Set up the newb please! $500.00 and need all the gear.

[oregonshooter]

OK, I read through a bunch of "newb" threads to get an idea of what I should get to start casting but outside of a Lyman starter kit and wanting to do small sessions I'm not finding the info so here is the question I'm hoping some will answer and maybe a common approach will come about that I can research more.

If you had $500.00 and no gear at all for casting, what would you buy if you only wanted to cast 9mm 115gr bullets from recovered range lead?

I can have all the lead I can dig out of the backstops at my range so I should be able to just melt it as is correct? I have a Dillon 650 and have reloaded for 10+ years, but just now want to do the casting to shoot more and for less.

I would like to smelter into ingots 50-100lbs at a time and cast 1000 bullets at a time.

What gear should I buy and "where" if you know of a place that has good deals?

THANKS for any replies and information on this or the obvious I am clueless to!!

[mtgrs737]

I would get a turkey fryer and a cast iron dutch oven for smelting. You will also need a 5 pound ladle and 2 or 3 ingot moulds. For casting I would get a RCBS Pro-Melt but it will blow your budget as they run over $300 but I love mine, a Lee 20 lb. bottom pour and a Saeco or Lyman 4 cavity mould of your choice will speed up production. To lube and size I like my Star but they are pricey, but you can size 5 in the time it takes to size 1 in the others. You would need at least $1000 to buy new the way I would set you up, but maybe if you look around you might find some used equipment. You might consider buying the good stuff and selling some output to offset the costs.

[Slow Elk 45/70]

OK. $500, here we go for cheap, but very do-able and a good set up for what you say you want to do.
Get the turkey fryer[$75] propane tank [$35] & a cast iron dutch oven[$35] and a ladle[$25] and a thermometer[$45] Lee pro-4A 20# bottom pour pot [$66],
Buy LEE 6 cavity molds,[$37] and handles[$13], they have several 9mm that serve well , I would get the tumble lube version.
buy a Lee sizing set,[$18] use the sizing die and Alox tumble lube

$340 , that leaves you $160 for : used corn bread pans for ingots, a used perforated spoon to skim with, a pair of welders gloves, a pair of safety glasses, misc. ,etc. I would spend $15 at wal-mart and buy a 1000w hot plate to pre-heat my mold, you will find this helpful , aluminum molds work better when hot.

If you can get any of this stuff used, you save more $$. You should be able to set up for $380 including shipping on the Lee casting eqt. the rest you should be able to buy local.

Google , Midsouth shooter supply, Midway USA, or Lee for the equipment. Midsouth is cheapest, Midway next, Lee last, you may have to take what you can get in a 6 cav. mold right now, lots of people buying and setting up. If you can't find one, go to E-Bay , they are on that site all the time , will cost you $45-65. You have to bid on them.

This set will work for you, I use the Lee 6 gang molds for production slugs in 9mm,357,44, & 45. There is a thread here for cleaning a new aluminum mold and Leementing, that will serve you well for the mold and getting started, if you need more info, ask. Good luck, let us know how it goes.

[largom]

I second what Slow Elk said. Once the bug sets in you can always upgrade later if you want.
Larry

[cheese1566]

Think small and then expand. Do some extensive research here to find out what works and what doesn't.

I thought I could get started on a $200 budget. After all is said and done, I have about $400 invested. This equipment is for only three calibers, each making one bullet style. I scrounged up a an old turkey fryer burner, stainless steel pot, and old muffin pans for ingot production.

Most all of my equipment was bought used from this website (at considerable savings! -NON from Ebay) except for a Lee Pro 4-20 pot and a 45 Lee mold and handles. This is a basic setup with no frills. Only thing right now was finding a supply of new equipment with this panic. I started getting lead ready while searching for equipment.

