I would just like to thank everyone here for all the useful information that has been posted on these forums. Thanks to you all, my first casting session went off without any problems whatsoever.
I cast about 100 45-270-SAA boolits with my new RCBS mold. The only prep I did on the mold was to take a toothbrush and Dawn dish soap to it, and it worked perfectly. I think I had either 4 or 6 rejects as I got the mold up to temp, but each and every one dropped perfectly after that. It really was a lot easier than I thought it would be.
My only question is about "my" alloy. I have a lot of WWs that I've been collecting over the last year, but I was anxious to get started and didn't want to go through the smelting process (I currently only have a single Lee bottom pour). I bought 10# of lead from ebay, that are supposedly smelted WWs. They melted and filled out the mold well enough, but I noticed that the alloy in the pot would develop a somewhat bright blue layer on top. What causes this? Is it just some unknown contaminant in alloy?
I plan on working up a load for this boolit in my Ruger Blackhawk. The only two powders I have at this point are Titegroup (bought on the advice of the gun shop employee who reloads) and 2400 (bought after reading these forums). Could anyone suggest some starting loads for these powders in .45colt? I searched but wasn't able to turn up much for this boolit.
Thanks again everyone, I think I've found a new hobby!