Total Nubie: want to cast 200 gr Keith style bullets.

[sarge912]

sarge912: The Lee 452-255-RF is a bullet I use a lot in my 45 Colts. It's available very inexpensively in 2 or 6 cavity. And I do powder coat all my handgun bullets. For target loads, I've burned a lot of TiteGroup. I'm using Hp-38 now as I bought an eight pound jug. Good shooting! Gp

Thanks

[LAH]

sarge912: The Lee 452-255-RF is a bullet I use a lot in my 45 Colts. Gp

That's a good bullet.

[Three44s]

OK, I want to warn you to avoid the "Tinsel Fairy! It is a very uncountable experience!

You want to be very careful when adding cool objects into a pool of hot lead as you risk getting steam explosions.

Those explosions can lift considerable quantities of molten lead out of your lead pot and "adorn" you and the surroundings with hot lead "tinsel"!

The rule is anything you care to add to your molten lead needs to be preheated. More lead, your stirring spoon are big culprits. Your fluxing agent needs to lose any trapped moisture before you submerge it (preheat by floating on the surface for a while).

A less obvious item is ingot molds since you are adding the lead to them but they make excellent Tinsel launchers as well if not preheated as well.

Be safe and wear appropriate clothing as a final defense to injury.

Three44s

[murf205]

That's a good bullet.

What LAH said. My son had a 45 Ruger and we ALMOST gave up on it until I tried this boolit. It should work in a 1:24" twist barrel. Stick with 2 cavity molds until you feel comfortable and don't hesitate to ask questions. This is a very heplful group of people.

[FredBuddy]

Sarge:

I'm in Eastern Knox County. If that's
near enough to be of assistance, let
me know.

[LenH]

Sarge I was always partial to the old 454-255 Keith style bullet.

Landowner beat me to it but FIT IS KING ALL ELSE IS SECONDARY.

When I started casting someti.e in the late 70s, I started with a 4# Lee pot and a Lyman ladle and a 2 cavity an a bucket of wheel weights. It was tedious but it kept me shooting.

[murf205]

"Landowner beat me to it but FIT IS KING ALL ELSE IS SECONDARY." Ok Larry, your up. LOL

[35 Rem]

This has nothing directly to do with casting but safety equipment is very important with this hobby. Especially taking care of your eyes. I used goggles for years but they are sometimes terrible about fogging up and then you can't see which in itself is dangerous. These face shields are what I've been using for several years now. They cover your entire face and let air circulate freely. I'd recommend not casting at all until you get one. Lead splatters are inevitable so make sure your face is protected.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bison-Li...18-1/301394049

[sarge912]

Sarge:

I'm in Eastern Knox County. If that's
near enough to be of assistance, let
me know.

Thank for the offer, I'm near Lake Erie so it would be a long drive.
I have a couple of friends that have already cast bullets and other things like fishing lures. (which I may try as well)
One of my sons is going to come over and learn with me as well.
Thank you everyone for all of your advice.
I hope to start this week.
I did pick up a respirator for lead. I will be doing it on my porch with a good fan. Leather gloves and a shop coat.
I'm going to start with turning the lead in the pot into ingots. I also have several pounds of plumping lead from an old sink drain.
Thanks again.

[Land Owner]

Chugging away turning components into ingots with a 20# pot is a fast way to wear out the 20# pot. If you are not already thinking "bulk" this may be a good time to start.

Get:
the bottom one-half of a steel propane tank (holds 100#'s)
steel molds (6 to 8) that deliver individual ~3# ingots
propane turkey fryer
propane
heavy lifting and safety equipment

Melt:
COWW & lead, as components, in batches of 100#'s
Pour the batch into 3# ingots

Later, in the 20# pot:
melt the 3# ingots
add Tin to suit prior to pouring boolit molds with the alloy.







No goblets were hurt in the making of these ingots of Tin (my spouse stayed their execution) though other sources of "dinged" pewter and Tin were eliminated.

