Starting Casting

[Paulinski]

Well I'm about to embark on a new journey. I'm going to start casting.

I collected some equipment already and read as much as I could here.

I'm going to be casting 500 S&W and 9mm eventually to include .44 / .40 / .38 /.45

Anyhow this is what I have.

1) 20# Lee bottom pour furnace
2) Lee Ingot Mold
3) Thermometer for the furnace
4) Lee 501 and .356 Size Lube Kits
5) Lee 2 cavity 9mm 125gr Molds x2
6) Mountain Molds 700gr and 600gr 500S&W two cavity aluminum molds with Lee 6 cavity handles
7) 20# of hard lead (purchased from local commercial bullet caster) - eventually I will smelt wheel weights.

Do I need anything else to get me started? I'm going to smoke the molds and lube them with silicone.

I would like to start with the 500 S&W and cast some 700 grainers. [smilie=1:

Any tips / suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Paul

[RayinNH]

Welcome to the asylum :-D. You're gonna need much more lead at 700 grains a throw...Ray

[Paulinski]

Thanks. I plan to purchase additional 20#.

Do I need anything else to lube the, bullets or the Lee lube / size kits will be sufficient?

[Paulinski]

Thanks. I plan to purchase additional 20#.

Do I need anything else to lube the, bullets or the Lee lube / size kits will be sufficient?

[kbstenberg]

You mite want some Bullplate mold lubricant.
Protective clothing, heavy leather lined gloves, Long sleaved heavy shirt sweatshirt, lite jacket, protective eye wear VERY IMPORTANT only got one pair.

[Paulinski]

Thanks I got the gloves and eye protection.

[45nut]

Look around the classics and stickies area, you have a good start! Welcome Aboard.

[Shiloh]

Great.

More pressure on our dwindling Wheel Weight sources.

Just Kidding.

Welcome!!

Shiloh

[wallenba]

Well, you need some kind of flux for the melt, something to stir and scrape the pot, I use an old stainless steel tablespoon that I put a wood handle on. A small wooden club to open the sprue. A sealed container to put your dross in. A manual on marital relations, and a hot plate to preheat your mold. And a little patience as it took me quite a while to start getting good bullets, aluminum molds took me longer to master. Most of this stuff you probably read about though.

[Rooster]

The only thing I see missing that is needed is a tolerant wife, reclusive neighbors and a deep pocketbook! Seriously though, if your casting many of those 700 gn depth charges I'd be looking for a larger stash than 40 pounds, IMHO. Anything more added to what you have and what has been said is just frills. Have fun!

[Catshooter]

Welcome to the forum.

For fluxing I use just a piece of wood. Stir the lead a bit with it. I starts to carbonize (burn) adding carbon to the mix which helps the various elements making up your alloy to stay happy together and all the dirt & suchlike to rise to the top.


Cat

[lurch]

Looks like you have it pretty well covered for starting out. One thing that I see that could be an issue later is the 9mm sizing kit. Mine likes 'em bigger than .356 and apparently that is the experience of a lot of folks on this forum judging from a lot of posts I've seen. .357 to .358 even is what a lot of folks are using. Lee sizing dies are cheap though - won't break the bank to get a bigger one. I have no idea about the 500 sizer or any inclination to find out. 44 is plenty for me...

+1 on the more than 40 lbs of lead... at 700gr. a pop that's only 400 boolits - assuming you use every drop of your melt. While I don't shoot them that big, I have been known to go through that many .44's in a couple sessions at the range.

[Paulinski]

Thanks for all of the info.

I'm a wimp and usually go through about 10 rounds of 500 S&W and thats with 500gr Hornadys.

So 700gr will be 5 per session :)

Once again thanks a bunch all. I will also look into .357 sizer for 9mm boolits.

Paul

[Echo]

If the .357's don't work all that well, and you get some leading, try .358. I believe we need the largest boolit that will chamber in our weapons, especially for the 9mm's.

[RayinNH]

Paul, before buying another sizer just try the one you have. If you need a bigger one just lap out the .356 to the needed size. Threads on lapping dies are everywhere on this site...Ray

[fredj338]

Sounds like you are ready to go. Reading the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook would be helpful before you get going. A trip to the LASC cast bullet site will also yield a lot of good info. http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm BTW, @ 700gr, you are going to get only 200 bullets out of your 20# of alloy. You definitely need more alloy.:Fire:

[Paulinski]

I ordered the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook. I also have about 1/2 4gallon bucket of wheel weights.

