Owens
10-26-2008, 07:24 PM
Not too long ago, I got into a little bit of light casting. You know a few bullets here and there.
Little did I know that I was fully infected. The diseasee grew and prospered. I am now a full fledged victim.
Recently it went to stage 3. Bought a burner base and iron pot. I'm addicited to the silver stream.
My source is range scrap from bullet traps of an indoor range. All the scrap is pre-fragmented. That is I don't have to worry about whole full-length gas checked slugs. Sort of puts me in the recycling business, as a good portion of the scrap was sent downrange by me.
Stage 1 of the affliction was a lee bottom pour, a mold and Lymann sizer and dies. Stage 2 added a Lymann ladle cast pot for refining the scrap, 2 more molds, ladle, ingot mold, Lee sizers, etc. Took too long to process using the Lymann pot way.
At this point I'm casting for 38/357, 45ACP and 45-70-500. Who knows whats next.
Along comes a Gander Mountain store near me, opened now about a year. To celebrate their first year, they sent me $20.00.
Gas burner from GM - $9.99.
Iron pot from Harbor Freight - $25.00
3 hours and 60 ingots later from a 5 gallon bucket of range scrap - Priceless!
Time to go get some more scrap - er, uh, reclaim my boolits.
Where does it all end? (other than hip deep in ingots and boolits) I'm currently thinking about trying some paper patching for the 45-70.
As a newly afflicted, I do have one question. I thought I had a good flux on it, but as I went to pour with the ladle, a grayish powder would form on top of the melt. I would flux and skim then have shiny melt. Make a pour with the iron ladel and the gray was back. Most of hte ingots came out frosted (too hot?) but as I have understood, that isn't a problem. Is the gray powder just from not fluxing enough or something else?
Guess I need to get a good thermometer.
This is a great place. Hard to believe there is so much good info in one place.
Owens
Little did I know that I was fully infected. The diseasee grew and prospered. I am now a full fledged victim.
Recently it went to stage 3. Bought a burner base and iron pot. I'm addicited to the silver stream.
My source is range scrap from bullet traps of an indoor range. All the scrap is pre-fragmented. That is I don't have to worry about whole full-length gas checked slugs. Sort of puts me in the recycling business, as a good portion of the scrap was sent downrange by me.
Stage 1 of the affliction was a lee bottom pour, a mold and Lymann sizer and dies. Stage 2 added a Lymann ladle cast pot for refining the scrap, 2 more molds, ladle, ingot mold, Lee sizers, etc. Took too long to process using the Lymann pot way.
At this point I'm casting for 38/357, 45ACP and 45-70-500. Who knows whats next.
Along comes a Gander Mountain store near me, opened now about a year. To celebrate their first year, they sent me $20.00.
Gas burner from GM - $9.99.
Iron pot from Harbor Freight - $25.00
3 hours and 60 ingots later from a 5 gallon bucket of range scrap - Priceless!
Time to go get some more scrap - er, uh, reclaim my boolits.
Where does it all end? (other than hip deep in ingots and boolits) I'm currently thinking about trying some paper patching for the 45-70.
As a newly afflicted, I do have one question. I thought I had a good flux on it, but as I went to pour with the ladle, a grayish powder would form on top of the melt. I would flux and skim then have shiny melt. Make a pour with the iron ladel and the gray was back. Most of hte ingots came out frosted (too hot?) but as I have understood, that isn't a problem. Is the gray powder just from not fluxing enough or something else?
Guess I need to get a good thermometer.
This is a great place. Hard to believe there is so much good info in one place.
Owens