New member, first time caster

[ryanmattes]

I've been reloading for years now, for all kinds of calibers. I enjoy the bench time, and since I love the machines, I love making them work better. Over the years friends will hand me a firearm of some sort and tell me they just can't get it working for them, so I'll sight it in and do a number of test loads to find out what it likes. Its a hobby I enjoy, and it's great to have someone tell you that all of a sudden, your hand loads work better than factory ammo.

A while back, someone handed me a Colt 1892 revolver in .38 long colt, and asked if I could load for it. It was a family heirloom, and someone had been shooting .38 spc through it, which he knew was bad, and he couldn't find the right ammo for it anywhere. So I said I'd do a little homework and let him know.

So I did some homework, and it turns out no one really makes .38LC anymore. I'd need to cast my own bullets for it, and I'd never tried that before. So I bought a Lyman pot, started collecting wheel weights, and reading everything I could find about casting. I fluxed, cast bars, and just generally got a feel for how it all works; the temperatures, the timing, how to get the lead clean, etc.

I cast my first batch of bullets tonight. They're not great, but they look like bullets that I think would shoot, and I think I know how to fix them.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/tEv4XtAE9CUWgEDg9
https://photos.app.goo.gl/v6PWGr1V7mQkcSy87

The mold is an old Lyman 429421, the Keith .44 SWC, which I found on eBay.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4dqgrjKh1N46rw2n8

The lead is WW, no solder added, because I'm just learning now and didn't want to complicate things with alloys yet. I just needed to get started casting lead. I've bought a few other molds as well, the Lyman 358429, both the original Keith .357 with the square lube chanel and the later Lyman with the round channel, as well as the NOE reproduction of the Keith 454424, the .45LC. You might be starting to see a pattern here. I have a .45 wheelgun to start testing some loads on, but I'm not there yet.

I like to do my research first, and understand what I'm doing (both right and wrong) before I go loading things into a 120 year old revolver and blowing things up. What started as a "can you load for this?" project has become a whole new dimension in my reloading hobby. And this seems to be the place to go for info.

So, here I am, ready to learn. I might lurk a lot for a while, or ask questions about the .38LC specifically, but I thought I'd introduce myself because I'm here to stay.

Happy casting,

Ryan

[Nelsonholsters]

Welcome to the forum, I'm new aswell.


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[44Blam]

I've been reloading for years now, for all kinds of calibers. I enjoy the bench time, and since I love the machines, I love making them work better. Over the years friends will hand me a firearm of some sort and tell me they just can't get it working for them, so I'll sight it in and do a number of test loads to find out what it likes. Its a hobby I enjoy, and it's great to have someone tell you that all of a sudden, your hand loads work better than factory ammo.

A while back, someone handed me a Colt 1892 revolver in .38 long colt, and asked if I could load for it. It was a family heirloom, and someone had been shooting .38 spc through it, which he knew was bad, and he couldn't find the right ammo for it anywhere. So I said I'd do a little homework and let him know.

So I did some homework, and it turns out no one really makes .38LC anymore. I'd need to cast my own bullets for it, and I'd never tried that before. So I bought a Lyman pot, started collecting wheel weights, and reading everything I could find about casting. I fluxed, cast bars, and just generally got a feel for how it all works; the temperatures, the timing, how to get the lead clean, etc.

I cast my first batch of bullets tonight. They're not great, but they look like bullets that I think would shoot, and I think I know how to fix them.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/tEv4XtAE9CUWgEDg9
https://photos.app.goo.gl/v6PWGr1V7mQkcSy87

The mold is an old Lyman 429421, the Keith .44 SWC, which I found on eBay.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4dqgrjKh1N46rw2n8

The lead is WW, no solder added, because I'm just learning now and didn't want to complicate things with alloys yet. I just needed to get started casting lead. I've bought a few other molds as well, the Lyman 358429, both the original Keith .357 with the square lube chanel and the later Lyman with the round channel, as well as the NOE reproduction of the Keith 454424, the .45LC. You might be starting to see a pattern here. I have a .45 wheelgun to start testing some loads on, but I'm not there yet.

