Well, I finally jumped into casting

[mstreddy]

Well, at least put my toes in the water...
I've been slowly gathering tools and supplies. Read the Lyman Casting handbook, a bunch of stuff at Castboolits, and wherever I could find.
Fired up the pot, put in some lead and some reject bullets that I had picked up somewhere.
And here is what I got...
Of course it's a small batch. Wanted to get a feel for it.

Some 200 gr 45 SWC from a 4 cavity mold. Lyman IIRC.

Some 148 Gr WC from a 4 cavity Ideal mold.

And my rejects from the first attempt at filling the mold.
I know that I'll probably have to toss out some of the 45s as I got some frosting and a little uneven fills. I definitely have to work on a rhythm for the casting.
But, regardless, I think I'm going to like this!
So, now, do I lube, or do I get set up to PC?
If I lube, do I go the Lee push through sizer way, or get the dies for the RCBS lubrisizer?
Lots more to learn and experiment with.
And sorry for the cell phone pics.

 

[Walkalong]

A nice start.

 

[brewer12345]

Very nice. Keep the frosty ones in pistol calibers, they will shoot fine.

As for lube/PC, you will have to decide. The least equipment required is tumble lubing and Lee sizing dies. Thus far, I have not found it necessary to do anything else.

 

[snakeye]

nice job for your first batch....I would look into powder coating them instead of lubing.

 

[cp1969]

So, now, do I lube, or do I get set up to PC?

You skipped a step--sizing. You need to determine the bore size of the guns you'll be using, then size your bullets appropriately.

The Lyman 4500 sizes and lubes in one step.

 

[Englishmn]

Welcome to the addiction.
Buy a toaster oven and some cheap powder coating.

 

[Armored farmer]

Well done.
Black powder and cast lead pair well together.(seed for thought)

 

[mstreddy]

Walkalong, you and others here have been an inspiration and I appreciate the many lessons provided here.

Brewer, I have a couple of the Lee push through sizing dies, but would have to buy more. I also have the RCBS lubrisizer, but would need to buy the appropriate sizing dies for that as well. So, have some thinking to do on the method or tools. Thanks for the tip on shooting the frosted out of pistols. That means I get to try more of them out.

Regardless, of the sizing method, I'm still thinking of Powder coating. Was just looking at Smoke's offerings over at Castboolits.
But, I may use some lube on this batch, just to learn the method and try it out.

CP1969, yes, I'll have to size. For pistols, 45 ACP, 38/357, I'll probably stick to .001 over. For 9MM, I may slug the Beretta and a couple of the Glocks, to see if I'll have to size up or not.

For rifles, well, that will be the 2.0 version as I work out the process for pistols first.
Armored Farmer, I have a Vetterli Vitali that will be seeing some BP and cast loads in the future. I have a small supply of rounds my buddy loaded that he gave me when he sold me the rifle. And the dies as well. So, that's in the future.

Thanks all, for the suggestions and encouragement.

 

[Armored farmer]

Oh, and im sure you know....to be careful.

 

[Swampman]

Tumble lubing with the Lee liquid Alox works well for .45 ACP and .38 Special loads. Try loading a few without sizing 'em, as long as they chamber OK they'll probably work fine.

In my opinion, powder coating is the best way to go for rifle loads.
The Harbor Freight red works very well and is inexpensive.

Frosted bullets won't hurt anything in either rifle or handgun loads. C. E. Harris actually recommends casting rifle bullets hot enough to frost them. The most important thing is consistency, try to keep all your bullets as close to identical as you can.

 

[adcoch1]

I'd go with smoke's pc, it's a great deal for a sample or two to try out. I'm waiting for my lead pot to get here and then I'll be in the same boat!

