dverna
04-01-2013, 12:28 PM
All of us started as you did. Most of us started decades ago. This can be both good and bad. Having 20 years of experience is much different than having one years experience 20 times over. The challenge you will face is knowing who to listen to and working out the facts/truth from old wives tales and pure BS.
There are many extremely talented people on this site. If you spend a month or two reading the stickies and threads that pertain to your casting endeavor you will be rewarded in two ways. First you will learn a lot about casting and, more importantly, you will begin to notice the guys who have real knowledge. They are the diamonds.
You have it easy compared to what most of experienced. We had no internet and learned this hobby "hands on". We read books and magazines and a few of us were lucky (or unlucky - see above) enough to have a mentor. With this site, you will get instant gratification. Answers to your queries will appear in hours if not minutes. But "stupid" questions get old quick. Reading the stickies (and the resources listed at the end of this post) avoids "annoying" questions that have been answered hundreds of times and you will get more and better help.
I have some opinions on equipment. Buy the best you can afford. I am NOT an expert so these are only my opinions. FYI, I had to start casting to afford to shoot but I had a school teacher who helped me. He was Bullseye shooter and my mentor. I started with a Lyman pot, Star lubrisizer, an H&G 10 cavity mold, a single cavity Lyman .30 cal mold - and 500 lbs of Linotype. These purchases nearly wiped out my savings. The only equipment I no longer own (35+ years later) is the H&G mold that, like a dufus, I sold when I stopped shooting BE and money got tight. Good equipment will last your life time and you have the pleasure of using it long after the few dollars saved are wasted on Big Macs. I could sell the Star for nearly 3x what I paid for it.
Molds - "Leementing" a mold a not something a new caster should spend their time doing unless saving money is absolutely necessary. Without a good mold, you will experience frustration - we all want that instant gratification. IMO Lyman/RCBS/Saeco molds are easier to learn with. They hold heat better and you will not have a consistent rhythm when you first start casting. Many people have good luck out of the gate with a Lee mold but the Lee's are more finicky. Keep in mind that what works for someone with a lot of experience may not be the best option for your first "first date". Be even more hesitant of some who had limited experience (I only have Lee's and they are GREAT!!!!) Even "OK" sex is better than no sex - if you don't know better.
Pots. I have only used ladle pouring so no comment. Invest in a thermometer. Temperature is a controllable variable - DO IT!
Sizing/Lubrication - All the systems work. Some are faster/easier. If using hard lubes, you will need a heater but I would not start there anyway.
Alloy - This will get me into hot water. DO NOT START with wheel weights. We have Zinc ones, Clip on (COWW) ones, and Stick on ones and who knows what other "junk" the manufacturers are adding to cut costs and cheapen the alloy. When you get some experience you can deal with sorting WW and hopefully avoid corrupting your alloy but even 'experienced' casters have had a *****. In fact, do not start with any "scrap", reclaim or Ebay stuff. My advice is to purchase a known alloy from someone like Rotometals (may be best supplier for small quantities) or Mayco (great prices on large quantities - I just purchased 2000 lbs from them). You will not go wrong with Lyman#2 or "hardball" alloy. Bear in mind I only shoot a couple of revolvers, mostly semi-auto pistols; and bolt action and lever action rifles for target shooting and fun. It will not be the best alloy if you have chamber issues in a revolver or want a hunting bullet. The objective is to produce excellent usable bullets as soon as possible with as little frustration as possible. Once you get addicted, you can play with alloy; and, when you fail, know it is not YOU! You will save a lot of money even with purchased alloy and have a better chance of success! With experience, you can save even more with "scrap" - just remember it is "scrap" for a reason.
Lastly, on alloy, the best scrap I ever used was range lead from our college indoor range. We were restricted to .22's and lead only CF. I used it to cut my Linotype and save money for "practice" loads. When you factor in the cost of WW, etc, do not forget to factor in the cost of fuel to find and retrieve your "treasure" and the 12 packs of Bud you need to bribe the tire shops. Having a nice looking wife or gf ask for WW can eliminate the bribe. In my case, there was not enough savings to offset the benefit of a known alloy being delivered to my door for $1.80/lb. Dealing with sorting through buckets of stuff with "chew"/spit/nails/etc and then smelting/alloying it wasn't worth it for me. YMMV
Where to start. By this I mean the bullet/gun. KISS. The .38 and .45 ACP have had more lead downrange for good reason. If you cannot cast a good load for them, you should find another hobby. One of the reasons they work well in cast is that they are low pressure rounds and also have a low velocity. You would not let your child start driving by getting them behind the wheel of a Corvette. Leave the high pressure, high velocity rounds for later. You will get there. If you must start with a .40 or .357 Sig etc - start with light loads
If you want to start with a rifle load, one of the best is the .30/30 another is the .35 Remington - they have smaller case capacity, many good bullet molds, and you can match commercial performance with cast. Stay with a .30 cal or larger. The alloys above are good to about 2200 fps with the right lube/bullet/sizing/load. But start with something in the 12-1400 fps range and work your way up. Have fun. Experience the joy of success and learning a new skill! I have seen people who want to start the journey by casting for a 5.56 AR15 (because they woke up one morning and saw ammo had doubled in price - if they could find it). That is the PHD of casting. It can be done, but it is likely a long and twisted road for a beginner. A journey that may end before they spend the night at the Holiday Inn Express.