I like to do my research first, and understand what I'm doing (both right and wrong) before I go loading things into a 120 year old revolver and blowing things up. What started as a "can you load for this?" project has become a whole new dimension in my reloading hobby. And this seems to be the place to go for info.

So, here I am, ready to learn. I might lurk a lot for a while, or ask questions about the .38LC specifically, but I thought I'd introduce myself because I'm here to stay.

Happy casting,

Ryan

Hey Ryan,

Looks like you have some wrinkels but should be easy to fix. Looks like you either did not have the mold hot enough or there is still oil in the mold.
Either one of these is easily solved by just casting until they come out without wrinkles and throwing the wrinkled ones back... ;)
But to speed up your break in: Scrub the mold with soap and water to get the oil out. (I just got a new Lyman mold for shotgun slugs - it took some work to get it clean.) Then heat it on a hot plate to dry it out before pouring lead in it.
Heat up the mold before pouring lead in - and once the mold is up to temp, it'll start casting good boolits.

[ryanmattes]

Hey Ryan,

Looks like you have some wrinkels but should be easy to fix. Looks like you either did not have the mold hot enough or there is still oil in the mold.
Either one of these is easily solved by just casting until they come out without wrinkles and throwing the wrinkled ones back... ;)
But to speed up your break in: Scrub the mold with soap and water to get the oil out. (I just got a new Lyman mold for shotgun slugs - it took some work to get it clean.) Then heat it on a hot plate to dry it out before pouring lead in it.
Heat up the mold before pouring lead in - and once the mold is up to temp, it'll start casting good boolits.

I've got a hotplate ordered from amazon to address it, should be here in a few days. I'm almost positive the problem is I didn't have the mold hot enough. I was using a torch, mapp gas, to heat up the dipper, but didn't want to put the torch on the mold. I'll set up with an electric hotplate next to my pot, and put both the mold and the dipper on it when I'm not actively using them. Hopefully that will fix the wrinkles. I scrubbed all the mold with a toothbrush and dish soap as soon as I got them, to make sure there's no oil. The NOE mold came with a recommendation to smoke the mold with a bic lighter the first few times, but I haven't used that mold at all yet. Still waiting for the NOE handles.

Hopefully I'll have prettier boolits to show soon.

Ryan

[Ozark mike]

I just dip my mold in the molten lead until it quits sticking to it works like a charm

[Land Owner]

From Glen Fryxell's on-line book (see Sticky From Ingot To Target (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?110212-From-Ingot-to-Target-A-Cast-Bullet-Guide-for-Handgunners)) it is mentioned to assure the spru plate is sufficiently hot (as well as the mold) or the molten lead going through is cooled prior to reaching the bottom and sides of the mold, contributing to the making of wrinkles. Also, a better alloy than straight WW's is one with ~2% tin added to aid in fill out of the mold. You'll probably pick that up as you move forward in this hobby. Welcome to the Cast Boolit Forums. Your transition in reloading is like that of many of us. We all started at the beginning. Good luck.

[kungfustyle]

Great job and welcome to another hobby to support your hobby. Do add that solder if you have it, just about 1/2 lb or so to a 20 lb pot and you should be good to go. There are lead calculators on this forum http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?105952-Lead-alloy-calculators if you don't have office you can use openoffice.org.

[sharpshooter3040]

I've been reloading for years now, for all kinds of calibers. I enjoy the bench time, and since I love the machines, I love making them work better. Over the years friends will hand me a firearm of some sort and tell me they just can't get it working for them, so I'll sight it in and do a number of test loads to find out what it likes. Its a hobby I enjoy, and it's great to have someone tell you that all of a sudden, your hand loads work better than factory ammo.

A while back, someone handed me a Colt 1892 revolver in .38 long colt, and asked if I could load for it. It was a family heirloom, and someone had been shooting .38 spc through it, which he knew was bad, and he couldn't find the right ammo for it anywhere. So I said I'd do a little homework and let him know.

