What all do I need to cast 45 acp boolits?

[Bkid]

Forgive the Newbie here.
I got the 6 cavity TL 452-230-2R 45.
lEE 4 - 20 FURNACE
bullit mold handles 2
Do I need the lube and sizer dies kit?
Do I need a allow hardness tester?
What else will I need for casting. I know what I need for Smelting I got that.Thank you for all the help.
Billy

[randyrat]

To start you need some Lead.... If it cast close to .452 you may not have to size your bullet any. Depends on if you can load and chamber the un- sized bullet.
Do you have a Caliper to measure?
Bull Plate sprue Lube? ( use some permatex anti sieze for now if you don't have BPSL)
Lube for your bullets?
No you don't need the tester..
There is a start

[462]

BKid,
Howdy and welcome.

1. You will need lube of some sort and the means to size the boolit to the correct dimension for your gun's barrel groove. (Slug the barrel. The boolit should be .001" larger than groove dimension.) You can go with Lee's push-through sizer kit and either use their Liquid Alox lube or pan lube. Or, you can get a Lyman or RCBS lubrisizer, correct size sizing die, appropriate top punch, and stick lube. Money may be a determining factor with the second option.

2. A caliper and a micrometer. One to measure cartridge over all length, the other to measure boolit diameter.

3. A hardness tester is not a necessity.

4. A thermometer may be handy.

5. A folded cotton towel on which to drop the boolits.

6. I've probably forgotten something.

Enjoy the new hobby. Oh, yes, read the stickies and archives!!

[chris in va]

Do I need the lube and sizer dies kit?

Nope. Shoot as-is.


Do I need a allow hardness tester?

Not really. Air dry the wheelweight boolits, you'll be fine.

I'd start with the 2 hole mold though. The 6 hole seems to need a bit more technique from what I've read.

Got the liquid alox? Better buy a few bottles, they go quick.

Doesn't the mold come with handles?

I just shot 200 of my first 45acp boolits today and they worked perfectly. No leading at all, accurate and chambered like a champ. They're the same ones you have.

[44fanatic]

Doesn't the mold come with handles?
.

Lee 6 bangers dont come with handles, the 2 boolit molds do.

[Recluse]

You'll need to make room in your vocabulary for some new swear words.

:coffee:

[bohokii]

i'll just tell you what i use

#1 coleman 425e stove
#2 8 inch skillet
#3 tablespoon
#4 2 cavity lee 452 230 round nose tumble lube mold
#5 gallon ice cream bucket
#6 lee .452 push through sizer
#7 lee tumble lube
#8 single stage press
#9 sheet of wax paper
#10 5 hours of warm weather
#11 area in direct sunlight for 5 hours
#12 sturdy small cardboard box for boolits
#13 5 gallon bucket half full of water for water dropping
#14 propane torch with airholes taped off for blackening mold cavities
#15 piece of broomhandle to whack sprueplate
#16 protective wear (longsleeve cotton shirt,soft leather gloves,long cotton pants,cotton socks,close toed shoes

[Cloudpeak]

I use the Lee 6 cavity molds for my handgun bullets. I tried a Lee two cavity mold in 38 and it's way too slow for me. Life's too short! The 6 cavity's are of better construction and, with care (Bullplate sprue lube), will last for thousands of bullets.

I run everything through a Lee push through sizer. I occasionally ran into "fat bullets" for whatever reason so, for the sake of uniformity, everything goes through the sizer. A fat bullet could cause: seating and crimp problems in a progressive press, failure to chamber and could increase pressures.

I spray the bullets with Hornady "One Shot" case lube, size and then tumble lube. (One can lasted for around 20,000 bullets and I also used the same can to spray my brass before sizing so it doesn't take much.) Speaking of which, a little tumble lube goes a long way (and I thin mine with low odor mineral spirits.) No reason to tumble lube twice that I've found. Concerning LLA usage, one of my posts in another thread:

"I tried to keep an accurate count of primers used (by the thousand count) over the last 5 or 6 years since I started actively shooting pistols and reloading again. I've loaded around 27,000 rounds of lead bullets in 9, 40 & 45 and have around 18,000 9mm and 45 bullets lubed. For these bullets, I used the four, 4 oz containers of LLA that came with the four push through sizing dies.

I ran out and just received two, 32 oz jugs of White Label Lube "Liquid Xlox". Hmmmm, that should last me awhile."

I have yet to buy a hardness tester. Air cooled wheel weights should work fine as long as the bullet isn't too small for the bore. I think most folks shoot for a bullet diameter of .452" for 45 ACP. If you buy a Lee push through sizer, you'll sure want to measure a sized bullet. A .452" die might not give you a .452" bullet. I've had a few Lee sizer's that sized small. It's easy to open these up to size to the diameter you want.

[fredj338]

Hardness tester, nice, but not really required if you use known alloy (ww, pure lad, etc.) I find my bullets ar more accurate sized vs shooting as cast. The dia of the bullets will vary a bit w/ casting/mold temp, so sizing to a uniform dia just removes another reloading variable. The Lee push thru sizer works fine, but if you cast enough, you'll eventually want a luber/sizer & the Star/Magma is the best.

[jcw1970]

First question I would ask, Is did you slug your barrel? Even if the Lee drops perfect at .452, you still might need to size it down.