This also doesn't include the monthly donut/beer run for the shop guys in the tire service departments who save wheel weights for me!:drinks:

[oregonshooter]

Appreciate the head start guys! I do have a lot of the little stuff like safety glasses, gloves, etc. as I work in a millwright shop. Is there a reason for the dutch oven and not building my own bottom pour? I get scrap steel from work and can weld up something from 12-16" pipe unless there is a reason that cast iron is preferred?

Same question for ingot molds, are making your own not worth it? I have lots of time and scrap metal. I take it that the steel thickness is not a major issue? 1/8" thick enough to prevent warping?

[fredj338]

Appreciate the head start guys! I do have a lot of the little stuff like safety glasses, gloves, etc. as I work in a millwright shop. Is there a reason for the dutch oven and not building my own bottom pour? I get scrap steel from work and can weld up something from 12-16" pipe unless there is a reason that cast iron is preferred?

Same question for ingot molds, are making your own not worth it? I have lots of time and scrap metal. I take it that the steel thickness is not a major issue? 1/8" thick enough to prevent warping?

If you have access to scrap steel & welding gear, make your own. Just remember the ingots have to go into a pot, so 2 1/2"X4 1/2"X3/4" ingots are about right, weigh 3#+/- & fit nicely in even a 10# pot. A 3" channel section w/ end plates works great.
For $500, I would save money on the bottom pour pot & get the Lee 20#. It works fine, melts quickly & regulates temps well. What you pay for in the xpensive RCBS & Lyman (both exc.) is the insulation & slightly better heat control. For $60, can't beat the Lee. Then a 6cav Lee 120grLTC, great bullet shape, good mold for the money. Now splurge on the Magma/Star luber/sizer. Best in the industry by far. You can use soft lubes, harder lubes w/ a heated base & the nose thru sizing allows you to size 1000 in less than an hour. A therm. is nice but I cast for years w/o one. Get stick lubes from WhiteLabel, great products @ very reasonable prices.

[oregonshooter]

Does it matter if the channel end plates are sloped or straight? For ease of dropping the slug out.

[45nut]

a slight draft will help immensely on the ends. welcome aboard !

[Slow Elk 45/70]

Yup to all of that, You are lucky to access to the welding / shop, scrap, build all of the stuff you can, Make your own smelting pot, ingot molds are easy, C iron with ends welded . 2" Angle with ends works well, cut the ends at a slight bevel and weld on end plates large enough that they support the mold and keep it from tipping.

Making your own lead pot will cost a lot more than the Lee #20 bottom pour and they are good pots, last a long time, I use 2 of them and I have not had to replace one for several years of hard casting. I used up 2 Lymans after 15+ years, I have an RCBS also, great piece of eqt. but spendy

You should have money left for more molds, maybe another pistol or 2.[smilie=1:

:drinks:

[Bret4207]

$500.00!!!! I'd spend it on moulds and a RCBS sizer and gather the rest from around the house. And I'd start with ladle casting, not a bottom pour. I don;t care what anyone says, a ladle ALWAYS works, no extra problems as with a BP, especially a Lee Dripomatic. Start with a heat source, pot and ladle and see if you like casting before pouring serious money into it.

[fredj338]

$500.00!!!! I'd spend it on moulds and a RCBS sizer and gather the rest from around the house. And I'd start with ladle casting, not a bottom pour. I don;t care what anyone says, a ladle ALWAYS works, no extra problems as with a BP, especially a Lee Dripomatic. Start with a heat source, pot and ladle and see if you like casting before pouring serious money into it.
I started w/ a ladel & that lasted about a week. Went to a 10# Lee & still have that. I also use a 20# Lee & bought a Magam caster way back when they firrst came out. The bottom pour is so much easier to use & the Lee @ $60 is a bargain. Then bypass the RCBS or Lyman sizer & buy the best; Star/Magma is the Porche of luber/sizers.[smilie=w:

[Bret4207]

I started with a ladle 30+ years ago and see no reason to change. I tried a hunk a junk Lee pot- never again. It's one of the few Lee products I'll freely badmouth. I'm currently trying a SAECO pot, far, far better than a Lee. I'm still not convinced a BP is as flexible as a ladle.