[lurch]

How are you planning to melt those WW the first time? Doing it in your Lee 20lb pot will make a mess of things. Not impossible to recover from but it's a real PITA to clean up afterwards and get the pot flowing right again. There's a lot of trash on WW that gets stuck in the works on the bottom and really messes stuff up. No, I never did this for those that are curious...

I'd find a steel or cast iron pot or dutch oven (skillet will work in a pinch) to render/smelt your WW in. A one piece muffin tin, old cast iron cornbread mold, honest ingot mold, etc. can be used to pour the cleaned, fluxed metal in and make ingots. Your heat source can be anything from a turkey fryer burner to a big hot plate. You'll need some sort of dipper to get the metal out of the bigger container and into the ingot mold - don't try lifting a heavy pot of molten metal and pouring out of it - reasons should be self explanatory. A small pot (10lb or less) is probably OK to directly pour from if it has a very sturdy handle. Don't forget gloves (welder's variety are best - jersey gloves are next to useless), long sleeves, good shoes, long pants, etc. A good heavy apron is a good idea too. There's no reason to try something like this without being prepared in case something goes awry. There are plenty of threads here on the subject and it can be done of the cheap. Search for smelting here (search link on the "menu" at the top of the page) and see what people are using. Scrounge around and you will come up with something.

[lylejb]

+1 on the heavy leather gloves

My first smelting session i started with the el-cheepo light leather palm gloves. The type that's usually gray with cloth on the back, and sells for $3 or $4. They have very thin lining in the palms only. I tried to pick up my small iron smelting pot to pour the last ingot out, that i couldn't get with my ladle. I GOT BURNT BEFORE I COULD POUR 1 INGOT. The gloves didn't burn through, they just transfered enough heat to burn my fingers, in seconds. Won't try that again!! Also, if the molten lead were to ever get splashed, the cloth back would provide zero protection. Lesson learned.

Make sure anything you add to the pot is completely DRY. Water will boil instantly, and almost explosivly, when it hits a hot pot of lead. This can splash molten lead in any direction.

Welcome aboard.

LB

[jdgabbard]

It sounds like you have just about everything you need to get started. But I would suggest you mix that alloy half and half with some soft lead. As its probably #2 and is a bit hard in my experience.

[Bret4207]

You seem to be missing the one item you'll really need. A ladle. A good ladle at that. The bigger boolits really benefit from the ladle. Pouring speed and volume don'tcha know....

[No_1]

Safety Glasses, paint stirring sticks (free from Lowe's / Home Depot) to stir the mix, crayons (free from restaurants) or candle stubs for flux, solder to add for fill out, kitty litter to cover your melt once it is ready to pour.

R.

[moses]

Why do you cover your pot with kitty litter when ready to pour?
What benifit does this offer?

[snaggdit]

When using a bottom pour pot it keeps the heat in (acts as an insulator) and also blocks air from contacting the top of your melt and causing oxidation. This saves your tin and antimony some and you don't have to flux until you get down to the bottom (1/2" or so). Then either add more lead or scoop off and empty the pot. I use charcoal from my fireplace. Does the same thing but also acts as a flux. YMMV :-)

[No_1]

Snaggdit hit is right on the head. One thing you want to make sure of is the melt does not get low enough for the kitty litter to enter the spout or you will learn 2 things fast, how quickly the pot empties and how to take the pot apart for cleaning. I avoid this by not letting the pot get to low before I add lead. I also drop the sprue's into the post when I cut them. They are pretty much up to temperature so they do not cool the melt and their introduction back into the pot will prolong the time before you need to add lead. The other thing to keep in mind is if you are using a bottom pour, your melt will not flow good until you get around 700 degrees. One more thing, keep something handy to catch the melt when it starts pouring by itself and you cannot stop it.

R.

[Paulinski]

Great info folks. Keep it coming please.

:)

I'm thinking of getting a second Lee pot - this time regular pot with a ladle to cast the big boolits from.

Opinions?