Jim Sheldon
03-09-2010, 08:49 PM
UPS delivered my Lee Pro 4-20 melting pot this afternoon. I set it up and melted down about 8 pounds of the wheel weight ingots I bought at a gunshow this weekend. The person that cast the ingots did a real nice job of cleaning the lead as I got very little dross even after fluxing.
I adjusted the bottom pour spigot as per the instructions, set my Lee 205 grain .329 (8mm) mold on the molten lead for a couple minutes to get it up to temp and started casting. I just ran off a few to get used to the mold, RCBS mold mallet and the bottom pour melter. I cast 26 bullets and only lost 2 out of the 26 due to shutting off the pour too soon and getting incomplete cavity fill.
I was lucky and none of them exhibited the wrinklies. They all came out nice, smooth and shiny. I did tap them them out into warm water to quench rather than drop them on a soft cloth.
I'm waiting on a custom made .325" sizer die & bottom punch a friend is having made for me. I've shot some of his .325's (he sizes this same .329 down to .325 for his Mausers. Mine likes .323, so once I got the Lee .323 lube/size die set, I ran his .325's through it and they shoot much tighter groups. I tried one of the .329's in the .323 sizer and it was a strain on the Little Lee Challenger press to accomplish it, so I'll just wait for the .325 die and take 'em down to .323 in 2 stages, putting the gas check on in the .325 die.
I've been loading my cast lead (purchased) rifle boolits over IMR's Trail Boss powder. That stuff is producing some amazing accuracy at short distances (50 yards) on an indoor range out of my 1940 vintage 98K Mauser and my 1942 Izhevsk Mosin Nagant 91/30. 10 to 12 grains depending on bullet weight is producing sub MOA accuracy out of the Mauser at 50 yards, both with cast and some military FMJ pulls from old surplus ammo.
It was fun before casting, and now it's MORE fun and cheaper to boot. Gotta love cheaper these days.
I adjusted the bottom pour spigot as per the instructions, set my Lee 205 grain .329 (8mm) mold on the molten lead for a couple minutes to get it up to temp and started casting. I just ran off a few to get used to the mold, RCBS mold mallet and the bottom pour melter. I cast 26 bullets and only lost 2 out of the 26 due to shutting off the pour too soon and getting incomplete cavity fill.
I was lucky and none of them exhibited the wrinklies. They all came out nice, smooth and shiny. I did tap them them out into warm water to quench rather than drop them on a soft cloth.
I'm waiting on a custom made .325" sizer die & bottom punch a friend is having made for me. I've shot some of his .325's (he sizes this same .329 down to .325 for his Mausers. Mine likes .323, so once I got the Lee .323 lube/size die set, I ran his .325's through it and they shoot much tighter groups. I tried one of the .329's in the .323 sizer and it was a strain on the Little Lee Challenger press to accomplish it, so I'll just wait for the .325 die and take 'em down to .323 in 2 stages, putting the gas check on in the .325 die.
I've been loading my cast lead (purchased) rifle boolits over IMR's Trail Boss powder. That stuff is producing some amazing accuracy at short distances (50 yards) on an indoor range out of my 1940 vintage 98K Mauser and my 1942 Izhevsk Mosin Nagant 91/30. 10 to 12 grains depending on bullet weight is producing sub MOA accuracy out of the Mauser at 50 yards, both with cast and some military FMJ pulls from old surplus ammo.
It was fun before casting, and now it's MORE fun and cheaper to boot. Gotta love cheaper these days.