[docone31]

Hot plate, used cast iron pot, rusty muffin tin, cheap perforated cooking spoon, cheap soup ladle.
Lee 20lb bottom pour. Mine is flawless! Lee molds, Lee push thru sizer dies.
There you go. That is my set up. I have done it for years and only replaced one Lee bottom pour pot.
Range lead skims easily, I also use roof boots from roofing contractors. Wheel weights have dried up. I do add zinc, contrary to what most like. Just a little. I like my castings hard as I do only pistol, and paper patched. I cannot get GC lead to print out of my rifles no matter what I do.
The only expenses I add are when I get more molds, and sizing dies.

[mtgrs737]

I started with a Lee 4lb. pot called the "Bullet Caster" I still have it and it still works! I also used a Lyman ladle, and a Lyman two cavity 38cal. 140gr wad cutter mould and a Lyman 450 lubersizer. I still have all my starter set up and it still works, but I would not be looking at large volume with it.

[oregonshooter]

OK you guys are addictive! I made my first ingot molds tonight from scrap in the shop and am hoping to get in on Lee C312-155-2R group buy but have not heard back yet. Got a bead on 1000 IMI 7.62x39 brass so I'll be doing more than 9mm it looks like. :)

Anyway, molds are 3x6" channel with sloped handles per your recommendations.

http://oregonshooter.com/share/first_ingot_molds.jpg

[carpetman]

Singleshot ingot mold? are they more accurate?

[Slow Elk 45/70]

Oregon , well it didn't take you long to change your mind , I'm only going to load for 9mm Ha!!
Now we have you, your done. You will always be broke, buying molds, then you have to have more guns.... it never ends.. your ingot molds look fine, as long as it will fit your pot.That is a good sized piece of lead....may take a while to remelt it in a casting pot.
Good Luck.

[oregonshooter]

Slow Elk 45/70,
I was wondering about the size. Since I don't have any other gear I just went with "that should be enough feeling" LOL. Maybe a divider would be a good idea? If I put a piece of 1/4 in the middle but not up to the top would I be able to stack them as whole ingots but bend them in half for the melting pot?

Not having worked with lead, I'm not sure how easy it is to divide by hand in this manner?

As for more calibers, etc... I've got my line worked out with the boss-lady already. "But honey, I save so much more money this way I can afford to shoot more!" Works for reloading. :)

[docone31]

I would go 1/2" X 1" X 2". Easy to stack, will fit in the Lee pot, and easy to handle pouring.
I like to keep my ingots consistant so I can modify my alloy during a pour. I keep WW seperate from pure.

[oregonshooter]

wow, that seems very small! How many bars is that for 100#?

[zxcvbob]

wow, that seems very small! How many bars is that for 100#? Probably about 100 ;)

I use recovered range lead and wheel weights. I've got about 300 pounds of ingots, a bucket of WW's that need to be processed, and about 400 pounds of purchased (at scrap prices!) soft foundry lead that came in little ingots already.

I use a small Revereware saucepan and an electric hotplate for rendering dirty scrap into ingots. It does a fine job, about 10 or 15 pounds at a time. For ingot molds, I use 2.5 ounce stainless steel condiment cups. They make little muffins about 20 to 24 ounces each. I bought a muffin pan from the Dollar store and that was a disaster. The lead stuck to the pan and I had to destroy it to get the ingots out. I can't find a used cast iron pan, and I'm too cheap to buy a new one. I think a "cornbread" skillet with dividers for 8 wedges (looks kind of like a wagon wheel with spokes) would be a *perfect* ingot mold.

I use a Lee 20# bottom-pour pot, and have a bunch of Lee bullet molds. And an assortment of paint stirrers, wooden spoons, spoons with holes in them, and a big steel ladle that I bought a long time ago at a Chinese market.

