newbie-where to begin?

[woodsie57]

Want to try casting. I have about 100# of WW's, and 60# of plumbing solder. The solder is in bars,about 12" long about 5/8" X3/4"thick. It's marked "50/50". Also have 30# of soft sheet lead. For starters, I plan to cast .44 SWC's,240 gr. for moderate vel. [1000-1200 fps.], to use in a ruger redhawk. Figure to start by mixing the stuff, casting ingots for later use, but have no idea what the best proportions would be for the mix. Any advice would be helpful.

[felix]

Do not mix it together. Clean up the WW by themselves. Using a 20 pound capacity pot, put in 15 pounds of WW, 5 pounds of sheet lead, 1/2 pound of your 50-50. Air cool the boolits for a half pot's worth. For the other half, drop the boolits out of the mold into a pail of water. Wait 30 days for both lots. Shoot some from each lot, taking notes on which one shoots better. Size the boolits for a cylinder push through diameter with a pencil. ... felix

[Tom Herman]

Welcome to the wonderful world of casting!
I use the Lyman 429421 mold for .44's. It works GREAT! I only load my .44's to about 850 fps or so (6.5 grains Unique).
The alloy that I use is 50/50 wheel weights to scrap lead, with about 2% Tin thrown in for good flow and mold fillout.
I usually make it in 20 pound batches (the size of my pot).
This alloy will probably work for you at the velocities you want, although that will most likely the high end for this mix, or you may have to go to straight wheel weights, or some alloy with less lead and more ww.
If I were going to make a roughly 20# batch, I'd use 10# WW, 10# lead, and a 1# bar of the 50/50 solder (it will give you 2-1/2% tin, close enough).
Likewise, if I were to use straight ww, I'd use 20# of ww and one pound of solder. You're wasting tin if you go over 2%, as that's all you need
Get some advice from the others. There's LOTS of knowlege here!

Happy Shootin'! -Tom


Want to try casting. I have about 100# of WW's, and 60# of plumbing solder. The solder is in bars,about 12" long about 5/8" X3/4"thick. It's marked "50/50". Also have 30# of soft sheet lead. For starters, I plan to cast .44 SWC's,240 gr. for moderate vel. [1000-1200 fps.], to use in a ruger redhawk. Figure to start by mixing the stuff, casting ingots for later use, but have no idea what the best proportions would be for the mix. Any advice would be helpful.