Getting started

[gwpercle]

Welcome To Cast Boolits ... You are off to a good start !
I also test every wheel weight , the clip on wheel weights you can cast into ingots and mark them as such ... COWW stamped into each beats a slip of paper in the bucket ... the paper disappears and you forget !
A good alloy , which stretches your supply of COWW is to mix it 50-50 with soft lead ... it doesn't need to be pure lead just soft like range scrap or possibly lead fishing sinkers or anything that is mostly soft lead .
My free unlimited source of wheel weights retired from the tire business and I had to find a way to stretch my COWW supply ... the boys in the hunting section used 50-50 COWW -Soft Lead in 30-30 deer loads and they mushroomed nicely so I tried the mix ... it makes a better boolit , handgun and most rifle , than straight COWW.
Keep your COWW and soft lead ingots marked when casting I put one of each in the pot ...
the mix doesn't have to be a perfectly exact 50-50 blend , close works just fine and dandy !
I have that same Lee 170 gr. F mould and a Winchester model 94 , 30-30 ... have done a lot of shooting with it at targets and load development ... haven't made a deer or hog hunt ...yet !
Gary

[GONRA]

GONRA hasa half-ass suggestion - if yer shootin' .45 acp CAST.
Just upgemix all yer scrap lead - cast 230 RN boolits, load 'em up 'EM UP AND cast away!

[MDKelley]

Since the Fryxell book talks about wheel weights being a great material for most bullets I picked up two more 5 gallon buckets of weights from a local shop. Talked a little to the shop owner and he mentioned that Michigan is one of the only states in our region where lead wheel weights are still legal. Figuring I will have around 200 lbs of wheel weights once I get through these and with the ones I had before. That should make quite a few bullets for me to start out.

I am about halfway through the Fryxell book, I think just into the "lessons learned" portion now.

[gwpercle]

MDKelly ,
... The best way to learn how to cast boolits ... Is to Cast Boolits ...
Keep On Keeping On !

Gary

[dverna]

Since the Fryxell book talks about wheel weights being a great material for most bullets I picked up two more 5 gallon buckets of weights from a local shop. Talked a little to the shop owner and he mentioned that Michigan is one of the only states in our region where lead wheel weights are still legal. Figuring I will have around 200 lbs of wheel weights once I get through these and with the ones I had before. That should make quite a few bullets for me to start out.

I am about halfway through the Fryxell book, I think just into the "lessons learned" portion now.

That book is priceless, and you are doing well to study it.

You are lucky to be getting WW's and if they do not have much zinc or steel get all you can. Long term, you need to find other sources of alloy. Range scrap is one source that is usually cheap but takes a bit of work.

I suggest a Lee 20 pound pot as you next investment. There are better units but the Lee is affordable and gets the job done. I have three pots...a Lee (never used but got it on sale), Lyman (nearly 50 years old) and a Master Caster. Add a thermometer next, and down the road add a PID controller. Casting is not an art...it is a science. The more you keep things consistent the better bullets you will produce. Nearly any crap will work for short range pistol plinking bullets. Rifle bullets to be used at 100 yards or farther are more challenging and as you drive for higher velocity is gets trickier. If you read posts by guys like Gibson, you will see no one is getting good results is using "mystery alloy" for rifle bullets. If you are lucky, and your "mystery alloy" works well, will you be able to replicate it? That is the huge advantage of knows alloys.

You have made a good start and good luck moving forward.

[canyon-ghost]

Channel iron makes a great mold! I made mine with a mig welder. Six inch wide, four cavity. But, then again, I was a factory welder.
Good Luck,
Ron

[varmintpopper]

To determine percentage of the different metals in Your casting mix try this, Find a Jewelry shop that buys gold, take a sample of your mix to them and ask if they will X-ray the sample and give You a readout of percentages. Some may charge You a small fee, but most will do it for free. With this info You can add lead, antimony, or Tin to make the mix of Your choice.

Good Shooting

Lindy

[MDKelley]

welded up a couple tonight, after finishing sorting the first bucket.



I think it is 3 or 3.5 in wide, probably 6" long. Made about a 7.5 lb brick when I had just clamped plates on the end for a temporary mold. Hopefully that isn't too big... if so I can likely just weld a divider in the middle or bandsaw this in half and weld more endplates on it to make 4 block molds half that size.

[Shopdog]

Keep your lead separated,best you can. Dosen't have to be anything fancy.....

Been casting regularly since the mid '70's. In all that time never worried too much about lead stowage. 5 or so years ago gathered up "most" of it,left WW's in 5g buckets..... and made a 1/2way attempt towards organizing. Ended up with a wooden box arrangement,that reminds you of a row of hen(chicken) boxes. There's 4.... running from soft to hard. 1st bx is softer than range lead,2nd IS range scrap,3 is fortified range/WW....last is store bought super hard.

Along with the WW buckets,and a big pile of plumbing pipes N fittings. All the box stuff is in ingots. This system may not be perfect but can find what I'm after blindfolded. Good luck with your project.

[GhostHawk]

Yes, save your dross, your pot scrapings, your unknown bits.

I use this to "Start" the pot when I start a new melt. IE put it at the bottom and pile other lead alloys on top.

When it is all melted give it a good stir and scrape. Flux with sawdust if your going to. This should help bring some tin/lead oxides back into the melt.
Then scoop off anything that is not clean melted alloy.

I normally use 50% clip on Wheel Weights with 50% range scrape or soft lead. (lead pipe, flashing, pure plumbers lead ingot, etc) to which I add 1% Pewter or tin.
This makes a good all around alloy for pistol and lower speed rifle such as .30-30.

I also keep a container of pewter "coins" cast in a muffin tin and tin cast into 300 gr bullets for adding to a pot that I know is going to go to higher speed rifle bullets.
This lets me add just a little bit of "sweetener" to make those rifle boolits harder and shiny.

Your off to a good start. Keep it up.