Dang Y'allz.. now I'm hooked!

[Sticky]

Well, first I have to say thanks for all the sharing of valuable information here on Castboolits. It has been an invaluable resource for me as I learn the process of makin my own projectiles. I have been shooting since I was a kid and love to reload, but never ventured into the realm of casting. Politics as they are, it's time to get off my **** and make some boolits.

I have studied much here and elsewhere and successfully cast my first COWWs into ingots over the past couple of days and today I decided it was time (since the temps have been in the 50's for a few days and I could use the garage without freezing) to break out my recently acquired Lee TL309-230-5R and make me some boolits for loading subsonic 300blackouts. I have worked up loads for the commercial 220gr pwords with good success, so after studying my notes (thank GOD for pc's and the copy/paste function! LOL), I snatched up some corn cob ingots, my modified Lee 420 pot, my Lee molds, some wax, said a few prayers and headed out to the garage.

I have also acquired a Mihec 452200 mold that came with some sprue lube, so I warmed the Lee mold on my pot as I melted my first handful of ingots, used a Q-tip to carefully lube most (yep, I missed a few spots as I was soon to learn) of the critical areas of the out of the box Lee mold, took my trusty bic and smoked the mold well and let it finish heating as I melted my ingots. Added a little tin to the mix, stirred well and removed a bit of dross, then added some canning wax and let er flame up. Casting temp was 700F and I began to experiment...

Tried both dropping the lead into the 2 cavity mold from about a half inch away and also force-feeding it, which seemed to be a bit more consistent. Had to experiment a bit with pour rates on my bottom pot, started out too fast and dialed it down a bit then started to roll. I had very few remelts in my time casting and wound up with a little over 100rds when I finished up. Remelted about a dozen, pretty good if I don't say so myself for my first attempt, learning how the die liked to be fed, messing up a few pours and rejecting a few after sorting them.

I need to move now to the next step, sizing and lubing. I have a Lee 309 sizer and liquid Alox, looks like that's how I will start out. I will have a few questions (or more perhaps) that I will ask on this thread. Thanks again to all who contribute, this is an awesome resource for the less than novice caster!

The results... throws them at about 224gr, +/- 1gr before sizing, diameters are pretty consistent from .310 - .311 before sizing. Bullets dropped from the mold like it was coated with teflon, no issues there at all.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u107/IGluIt4U/Casting/4362ad72-375c-433c-892f-20304691d92d_zps489f4e33.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u107/IGluIt4U/Casting/c18ebb75-dd24-4a71-8a09-3444a8c41e76_zps21587461.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u107/IGluIt4U/Casting/27943dcf-e71b-4465-baa4-9a86c3ac53af_zpsb6ff4d44.jpg

[Sticky]

Now to study up on lubing an sizing... LMAO

[Jupiter7]

A quick heads up, you'll most likely be better off shooting those lee 230's as cast. Just lube and shoot. I would load a dummy up and check it out first. Congrats!

[Sticky]

Thanks for the advice Jupiter, I will do as you suggest and see how it fits. I have not yet cast the chamber/bore on the 300, so I will see how it fits without sizing.

[wistlepig1]

Nice bullits, quite now or you will be addicted for life:bigsmyl2:.

[Sticky]

Oh hell, it's already too late for that... when the first pour made 2 boolits that actually looked a lot like boolits, I was hooked...:mrgreen:

[pworley1]

You need to get those going down range.

[Sticky]

That won't take long and after today's lessons, I am soon going to break out the Mihec 452200 and make me some HP's for the Glock.. :bigsmyl2:

I didn't dare start out with that piece of art, but now I feel better about testing it out too..

Plus, it's a 4 holer... twice as many in the same amount of time!

[JohnH]

Now you need a berm or back stop that you can mine, nothing like shootin' boolits what's already been trained ;)

[4719dave]

its all over now ..lol be safe and shootem up

[35 shooter]

Very good first session of casting. They look great. Welcome to the addiction...now to load and shoot em!!!

[RED333]

Ya ever think of powder coating?
Boolits look good.

[PbHurler]

Are those boat tailed or are my eyes playing tricks?

They look good whatever the flavor.

[Wayne Smith]

Plain base boolits cast and air cooled I would shoot subsonic. If you want them going faster water drop them.
Your next step would be to invest in some plain based gas checks.

[alamogunr]

Are those boat tailed or are my eyes playing tricks?

They look good whatever the flavor.

They are very shiny. The light makes them look like boat tails. I believe those are the first pictures I have seen of tumble lube rifle boolits.

[Sticky]

They are boattails, that is what the TR3092305R drops.. will that be any issue? They are dropping at around 225gr and they will be subsonic 300AAC loads, not to exceed 1000fps.

They aren't tumble lubed, yet...Those are as dropped from the mold... after some reading, I am going to get some Johnsons and make up a batch of lube for tumble lubing or sending through the 309 Lee sizer/luber I have.

One question, as I have not yet cast my bore to measure it, what am I looking for in fit when loading up a dummy round as dropped (about .310) and would it be better to shoot as cast, or size them? Should I load a dummy of each?

I know I will have more questions as I go along.. no powdercoating yet, as I have plenty of the other kinds of boolits for high velocity loadings, this will strictly be loading for subsonic rifle and pistol (45acp). I have a couple of magnum revolvers that may play in along the way, but only have molds for 308 subs and the 45 for now. I already spend enough time with loading and shooting, want to make this simple for now.. lol

[alamogunr]

They are boattails, that is what the TR3092305R drops.. will that be any issue? They are dropping at around 225gr and they will be subsonic 300AAC loads, not to exceed 1000fps.