I bet my whole set-up, including the bullet molds, is less than $350, and most of that is probably the molds.

[oregonshooter]

I figured that my mold of 3x6x2 would give me a 10# ingot or so? Won't most pots hold that?

[zxcvbob]

They'll hold that much when it's a liquid...

[Echo]

Smaller ingots are handier. One can put several 1-pounders in the furnace to get started, and a couple on top to warm up. As one uses alloy from the furnace, one can replace with warmed ingots from atop the furnace, and replace more on top. A ten-pounder on top would not be prudent...

[montana_charlie]

I figured that my mold of 3x6x2 would give me a 10# ingot or so? Won't most pots hold that?
Most pots are rated for 10 pounds, or 20 pounds.

If your ingot weighs 10 pounds, it may fill a 10-pound pot so full it wants to overflow. That ain't fun.
If you have a 20-pound pot, you can only put one ingot in...or you run the risk of overflow there, too. Nobody likes using a half-full pot if they don't need to.

Ingots that fall on an 'in-between' weight...like 1.5, 3, or 6 pounds...can be managed in a way to keep a pot (nearly) full, without getting silver knees.
CM

[zxcvbob]

Put a lengthwise divider in your mold to cast 1 3/8 x 2 x 6" and it will by much more usable. Actually, 1x2x3" is a very nice size; I had the foundry ingots sheared into pieces roughly that big.

It also work good when casting lots of big heavy bullets (like a 6-banger for 255 grains) to have lead melting off to the side on the hotplate while casting. When the furnace gets low, top it up with already melted lead.

[Nora]

I'd also suggest trolling the kitchen section of the local thrift store. Most of my equipment (less the Pro Pot, molds, and duel fuel Colman) has come from there. Cast iron, slotted spoons, ladles, and gadgets galore, and all for cheap. My ingot molds are 6 hole muffin tins purchased for $.75each. They will produce 1 3/4 lb ingots on average.

[Edubya]

If your ingots are from an angle iron mold, about an inch shorter than the pot is deep, you can stand them on end around the sides. The directions for the RCBS Pro-Melt says that this is the better way and the sides do get red hot until the lead melts.
Remember, the reason for making the ingots is to have more consistent alloy throughout the session. Have plenty ready and keep your pot more than half full for best consistency.

[oregonshooter]

Good advice guys! I'm going to make the angle iron style next time.

Newb update: Guy at work sold me a turkey burner for $20.00, got another guy who is friends with the local owner of Les Swab and said he will get me their WWs if I reload for him.... sweet!

[oregonshooter]

UPDATE:

Got free lifetime supply of WWs from local Les Swab manager, but he said that the mix was not as good as it use to be because of newer regulations on WW lead %. I'm going to start reading threads on getting the right mix and hardness next (been reading for 2 days here, too much info for a newb, but that is a good thing) but the wife said I could have a Magma Star for my birthday so I'm looking into that right now.

Q? Is a hardness gauge a required tool for casting? I'm loading for an AK so I figure it might be important, but have not searched it out yet either.

Q? Should I buy a mold with the magma or get them from lathesmith? I've read his are better, but have not seen a price range for them or backlog info.

MAN THIS STUFF IS ADDICTIVE! :)

[zxcvbob]

said he will get me their WWs if I reload for him.... sweet! Keep quiet about that. The BATF would consider that manufacturing ammo without a license because of the alledged barter involved. There are also liability concerns.

This is just friendly advise, not legal advice.

[oregonshooter]

zxcvbob,

Good point. But We will all have a license to manufacture by then or be in violation of the new treaty Obama is trying to sign with Mexico. That's what I was talking about. :)

[oregonshooter]

Well, I've been on the board a few weeks now and reading like a mad dog and planning my big casting equipment purchase, and tonight was the night.

