So where did you start?

[_4_]

I'm a new reloader and already want to start casting for my 45ACP and 9mm Luger. I've just been reading and reading, but would like to get some personal opinions.

Where did you guys all start? Equipment? Molds?

What size mold would I need for 230gr 45ACP and 9mm Luger?

[drklynoon]

I started on my fathers equipment, a LEE 10 pound pot and a LEE 4 pound dip pot. At the time I casted for my .32 H&R and .45 ACP. I used LEE molds and a Lyman lubresizer. When I purchased my own equipment I bought a Lyman master casting kit. I also bought Lyman molds for .45 colt and another .32 mold. I have since purchased many molds and still only have a dip pot and am ok with that. Me and the ol' man have combined forces again so I use his bottom pour more than my own pot but my molds get a heck of a workout.

[ReloaderFred]

I started casting in 1968 with a small cast iron pot hung from a wire hanger, and a propane torch under it for heat. I bought one of the Lyman ladles and a Lyman single cavity mold for my .38's. I bought a Lyman lubesizer and sizing die and off I went.

These days, I've got two bottom pour pots that I hardly ever use, with about 100 molds for them. However, most of my casting now is done with my Magma Master Caster machine, with a little over 30 molds for it. I've had awhile to collect equipment and now I'm pretty much where I want to be. Oh, and I own 5 Star lubesizers and a couple dozen sizing dies for them, plus the original Lyman, an RCBS and two Saeco lubesizers.

It gets kind of addicting..........

Hope this helps.

Fred

[_4_]

Wow, sounds like you own quite a bit and have the experience to back it up. Thanks for the replies.

I think I am going to start small and affordable, then see where that takes me.

I just have a feeling that I will get to a point where I have plenty of bullets cast and kind of lose the hobby. Have you had anything like this happen?

[MaxJon]

No I have to keep casting, cos I keep shooting them off! Casting is a hobby in itself.

[farmerjim]

I started in the 60s. In my Dad's carport. 4 qt cast iron pot, white gas burner, single cavity lyman mold, $0.05 a pound WW, $ 0.30 a pound pure lead to mix with it. When smelting the WW you could smell arsenic all around the carport. It gave me bad headaches every time I smelted. Soon learned that a single cavity mold was too slow so went to all 4 cavity. I had to stop after I got out of school and went to work. Just started back. I still have all the old equipment and supplies and they are still good. Things have changed in 45 years, but not too much.

[Adk Mike]

1982 after buying a couple big handguns. Lots of cheap shooting over the years. The last few years its been casting mostly for my 30-06. Winter weekends in my shop casting is a very relaxing time.

[KCcactus]

I started casting in the 90's with a Lee 10 lb bottom pour pot and a couple of used 2 cavity molds. Then, I found Lee 6 cavity molds. Then, I found this site and the custom mold makers. I really like my Mihec hollow point and HBWC molds, but I still use my Lee 6 cavity molds. I tumble lube and size when necessary with a Lee sizer.

If I was starting now, I would start with the Lee 20 lb bottom pour pot and Lee 6 cavity molds. The 10lb one empties too fast with a 200+gr 6 cavity mold. That will give you a fairly low cost set-up that can produce a lot of good bullets in less time than you would expect. They have a few different weights and styles that would work for 45 acp and 9mm. I've been using their 358-105-swc sized to .356 for 9mm. It works well in my XD. I also use it unsized in 38 spl for a plinking load. My Lee 45 mold is an older discontinued 190gr. one. They have several current options in the 200-230 gr range for 45. Start slow and add new toys when you need them.

[_4_]

I found the 6 cav mold I wanted in stock on Midway last night, so with things being the way they are I jumped on it. 4522301RN I believe. I'm going lead hunting this morning. Thanks for all the replies!

[Wayne Smith]

I started casting for a 40-70BN with the help of some of the guys on Shooters.com. I started with an old kitchen 2qt pot that I promptly burned the aluminum heat spreader off the bottom! I still use it, it is a good steel pot. I had my dad's old Coleman 2 burner propane stove and bought a Lyman ladle. Went to a local metal dealer and bought some lead. Shot pure lead and 1/20 mix out of that rifle. Eventually I got the Lyman cast iron pot. Still use that and the steel pot, pure in the steel pot, ww's and other mixes in the Lyman pot. That stove eventually kicked the can and I now have a new Coleman one burner camp stove with a very broad base.

