Hi Im New Be gentle!

[RU shooter]

Hello all My first post here but have been doing alot of reading for the last few weeks and really enjoying all the great info and in general how friendly everyone seems to be here. I have decided I have had enought hiway robberey with buying jacketed bullets and some folks over at Gunboards suguested your site if I want to learn to cast. I'm a long time reloader just never with cast before Soooooooooo Here I am! I have the general jist of casting from reading old posts but have a question about what would work for me I am only planning as of now to cast for my M39 and my 91/30's So I dont need 1000's of bullets a year. So I dont want or cant afford to invest alot in casting Heres my plan feel free to tell me if I have gone wrong anywhere . I have my two 5 gal buckets of WW and afew boxes of various com. cast HG bullets I am gonna smelt down can I just mix them all in together? Secondly I have read about just using a walmart HotPlate and a pan/pot for casting along with a thermometer. and a laddle is that really all I need ????? can it be that simple???Also instead of a hotplate can the side burner off a old BBQ work ,Rigged to hold the weight ofcourse? I have alot of other questions also but I best spread all those out for other posts I am going to wait till spring to start actually casting since I dont have a garage or outbuilding but I figure I can start the WW smelting now.Can I do that in the cold?? TIA.............RU

[Cyrus]

...that my 8 dollar Walmart hot plate and a stainless steel pot work great for starters. Another advantage? I don't think the hotplate gets hot enough to accidentally melt zinc wheelweights. A ladle, slotted spoon, butter knife for scraping pot sides, thermometer and an old candle for fluxing, ingot molds, leather gloves, safety glasses/goggles, long sleeve cotton shirt. I can also confirm you won't find nicer, more knowledgeable folks than you will here. Welcome!

[nighthunter]

Hi RU,
A lot of folks get by with less than that, I started with a propane burner and a plumbers pot and no thermometer. Got lots of nice bullets too. You can make this endeaver as involved as you want to get or you can keep it simple with just the basics. You are gonna pretty much have to figure a way to get your bullets sized and lubed after casting. Maybe first slug your bure to find what you need to size to. This is definately not a one day does it all hobby. There are a lot of rewards to be had with cast bullets. You will definately find a lot of answers here from the members. They are a great bunch of guys if you can get them to post when they are sober.
Nighthunter

[TCLouis]

Well at least most of the time.
One can spend as much or as little money as they want to get started.
When I started, I used an WWII canteen cup on an electric stove and a casting "ladle made from an old spoon shaped and wired to a wooden handle.
I cast many thousands boolits (429215s) like that.

My home made lube formula was applied by hand and trimmed in the bottom of the 310 (Lyman Tong Tool) siziing die. Excess was recovered and applied on the next batch. This die is not unlike the the Lee boolit sizing die of today.

Basic needs
Heat source
Container for melting lead
Casting ladle
Mold
Boolit lube
Sizing die (May be optional)

After the basics one can star spending more for more advanced (think expensive) of everything but you bollits may not fly any straighter, just easier to produce.

You may want to trade out the commercial cast pistol boolits you said you had, for something you may need to get started rather than melting them down.

Good luck with your casting endeavors.

You will find a bunch of experts here ready to help.
Maybe an old grump or two also.

May the silver stream be with you

[madcaster]

RU Shooter,
If you wiill PM me your mailing adress I will send you a ladle,Lyman-you just put a wooden handle on it.
Jeff.

[454PB]

I'm in agreement with the other guys, good boolits can be cast with the basic equipment you mentioned. The 120 volt electric hotplate units will work if a small pot of 5 pounds capacity or so is used. Most of them are around 750 to 1000 watts, which is the same ampacity as a 22 pound RCBS Promelt, but there is no containment for the heat. The result is that a big pot with 10 to 20 pounds of metal in it will barely stay fluid. If you own a Coleman camp stove, that's a better heat source.