I've invested ~$75.00 into a fairly nice smelter setup (if I don't say so myself :) ) and while I didn't get the Lee Pro 4 20 I wanted, I think I got a pretty nice starter kit as listed below.

I saved a bunch on the sizer/luber by deciding to go pan melt (thanks to goatlips (http://goatlipstips.cas-town.com/index.html) and the sticky thread " $ $ Lube - Size on a Budget $ $" (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=34058) in this forum) and push-dies but figure if pan melt ain't cutting it I can always upgrade latter.

I had a hard time finding everything in one place, but Wideners had 90% of what I wanted except for the bottom pour but I figure I can always use a 20lb pot and ladle to keep the future bottom pour loaded if it comes to that. :)

Somehow my "I'm only going to cast for 9mm & 7.62x39" didn't last long as I bought kit for .38spl and 45acp also.

Should have my first WW meltdown in a week and hope to get some boolits out ASAP when the order comes in. They are 18 days behind shipping right now, but at least they are not backorder city like Midway or Midsouth was.

PS. Your little community has cost me $500.00 to date. hmmmm... he comes here saying "what should I buy for $500.00?" and magically 2 weeks later he has no more $500.00! :roll:

I did get this smelter setup (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showpost.php?p=563440&postcount=5) the stuff ordered below, a GB on the six cav 7.62x39 mold (barely got in!) and (6) big sticks of Lar45's Carnuba, so I should have everything I need as the safety gear, RCBS partner press and stuff I already have, but I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

http://oregonshooter.com/share/wideners_order.jpg

Soon I will be able to say..... :castmine:

[Slow Elk 45/70]

Oregonshooter, good job , you will never be "Done" collecting "things" that you need, some are needed, some are nice to have, all of them are fun to have and use...good casting

[oregonshooter]

Yeah, the wife does well with it and lets me pickup stuff on a regular basis, just not at the "I can skip food for a week to buy another gun thing" rate I did when I was single. :)

Slow and steady wins the race. :)

I figure I'll gain it all back in lead after less than 100lbs of free wheel weights at the current cost of lead boolits!

[Snyd]

I too am just getting geared up. I started collecting lead first off. I have been able to purchase a few buckets of WW's, got one freebie and just got a bucket thrown in on the deal when I bought new tires for the car. I need new struts and they'll do the same thing. I think I've got about 5 or 6 buckets so far and was also able to trade some door stops for a 20+lb Linotype pig that was cut in half and being used as door stops! I've got a hundred bucks into my lead so far. I scored a big cast iron frying pan dumpster diving along with 2 nice old rusty muffin pans. I used my old Sears clone of a Coleman stove last weekend and made 140lbs of lead muffins. This week I placed the following order from Lee Factory Sales. I've got 350 bucks total invested including my lead and can cast and size for 45, 44 and 38. I still need a thermometer and will probably get a hardness tester along with a heavy gc mould(s) for 45 Colt/454 Cassul and 44mag and also gas checks. But, I've got a decent stash of heavy Cast Performance bullets for now so I bought moulds for plinkin. I went ahead and ordered lee sizer kits for all 3 calibers cuz I couldn't figure out how to just get one kit with the plastic container and then just the other two dies. Oh well, only 36 bucks for 3 "kits". I figure I'll try alox lube and also try the pan lube method and see what I think of each.

Product #90947 PRO 4 20LB Melter =$66.98
Product #90326 6 CAVITY 358-150-1R =$38.00
Product #90349 6 CAVITY 452-255-RF =$38.00
Product #90428 6 CAVITY 429-200-RF =$38.00
Product #90055 NEW LUBE & SIZE KIT .452 =$12.90
Product #90048 NEW LUBE & SIZE KIT .358 =$12.90
Product #90062 NEW LUBE & SIZE KIT .430 =$12.90
Product #90005 COMMERCIAL MOLD HANDLES =$13.70

Subtotal: $233.38
Insurance/Shipping: $13.95
Total: $247.33