I think I started casting in '02 or '03. I still ladle pour everything, I've never had a bottom pour pot. I invested in some ingot molds so I can keep track of various alloy mixes. I have two lube sizers, one for BP/pistol lube and one for smokeless. I cast from .25 caliber to .50 caliber.

[avogunner]

Mold recommendation for 45acp? I started with a Lee 452-228-1R (actually my first boolit mold) around 1986 or 7, and then shortly after a Lee 452-200-SWC. Both have provided 1000's of boolits since and are still going strong. For value, Lee molds are tough to beat. I can't say for 9mm though, that's one caliber I dont' cast for.

[Patrick L]

I started casting in 1989, after I bought my first CF handgun. That was right after Lee introduced their micro band tumble lube bullet designs, and in my opinion that revolutionized bullet casting, especially for beginners. I would recommend that approach for anyone who wants to try casting to see if its for them. No need for a lubesizer yet, a 2 cavity mold is downright cheap, and you can scrounge up almost everything else you need. You may want/need to buy something to melt lead with depending on your situation. Some people find that this satisfies their needs, or you can expand and upgrade to your hearts content.

[geargnasher]

20 years ago I started with, and continued to use for years, a gravy spoon and iron saucepan on a propane burner. I had a two-cavity Lyman mould a friend gave me and a couple of Lee two-cavity moulds I bought new. I cast, lubed, loaded, and shot many 5-gallon buckets of wheel weights this way with a .38 revolver an .30-30 levergun.

About five years ago I bought an electric, bottom-pour furnace and rigged a PID temperature control and now mostly use brass moulds costing hundreds, but not because it makes my .38 shoot any better now than it did back then. This can be as inexpensive and simple or as complex and expensive as you want to make it, it depends on the ultimate quality, quantity, and convenience you want.

Gear

[rbuck351]

I started a little too simple and I paid for my mistakes. I bought a Lyman 2cav mold and handles for my 38spl and a stick of bullet lube. I tried using a tin can for a lead pot but the seam came apart with 3 or 4 lbs of lead in it on top of moms electric stove. An older guy that I worked with gave me a cast iron lead pot which helped a lot. So I cast up a bunch of boolits and by hand smeared the lube grooves with the lube stick. Then I load them but most won't go in the cyls of my revolver. I didn't know you are supposed to size them. So back to the press and size the loaded rounds again. I used that method for a year or two before I found out about lube sizers. So, home comes a Lyman 450 and I'm off to a wonderful addiction. Now 40+ molds later, two Lee drip-matics, two visits from the tinsel fairy, two more lube sizers, a bunch of home made GC tools and sizer dies and a mini lathe and drill press to make them and a half ton or so of lead and a home made lead hardness tester and I'm just saving money like crazy.
One should probably get a book on bullet casting before starting. Never mind, forget the book, just get a mold a dipper a tin can and a stick of lube. The rest will take care of itself. Well, maybe you should get a face shield and a set of good gloves. Melted lead is really hot.

[Friends call me Pac]

I started about 6 days ago so you may very well have more experience than I. I'm casting for a .45 acp I'm using a Lee 452 two bullet mold. I already had a 4 lb lee electric pot & ladle that I use for casting fishing lures. I picked up half a 5 gallon bucket of wheel eights and made ingots out of them by melting in a old pot on my coleman stove. I have been casting lures so long that bullet molding was pretty easy for me. I made up some 45-45-10 tumble lube and size with a lee sizer. So far so good. They go bang and hit the target. I'm pretty stoked.

[Racenviper]

I started last fall. I'm collecting the stuff, and reading the forum here everyday. I have not casted a single boolit yet, but getting close.

[MaxJon]

Warning its addictive!

[DxieLandMan]

Started reloading deer rounds for .30-06 about 10 years ago. Did that because it was, and still is, way cheaper than buying rounds. Started reloading 9mm and .38/.357 2 years ago. Started casting my own rounds last year.

[texassako]

I started casting about as simple as you can get. Melt and pour straight from an inexpensive Hot Pot II and my first mold was a Lee 2 cavity tumble lube mold for my .357 shot as cast tumbled in thinned LLA. The little Hot Pot works so well I have been spending my money on molds and Lee sizing dies instead of a bigger pot, but holding 4 pounds of lead in a cast pot will give the forearm a bit of a workout if I cast for a long time. My reloading setup started about the same with a Lee single stage press kit and .38/.357 carbide dies.