They aren't tumble lubed, yet...Those are as dropped from the mold... after some reading, I am going to get some Johnsons and make up a batch of lube for tumble lubing or sending through the 309 Lee sizer/luber I have.

One question, as I have not yet cast my bore to measure it, what am I looking for in fit when loading up a dummy round as dropped (about .310) and would it be better to shoot as cast, or size them? Should I load a dummy of each?

I know I will have more questions as I go along.. no powdercoating yet, as I have plenty of the other kinds of boolits for high velocity loadings, this will strictly be loading for subsonic rifle and pistol (45acp). I have a couple of magnum revolvers that may play in along the way, but only have molds for 308 subs and the 45 for now. I already spend enough time with loading and shooting, want to make this simple for now.. lol

I stand corrected!

[Sticky]

Sorry, been busy for a bit, needed to update my thread since last.. I have lubed those, but not had a chance to load and test them yet, life has been dealing me a challenging hand of late. Lost my job, scrapping to get things back together for a bit.. lol

So, I had to pick up a vehicle, needed a beater, don't want any monthly payments beyond those I have now, so I scored an old pickup. Buddy of mine runs a shop within walking distance, so I dropped it off this morning for inspection to see how bad I really did with this one..

I have gotten wheel weights from him in the past, so of course I asked again, he told me someone recently came by and offered him .35/lb, but he'll save the next one for me. The bastard.. stay outta my shops you lead scroungers! LMAO

We talked a bit, as I know he fishes a lot and told him I was melting for fish tackle (which I will at some point soon) and boolits. After a short conversation he opens a cabinet under his desk and digs out a couple of jars and hands me one. Said his FIL was a chemist and gave him some lead a while back. Still dusty, been a good while back.. He then reaches in and whips out an old hot plate, something that I have been looking for on the cheap.

Who says Karma don't visit once in a while?!?!?!

127317

Not quite 10lbs, one jar has a little missing, but an awesome and unexpected morning surprise, for sure!

[Sticky]

Did do my first tumble lube with great success. Mixed up some BLL after researching for a while here, tumbled em up and viola! Hope they shoot half as well as they look.. lol

Thought I had a pic of em drying, but for the life of me I can't find it... :-x

[jeepyj]

Nice looking hot plate that will serve you well. I put a 1/4 inch piece of steel on top of mine and usually heat 4 moulds up at once.
jeepyj

[Sticky]

That is my plan jeepyj, to prewarm molds and once I have them in rotation, to drop it down a bit and prewarm ingots.

[xacex]

Get a pound of powder coat from Smoke (on the board), empty a cool whip bowl of its yummy contents, add black Crossman airsoft bb's (walmart), a few tablespoons of powder coat paint, boolits, and shake with the lid on for a couple of minutes. Pick out the boolits from the bb's (now coated), place on a cookie sheet lined with reynolds non-stick aluminum foil, and bake in a cheap toaster oven at 350 to 400 F for 20 minutes. Cool, load, shoot, enjoy! This boolit does excellent in the blackout powder coated, and no worries about leading with the powder coat. It is as easy, and fast as baking cookies.

[leeggen]

Those things look like there should be a rocket engine sticking out of the bottom. Looking good for the first trial run.
CD

[Sticky]

Get a pound of powder coat from Smoke (on the board), empty a cool whip bowl of its yummy contents, add black Crossman airsoft bb's (walmart), a few tablespoons of powder coat paint, boolits, and shake with the lid on for a couple of minutes. Pick out the boolits from the bb's (now coated), place on a cookie sheet lined with reynolds non-stick aluminum foil, and bake in a cheap toaster oven at 350 to 400 F for 20 minutes. Cool, load, shoot, enjoy! This boolit does excellent in the blackout powder coated, and no worries about leading with the powder coat. It is as easy, and fast as baking cookies.

Thanks to all for the input and guidance! I am going to look into a couple of coating options, PC and HiTec.. both look like effective coatings to minimize leading issues. Did put an order in to Smoke, thanks for the tip xacex!

[Sticky]

Those things look like there should be a rocket engine sticking out of the bottom. Looking good for the first trial run.
CDHaahaa.. thanks leeggen, but... these things won't even reach the speed of sound... LMAO

[xacex]

Thanks to all for the input and guidance! I am going to look into a couple of coating options, PC and HiTec.. both look like effective coatings to minimize leading issues. Did put an order in to Smoke, thanks for the tip xacex!
You bet. Show us your groups when you get everything dialed in.

[Sticky]

Well, spent some time in the garage today and cast a few hundred more from the Lee 309230 and had much better success. I dropped my temp down on the pot and was more aware of mold temps (I need another couple molds!) and got rid of the frosties I had the first time around and the boolits were droppin like a dream.

Sorry, sucky phone pics..

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u107/IGluIt4U/bang/01ecfd652ca52dfae985d65f3527c28091273a4874800x460_ zpsf751490c.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u107/IGluIt4U/bang/01f02dbce47621b455f7eb0e4f601af55aa972c74e800x566_ zps7193add2.jpg

[Sticky]

Okay, another newb question (told you I'd have a bunch.. lol). Does a coating, either hi-tek or dry tumble pc have an effect on the cast boolits aging process?

Does it matter if you coat straight away after casting, or wait a couple/few weeks?

For now I am just casting air cooled, not water dropping, fyi