So I did some homework, and it turns out no one really makes .38LC anymore. I'd need to cast my own bullets for it, and I'd never tried that before. So I bought a Lyman pot, started collecting wheel weights, and reading everything I could find about casting. I fluxed, cast bars, and just generally got a feel for how it all works; the temperatures, the timing, how to get the lead clean, etc.

I cast my first batch of bullets tonight. They're not great, but they look like bullets that I think would shoot, and I think I know how to fix them.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/tEv4XtAE9CUWgEDg9
https://photos.app.goo.gl/v6PWGr1V7mQkcSy87

The mold is an old Lyman 429421, the Keith .44 SWC, which I found on eBay.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4dqgrjKh1N46rw2n8

The lead is WW, no solder added, because I'm just learning now and didn't want to complicate things with alloys yet. I just needed to get started casting lead. I've bought a few other molds as well, the Lyman 358429, both the original Keith .357 with the square lube chanel and the later Lyman with the round channel, as well as the NOE reproduction of the Keith 454424, the .45LC. You might be starting to see a pattern here. I have a .45 wheelgun to start testing some loads on, but I'm not there yet.

I like to do my research first, and understand what I'm doing (both right and wrong) before I go loading things into a 120 year old revolver and blowing things up. What started as a "can you load for this?" project has become a whole new dimension in my reloading hobby. And this seems to be the place to go for info.

So, here I am, ready to learn. I might lurk a lot for a while, or ask questions about the .38LC specifically, but I thought I'd introduce myself because I'm here to stay.

Happy casting,

Ryan

Head down to the hardware store and grab a roll of solder. If you have a 10 pound pot cut a couple foot long strips and add it to your wheel weights should give it just enough tim to fill out the mould. Just make sure the solder doesn’t have any zinc in it . Zinc is your enemy and will ruin your day. Happy casting your on the right track


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[Wayne Smith]

I believe the 38LC is the same as the 38 S&W - if I am wrong someone will soon come along and correct me!. If so you probably need a boolit of about .360" diameter - do you have a micrometer and know how to use it? Do a slug of the chamber mouths of the revolver - soft lead slugs forced through and measured. Same with the barrel. Now you know the sizes you have to work with - and the boolit should be a tight fit to the chamber mouths.

[ryanmattes]

Thanks all for the welcome. I plan to start experimenting with alloys, just haven't started yet. I have some 60/40 solder, so I'll work out a recipe for #2.

I believe the 38LC is the same as the 38 S&W - if I am wrong someone will soon come along and correct me!. If so you probably need a boolit of about .360" diameter - do you have a micrometer and know how to use it? Do a slug of the chamber mouths of the revolver - soft lead slugs forced through and measured. Same with the barrel. Now you know the sizes you have to work with - and the boolit should be a tight fit to the chamber mouths.I slugged the barrel, and that's kind of where all this started. It's actually a .375 diameter barrel and a .375 diameter chamber, which means a heeled bullet. It's old enough that the model was originally cap and ball, but they later started selling them with chambers drilled out for cartridges. This is one of those with the converted cylinders, made in 1899.

Which means whoever was shooting .38 spc was not only tearing up the rifling, they were also getting crazy wild flyers, since the bullet was bouncing around in the barrel.

I found a mold here: https://oldwestbulletmoulds.com/shop/ols/products/38-colt-mould-and-crimp-dieset

I found some brass .38 spc cases and cut them down to length for .38 long, and now I just need to learn to cast good boolits.

Once I have those, I'll probably do a smokeless load first, since I'm more familiar with it, and then try a BP load, just to try to give him a period correct cartridge.

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[Minerat]

Welcome to the gang Ryan. Reading old threads and using the search feature can help get answers. If that gets frustrating then just ask your question, since there are no dumb questions here.

The boolits look good a few wrinkles but as noted can clean up with a hotter mould and or alloy. I run my pot at 725 to 750 deg and leave the ladle on the lead as it melts. I began this hobby about 10 years ago after reloading since the early 70's and had many of the questions you had. I'm still learning from the fine members here.

