Thanks to the stickies here, my first casting session was a complete success yesterday! From learning about lead alloy metallurgy and matching alloys to intended uses, to learning how to judge when your mold has reached optimal temperature, to fluxing methodology, and much more, the hours of reading and researching, primarily here, paid off in spades.
More specifically, it paid off in successfully casting several hundred hard-cast bullets for use in my 10mm woods gun. I've been using a 200gr WFNGC from Beartooth Bullets for 10 years. I placed an order last June, and have been not-so-patiently waiting for them. Come to find out they just went out of business.
That was the catalyst for jumping into casting my own. And now I have 4 molds, and intend to get several more to eliminate one more dependency on the supply chain. Not much I can do about powder, but at least it's a step in the right direction.
Thanks for everyone who has put in the time and effort to get this knowledge out there! It helped me diagnose and correct several minor issues on the fly.
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