Success breeds success. Wishing you good casting and FUN!!!!
Here are two essential reads:
http://www.lasc.us/IndexBrennan.htm
http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm
Don
There are many extremely talented people on this site. If you spend a month or two reading the stickies and threads that pertain to your casting endeavor you will be rewarded in two ways. First you will learn a lot about casting and, more importantly, you will begin to notice the guys who have real knowledge. They are the diamonds.
You have it easy compared to what most of experienced. We had no internet and learned this hobby "hands on". We read books and magazines and a few of us were lucky (or unlucky - see above) enough to have a mentor. With this site, you will get instant gratification. Answers to your queries will appear in hours if not minutes. But "stupid" questions get old quick. Reading the stickies (and the resources listed at the end of this post) avoids "annoying" questions that have been answered hundreds of times and you will get more and better help.
I have some opinions on equipment. Buy the best you can afford. I am NOT an expert so these are only my opinions. FYI, I had to start casting to afford to shoot but I had a school teacher who helped me. He was Bullseye shooter and my mentor. I started with a Lyman pot, Star lubrisizer, an H&G 10 cavity mold, a single cavity Lyman .30 cal mold - and 500 lbs of Linotype. These purchases nearly wiped out my savings. The only equipment I no longer own (35+ years later) is the H&G mold that, like a dufus, I sold when I stopped shooting BE and money got tight. Good equipment will last your life time and you have the pleasure of using it long after the few dollars saved are wasted on Big Macs. I could sell the Star for nearly 3x what I paid for it.
Molds - "Leementing" a mold a not something a new caster should spend their time doing unless saving money is absolutely necessary. Without a good mold, you will experience frustration - we all want that instant gratification. IMO Lyman/RCBS/Saeco molds are easier to learn with. They hold heat better and you will not have a consistent rhythm when you first start casting. Many people have good luck out of the gate with a Lee mold but the Lee's are more finicky. Keep in mind that what works for someone with a lot of experience may not be the best option for your first "first date". Be even more hesitant of some who had limited experience (I only have Lee's and they are GREAT!!!!) Even "OK" sex is better than no sex - if you don't know better.
Pots. I have only used ladle pouring so no comment. Invest in a thermometer. Temperature is a controllable variable - DO IT!
Sizing/Lubrication - All the systems work. Some are faster/easier. If using hard lubes, you will need a heater but I would not start there anyway.
Alloy - This will get me into hot water. DO NOT START with wheel weights. We have Zinc ones, Clip on (COWW) ones, and Stick on ones and who knows what other "junk" the manufacturers are adding to cut costs and cheapen the alloy. When you get some experience you can deal with sorting WW and hopefully avoid corrupting your alloy but even 'experienced' casters have had a *****. In fact, do not start with any "scrap", reclaim or Ebay stuff. My advice is to purchase a known alloy from someone like Rotometals (may be best supplier for small quantities) or Mayco (great prices on large quantities - I just purchased 2000 lbs from them). You will not go wrong with Lyman#2 or "hardball" alloy. Bear in mind I only shoot a couple of revolvers, mostly semi-auto pistols; and bolt action and lever action rifles for target shooting and fun. It will not be the best alloy if you have chamber issues in a revolver or want a hunting bullet. The objective is to produce excellent usable bullets as soon as possible with as little frustration as possible. Once you get addicted, you can play with alloy; and, when you fail, know it is not YOU! You will save a lot of money even with purchased alloy and have a better chance of success! With experience, you can save even more with "scrap" - just remember it is "scrap" for a reason.
Lastly, on alloy, the best scrap I ever used was range lead from our college indoor range. We were restricted to .22's and lead only CF. I used it to cut my Linotype and save money for "practice" loads. When you factor in the cost of WW, etc, do not forget to factor in the cost of fuel to find and retrieve your "treasure" and the 12 packs of Bud you need to bribe the tire shops. Having a nice looking wife or gf ask for WW can eliminate the bribe. In my case, there was not enough savings to offset the benefit of a known alloy being delivered to my door for $1.80/lb. Dealing with sorting through buckets of stuff with "chew"/spit/nails/etc and then smelting/alloying it wasn't worth it for me. YMMV
Where to start. By this I mean the bullet/gun. KISS. The .38 and .45 ACP have had more lead downrange for good reason. If you cannot cast a good load for them, you should find another hobby. One of the reasons they work well in cast is that they are low pressure rounds and also have a low velocity. You would not let your child start driving by getting them behind the wheel of a Corvette. Leave the high pressure, high velocity rounds for later. You will get there. If you must start with a .40 or .357 Sig etc - start with light loads
If you want to start with a rifle load, one of the best is the .30/30 another is the .35 Remington - they have smaller case capacity, many good bullet molds, and you can match commercial performance with cast. Stay with a .30 cal or larger. The alloys above are good to about 2200 fps with the right lube/bullet/sizing/load. But start with something in the 12-1400 fps range and work your way up. Have fun. Experience the joy of success and learning a new skill! I have seen people who want to start the journey by casting for a 5.56 AR15 (because they woke up one morning and saw ammo had doubled in price - if they could find it). That is the PHD of casting. It can be done, but it is likely a long and twisted road for a beginner. A journey that may end before they spend the night at the Holiday Inn Express.
Success breeds success. Wishing you good casting and FUN!!!!
Here are two essential reads:
http://www.lasc.us/IndexBrennan.htm
http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm
Don