I worried about wrinkles too but found that if the bases were good and the bands mostly good with no major flaws the boolits shot as well as I could aim. I even prefer a little frosting and quit worrying about shiny boolits. I don't make them to be pretty just to shoot, beside once they hit the back stop it doesn't matter. A little tin will help with fill out.

Also, don't smoke that NOE mould. I clean them good with break cleaner and then wash with Dawn blue soap and water first. The brass moulds should be heat cycled 4 times at least to build the pantina. Hot plate works for this. Heat to at least 400 deg and let cool, at the 4th time it will begin to get a tarnish on the brass and from then on it will only cast better. On the aluminum, I wash it and heat cycle the same but find that's not as critical as with the brass. I know Sweed recommends smoking it but I haven't needed to do that to get good boolits from his moulds.

If you have any forum questions just contact one of the moderators and we will help. Good luck with your project and again welcome to Cast Boolits.

[Hanzy4200]

Welcome. Very nice folks around here. Good luck with your first loads. It's to late now, your in trouble. Might want to clear some space for future molds.

[Wayne Smith]

OK, so you know you need a heeled boolit, and you have found Bernie Rawls - congratulations. Get his mold and his modified Lee Crimp die to crimp the heeled boolits and have at it. I shoot a 41LC with the same heeled boolit. Do you have a loading set for the 38LC? You will need to size the cases and seat the boolit before you crimp so that set is necessary.

[ryanmattes]

OK, so you know you need a heeled boolit, and you have found Bernie Rawls - congratulations. Get his mold and his modified Lee Crimp die to crimp the heeled boolits and have at it. I shoot a 41LC with the same heeled boolit. Do you have a loading set for the 38LC? You will need to size the cases and seat the boolit before you crimp so that set is necessary.I have the Lee dies for .38 long/short. I have a handful of cases prepped, but not as many as I'd like, since a lot of .38 spc tends to be nickel plated.

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[Texas by God]

SO- Colt still made the 1872 Open Top in 1899? That seems strange. I had a Colt DA Army .38 Long Colt and it would shoot .38 HBWC good enough to plink with; anything else- no. I just used .38 Special cases. They fit; there are no throats in a .38 LC cylinder.

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[ryanmattes]

SO- Colt still made the 1872 Open Top in 1899? That seems strange. I had a Colt DA Army .38 Long Colt and it would shoot .38 HBWC good enough to plink with; anything else- no. I just used .38 Special cases. They fit; there are no throats in a .38 LC cylinder.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using TapatalkFrom what I can tell, it's an 1892, made in 1899. It was nickel plated later, not sure when, by the owner at the time.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200816/8924d3a16a061908a88eb0649366a8e3.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200816/8a988c2b67ae950d304ad2494608f863.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200816/977c9ae5562dc1b22ffac31d9a323381.jpg

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[ryanmattes]

Made some 454424 tonight, taking the advice I got in the forum, and they came out much better. This time I left the dipper in the pot when I wasn't pouring, and put the bottom of the mould in the lead until it stopped sticking to address the temps. I also put a couple feet (~1/3 oz) of 60/40 solder in the pot and fluxed with wax before I started. Got a couple dozen perfect casts, and about 85 that aren't quite perfect, but I think they'll shoot fine.

Thanks all!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200823/cd9d5d3f42f2a5d90152fce5df29d3da.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200823/06ee2ca84b8ec31eddca556e0174d544.jpg

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[44Blam]

Made some 454424 tonight, taking the advice I got in the forum, and they came out much better. This time I left the dipper in the pot when I wasn't pouring, and put the bottom of the mould in the lead until it stopped sticking to address the temps. I also put a couple feet (~1/3 oz) of 60/40 solder in the pot and fluxed with wax before I started. Got a couple dozen perfect casts, and about 85 that aren't quite perfect, but I think they'll shoot fine.

Thanks all!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200823/cd9d5d3f42f2a5d90152fce5df29d3da.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200823/06ee2ca84b8ec31eddca556e0174d544.jpg

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Those look good!

[remy3424]

Very nice looking boolits!!

