First time casting

[T_McD]

These are the best ones from the batch I did. Are these acceptable? Feel free to criticize.234619

[zymguy]

Looking back in ten years they may not be your best . They shouldn’t be .
I’d put gas checks on them, powder coat or lube them up and shoot them ! Ultimately your group size ought be the judge of how good they are , right?
Welcome to the club !


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[rancher1913]

it gets better each time you do it and oh the savings you will start to enjoy. welcome to the rabbit hole.

[Taterhead]

Looking pretty good! Welcome in. I started casting 3 years ago, but still feel like a noob. Learning from these guys all the time.

[T_McD]

Yup waiting on powder and gas checks. Just making sure they are worth loading, I threw most back into the pot

[reddog81]

Those look good. Your first casting session is as much about learning how everything works once you actually start pouring lead and getting a good feel for the process as it is about producing useable bullets.

[EMR]

I think hands down the best thing I did was to get a hot plate and preheat the mold before casting. I went from culling the first 15-20 casts to only the first one so I could fill the cavities so I could lube the sprue plate.

Welcome to the club!

[Conditor22]

My best move in casting was to make a PID control my pot temperature. I do most of my casting between 680° and 720°. the only time I go higher is when I cast with pure. If you don't have a PID at least get a thermometer so you know the temperature of your pot
rule 1, make sure your alloy is clean / well fluxed before putting it in your pot

like many others, I use a hotplate with a 3/8th inch piece of steel on top to evenly preheat my molds to apr 380°

if you boolits aren't filling out completely add a little more tin. I smelt pewter then cast it into 1/2 oz boolits I use for alloying and sweetening the pot.

I helps if you label all the lead/alloy you have so you know what you have and how to mix it.

I think you did darned well for your first time, maybe 1/2 oz of tin would have helped.

[Cherokee]

Welcome. Size, lube and shoot. Practice casting and it will get better, and build your confidence.

[Sig556r]

welcome to casting anonymous...it's an addiction, really

[asmith80]

welcome to casting anonymous...it's an addiction, really

That's the truth. I've been known to take a day off work and not tell anyone, so I'd be the only one at home and could have all day to cast and reload. Don't do that with any of my other hobbies :smile:

[dverna]

Before using up components, weigh your bullets. if they vary by 1% or less, shoot them. Pistol bullets are more forgiving as the ranges are shorter so start there. Cull bullets that have imperfections, bad bases. Like I said, for most pistol applications, there is less need to be anal.

Keeping a log of the variation is bullet weight (say do 100) for each casting session will tell you if you are improving.

Do not admire your work as you cast. Keeping a constant cadence is often overlooked by new casters and it will improve consistency.

[T_McD]

Before using up components, weigh your bullets. if they vary by 1% or less, shoot them. Pistol bullets are more forgiving as the ranges are shorter so start there. Cull bullets that have imperfections, bad bases. Like I said, for most pistol applications, there is less need to be anal.

Keeping a log of the variation is bullet weight (say do 100) for each casting session will tell you if you are improving.

Do not admire your work as you cast. Keeping a constant cadence is often overlooked by new casters and it will improve consistency.

Unfortunately my immediate plans for casting are limited to my 35 Whelen. Could not find cheap bullets like I can for pistol and .223.

And I definitely caught myself checking each bullet, and remembered that I read on here not to. So that helped.

I am hoping to avoid a hot plate, but you really just stick the mold into molten lead like the directions say? That just seems abusive to my newly purchased mold! I ask because my best guess is my mold and spruce plate were too cold. I had a few not fill out because the lead hardened too quick... again semi wild *** guess on my part

[asmith80]

Unfortunately my immediate plans for casting are limited to my 35 Whelen. Could not find cheap bullets like I can for pistol and .223.

And I definitely caught myself checking each bullet, and remembered that I read on here not to. So that helped.

I am hoping to avoid a hot plate, but you really just stick the mold into molten lead like the directions say? That just seems abusive to my newly purchased mold! I ask because my best guess is my mold and spruce plate were too cold. I had a few not fill out because the lead hardened too quick... again semi wild *** guess on my part

It won't hurt anything to dip the mold in the melt. I mean, you're going to be pouring molten lead in it to cast, so why would lead on the outside hurt anything?

[lightman]

Those look good. No wrinkles and the bases look sharp as do the driving bands. Good Job!

[Static line]

Those look terrible.:razz:

[georgewxxx]

How deep you put the mould in the hot lead and for how long makes a difference. I usually put my moulds about a quarter to a half inch into the lead making sure you hold them tightly closed, and count to slowly to 10. Try casting and see how the boolits look. If they're still wrinkled, try and heat the mould a bit more. Make sure the lead on your sprue plate has a frosty look before you open the mould. If you cut it off too soon you'll get lead smears on the top of the mould and bottom of the sprue plate. Then you're in trouble. In time you'll learn to build a cadence time frame from each time pour and drop the boolits.

[robg]

If the bases are good shoot em .good looking boolits

[Markopolo]

Welcome to the Cast boolit 12 step program.

