How we cast and why

[BobSanders]

Hey! My dad and I are new to casting and reloading. I wanted to give everyone here a rundown of our operation and solicit comments and suggestions to improve.

First, we cast to save money, secondly, my dad enjoys it. Myself, dad, and two teen sons shoot USPSA, with three SA XDm .40 4.5" pistols, and one XD Tactical 5". We run minor loads, with 3 gr regular Clays, under cast Lee tumble lube bullets, 1.125 OAL. All guns run a reduced weight recoil spring, and run well.

Now, for our setup. We had a bit of lead. Mostly fishing sinkers dad cast years ago, some lead solder, pipe, battery posts, and such. I wouldn't let dad use the battery plates. Basically, dad melts and fluxes in a pot over propane and casts ingots. I have him wear a 3M half mask with organic vapor filters during this. Unless he sneaks and does it when I'm at work. He is 77, and I figure he really doesn't need the exposure. Then, into a Lee electric pot, more flux, and into the 6 cavity Lee mold. Dad air cools, but I think water would be better. Then, tumble lube with Lee Alox, size, and another dose of lube. I think the lube is too much. Next batch we are going to try the 45-45-10 recipe I read about here.

We have no knowledge of hardness, (although I know what it means), and I'm not really sure if I would recognize barrel leading. Only shot about 1000 rounds so far, but summer is coming, and expect to shoot 10 times that. Tried Tightgroup, and it was like shooting smoke bombs. Clays is much better for us. Right now, I get a 3 inch group at 10 yards offhand, shooting 16 rounds pretty quickly.

That's about it! Any comments!

Thanks,
B

[ultramag]

I'm not really experienced enough to critique others methods IMO, but I will say if you had a leading problem you'd realize it if you clean and look into your barrels at all.

[500MAG]

If the boolit Is too soft the pressure could deform the boolit and you would probably notice a difference in your groupings. Softness generally does not effect leading unless the pressures are high. Sizing and lube do. Leading in the throat suggests size issues while leading towards the muzzle end of the barrel would be caused by lube breakdown. Oh, I forgot to add, welcome to the addiction.

[KYCaster]

Welcome to the madness Bob.

Good call on the battery plates.......they're bad news. Look at the stickies in the alloy section, there's a thread that explains the issues.

Why do you think water quench will be better? Do you have any problems with the air cooled boolits? WQ can be useful, but AFAIC, for most applications it just adds unnecessary steps to the process.

Considering the amount of ammo you intend to load, I'd seriously consider getting a Star lube/sizer. For large volume sizing it's faster than tumble lube and I like the end result much better. The initial cost may turn you off but I think you'll be happy in the long run.

Jerry

[10mmShooter]

Welcome Bob,

You will enjoy casting and reloading take your time read and study well until you have full understanding of each concept....p.s reloading doesnt really save you money, it allows you to shoot MORE for the $$ you spend...meaning you can buy commercail .40 ammo at $35 a box of 50 rounds or reload and cast your own and shoot 350 rounds for the same $35.

[williamwaco]

Pix of barrel leading here:

http://reloadingtips.com/pages/index-leading_problems.htm

Hardness.


Hardness is overrated.

I like .40 and .45ACP bullets at around 10 to 12BNH

Take a piece of your lead pipe and scratch it with the sharp edge a flat bladed screw driver. It is BNH 5 or 6
Do the same with your Battery posts. They are BNH 10 and make excellent bullets "as is". Battery posts are one of my favorite alloys.

If you can find some clip on wheel weights, scratch them, they are around BNH 12 to 14.
Note stick on wheel weights are pure lead.

After you get familiar with the feel of the tool on the lead and the depth of the scratch, you have everything you need .

If you have an unknown alloy, if it is softer than the battery posts, it may be too soft. If it is harder than wheel weights, it is definitely too hard.