[ryanmattes]

Is this kind of weight variation normal, or is there something I need to do? Flux the pot more often, to keep the tin mixed in?

(These there 1/10th grain columns)https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200824/682413e7749be78571c693c6ed8619be.jpg

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[Land Owner]

That distribution seems "about normal" for my alloy over several different calibers. It will be interesting to read how others view it.

The lower weight boolits may have discontinuities, for example: bubbles, incomplete fill out, irregular bases. The heaviest, a mold closure or "fit" irregularity, finning, out of round. Depending on your intended use, you are well served to sort and see how, by segregation, that these shoot, if you have the time and inclination to do this level of "testing".

Or...

...for a defensive belly gun, across a room sort of shoot, every one of those will be fine. For a 7 to 25 yard knock down target shoot, they will all probably be fine. For hunting, longer distances, bragging rights, most accurate groups, etc., some means of sorting is required.

Weight is but one way to sort. Powder, case prep, primer, run out, shooter stance, hold, breathing, bench or off hand, trigger maintenance, weather, moon phase, sun in eyes, etc. (other variations), can and will contribute too.

[metricmonkeywrench]

I cast pistol bullets my focus drifts to whatever bullet that catches my fancy or I'm getting low on. Since this is the case the lead in the pot is never the "same". The cast the bullets collect up in a container to age for as while before heading to the lube/sizer for my pistol caliber. When the time comes I dump out a bunch to group into batches of 50 to load up, using a digital scale I gather up a box or two's worth of bullets that are within 1 grain or half grain depending on the bullet or mould. Anything culled that is way under (hollow?) or way over (bad mix) head back to the pot. For shooting at 25 yards max it may not make a difference but it makes me feel better

[ryanmattes]

These were only intended for learning the process, and would be test fired from my revolver at short range, so I'll probably drop the outliers and load the ones in the middle.

I wasn't very careful about the alloy, they're probably higher lead content than #2, but the average weight came out around 257.5 or so, and the mould is supposed to be a 255 gn. Not a big enough difference to change the load significantly.

In my rifle rounds I sort slugs and cases by weight to get the best consistency, but I'm not as careful about pistol rounds. I'm not shooting for competition or anything.

I would, however, like to cast these for lever-action eventually, and get them consistent enough for hunting range. So I'll probably load and shoot these, and cast a few more pots to see if I can tighten it up a bit more through more consistent process, and try a bit more solder to see if I can lighten them a grain or two.

Still curious about others experience with weight variation, though.

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[onelight]

Shoot them for groups and see if you can see a practical difference In performance perhaps a 10 shot group with bullets + or - a tenth grain and a group with + or - a grain and see what the practical difference is at the range you would hunt .
Until you get all of the other details worked out it may not make much of a difference .

[charlie b]

Yes, that kind of variation is 'normal'. You can tighten it up a little by being more consistent in your casting, ie, controlling temps better. Temp of the pot, temp of the mold, how long you wait to open the mold, etc. The better you control the temps the 'narrower' the weight variance will be. FYI, with multiple mold cavities each cavity can cast a light different as well.

For rifles I sort in 0.5 grain batches. Why that much? I measured some Sierra Match King and Hornady A-Max bullets, both of which will shoot 0.5MOA on most days from my rifle. The SMK's had a 0.3grain 'spread'. The A-Max's had a 0.6gn spread. So, I figure 0.5 grains is good enough. Some people I know will go to 0.1gn so they can get smaller groups.

For example, my 210gn .308 mold. I sort into 209.0 to 209.4, 209.5 to 209.9, 210.0 to 210.4, 210.5 to 210.9. Anything less than 209 I put back in the pot. I will 'save' the ones that are 211 until I have enough to make some 'batches'.

And, yes, I have fired the different weights to see if there is a difference on paper. At closer ranges, 100-200yd, there just is not enough difference to see most of the time. I have looked at muzzle velocities as well and do not see a big change either.

Note: This is not to say there is no difference. I am just not loading precisely enough and shooting well enough to see the difference.

