Welcome to THE forum!
10 lbs is a good start, a lot of 9mm boolits.
Probably no need to make ingots, if they are already boolits
the lead should be pretty clean. Any lube on 'em will serve as flux.
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Welcome to THE forum!
10 lbs is a good start, a lot of 9mm boolits.
Probably no need to make ingots, if they are already boolits
the lead should be pretty clean. Any lube on 'em will serve as flux.
G'day all
I joined a couple of years ago and have visited occasionally.
I haven't "contributed" as there seems to be little I can add to the already excellent info being posted by others.
Been shooting for over 35 years and started casting 30 odd years ago using a small CI pot on the kitchen stove to cast .62 RB for a "Rigby of Dublin" Manstopper Pocket Pistol (1840's) I had purchased. Was nice to shoot with a heavy denim patch (bore was about .65) and 40gns black powder. Turned that RB into a 1.5" disc when shot onto steel plate! ;)
Now I shoot mainly handgun silhouette and have recently got into cowboy silhouette; the cowboys would turn up after our morning handgun shoot so I figured I may as well stay for the afternoon and make the most of my 2 days a month parole from SWMBO!
I reckon my collection of moulds breeds as every time I look in the cupboard there seems to be another one or two! They range from .22 through 7mm, .30, 9mm, .357, .45 to 12G slug, from RCBS, CBE, Lyman and Lee.
Anyway, enough waffling. Just thought I'd say hello.
Cheers, Norbert
Today, 04:57 PM #1
LGH
Boolit Mold
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Michigan
Posts: 2 Another newbie
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Hello everyone
I've been lurking for a while, and decided I better register a couple days ago.
I'm a reloader who's been thinking about casting for some time now. I have got some valuable info so far just from lurking, and I know I will eventualy need some help/advice from the fine folk on this site. I have a friend who used to cast 20+ years ago, and hearing me talk about it has stirred his pot again. Just like reloading, I am already addicted to this casting thing, and I have'nt even got started yet. Anyways, thanks for a great site, and I thank you for all the present info, and all future as well. LGH
Sorry I had put this intro in the practice area. Even though I've been lurking, I just seen this sticky. Thanks all. LGH
Okay, you got another suckered in[smilie=b:. Like I needed another money pit:groner:. Seriously, ihave been reloading for 20 yrs for mostly rifle, but some pistol cals. I got the cast bullet bug when I tried some Cast Perfromance 320 gr WLNGC's for my SBH Hunter. They shot great, in fact, better accuracy than jacketed bullets. Found this site in March of 2009 and I joined then and have been lurking ever since. I have been back and forth about getting into casting because Ijust couldn't make up my mind. I don't shoot a lot of pistol rounds. Well, I made the plunge today and ordered a Lee Production IV 20 pot and all the accessories. I got a Lee .357 158 gr SWC TL mold, a Lee .410 215 gr SWC TL mold and Lee .358 and .410 sizer dies. I'm going to start out with this and go from here. I have a stock of commercial 44 240 SWC's that don't shoot well that I'm going to start with. I have already started scrounging WW's too. I swapped some brass to a guy who had wanted to start casting. He had about 75 lbs of WW's that he had smelted into ingots. I think that will get me started. One day, I want to get a couple of LBT molds for my 44Mag and 41Mag.
Thanks for all of the info on this site. Man, people have it easy starting out today. I remember starting reloading. There was nothing like this back then. I just had to grab some reloading manuals and read. I didn't have a mentor to walk me through and help. Sites like this are a big help.
Stan
Welcome to the club, Stan!
I have been reloading and casting bullets for over sixty years. The only thing I had guiding me was the little blue book, "Sixgun Cartridges and Loads" written by Elmer Keith. It was a dandy guide and got me started in the best possible way. Along the way, I met some people who added to my hard won knowledge. This Forum would have been a big help. Even tho' I have cast literally hundreds of thousands of bullets (I cast commercially for a while) I have still learned things on here.
The little manicurists' fan I use to cool my sprue (as well as help maintain proper temperature of my mould) I got from Mike Venturino. Pre-heating my moulds with a hot plate came from this site. Just a small sample of the helpful information I have received.
No one person can possibly have ALL of the experience possible that a dedicated group of people can. This forum is made up of a lot of people willing to share their knowledge.
Dale53
I have a double burner hotplate that's been in storage for years. I have got it out and checked it over to use for just this purpose.
The internet for all of its problems has been a godsend for the amount of info that is out there. Sites like this sure do help new people in getting started and sharing info.
Stan
OK I confess, been a lurker way too long. Jumping in the pond now.
Been casting for a .25WCF for about 12months now, waiting on a second mould for it.
Also waiting on a .358 mould to start feeding the .38 special.
By the way G'DAY ALL!
Only been lurking for a few days, thought I'd partake of all the experience on here!, been loading lead in the 45 Colt and 44 Magnum for a while now and I got a box of cast for my 45-70, have yet to load them, but I'm really here to learn!, I got about 300# of wheel weights, for FREE! so I'm slowly gathering the stuff to make them into BOOLITS!
Looks like I've got DAYS!? of reading to do!
Hey, wrench man, Welcome! Don't be afraid to ask questions. Also, folks may occasionally offer unsolicited information to keep you from "falling off a cliff". To wit: Be careful with those wheel weights, an increasing number of wheel weights are now zinc, which are pretty much incompatible with lead because accidentally created zinc-lead alloy messes up mould fill-out BIG TIME. That phenomenon is covered within these many pages, and none of us want you to mess up your rather phenomenal treasure trove of wheel weights by not getting the zinc out. Been there, done that, and I've been casting since 1964 - none of us are immune to problems.
rl 1014
Well aware of the Zn and Fe weights, 99.9% of these weights were pulled off of the wheels by myself, I do about 99% of the tire work at the alignment shop where I work, I sorted all of the weights before I even took them out to my pickup, got one FULL 5 gallon bucket pushing 200# and another BIG box of tape weights and an almost full 5 gallon bucket of TRUCK clip on weights, if there's any smaller than 2oz in there they were stuck in the clip when I tossed them in there!, NO trash, just lead clips and the sticky tape!, I don't even own a scale so my estimates on weight are just that? just going off of the fact that UPS says that a TRUCK brake drum weighs 107#
Got some reading and got LOTS to do yet!:drinks:
HI Norby, I wonder who on this side of the pond understood you :razz:
I found it quite amusing.