[405grain]

sarge912: There are a thousand different interesting things to learn about casting bullets. Once you start you'll quickly improve and begin making better and better bullets. You'll get lots of encouragement and advise on this site. There are always safety concerns when working with molten alloy; wear gloves, have good ventilation, etc., but there's one really important safety thing that many people that are just starting out don't know about: the dreaded "tinsel fairy". I want to add to Three44s warning.

This is something that is easily avoided, but is also very unforgiving if casters become careless. Steam expands to 600 times the volume of water. A drip of sweat or a drop of water falling on top of a pot of molten lead is no big deal as it will just sizzle and turn to steam. But, if that same drop of water is submerged inside that volume of molten lead, the steam will build up pressure and can cause lead to violently spray out of the pot (and on to you). One of the ways that this can happen to an unsuspecting caster is for them to put a cold piece of metal into a pot of molten alloy. (I'm not talking room temperature, I mean cold) When you take a cold piece of metal and heat it moisture from the atmosphere will condense on it's surface. If you just dunk that cold ingot of alloy or cold stirring spoon into the pot, that moisture could condense, then flash into steam, and then cause the alloy in your pot to fly everywhere.

Learn from our mistakes. If you want to add ingots to the mix, set them on the top edge of the pot for a minute or two before putting them in the pot so they'll warm up. They don't have to be hot, but just warm enough that moisture won't form when they go into the alloy. Same with mixing spoons, skimmers, or rods. They don't have to be really hot, just warm. If something is wet - do not stick it in the alloy!!! A wooden paint stirrer is fine, a wet paint stirrer is not. Returning the cut off sprue's to the pot is OK because they are already warm. Be safe and learn as you go. Now that you've been told about this "tinsel fairy" thing, you can easily avoid it.

[sarge912]

So, finally got to cast my first ingots.
Things I learned so far:
*the pot seems to work great.
*I'm glad I knew that the wax might catch on fire when I fluxed the pot. It did.
*I needed to set up a cooling station for the mold and check that it is completely level on both axis.
* a ladle full of lead is a lot heavier than a ladle full of stew
* Gloves are important anywhere near the pot, lead or molds. Doh! The swelling is already down.
*It great to have you folks available to answer questions. Even for question I didn't know I had.

Hopefully I will get to actually molding a couple of boolits soon.

[sarge912]

And a new question:
How full do you keep your pot. Mine was almost full when I got it from the garage sale.
I was thinking I would keep it at about 1/3 full so start up would be quicker.

[mehavey]

I would keep it at least 3/4 full.....

[sarge912]

I would keep it at least 3/4 full.....

Okay, what is the advantage? It sure makes it a lot heavier to set up. (I'm in my 70's)

[mehavey]

I'm probably older than you...

But a 3/4(+) full pot means
- No adding lead on start-up. Simply flip the switch/walk away
- Heat-up/mould on hot plate/dutch oven same time
- 20 minutes later cast 1st bullet/keeper from the start.
- No/very little dross because the lead's already clean from last session fill.
- Stable temp throughout session as you keep a high/steady thermal mass


A little messy, but I'm running/switching all the time between dedicated pots for #2, 30-1, and pure lead.
Pick each pot up from floor-to-table when changing alloys. Never thought about lesser weight.
(Tonight was Paul Jones 540s)

Dutch oven mould heating up same time as lead:


I like to keep things as short/simple/no-brainer as possible.
Leaves time remember what I had for breakfast
... and where the Oval Office is down the hall.

[sarge912]

I'm probably older than you...

But a 3/4(+) full pot means
- No adding lead on start-up. Simply flip the switch/walk away
- Heat-up/mould on hot plate/dutch oven same time
- 20 minutes later cast 1st bullet/keeper from the start.
- No/very little dross because the lead's already clean from last session fill.
- Stable temp throughout session as you keep a high/steady thermal mass


A little messy, but I'm running/switching all the time between dedicated pots for #2, 30-1, and pure lead.
Pick each pot up from floor-to-table when changing alloys. Never thought about lesser weight.
(Tonight was Paul Jones 540s)

Dutch oven mould heating up same time as lead:


I like to keep things as short/simple/no-brainer as possible.
Leaves time remember what I had for breakfast
... and where the Oval Office is down the hall.

Good points, thanks for the input.