[Bkid]

Thank you all for the input. I know I will also need a thermometer.I found this one.
http://www.teltru.com/showproduct.aspx?ProductID=272&SEName=big-green-egg-grill-dome-kamado-replacement-thermometer-lt225r-2001000-degrees-f

I am not sure about the lubing thing though. I am reading about it when I did a search. The lee sizer and ALOX is a cheap route,yet does it actually work? That I am still tring to figure out.Then some cut with mineral spirits. Seems some what coplicated to me.
Not sure what a sluged barrel is either,sorry very new to all of this.
Again Big Thank you to all of you!

[dogbert41]

I have that mold and I like it, but after a while, I decided to turn to 200 grain bullets to save on lead. It's just 30 grains per bullet, but it adds up when you shoot alot. The Lee 200 grain swc, not the tumble lube design, works REALLY well in my Springfield 1911. I size to .452 and tumble lube them 50/50 with Johnson's paste wax.

[RobS]

Good info so far:

Once you have cast some bullets I'm sure you are going to plan on shooting them so........reloading manual/manuals and cross referencing between multiple sources is a good idea as well.

Welcome to the fun!!!

[Cloudpeak]

I am not sure about the lubing thing though. I am reading about it when I did a search. The lee sizer and ALOX is a cheap route,yet does it actually work? That I am still tring to figure out.Then some cut with mineral spirits. Seems some what coplicated to me.

LLA/XLOX has worked for me for around 40,000 rounds of 9, 40, 38 & 45 handgun loads. I had a Lyman lube/sizer 40 years ago and thought it was a pain. When I started up casting and shooting again, LLA and their push through sizers were on the market so I decided to give it a try. It's fast, low cost and effective. Thinning with low odor mineral spirits isn't necessary but the lube dries a bit better and it stretches the lube supply. I think a lot of folks use way too much LLA/XLOX because they think more will reduce leading. I've "mined" a lot of factory cast bullets out of the berm and the lube is still in the groove. I think the most important thing to prevent leading is to not shoot lead bullets too small for the bore.


Not sure what a sluged barrel is either,sorry very new to all of this.
Again Big Thank you to all of you!

For slugging, I cast a few pure lead bullets, lube them and the bore with oil and tap them through the bore and then measure with a micrometer. You don't have to do this and your 452 bullets will probably work but, if you get leading, checking bore diameter will be an important thing to do. I think bore fit is more important than the lube you use (at least in moderate handgun loads. Don't know about rifles.)

[prickett]

The lee sizer and ALOX is a cheap route,yet does it actually work? That I am still tring to figure out.Then some cut with mineral spirits. Seems some what coplicated to me.

I'm fairly new too. I've been successful getting Alox to work with .45's. This is a good caliber to start with due to its low pressure. I've not had the same success with 9mm yet.


Not sure what a sluged barrel is either,sorry very new to all of this.
Again Big Thank you to all of you!

Slugging the barrel and sizing my bullets shed some clues for me. The sizers were actually sizing .001 less than their listed diameter. Therefore, I got leading from my 9mms. Sizing with the next larger sizing die was successful with pan lubed rounds. Next week I'm trying Alox. Alox is WAY easier than pan lubing, so, if possible, do that. The moral of the story is: when people tell you to slug the barrel, it is very important to do so.

A good way to create the slugs for slugging your barrel is to fill several empty cases (same caliber case as the barrel you want to slug) with molten lead, then, when cooled, remove using a kinetic bullet puller. Creates a perfect slug, slightly tapered. Drive that slug through your barrel using a mallet and dowel. Measure the slug on its exiting the barrel. That tells you the diameter of your barrel. Then, size your bullets to .001 more than that for a good seal.

[Wayne Smith]

Good price on that thermometer. Don't bother buying the 2-cavity mold since you have the six. Most folks start with the lead too cool and have a problem using the six. Start with only two or three of the cavities filled on the six cavity. Get comfortable using it this way and this will also heat the mold up.

If you have a hotplate it is really handy with the big molds to get them to heat before pouring your first boolit. I have broken a Lee sprue plate handle trying to cut the sprues of six boolits in a cold mold.

Listen to the guys talking about fitting your boolit to your gun. This is critical, not just important. This alone is reason to spring for a Lee sizer if you are casting for only one gun. If you are going to be casting for several guns then think about a Lyman or RCBS lubesizer.

[Bkid]

Thanks guys some great info, keep it coming. I am aware of the importance of the right size bullet for my gun. That may not even be an issue with the 200 gr bullet or the 230 gr. I will check it first. I will check all my boolits. I know just because they state 452, may not be what I get.
I also think a very good air filtration mask might be a good idea. I do not want to breath any harmful fumes.Full face shield is what I am looking for now,I am going to HOME DEPOT.Maybe in the welding section I can find that item.

[Echo]

Welcome, neighbor. I will probably get in trouble for this, but I'm not real anal about safety. Fairly anal, but not chronic. I wear glasses, no face shield. I don't use a respirator - I use a paint paddle and Marvelux for fluxing, so fumes are no issue. I also occasionally use paraffin for flux, and it usually lights itself, so little smoke issues. I wear short sleeve shirts, and occasionally get miniscule droplets of alloy splash on my hands/wrists/knees (wear shorts, too) and ignore them. I make sure I wear socks in my loafers - I have heard horror stories about splashes into non-socked shoes - and a couple pairs of white athletic socks are decorated with miniscule alloy spots. And all the clothes I wear are natural cotton, no 30% man-made, because the man-made will melt when hit with molten alloy, and that can be more than annoying.
In other words, I am fairly careful regarding what I'm about, when casting or rendering, but I don't do industrial amounts, and don't use industrial protection. Common sense and care are the best protection.