cowboy load' production rolling for a bit though.
No moral to the story other than safety pays and might save you some grief if your being an idiot!!...(not sure that makes sense?)