First cast ! Thanks for all the great info !

[MKN]

Hi All,
I just completed my first cast of boolits. I salvaged range scrap, made ingots, and poured 230g .30 cal; for 300 BLK. Thank you for all the great info in this forum, it made it quite easy. Boolits look good, filled out and out of 80 , I weighed 20 and they ranged 229 - 231g. These will be fired subsonic, and were water quenched. Looking forward to my 9 mm 125g x 6 mold to arrive, I have WW lead that I purchased for those.
I am looking for the cheers with a beer imogi, but hey, Thanks again all ! Love it ! Matt




175468

[OS OK]

Pretty satisfying...huh?
Welcome abord.
Put at least your state on your info, it helps when locals want to lend a hand or doing a local deal...looks more friendly too.

charlie

[Cherokee]

Congratulations ! Now you need to get out there and shoot those babies...then repeat the process

[MKN]

Yes, very satisfying. If all goes well hope to cast my deer boolit for this season.......if not this season, then next.
Got the info updated, thanks for pointing it out Charlie. Kalifornia, I feel sorry for you ! My brother lives in Southern Kal.....You guys need to rally votes and get your state back ! So far, no restrictions here !! Mag size, no permit for CC, we do have some candidates that are squawking " assault weapons" and the such, I don't think they will pull it off, but it is much different here than when I was a teenager, fingers crossed, and getting all my pro friends to vote, and taking all my on the fence friends to the range with me and spreading the word VT2A !
Matt

[MKN]

Yes Cherokee, Friday is the day ! Tomorrow I'll LLA 45, 45, 10 them and load when dry ! The proof will be in the "paper" looks are one thing, now to get a good load for groups. For hunting, I am tossed between finding a boolit for my lifelong 30-06, or taking this new 300 Blk with a 150 - 180 g boolit. It will probably be next season before I sort it out, gas checks seem like another level of casting.
Matt

[OS OK]

We used to be the wild west and gold miners paradise, now all gone. I lived in SoCal too, too dang crowded anymore though I still love the landscape seashore to mountains. Moved into the Sierras in NoCal...haven't looked back.
Hope you enjoy the forum, lots of talent here, lots of BS too...you'll sort it out.
Are you lubesizing or PC'ing?

[MKN]

Lubesizing these .30 with the lee .30 sizer. What is the PC ing ?
I hope the 9mm will go with just casting, I'm not sure I am up for sizing all of them as well, as casting, considering I can get powder coated delivered quite cheap and plated for a couple cents more.
We just visited Yosemite last Oct. Beautiful ! I lived for 5 years in Breckenridge CO 89 - 94, similar beauty !

[OS OK]

PC'ing is powder coating. Plenty info in the 'stickeys' of 'coatings and alternatives' section of the forum.

[MKN]

ah yes, Powder Coat, I do have some powder on hand, going to lube these first bunch and see how it goes. the 45, 45 , 10 seems to be easier than the PC, but that is just " book knowledge " for the moment.
Can I make this last forever ? 8-)
Matt

[Nose Dive]

OK...OK... you dun got the bug....

Nose Dive

Cheap, Fast, good....Kindly pick two.

[Pumpkinheaver]

Looks like you are well on your way to a new addiction.

[blueeyephil]

Yes Cherokee, Friday is the day ! Tomorrow I'll LLA 45, 45, 10 them and load when dry ! The proof will be in the "paper" looks are one thing, now to get a good load for groups. For hunting, I am tossed between finding a boolit for my lifelong 30-06, or taking this new 300 Blk with a 150 - 180 g boolit. It will probably be next season before I sort it out, gas checks seem like another level of casting.
Matt
Bullets look great and the 300 blk can be a fine hog/deer rifle with the correct ammo within 200 yds or so. The best hunting rounds are in the 110 - 125 gr varmint type bullets. The heavier bullets typically will not expand at the velocities you can run them at. And you can't usually get a flat pointed bullet like you would use in a 30-30 to feed.

