Running out of excuses...

[Hubertus]

Hello there,
it started out with questions about paper patching and lube recipes.
One or the other member here explained it might be a good idea for me to start casting instead of buying cast boolits from the internet. I could start small with a pot hotplate and so on.

Well I am slowly running out of excuses not to do it because now I have a source of lead...[smilie=w:
Inspired by the ideas exchanged on the board I was looking for local tire shops, but without luck. Suddenly one morning it struck me. Almost every day I am passing by a stained glass glazier's shop. Pretty small and the gentleman is usually out working somewhere to repair church windows and so on, but there is a little note with his telephone number.
Of course I called him...kindly inquiring about leftovers of his work.
He said sure I always have some bits and pieces here and there but I remelt myself, too. How much would I need and it might not be pure lead it might be contaminated :cry:. I asked with what, he said with tin :bigsmyl2:.
He then said he remelts it with different tin content to get harder and softer material to be used for different purposes. We fixed an appointment and had a nice chat. Visiting his shop later on left me with a bucket full of rather soft lead strips and a couple of harder ones. Comparing this to the bought soft lead boolits it looks like I can just take the lead and add very little of the material with higher tin content and I have my alloy. I still need a mould, ladle and maybe a hardness tester, but I am happy as a soon to be newbie caster can be.

Leaving his shop he ask me how many centner I would need in the future, he still has some ingots somewhere, I could have them and can come back any time and get more…

Hubertus

[SciFiJim]

I had to look up "centner" as it is not a unit of measure we normally use. An online dictionary says that it is 50 kilos. :holysheep Get all you can (while being nice about it of course). Lead is not getting any easier to find.

[RayinNH]

Maybe you could repay the favor with some good German beer sometime...Ray

[runfiverun]

10% tin is the alloy lee and rcbs uses for their rifle boolits. no antimony.

[Hubertus]

Surely, I will compensate him.
I asked twice and he wouldn't take money from me so I gave him a bottle of Italian wine. Beer might have been a solution, too :mrgreen:

I just took a small amount with me because he stated that I can come back any time and I didn't want to appear greedy plus I don't have that much storage space. So I figure first getting the tools I am still missing and then cast the first batch. Hopefully I will have some results that I can present him.
The gentleman seemed very interested in the whole thing, naturally it is part of his profession and he seemed to enjoy a young feller asking questions and is going to try casting lead.

In another thread I was asking the forum which mold to get first and I think I will start with a 405 grainer from Lee. I will have to order it from the US via ebay. There is none to be had here wit the 2 cav and the 1 cav molds are way overprized comparing it to the US.

One issue now is to determine the tin content, because he told me that every batch, even the soft one contains tin, since he is remelting it. (The lead strips are soldered together) I might as well start with the pure soft material and see how it comes out.

Hubertus

[canebreaker]

Great source found.
I find ebay a bit over priced sometimes.
May want to try somewhere else.
www.wideners.com
www.fmreloading.com
www.midwayusa.com
www.midsouthss.com if that doesn't work, www.midsouth shooters supplies.com
www.natchezss.com

[Blammer]

What caliber are you shooting? may want to look at our swap and selling forum, may be able to find what you want at a good price! Plus you can put an add on what you want in the wanted to buy section.

If you are purchaseing a group buy mould that I'm running I will ship to Germany. If you need GC's I can get you some too, only limit is the 4 pound wt restriction to the USPS flat rate box for international orders.

oh yea, I forgot!

Welcome!

[Hubertus]

For the welcome and the links.

I am shooting 45-70 in a Pedersoli Rolling Block. Currently SP but I am working on the BP license.
Thanks for the hind with the Swapping and Selling Forum I usually get caught on the top of the page and read through the new posts after that I just can't read anymore. Maybe I should start at the bottom :razz:

In terms of the group buys, thank you for the offer, Blammer. I think since you are advanced casters and I am just a rookie learning my way and on a budget too, it might not be in for me to buy a high priced mold at the moment. Actually, I was offered a very nice PP mold here on the forum and had to turn it down simply because of the price. But I am having options on it [smilie=l:

Thanks again and maybe I will add a want to buy post for a mold in the respective forum.

Hubertus

[e15cap]

Hubertus, If you can mark your lead with a thumbnail it is probably soft enough to use. I wouldnt get too hung up on hardness issues and would melt it qll together and see how looks. You will need some kind of lube, either blackpowder or smokeless,and the ASSRA site has many formulas to try that you can make you self, since bullet lube might be hard to come by over there. Another good site to put in your favorites is the Shiloh Rifle forum. I would guess that every question ever asked about the 45-70 is there somewhere. Nice rifle you have there by the way.
Best, Roger

[Hubertus]

Thank you for the compliments on the rifle e15cap.
Funny that you write about the finger nail thing. Since I had bought a batch of cast boolits on the internet, just to try. Soon I found that they are quite soft and can be marked with the finger nail. The first thing I did when I was at the shop I tried to mark the lead strips with the thumb nail. Well it felt similar to the bought boolits and I thought it might work.

Just checked the Shiloh forum - wow I might have to double step the reading. I will never get through all this :razz:

Regarding the lube, I actually found this forum when I was looking for homemade lube recipes. Yes, you are right lube is scarce here, although one could buy it via the internet. I made my first batch of a lube that uses the structure of Felix lube but replaces castor oil by Jojoba and I used cetyl alcohol instead of ivory soap. I had no leading with the bought 340 grain FP boolits at 1600 fps. The pan lubing didn't work so well, but I am working on that.

Thanks for the pointer on the ASSRA site, too. There are a lot of good places to get information.

Hubertus

[e15cap]

I pan lube and have good results. Don't get in too big a hurry and let them set up, 3-4 hours before you push them out base first. Best, Roger