How fast can you cast?

[Mach_Cat]

As I will be looking for a boolit mold for 45LC. How fast can you cast with a 2 cavity, 4 cavity mold? (Bullets per hour).
I have a 10 pound bottom pour pot. Need to understand speed vs cost of mold.
I have a H&G 51BB for 357 8 cavity that I have not used. Just trying get up to speed on all this. 45acp, 357 and 45lc are all that I am planning on casting. Shoot more 45lc than the others as that is my primary cowboy action cartridge.

Thanks Ed

[220]

With 6 cavity moulds of 150gr or so I can empty my 20lb pot in under 15min.
Biggest holdup to speed is the need to wait for the pot to remelt, multiple pots and moulds seem to be the answer if you want to speed cast.

[kweidner]

I wish I could cast that fast. Please do tell your secret. That's OVER 3200 an hour and faster than a Magma. It takes me 1 hour and 30 minutes to cast 1000 9mm in 134 grain dropping 5 and that is as fast as the mold will allow.

[KYShooter73]

I have never timed myself, and only have experience with aluminum molds, but the limiting factor for me is overheating my mold. Whether it is a 2 cavity or 6 cavity, after about fifteen rapid pours (when my sprue doesn't harden until a 8 count or so), I have to lay the mold down and let it cool for two or three minutes. It may be ignorance on my part, but I have always been afraid of damaging my mold by laying it on a wet rag or something to cool it more quickly.

[220]

I wish I could cast that fast. Please do tell your secret. That's OVER 3200 an hour and faster than a Magma. It takes me 1 hour and 30 minutes to cast 1000 9mm in 134 grain dropping 5 and that is as fast as the mold will allow.

Just use multiple moulds, using 6 cavity moulds 3 pours per minute will give you over 1000, 4 almost 1500 per hour.
Depending on weight etc a 20lb pot gives me 3-400 when I leave a few pounds in the pot to speed up the next melt and don't return sprues to the pot while I'm casting.

[ffries61]

I have never timed myself, and only have experience with aluminum molds, but the limiting factor for me is overheating my mold. Whether it is a 2 cavity or 6 cavity, after about fifteen rapid pours (when my sprue doesn't harden until a 8 count or so), I have to lay the mold down and let it cool for two or three minutes. It may be ignorance on my part, but I have always been afraid of damaging my mold by laying it on a wet rag or something to cool it more quickly.

When I'm running my 5 core Alum. 45 mold I have a small fan running and between each pour I just hold the open mold in front of the fan for a few seconds (varies with ambient temp) but while I do this I give the boolits I just dropped a quick inspection and drop the sprue back in the pot, this lets me keep a rhythm going, I can do about 800 an hr running a single mold.

Fred

[Hickok]

Depends on how good the fish are biting!!!:veryconfu

Sorry, i just couldn't resist!

Depends on the outside temp for me. In the hot days of summer, casting goes slow because molds heat up and stay that way longer. In the cool of winter, out on my enclosed porch, I can cast fast, as mold temp stays down from over heating. I really like to cast in the winter months, and shoot in the summer months.

[Bullshop]

The pace I shoot for is 4 casts per minute. I will adjust pot temp and cooling fans if any to achieve that cadence. This no matter the number of cavities in the mold. I have found that staying as close to this pace as the conditions will allow produces the best quality of boolits for me.

[Beesdad]

I run 3 to 4 six cavity molds and two 20 lb. pots at once. This is a two person job... One filling the mold and the other emptying and preparing the mold for refill. The only problem with this method is that the two pots can not keep up.

Produced 5000 + ( 100 lbs. finished weight ) in 4 hours....

[bangerjim]

Whatever speed that makes perfect boolits on every drop. I do not watch the clock or set a timer on my iPhone while casting. When I am done, I am done, and have a pile of perfect boolits.

Time stands still when I am casting, as my concentration is on the process......not the clock.

banger

[bobthenailer]

For me at least ! with my methods and using only one mould at a time, it also depends on how much the boolets weigh,those over 200 gr take a little longer to harden enough to cut the sprues.
2 cavity- 300 to 500 per hour
3 cavity- 400 to 500 per hour these moulds are 45 cal and weight between 260 and 300 gr
4 cavity- 600 to 800 per hour
8 cavity- 1,200 to 1,400 per hour
with less than 1.0% rejects

[Garyshome]

I use multiple pots, #20 & #10 lee bottom pour. Doubled my casting speed. Now other things slow me down rather then waiting for alloy to reach temp [i can't cast as fast as the pots can melt]. Also Depends on the outside conditions. Last time I cast I cast about 13,000, enough to last for a little while, they were all pistol.

[357maximum]

I shoot mostly rifles and single shot long barrelled "pistols".....How fast? is not the right question for me. How accurate/consistent/good? is the correct question......for me anyway. I frequently run two twin cavities at a time, but it is not for "speed casting" reasons it is for timing/quality reasons that enhance my internal metranome. As long as both moulds are similar in alloy usage it works pretty good FOR ME.