[woody1]

Also instead of a hotplate can the side burner off a old BBQ work ,Rigged to hold the weight ofcourse?
TIA.............RU

In a word.....YUP! The pot prob'ly has 30+# of alloy in it and the weight is no problem. Note also the hi tech pot lifting tool.

Regards, Woody

[Hunter]

I use a burner I bought from a farm supply house for less than $10 (1 size larger but looks like a burner on a gas stove except it has legs that put the burner about 4" off the ground) that runs off a LP bottle and a cast iron skillet for smelting. I did start off with the Lyman Master Casting Kit like you get from Cabelas for about $130 and moulds, top punch, handles, and sizing die. All in all I have about $270 tied up in everything and I am well pleased with the amount of wheel weights I can turn into bullets. I am no expert by no means (just got started the first of the month) but with Robert Banks help and the Lyman Casting Handbook (comes with the kit) so far so good.
I have also got some good advice from others from this site.

[robertbank]

Welcome to the forum. If you have any questions just ask. We have all been where you are now. No need to spend big bucks. You will need a mold and lubricator for sure. Look on Ebay for Lubricators. Either RCBS or Lyman. They go regularily for around $40 used. Usually come with dies. Other than that you can cast from an open pot with a ladle.

Take Care

Bob

[BD]

I started out using an old cast iron frying pan on a colemen stove, and a Lyman ladle. It worked great for small quantities. If you can find a scrap of compressed rock wool insulation to wrap the sides of your pot it will help a lot. Commercial HVAC guys and the folks who put in restuarant kitchens use it to insulate and fire stop hood exhausts.
Where are you in SW PA? I spent a lot of time in Ohiopyle about 30 years ago.
BD

[454PB]

Look closely at woody1's picture(click on it to enlarge). Notice he has wrapped sheet metal around the pot and down onto the surface around the burner to keep the heat contained.....exactly what I was getting to.

[RU shooter]

Thanks for the warm welcome everybody lots of great ideas and soon to be goverment jobs at work in the fab. shop I loved that Pic of the side burner First thing I thought when I saw it though was "great I can cook up some dog while I melt these WW down!!!!!! Yes I know bad idea and I'll die from a toxic dog!

And BD I live about 25 miles N of Ohiopyle, northern part of Fayette Co.

TClouis stated I would be better off selling or trading the commercial cast bullets I have alread rather than melt them down . Why? Dont they recast well or something or will I get some wierd alloy if I mix them with WW ?????

And yes I did forget about the sizing and lubing . And i have slugged the bores on the rifles I plan on shooting cast from .311(M39) and .312(91/30) Is what they are .BTW what kind of accuracy should I realisticly look to achieve? my goal is to atleast be the equal to surplus ball ...................RU

[robertbank]

If you decide to melt them down and mix them with WW, if they are Commercial Cast you likely will get a marginally harder alloy than WW which is no real concern.

"what kind of accuracy should I realisticly look to achieve? my goal is to atleast be the equal to surplus ball ..................."

Depends whether or not you keep your eyes open or closed. LOL Seriously the simple answer is as good as your rifle/handgun will shoot.

Here are two targets. The handgun ( 8 rds) at 15 yards the rifle at 100yards. Both from a rest.

[ovendoctor]

welcom to the site

[Bigjohn]

Firstly; welcome to the madhouse, RU. The other inmates here will not lead you astray, much.

All that I have read here is good information and you could do no wrong by following the suggestion which fits your situation.

As to simplicity; most of the longhunters in days gone by and those who relive those years today; 'run' balls over the campfire fire with nothing more than mold and ladle.

On the subject of metal mixes; if you use WW's as a metal for casting then you have a known composition; if you add other unknown (com cast) to the mix, then you have something entirely different (batch). So basically, what we a talking about can be referred to as a batch of metal; which depends on the size of your smelting pot as to how much there is in that batch; and each will have slightly different properties (bhn etc.). There are no problems about adding such materials to a mix; it will all cast good boolits if you do your part right.