Here is an example of a series of groups at 100yds. You can see that changing powder charge by quite a bit does not affect the POI much. Same was done with a 2gn change in bullet weight with similar results.
266740

PS yes, I am working on getting smaller groups :)

[ryanmattes]

Yes, that kind of variation is 'normal'. You can tighten it up a little by being more consistent in your casting, ie, controlling temps better. Temp of the pot, temp of the mold, how long you wait to open the mold, etc. The better you control the temps the 'narrower' the weight variance will be. FYI, with multiple mold cavities each cavity can cast a light different as well.

For rifles I sort in 0.5 grain batches. Why that much? I measured some Sierra Match King and Hornady A-Max bullets, both of which will shoot 0.5MOA on most days from my rifle. The SMK's had a 0.3grain 'spread'. The A-Max's had a 0.6gn spread. So, I figure 0.5 grains is good enough. Some people I know will go to 0.1gn so they can get smaller groups.

For example, my 210gn .308 mold. I sort into 209.0 to 209.4, 209.5 to 209.9, 210.0 to 210.4, 210.5 to 210.9. Anything less than 209 I put back in the pot. I will 'save' the ones that are 211 until I have enough to make some 'batches'.

And, yes, I have fired the different weights to see if there is a difference on paper. At closer ranges, 100-200yd, there just is not enough difference to see most of the time. I have looked at muzzle velocities as well and do not see a big change either.

Note: This is not to say there is no difference. I am just not loading precisely enough and shooting well enough to see the difference.

Here is an example of a series of groups at 100yds. You can see that changing powder charge by quite a bit does not affect the POI much. Same was done with a 2gn change in bullet weight with similar results.
266740

PS yes, I am working on getting smaller groups :)Good info. I load a lot of a-max, and in .308 I actually sort them out to precisely the same weight to the 10th of a grain, but that's for longer than 100yd shooting. For .223 with iron sights at 100yd or less I don't bother sorting by weight, they're all close enough to give me ~0.5moa, which is a dead rodent regardless of the weight.

Being my first foray into casting, I just wasn't sure if I was doing something wrong, or if that was the normal range. Sounds like I should break them into a few 0.5 grain batches and throw the rest back in the pot.

What's the usual way to manage the time in the mold, do you count before opening the mold, or what, to be consistent?

Temps are a little harder. Does everyone just use a pot thermometer, or does anyone use a laser temp gun to watch the temps on the mold and lead?

It's not that I'm obsessive about consistency, I'm just trying to build a process. Whatever that needs to be to get good results.

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[Ozark mike]

I guess i have cast enough to be able to look at how things are going without a thermometer never used one any how. But i dont use a store bought pot either just a homemade bottom pour with a gasoline stove. I keep mine just below frosting temps

[onelight]

For that 38 colt I would put the bullets with obvious defects back in the pot and load the rest and not even weigh and sort but up to you , my guess it will be more a plinker than a target gun , if you find a load it likes they will shoot fine.

[ryanmattes]

For that 38 colt I would put the bullets with obvious defects back in the pot and load the rest and not even weigh and sort but up to you , my guess it will be more a plinker than a target gun , if you find a load it likes they will shoot fine.Yeah, that one's not going to be a regular shooter, I'm not worried about accuracy on those. But now that I'm casting, I need to learn to do it with decent consistency.

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[fcvan]

Ryan, for a new caster your comments and progress in such a short time, it shows you have done some learning before diving in. You have been given suggestions and taken heed to those rather than taking offense. It speaks well of your character. This is a good bunch of folks here, only the occasional curmudgeon. Enjoy your new found obsession, yes, we all know you are obsessed by the amount of gear you have been amassing, and mostly because many of us are obsessed as you.

Dad taught me to cast and shoot in the mid 1970s, and other than a few years where raising children took priority, I have cast and shot hundreds of thousands of rounds. Much of that was due to competitive training and maintaining proficiency for the job (retired LEO). Take care of your molds and they will serve you a lifetime.

