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Thread: Cast Master Coming Soon

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy pcmacd's Avatar
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    Cast Master Coming Soon

    I bought my Magma E Master Caster around 1995 2d hand and probably cast 50K bullets thru it until I sold it in 2017 before moving to Arizona, "Where Free Men Live", from Commiefornia, where "All men are slaves."

    I drilled a couple of 1/4" holes in the right side of the base casting, added a properly fitted 3" steel angle with a 3/16" aluminum plate affixed, and after taking out the mold guides and lashing down the remaining mechanism made a convertible "gang mold" casting machine from a conventional "Master Caster" I could change back and forth in around 25 minutes from either configuration.

    Igot pictures of the conversion if you want them; they've already been posted hereabouts. Just search for "pcmacd" as author or contributor. If you can't find them, ping me and I shall post them here.

    That conversion worked like a charm, but I'd only get around #400 or so 200 grn SWC 45 caliber bullets out before the 40# pot ran dry, and I'd rather do 2x that amount in a run.

    --->>> Waiting 40 or so minutes for the second pot to heat up was just dead time.

    Still, I miss that machine. Iben trying to get by with a LEE 10# bottom pour pot for some new guns I have since acquired, but that sucker takes just forever to make any quantity of bullets, unless you have TWO. One pouring, one warming up?

    So, my soon-to-arrive 90# pot Magma E "CAST MASTER" (with factory integrated digital temp controller) is arriving after a significant wait. And I finally got my 240V sub panel up and running in my workshop.

    That casting machine runs at around 3000 watts, about 12.5 amps at 240V. It will cost me around $0.50/hour to operate

    I've got a large 1/4" aluminum plate scrounged from my last employer, and plan to fix the 90# pot to the plate with the temp controller on the left (from the view I've seen of integrated units.) I'll make some mold guides of steel or aluminum angle extrusions, adjustable for my different gang molds.

    Before I left Commiefornia, I sold around 1500# of lead, about half of my stash. The rest got carted to AZ in 500 pound chunks on the floor behind the front seats of my car over three different trips out there. So, I've got around 1500# of range salvage and w/weight lead, and over a hundert pounds of foundry type for alloying the range salvage. The Foundry Type is 15% tin, 23% antimony*. The w/w stuff needs no alloying metals, but the range salvage does.

    Glory Hallelujah! I'll order tomorrow a pneumatic conversion from ME for my Star sizer, and be in bidness to make tons of ammo for the BRP/Stemple automatic weapon that will get delivered around the same time.

    I've finally figured what to do with that ~20# of Scot Solo 1000 and Pearl Scot that I was gifted a few years ago!

    --->>>Make subgun ammo!

    Life is good. Ever day is a Saturday when you are retired, yathink?

    Why leave your $$$ to your heirs, eh? They'll only spend it?

    I call these kinds of acquisitions "Punishing My Heirs."



    ~~~~~
    * I bought the foundry type from Arthur Greene in Beverly Hills a very long time ago.

    He's no longer with us, and it is increasingly difficult to source this kind of type metal as the world has gone to digital presses.

    1500# is a lot of lead, but shooting subguns might use it at a rate I had not considered before moving to AZ.

    I guess if one can afford the subgun, one can afford to purchase jacked bullets?



    ...
    Last edited by pcmacd; 11-22-2021 at 01:12 AM.

  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master
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    I purchased a 20 lb bottom pour Lee pot with the idea to use it to feed the Master Caster. If it drips a little, no big deal.
    Don Verna


  3. #3
    Boolit Master murf205's Avatar
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    Glad to see that you moved to America. My heart felt sympathy to shooters and casters who get demonized, no matter where they live. WE ARE NOT THE ENEMY! I know how you feel about retirement. The first couple of weeks after I retired, Mrs Murf asked me if I was EVER going to come upstairs and take a break from the bench. I am envious of anybody who has a Magma Master Caster. Enjoy brother, you earned it.
    IT AINT what ya shoot--its how ya shoot it. NONE of us are as smart as ALL of us!

  4. #4
    Boolit Buddy pcmacd's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dverna View Post
    I purchased a 20 lb bottom pour Lee pot with the idea to use it to feed the Master Caster. If it drips a little, no big deal.
    Lotsa people do that. I consider your method "good planning."

    If that is all you need or can afford, my hat's off to you, sir.

    You will cast many a bullet w/o having to wait for ****e to melt.

    ~~~~~
    In the interim, neither my recently sold Master Caster (40# pot), nor my 10# LEE bottom pour did/do it for me, for various reasons.

    And I've NOT! spent as much time! at the range as I thought I might as new to Maricopa County, AZ, being re-tarred and such since my move?

    After all, I found my home on Zillow because it was less than three miles by roads from the Rio Salado range?

    I find the f/a discharges 2 miles as the crow flies from my home to the Rio Salado range to be nice background noise for my new life here.

    ~~~~~
    I REQUIRE a big, bad lead pot to meet my NEW AND CURRENT bullet casting needs.

    I shall enjoy my 90# Magma E pot!

    ROCK! ROCK! ROCK! ROCK ON DUDES & DUDESSES!!!

    ...
    Last edited by pcmacd; 11-22-2021 at 12:55 AM.

  5. #5
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by pcmacd View Post
    That conversion worked like a charm, but I'd only get around #400 or so 200 grn SWC 45 caliber bullets out before the 40# pot ran dry, and I'd rather do 2x that amount in a run.

    ...
    Not sure what I'm missing (or my math skills have evaporated), but I don't understand why a 280,000 grain pot (40 pounds x 7,000 grains per pound) will only cast 80,000 grains of bullets (400 bullets x 200 grains per bullet). Do the sprues weigh twice the bullet weight?

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy pcmacd's Avatar
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    The sprues did indeed weigh as much as the bullets, or nearly so. When rejects are taken into account? Think about the lead it takes to get the molds heated up? There you go.

    I cast tens and tens of thousands of ME 0.452" 200gr SWC bullets on that machine, and NEVER got more than 450 useable bullets in a batch.

    Keep in mind that even though it is technically a 40# pot, you can't put that much in it if you want to flux it. 35# would be typical.

    Now re-think your math!

  7. #7
    Boolit Master AnthonyB's Avatar
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    My Master Caster pot can be fluxed when full of lead. I didn’t understand the OPs math either. Mine will certainly cast more than 400 200gr. boolits and my spruces are no larger than casting with a ladle or standard bottom pour.
    Tony

  8. #8
    Boolit Buddy pcmacd's Avatar
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    Ahem.

    Here is the output of FIVE x 10# casting sessions in the pitiful Lee bottom pour pot in the left pan.

    To the right you see 1/5 of the sprues that made this pile of 90 grain 0.356" bullets. They were from the last casting session number five of five sessions.

    I cast 6.7# of bullets and produced about 27# of sprues and rejects.

    So, tell me that my sprues are not weightier than my bullets? This 20% of sprues likely weigh as much as half of the five batches of bullets in the left pan do.

    Again. The sprues and such here are for the LAST 1/5 OF THE BULLETS YOU SEE IN THE PAN.

    Deal with it, dudes.

    So don't diss me when I say I get 400 to 450 Magma Engineering 200 grain SWC bullets to a 40 pound pot of lead?

    Hello?

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Last edited by pcmacd; 12-11-2021 at 06:11 PM.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check