If you asked what each of us used as a source of metal, included in the responses would be:- Range salvage, plumbers flashing, wheel weights, printers linotype and new metal. Some will even buy from suppliers who make controlled batches (mixes) for casters. Some may even stand around the smelter adding secret mixes and reciting dark incantations for excellent results.

So, in the name of consistancy, be aware of what goes into your mix, it may change the results down range.

On lubing of your projectiles; until you have a lubesizer, pan lubing would be an option. If you can reload the boolits unsized and shoot them that way then cut the head off a fired case that will go over the boolit without shaving metal; chamfer the mouth inside and out. Next stand the boolits in a swallow pan; melt the lube in another pan and pour it in around the boolits; when set use the case to cut the bullets from the cake of lube. Stand the next batch in the holes left and remelt the lube and repeat process.

Simple things can and do work, have fun and enjoy your shooting,



John

[TCLouis]

I said save the commercial cast boolits because they may well be worth a lot more as "Tradin Guds" than they are as lead value.

They should make any boolits you cast a little to hard unless you water em down pretty good with WWs or lead. I have never had leading problems except with commercial hard cast boolits. That said I have shot 105 rounds of 30 Herrett (forming brass) with cast boolits and there was no lead to clean up. No, they were not poking along, the Chrono said 2105 fps but they were gas checked.

If you are interested, and others here on the board think it will work for your purposes, I have a single cavity Lee mold for the 155 grain C.E. Harris SKS boolit that you can have for shipping cost. It is new, but I have another mold to replace the use I had planned for it. I think the diameter will work and the price is decent.

[RU shooter]

I said save the commercial cast boolits because they may well be worth a lot more as "Tradin Guds" than they are as lead value.

They should make any boolits you cast a little to hard unless you water em down pretty good with WWs or lead. I have never had leading problems except with commercial hard cast boolits. That said I have shot 105 rounds of 30 Herrett (forming brass) with cast boolits and there was no lead to clean up. No, they were not poking along, the Chrono said 2105 fps but they were gas checked.

If you are interested, and others here on the board think it will work for your purposes, I have a single cavity Lee mold for the 155 grain C.E. Harris SKS boolit that you can have for shipping cost. It is new, but I have another mold to replace the use I had planned for it. I think the diameter will work and the price is decent.

Well thanks I really appreciate that, A big thank you Sir !!!!!! If it dont work well in the Mosins and its designed for a SKS I have some of those also,Never thought of reloading for 7.62 Soviet, But hey why not right! If you could PM me your address and let me know what you need for the shipping costs.

While I'm here I'll add another new guy question : when your smelting ,How do you get the molten liquid lead from the pot or pan or whatever to the muffin pan or ingot mold ??? It seems to me if you would try to tip the pan the liquid lead would run down the side of the pot and off the bottom of it ,Do you use something like a big soup laddle to dip it from the pot or whats the best way not to make a mess ?
Also its soon to be winter here in Pa. Can you smelt out in the colder weather?

Thanks again TCLouis .................................................. ........RU

[robertbank]

When I was pouring my lead alloy into ingots I had the mold on cement and just tipped the pot until the alloy poured into the molds. Now I am using muffin tins I ladle it out with a cheap ladle my wife got me. Full ladle happens to fill the muffin mold perfectly. When I am down to the last muffin amount I just pour from the pot. The alloy is a liquid and acts just like water or milk does. Just a tad heavier and a lot hotter.

Take Care

Bob

ps I am also very careful how I do both methods.

[TCLouis]

or work around molten lead or hot lead

SAFETY GLASSES

These are to be worn at all times!!!!

Just an opinion, but hot lead is exciting on bare skin, I can NOT imagine the excitement when it hits ones eye.

[robertbank]

You can smelt over the winter but not when it is snowing. Water and liquid lead don't mix.

Take Care

Bob