My first mold, and Lee 356-125 2R has cast over 750K rounds. The mold had to be rebuilt twice, mostly replacing the sprue plate pivot bolt and re-tapping the mold. I loaned it to a buddy who beat the heck out of it but did offer to replace it. I just honed/straightened out the mold block and the sprue plate on a piece of glass and some 600 grit paper. I bought that mold for a 9mm I had. It dropped a full 358 and the 9mm loved it. Later, I got a .357 and shot 38 SP through it using the 125. The 38 was our duty weapon at the time so every one I knew had one.

I was trading cast boolits for powder or primers, getting the lead from the work range for free, and so cast 2000 a week for many years, 1000 for me, 500 for a pound of powder, 500 for 1000 primers. Shooting 1000 a week was typical, especially since it only cost me some labor. I'd just turn on the radio, mostly baseball and some music, and cast away.

I remember this new officer had purchased his new revolver, set it and 2 purty boxes of factory on the table, and he beamed with pride. I reached in the bed of my truck and pulled out a 5 gallon bucket full of 38s, another of 45 ACP, and yet another of 9mm. I told him to 'save your factory, shoot some of these.' We shot all day (there were 5 of us) and didn't empty the bucket. He offered to pay me, I invited him to help me dig lead. Then he wanted to watch. I said 'no, you are going to cast.' Then he was sizing, then he was loading. Within 3 months he had everything he needed to feed his new obsession. His wife thanked me for helping him find something he enjoyed and of course the money they saved.

Welcome to the obsession, signed: Also Obsessed!

[StuBach]

Welcome to the addiction. Like many hobbies this becomes a black hole of time and money. [emoji16]

You’ve come to the right place, enjoy.

[ryanmattes]

Loaded my first cast boolits tonight.

I did a ladder from 6-7.5 grains of Unique, 4x12 round sets, and I'll try to get to the range to see how they do this weekend.

From there, I have about a dozen things I can tweak to make adjustments as needed.

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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200905/99b3190a1276a7018cb01d4ab65faddf.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200905/7cd30cfde4bd2ab01466b5461983086d.jpg

[murf205]

Welcome to the addiction brother. From the looks of the results, you are a very quick study. Keep us posted. Heeled ammo is a little practiced art today and we look forward to charting your progress.

[Land Owner]

You are going to have fun with those! Testing is fun. What works well. What doesn't work as well. It ALL works to one degree or another - even bad results (what constitutes "bad"?) are data points.

The key now is to WRITE IT DOWN so you don't have to reinvent the wheel in the future, which otherwise you will. I am ALWAYS looking back on my notes - and at target remnants kept. My notes and targets are significantly better reminders than my memory. My inability to keep copious notes IS a failure.

[ryanmattes]

You are going to have fun with those! Testing is fun. What works well. What doesn't work as well. It ALL works to one degree or another - even bad results (what constitutes "bad"?) are data points.

The key now is to WRITE IT DOWN so you don't have to reinvent the wheel in the future, which otherwise you will. I am ALWAYS looking back on my notes - and at target remnants kept. My notes and targets are significantly better reminders than my memory. My inability to keep copious notes IS a failure.Oh, I've always kept a binder with my load data, sectioned by round, for pretty much every load I've tried.

I haven't started logging cast data yet, because I still need a hardness tester, I only have one lube so far, and this is the first set I'll actually shoot. I recorded the load data, and I'll put the targets in the book, but I'll need to work out a system for recording my cast data.

Does anyone have a "cast sheet" similar to my load sheet in the picture? https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200905/7b151f80c35256ac299f443c53b14c55.jpg

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

[Land Owner]

Nice looking log. IDK about a specific "cast data" log. I use a hard bound book with every caliber/method intermixed. Mine may not be as convenient as yours, but keeps me reviewing what I wrote as I flip through to find specifically what I am looking for. Some days, I just read it all again...

If you have not already discovered the "Pencil Test" (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?378866-Lead-hardness-pencil) for hardness of lead and alloys of lead, may I recommend it to you. Tag that link for a decent/recent discussion here on Castboolits. The Pencil Test is inexpensive, accurate, and fast.