I cast with my mold much hotter. If it’s a lee mold and alum, I do a 10 count.. but steel molds and brass, take longer to get to temp... I dip just a corner of the mold and sometimes count to 30 depending on how big the mold is. You will know how long by the lead sticking on the mold... I use a plastic hammer and just tap the mold lightly, most lead falls off pretty easily with tiny bits hanging on here and there, but the lead should come off real easy if it’s up to temp... that is my way to tell. For me, the lead on the spru should solidify in about 2 sec or so... if it takes much longer, your mold is too hot. If it solidify’s right away, it is too cold. It’s a little red riding hood kinda thing, and experience will show ya...

Marko

Marko

[ghh3rd]

They are looking good.

My stove spewed gasoline on my hand and ignited it on my first try. I took an Oxy and tried again 20 mins later and got my first boolit. I just couldn’t wait!

Fun times and reward at the range are in your future.

[Walter Laich]

shoot them!

then repeat the casting process

intentionally shoot some less than perfect ones to see just how well they really do. Course I'm not shooting at prairie dog heads at 1000 yards

[dverna]

Unfortunately my immediate plans for casting are limited to my 35 Whelen. Could not find cheap bullets like I can for pistol and .223.

And I definitely caught myself checking each bullet, and remembered that I read on here not to. So that helped.

I am hoping to avoid a hot plate, but you really just stick the mold into molten lead like the directions say? That just seems abusive to my newly purchased mold! I ask because my best guess is my mold and spruce plate were too cold. I had a few not fill out because the lead hardened too quick... again semi wild *** guess on my part

Starting with rifle bullets is not ideal but doable. At least it is a good bore size. Start with lower velocity loads that will not be as sensitive to bullet variations...say 1200 fps or so. As you get better, move up on velocity. It is very frustrating to do all the work and shot patterns...been there. So you want some success to build on. Also keep ranges close to start with....50 yards max. If you get good groups, move to 100. Cast are not linear like jacketed bullets...a 1" group at 100 yards will normally go 2" at 200 with jacketed...not so predictable with cast.

Also set reasonable expectations. If you get 1.5" with 5 shots repeatedly at 50 yards that is a really good start. There is a lot of talk and BS about cast accuracy and there are a few who can shoot 1.5" at 100 but very, very, very few. A couple of good 3 shot groups mean squat. BTW, I do not hunt deer with cast bullets and that is one reason....accuracy. My best cast bullet effort was 3" at 100 yards...jacketed are under 1". The other is the lack of velocity that makes longer shots I can get (300 yards) unethical.

As others said, you can dip the mold.

BTW, even if you can find cheap bullets for the pistols, it will save money to cast, and build your casting prowess. If it is a 9mm, it will be more trouble, but something like .38 spl or .45 are easy to cast for and achieve good results. DO NOT cast for the .223...doctorate level casting there!!

Good luck.

[T_McD]

My goal with these are two fold, 1) shoot more and not spend 30 cents a bullet, 2) eventually find a load that is fast enough to set off tannerite and still accurate

[tankgunner59]

I wish I still had pics of my first few casting sessions. I don't remember being happy with any in my first session, I was pretty upset with myself. So I re-melted all of my pills, shut the furnace of and put it away after it cooled. I think out of the next two sessions I kept maybe 20 boolits. It definitely takes practice to get it right. But when it comes down to it, the final yard stick is you. I have had some slightly wrinkled boolits that I powder coated and used for plinking and shot good, not great, spreads. Just my 2 cents.

[725]

They look great. Welcome aboard. Ask questions, even if they seem simple. Lots of expertise around here. This all is a learning experience, and the best way to learn is to just jump in.

[ghh3rd]

One time I ran out of boolits for my 44 Ruger SBH and wanted to take it to the range. I gathered up a handful of rejects from prior casting sessions that were wrinkled, imperfect bases, etc. and loaded them. I was shocked at how well they shot with all of those imperfections.

[T_McD]

One time I ran out of boolits for my 44 Ruger SBH and wanted to take it to the range. I gathered up a handful of rejects from prior casting sessions that were wrinkled, imperfect bases, etc. and loaded them. I was shocked at how well they shot with all of those imperfections.

I had a feeling that would be the case. It mimics my attitudes toward reloading in general. I am not the guy who reloads for “moa” accuracy. I just plink and set off tannerite. If it’s accurate enough to have fun shooting, then it’s accurate enough for me.

Still, I feel I want to do it as best I can. And I melted all those and tried again and was much more successful. Kept 100 good ones and had 20 or so rejects.

[reddog81]

If you want a hot plate for cheap call around to your local thrift stores and see if you can find one for a couple bucks. That’s what I did.

[ghh3rd]

I’m not advocating lowering your standards but conveying the thought that what you have done so far will work. As you progress you’ll find that the better your boolits get, the better they will shoot. Seeing improvement is a lot of the fun in this game. Glad you’re here...

[WHITETAIL]

T McD welcome to the forum!
The boolits look fine.
Load them and shoot them, have fun!!!:Fire:

[Plate plinker]

not bad cast away