Have fun with those 230's, I'm working on subs right now myself. But not ones I've cast. I have cast the 1 55gr as a fun plinking round though. The 300 blk is great for tinkering, such a wide range of bullets to chose from.

Lubesizing these .30 with the lee .30 sizer. What is the PC ing ?
I hope the 9mm will go with just casting, I'm not sure I am up for sizing all of them as well, as casting, considering I can get powder coated delivered quite cheap and plated for a couple cents more.
We just visited Yosemite last Oct. Beautiful ! I lived for 5 years in Breckenridge CO 89 - 94, similar beauty !


Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk

[runfiverun]

you didn't mention the type of rifle your using.
many of us use that boolit in our bolt guns on top of 3.5-4.0 grs of the faster powders like red-dot and 700-x.
I use a modified version of the 45/45 lube [ I was working on something similar when JD contacted me to help with his version which is what everybody uses] but they are made the same and work the same.
anyway my routine is to cast and water drop the lee boolit.
then T/L with one super thin coat of the lube.
I apply the lube by heating the booolits with a hair dryer and melting the lube again till it's thin and runny.
then I drizzle the lube into the cup over the boolits with a fork [about 10-12 drips for about 30-40 boolits]
then I swirl the cup with a lid around and roll it on the table top.
then dump them on a cookie sheet [with wax paper on it] to cool in front of a fan.
in the winter I place them in front of the heaters fan in the shop.
after they cool I push them through a 310 sizer which pretty much just scuffs up the drive bands and the bottom base band gets sized.
then I repeat the coating procedure with just a little more lube.
if I got carried away with the lube the first time I heat up some mineral spirits and the boolits again and apply a little mineral spirits in lieu of the lube and re-swirl everything.
I usually let them sit for a day or two since if I'm lubing these I'm also lubing other stuff on one of the star's and then load. [not necessary to wait that long]

[MKN]

Hi Blueyephil- That is is good info on the expansion, a lighter weight will be a transition for me, I am used to 150 - 180 g in the 06 and moving right along. Yes the boolit variety in the .30 is a lot of fun, and it's funny looking but this 230 g is practically the same length as the case!

Hi Runfiverun - I am using the AR platform with a free float, 16 " SS barrel It is my first build, quite a lot of fun. I bought the nikon 300 blk BDC 1-7 scope, that is quite nice and the price is hard to beat. I just finished the 45,45 10, I think it came out OK, the boolits have a slight dull look to them now, very uniform coating and very light. I'll see what they feel like in the am. I may have been a touch heavy in the initial measurement, but I think I lucked out because the "new tube to tumble in " needed the walls to be covered this time. 310 sizer, I am curious, that does not push the too large side of leading? so much for me to learn !
Matt

[Lead Fred]

I use the same boolit in the 30WCF, 30-06, & 300BO

175525

Its like a mini 45/70, only with 30 instead of 7

[MKN]

Hi Pumpkinheaver- Yup, I'm hooked, it really hits home for me going from dirty range scrap to nice shiny boolits in two days, and I like the recycle aspect, I grew up with my grandmother (s) - both sides - making sure that every thing was used completely, if its first use was no longer repairable then what will its second use be. " The throw away generation " label stuck with me.

Hi Nosedive - yup the bug has stung and I did not slap it !
I'll go for fast and and good with cheap being a fortunate byproduct of the process !
Matt

[MKN]

Hi Lead Fred - I like that design, I think I would prefer to make a hunting boolit for my 06, rather than take this AR into the woods. I was really tickled with my first few deer using my own loads in my 06 , now if I can make the boolit as well, that would be icing on the cake.,
What speed do you shoot in the 06, what alloy mix and powder ?
Matt

[trixter]

You are now officially infected with the ADDICTION!

WELCOME

[DerekP Houston]

Looks good!!! Much better than my first batch and you're going for rifle. Welcome to the club, try to hide the lead collection from SWMBO