[LAH]

If you are just beginning you will probably dump a 2 cavity 45 caliber mold 3 times a minute & a 4 cavity twice if you are running only one mold. If you are set on having only one mold I suggest you read & follow the BruceB method which you can find on this board. And if you are planning on shooting 300 rounds or so a week I'd suggest you go with a 4 cavity mold.

I use a 40 pound Magma pot & with 3 or 4 four cavity molds, depending on the bullet, I can cast 20 bullets per minute but I can't maintain that place for 1200 per hour. I'm normally just over a 1000.

[dragon813gt]

I don't really care about the output. If I did I would have something along the lines of a master caster at a minimum. It would be automated if I wanted a lot. I have some molds that are forgiving and rain bullets across a wide temperature spectrum. I also have finicky molds that have a narrow temp band that slow things down some. At the end of the day, the less I throw back in the pot the better because that's less strain on my body. What's the point if casting 1k per hour if you throw half of them back?

[BruceB]

Google "BruceB speedcasting" and see what comes up.

NO hotplate, no oven, no multiple moulds, no waiting for pot to melt.... just steady production due to organization.

400-500 per hour with ONE 2-cavity mould, 800-1000 per hour with four cavities. It works, and the bullets are GOOD.

[country gent]

Ill second 357s thoughts. I cast for mostly rifles in the 400- 500+ grain range for shooting out to 500 yds. to me consistency and accuracy are the issues. I use single cavity molds and cast very deliberatly. While my numbersarnt close to above my last batch of 40 cal 400 grns ( rouchly 300 bullets) only had 2 1/2 grns varience from high to lowest. I ladles cast from a bigger pot and make sure every step is done exactly the same each time. I take the time to pour a full ladle everytime keeping the sprue and base hot as long as possible.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I run 3 lead furnaces at once. Two older Lee 4-20's are on a shelf higher than the RCBS furnace. They do the premelt and they only get ingots that have been placed on the edges first to heat up some and they then go into the pots. I have a piece of angle iron about 28" long which I use to run molten alloy down to the RCBS furnace when the level drops below 1/3 full. I do not remelt my sprues until the next day as they gather water from the 5 gallon bucket into which I drop my cast boolits. Some always find a way to contaminate my sprues and I do not like a visit from the Tinsel Fairy. I spread out the sprues on newspaper on a flat surface and let them dry out for a few days. Then they get thrown into my smelter at a later date.

By using the two Lee's I can feed the RCBS Pro Melter and I seldom if ever run out of alloy to cast. I use the Bruce B method to keep the mold temperature under control. I know this because I have the NOE temperature probe on pretty much all my molds and I use a PID controller on the RCBS furnace.

Between the 3 power supply lines for the 3 lead furnaces, lines for the PID and the NOE mold thermometers, 3 furnaces, sprue box, plate with wet rag, the 5 gallon bucket of water, pile of ingots ready for sacrifice, face shield, leather apron and myself this casting station is not pretty. However it is quite functional.

I find a rhythmic pace and I keep to it. Between casting, removing sprues, removing boolits from the mold, keeping an eye on the alloy level on the RCBS, keeping the Lee's fed from my ready supply of ingots, keeping fresh ingots placed on the edge of the Lee's, keeping an eye on the furnace PID temperature, keeping an eye on the mold temperature and casting fresh boolits I really do not have the time nor the inclination to keep a boolit count at all. When my supply of ingots run out or I become too fatigued to continue is when I quit or go out to the porch to get more ingots to continue. Sometimes when I am really on a roll I have to stop to dump out the 5 gallon bucket or fill another with water for a 2nd.

I probably could go faster if I would just depend on the PID and the NOE devices to let me know when the temps are out of parameters but I am still on a learning curve with these devices and I seem to have to look at them as part of the cycle.

I cast a lot of 9MM and .45's to feed my hungry handguns and I cannot say enough good about Mihec's wonderful molds.

[454PB]

I have never timed myself, and only have experience with aluminum molds, but the limiting factor for me is overheating my mold. Whether it is a 2 cavity or 6 cavity, after about fifteen rapid pours (when my sprue doesn't harden until a 8 count or so), I have to lay the mold down and let it cool for two or three minutes. It may be ignorance on my part, but I have always been afraid of damaging my mold by laying it on a wet rag or something to cool it more quickly.

Not to worry, I've been controlling mould temperature by touching the filled mould to a cloth or sponge in a cake pan for many years and I've never damaged a mould. This works with both aluminum and steel moulds. Cooling only takes a few seconds, depending on how frequently it has to be done.

[HABCAN]

LEE 10# bottom pour + LEE 2-cav. mold = 200 boolits/hour. 6-cav = 500/hour. Sprues go back in the pot AFTER coming off the mold. Every ~40 boolits I add another ingot. Maybe I'm slow. So what?

