epj
04-18-2008, 10:12 AM
I started bullet casting in the late 60's. Jacketed bullets were too durn expensive for a college student. Earliest efforts involved a ladle and a Colemen stove. Later, my shooting buddy bought a Lee furnace, which speeded up the process. Then along about 1980 or thereabouts, I discovered commercially cast bullets. Dirt cheap! I didn't have any real good source of free lead, and the price of the commercial stuff was so cheap that I never gave casting another thought. As recently as a few months ago, I could still buy .45 200 gr LSWC's for around $30/K.
Not any more. The local caster I was buying bullets from apparently has gone from a cheap lead supply to no lead supply, and cannot provide bullets at any price.
I scored about 150 lb of wheelweights last week, and after smelting about half of them down into ingots the same 70's vintage Lee furnace got fired up. My former shooting buddy still had it and hasn't cast in years. He lives in another state, but mailed it to me a few months back.
I no longer had any of the molds or the sizer from years ago, so I started out with Lee molds and a new Lyman 4500. The Lee molds took a little getting used to, and a good lube job on the pins, but once that was out of the way I managed to produce about 600 .45 200 gr, LSWC's in about 2 hours yesterday. Once I got through the first few, quality seemed to be excellent.
Sizing and lubing will take a little longer, but that can be done a few at a time if necessary. I want to get at least a thousand .45's cast and then move on to .38 and 9mm.
Most of what I used to know about casting came back pretty quickly, not that I was an expert 30+ years ago. I can tell there is a lot of knowledge on this board and I intend to make good use of it. :-D
Not any more. The local caster I was buying bullets from apparently has gone from a cheap lead supply to no lead supply, and cannot provide bullets at any price.
I scored about 150 lb of wheelweights last week, and after smelting about half of them down into ingots the same 70's vintage Lee furnace got fired up. My former shooting buddy still had it and hasn't cast in years. He lives in another state, but mailed it to me a few months back.
I no longer had any of the molds or the sizer from years ago, so I started out with Lee molds and a new Lyman 4500. The Lee molds took a little getting used to, and a good lube job on the pins, but once that was out of the way I managed to produce about 600 .45 200 gr, LSWC's in about 2 hours yesterday. Once I got through the first few, quality seemed to be excellent.
Sizing and lubing will take a little longer, but that can be done a few at a time if necessary. I want to get at least a thousand .45's cast and then move on to .38 and 9mm.
Most of what I used to know about casting came back pretty quickly, not that I was an expert 30+ years ago. I can tell there is a lot of knowledge on this board and I intend to make good use of it. :-D