Hooked on casting, (like I need another hobby)!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Fatelvis

Fatelvis

Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2002
Messages
1,949
Location
Lockport, IL
After just occasionally "dabbling" with casting for the last 20+ years, I found Castboolits.com..... God, I should have never started reading those posts! LOL.... Now I'm casting and loading for almost every caliber I own. I have to say, I am impressed with the accuracy (that surpasses alot of the jacketed groups), low recoil, and find great satisfaction in avoiding the high bullet costs. That website is just like this one, everyone goes out of thier way to help you. My next cast project.... my 50 BMG. If you like tinkering, try it, you'll love it!
 
Yeah it's great. I just went to a bottom pour pot and 6 cav molds for a few calibers and that pours the bullets out in a hurry. Although, I'm not a fan of sizing/lubing with the soft lube I'm using. Something pretty darned cool about loading up a cylinder full of home cast, hand loaded 250 gr Keiths into a single action .44 mag.
 
bula: I'm looking at a similar setup. Lee bottom pour, 6 cavity 45acp mold. How many can a fella expect to produce per hour?
 
I'm guessing after a little practice-and cooling the sprue plate on a moist towel, between pours, "in the zone" so to speak, you can easily do a thousand or more in 2 to 3 hours. I just bought the Lee 200 gr SWC in .45 and after a little cleaning up burrs and what nots, it puts out nice bullets.
 
once you start casting you will never turn back. i have casted thousands of bullets and will continue to cast. Its so much easier and more econimical.
 
:) Same problem . . .someone here recommended castboolits.gunloads.com and now 8 months later I'm casting for almost everything I own and I'm starting to experiment with .303 british ..you know it's bad when you find yourself dreaming about coming across that one tireshop that has 55 gallon drums of wheel weights free for the taking . . .I remember when I used to dream about red-heads.
 
DM, try wheelweights in Lyman's 314299, sized to.314" over 16 grns. of 2400. Mild, VERY accurate, and leaves my two #4s bores sparkling clean! Secret is getting bores as clean as a whistle before shooting cast bullets through them, and stay with them. Don't shoot any jacketed bullets after that, and you'll be amazed at the "uniform bore condition" that the old timers speak of! It's like shooting a quality rimfire, cleaning is seldom needed, and the accuracy is incredible! The groups with the cast bullets are better in the .303 than with even "match" jacket bullets over 4895 or RL15. What more can a guy ask for? :D
 
I've cast up a bunch of 314299's in the last week and I'm hoping to try them out before too long . . .I don't have a .314 sizer die and I've been debating whether to try them at .312 or not. I think the rifling is pretty good in the Enfield I've got but I haven't slugged it to really find out.

Have a good one,
Dave
 
Fatelvis,

It's always nice to see guys taking up the hobby of casting. I was introduced to it many, many moons ago by my uncle's who taught me to do it because they were too lazy to make their own.
I guess they didn't mind loading them, just casting was a pain for them I guess.

Well, I don't remember if I started loading or casting first, but it was all more than 35yrs. ago, and more like 40.

Other than discovering girls and cars, I don't think I ever left it for very long, if I ever did.

Today I have 3 bottom pour pots and darn close to 100 moulds of various makes and models.

I cast almost everything, or have moulds to do so. All my handgun bullets are cast, and I haven't shot a jacketed bullet in any of my revolvers in over 20 yrs. I still use jacketed bullets in some of my single shot, and bolt gun pistols, as well as some rifles, but I wouldn't hesitate to use cast bullets in them as well.

Although I have pretty large supplies of various alloy's like linotype, 20-1 and 30-1, as well as WW's and pure lead, I use WW's 90% of the time as they are the most common to obtain. Probably 80-90% of all your shooting can be accomplished by using WW's and using hardening techiniques, i.e.; water quenching, fortifying with lino, heat treating, etc.

Also, as a chronograph is almost a must have when loading and shooting your handloads, having a lead hardness tester follows the same guidelines when casting. I have an LBT Hardness Tester that I bought way back in 1984, and it's never failed me to this day. I can verify my alloys, as well as unknown blends to confirm what area's I can use them in.

PS - Speaking of good cast bullet articles.....check this one out;

http://www.jesseshunting.com/articles/guns/category16/9.html


Take care & happy casting,
Bob
 
Just tried my home cast Lyman #358627 bullet (214 grain 358 GC bullet) in my .357 Max 12" T/C barrel, and shot my best handgun group of my life. .74" center to center @ 100 METERS!! Cast bullets all the way, this silhouette season!
 
you guys are a bad influence....I have enough money tied up in guns and reloading, looks like it never ends :banghead:
 
I started casting about a year ago. It all started with the 45/70. I went into the local shop I've been dealing with for about 15 years to buy some 300 grain cast bullets to shoot from my New England Arms single shot. They jumped up in price from what I had paid about 6 months ago, nearly doubled. We started talking about the price of ammo and how everything is going to go up, primers, jacketed bullets, powder, etc. I asked him if he ever cast his own. He said he had years ago but it was too much trouble. Trouble? I thought. I seem to like trouble so lets get started. I ordered a RCBS mould that day and started scrounging WW's. I started with a cast iron pot and a ladle. After the first session I thought maybe he was right. Then with a lot of help from here and castboolits, a little trial and error I'm up and running with no regrets and don't ever intend to buy another cast bullet. I cast for 2 styles of 9mm, 4 styles of 38/357, 3 styles of 44 mag, 2 style 45 colt, 3 style 45acp, 3 styles of .308, 06, & 30/30, & 3 styles for the 45/70. Some say reloading saves money...Yeah right. I have as much money tied up in stuff, presses, dies, sizers, moulds, powders (always looking for that "perfect one" for each gun), primers, etc. than I do guns to shoot the reloads. I've even purchased guns to shoot a certain cartridge because while brass hunting I found a bunch I couldn't let go to waste.....
 
shoot i just started to now cast for black powder too. this weekend i am headed to the range to try them out in my 50 cal bp
 
Yes Kimber, I too was influenced in an earlier time...

While I still shoot jacketed bullets at magnum or rifle velocities, I do pour my own for Bullseye, revolver target and other plinking practice. Casting Boolits is just another piece of reloading and shooting.

-A couple of my favorite hobbies.

-Steve
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

D
  • Locked
Forming bullets from scratch.
Replies
12
Views
2K
Tilos
T
Shak3s1977
  • Locked
Sometimes I think I'm doing this backwards
Replies
15
Views
540
Dudedog
Dudedog
C
  • Locked
7.62x39 subsonic handloads powder
Replies
17
Views
13K
tkcomer
T
P
  • Locked
Bullet Swaging - I Need The Real Facts
2
Replies
36
Views
7K
USSR
U
B
  • Locked
casting your own
Replies
15
Views
1K
kBob
K
Back
Top