I am glad you are able to shoot pistol and cowboy. I thought handguns were so regulated in UK as to make it a rarety.
I shoot steel here but it isnt silhouette, take a peek on youtube at Steel Madness if you care to . It's quite addicting to hear that ping, and watch the plates fall.
Cowboy here seems to be more about the 'get up' rather than the shoot.
Cheers, Max
Umm, I'm in Australia, not the UK, so while we certainly have tough restrictions on the ownership of handguns, they are not (yet?) completely banned.
Cowboy Silhouette is shooting the same targets as the handgun shooters over the same distances using rifles with tubular magazines, so basically lever actions. I agree the name is a bit confusing, as Western Action is where folks tend to dress up and shoot at much closer distances.
I have been lurking and learning for a while now thought it was time I registered and said hello :-)
I have only been shooting for a couple of years (late starter due to UK laws) and started reloading for 9mm 38/357mag this year and hope to start casting early next year for the above and possibly .457 round ball for a Ruger Old Army.
Am trying to get stocked up on lead first I have 44kgs (97lbs) of mainly range scrap with round balls remove with a bit of roofing lead too but want to make sure it’s hard enough (got a pencil set on the way) before I spend much on equipment. Might even get in on some group buys on custom moulds if I can get them sent to France at a reasonable price.
I've lurked here a bit and decided to sign on today. I found this site because I was looking for cast bullet loading info for the 7.62x39. I've got a nice little CZ carbine in this caliber that I'd like to shoot more, but the cost of J bullets is getting out of hand for my meager finances.
I have a Lee production pot, 1 pistol bullet mold, a lubri-sizer and a couple hundred pounds of lead- some of which is wheel weights, some linotype and even some soft lead plumbing pipe. I've done just a little bit of casting with this stuff, but it was nearly 20 years ago. I'm hoping to learn a bit of the how, what and why of the world of bullet casting.
bruinruin;
Lee Precision has a couple of bullets designed for the 7.62x39 by C.E.(Ed)Harris. They have an excellent reputation.
I much prefer standard lube grooves but others have had success with tumble lubing. If you elect to tumble lube, may i suggest the "sticky" on the 45/45/10 tumble lube recipe by Recluse:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=67654
Best of luck,
Dale53
Thanks, Dale.
I've got the Lee TL version on my Christmas list along with the sizing kit and 1,000 gas checks. Part of my reason for going with the TL version is my ignorance of top punches for different bullet nose shapes. As I mentioned, I've got a sizer which I bought from a co-worker 20 years ago. It came with the appropriate sizer and top punch already installed for the pistol bullet mold he sold me.
I've got a lot of learning to do about casting and loading for a rifle.
Scott
Im joining because I need a support group... I've caught the bug and its bad... My wife and I only shoot around 75-100 rounds a month. So i had the thought a few weeks ago to look into reloading to save some money since we shoot every month...
So I looked into reloading... Did research and decided to try it out and start small. Had to fight against the urge to purchase a Nice turret press so I kept telling myself Im doing this as a hobby and enjoyment no need to rush it. Well after deciding what equipment I wanted and making my list of needed items I then got to the components part. Brass, powder.... and Bullets...... saw they were 70-80 $ per 1000!!! and I'm reloading for a few calibers.....
Long story short in my first reloading purchase ever i just got done ordering a press, powder, primers, a melter pot, dies, mold cavity's,bullet resizers, and lots more.....
As you can imagine I will continue to be on here doing more research! LET THE FUN BEGIN!!!
( Sad Day when I thought about all the brass I have been throwing away in my lifetime.... When I look at my newly cleared work bench I only have about 80 pieces of empty brass sitting there...
hi, Mabbus4, you'll get more brass as you go along. If you shoot at a range you can pick up brass if the range management allows it. Pick up ALL brass no matter what caliber because you may be able to trade for what you need with someone at the range. If you shoot US military and common police calibers like .357 Magnum, 9mm Luger, .40 Auto, .45 APC, .223 Rem, .308 Winchester, and .30-06, you can buy once-fired brass from the Internet at places like GI Brass. There should be a list of links to favorite shooting resource places here somewhere on this site, you'll have to look around. You can also get surplus powder for pretty cheap, the only bad side to that is the $20 Haz Mat fee to deliver it to you. I get around that by buying 4 or 5 eight pound jugs. Thirty-two or 40 pounds of powder is a lot unless you have others who will get together with you to make a combined purchase. You don't have to buy all one kind of powder, get 4 or 5 "flavors".
I guarantee you, reloading your own ammo will not save you one single cent at all, because you will just end up like every one of us here at Cast Boolits by shooting 10 times as much ammo as you would if you bought ammo at the store. Don't worry, you'll survive just fine, I'm on a tight budget on a tiny fixed income and my shooting does not harm my standard of living one bit. My shooting takes the place of going to movies, buying beer, going out to dinner, etc. I still do those, too, but not like I used to! Casting, reloading, and shooting are good entertainment that also exercises your mind.
Have fun and Good Luck!
rl 1059
Mabuss4 I have a fair amount of 9mm and .40 s&w brass I can part with if you wanna trade.