[angus6]

2200 an hour all day long

[Leadmelter]

I tried the two mold method but found it tired me out more.
I have less time to cast, so I get up in the morning and turn everything on( pot and hot plate) and put the mold on the hot plate.
I eat my breakfast and have my coffee. In about 30-40 minutes, I put on my apron and casting gloves, flux and have at it for about 90-120 minutes. I listen to the radio to keep track of time and help with my cadence.
Using this method and depending on the mold, I can to 9-12lbs of lead in under two hours.
I refill the pot and have it ready for the next session.
I work PM (230-11)so over doing it is not an option.
Leadmelter
MI

[Beau Cassidy]

I used to try rotating molds but it slowed me down. I pic one mold to use and have a small pan to the left of the Magma with water and a rag in it. On a good day when everything is going my way I can cycle a 4 cavity mold 2 times a minute or more.

Pour.
Let the Spru get a slight hardness to it.
Flip the mold over and touch the wet towel.
Cut the spru.
Dump.
Repeat.

I like to keep my cell phone on rdio with the Bose headphones on while casting. Makes for a nice session.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Mach Cat,

Well, I'll be the "other guy" on this issue and start right off saying that I don't use a bottom pour pot and yes I have tried them.

For one reason when I am casting handgun bullets, I'd need at least 3 pots electric pot to keep up.

I like to team cast for handguns, and the two of us will be running 4 - 5 molds most with 4 - 6 cavities.

Using an old Coleman gas stove and a lead pot that holds 40 - 45lbs of alloy, I have enough heat to continually add my sprews back to the pot as well as add ingots as needed, all while maintaining casting temp.

When I am casting for my 45/70, the mold for the 465gr bullets is a 4 cavity and even though I will be casting solo, that mold still goes through a lot of alloy.

So, speed of casting depends on the process, and the need. When Team casting for the handguns, 2 - 3 hours makes a lot of bullets and requires LOTS of alloy.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[MaLar]

I too cast with a dipper, used a bottom pour just didn't work for me casting for BPRCS.
I use a turkey fryer and two molds. I have a three quart cast iron pot and I can cast quit fast with this setup.
I use a refrigerant bottle bottom to smelt my large quantities of alloy in and work from that.

LaMar

[Mach_Cat]

Thanks for all input here!
Sounds like a 4 cavity is the way to go but will see what the budget allows.

[mpbarry1]

Im slow, it takes me 45 minutes to empty a 20 lb pot. Which is just fine w me. :) just fast enough to fill out the bases.

[jmorris]

I can cast by hand faster than my machine but at the end of the day it always wins. Tortoise and the hair I guess.

[Teddy (punchie)]

All in the molds. Some are easy drop some are not. Easy mold cast every 8-10 seconds, only

but 3%-5% culls. Some are a pain. The 224 are moody some you can fly, some well allot of

culls. One brass until I got it seasoned, was 80-90% culls, now only about 10%.

Some four cavity steel are very nice. Get up to temp and fly, 6-7 castings a minute over 1000 (1400) per hour.
How much shooting are you going to do?

At stove its too hot and I don't shoot allot. Never have, always came natural to me, no need to

shoot up the range. Girls are looking forward to going soon. Start on 410 and 22's. Daddy

thinking ahead, days of not going the range maybe over if they like it. I don't let them around

the Hot alloy at all!! and I make them wash three time just because.

[Rocket Man]

I made and sold 10 cavity molds from 1985 to 1991. I was making $1000 profit every day. After having no time off and no vacation for 6 years I locked the door and went on vacation for a month. I never could get back onto working my butt off like that again so I retired. With my 10 cavity bullet molds I can cast 3200 bullets per hour doing 9mm 125 gr RN BB by hand. Larger bullets take longer to full and cool, I can do 2400 45acp 230 gr RN BB per hour by hand. If you can find a 10 cavity bullet mold with the name, Weaver Mold Co on the side, that is mine. I only stamped my name on my molds the last 2 years I was in business. I don't make molds anymore but I still have all the tooling. I can have molds made at any machine shop any time I want. I was making all the popular bullets in all the popular styles.

[shoot-n-lead]

I made and sold 10 cavity molds from 1985 to 1991. I was making $1000 profit every day. After having no time off and no vacation for 6 years I locked the door and went on vacation for a month. I never could get back onto working my *** off like that again so I retired. With my 10 cavity bullet molds I can cast 3200 bullets per hour doing 9mm 125 gr bb by hand. Larger bullets take longer to full and cool, I can do 2400 45acp 230 gr bb per hour by hand. If you can find a 10 cavity bullet mold with the name, Weaver Mold Co on the side, that is mine. I only stamped my name on my molds the last 2 years I was in business. I don't make molds anymore but I still have all the tooling. I can have molds made at any machine shop. I was making all the popular bullets in all the popular styles.

I would like to see the 10 cavity molds as I have never seen one.

Can you post a couple of pics of one?

[GLL]

Rocket Man:

I would also enjoy seeing photos of your 10-cavity molds !

Jerry