 

[PapaG]

Dad and I started reloading in 1957 with a TruLine Jr press and tong tool dies. Shortly after that we bought a Lyman 357446 double cavity mould and a #45 sizer with a .358 die. We added and expanded. He passed in '79. Little brother and I split up the loading gear and added each's share to what we had gotten on our own. Your post got me thinking so I went down and inventoried my moulds. Shock! Over sixty and more than a couple duplicated. More than a dozen four cavity, piles of twos, lots of ones plus handles. One 45, three 450 and a Star sizers. Two electric pots, three cast iron ones, six ingot moulds.
It doesn't seem to stop. Gonna sort out the dupes and no longer needs and list them.
There are even a few I made when i was shooting black powder a lot.
I just discovered the Lee push through sizes and love them.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Nice.
I really enjoy casting and in addition to saving money on bullets, I find it therapeutic.
My life is pretty high stress, and I can stand at my lead pot and get engrossed in the mindless repetition. Before you know it I have a few hundred bullets ready to go.

Also, I have killed deer with handloads many times, but look forward to taking one with a bullet I cast.

 

[lightman]

Those are pretty good for a first attempt. It looks like some of both bullets are not well filled out. Probably because the mold or lead were not hot enough. I never worried about frosty bullets but I do prefer to run my molds right at the edge of the temperature before they frost. Please don't take this criticism wrong, I'm just trying to help. Like I said, those are pretty good for a first attempt.

 

[doubleh]

I find task of mindless repetition boring as hell. I regard casting, sizing, and lubing as a necessary evil to shoot much more than I could afford to with factory ammo. The fact that I can tailor my loads also fits into that reasoning. If not for that I wouldn't own a singe item of casting equipment.

I forgot one thing. I own a blackpowder cartridge rife that I can't buy factory loads or the correct diameter of cast bullet for. I have to cast to shoot that one.

 

[mdi]

Of course I'll suggest K.I.S.S. I'd say, for starters, try dip lubing (or tumble lubing) with 45-45-10, Ben's Liquid Lube, or alox and size with the Lee dies. Simple and it works. I've been casting for a little over 20 years and still don't have a lubersizer (initial cost of tool plus $$ for dies and nose punches for each bullet) and I pan lube, dip lube and powder coat. I'm not in any hurry and I'll cast about 200 bullets at a setting, and lube and size as needed, usually 80-100 at a time. Had I started with casting and powder coating right from the start, I might have not tried casting, too involved, too many tools/equipment, not K.I.S.S...

 

[frankmako]

i started casting in 1980. check the barrel size and check your bullet size to see what you have. i use a rcbs lubersizer. yes it is old school, but it works. last year i have been playing around with powder coating on the cheap. went to harbor freight and got their red powder coating. pickup a used $4.00 dollar toaster oven and got out of the trash can a cool whip container. add some air soft bb's and i and ready. so it is easy either way you go except the powder coating is cheaper.

 

[bullseye308]

Quick and easy powder coating. Goodwill $5 toaster oven. Wal-Mart Reynolds non stick aluminum foil $5 and black air soft bb’s $8. Harbor freight red powder coat $6. Kitchen plastic bowl with #5 recycle code and lid $0. That’s it pretty much to do it on the cheap and get you started.

If you plan on shooting these in a Glock I’d recommend powder coating them instead of the alox. Not that it can’t be done, but coating is so much easier for the Glock than trying to get just the right hardness, size, & amount of lube.

Definitely slug your barrels and size .001-.002 over and watch your case flare, just enough to get it started and remove just the flare after. Good luck and enjoy.

 

[THEWELSHM]

I like 22bhn Linotype lead for my casting, I resize and Alox lube them. All works fine, I am however leaning to powder coating to try. I also quench all my bullets keeps them shiny and crisp.. my o2

Thewelshm

 

[Hondo 60]

The least equipment required is tumble lubing and Lee sizing dies.

I tumble lube all my boolits, whether they're specifically designed for tumble lubing or not.
They're "smoky" - indoor ranges don't like 'em.
But for outside, they're just fine.

And not all boolits need to be sized either.
The only ones I size are ones that don't fit in either the revolver chamber or don't pass the plunk test

 

[cfullgraf]

So, now, do I lube, or do I get set up to PC?
If I lube, do I go the Lee push through sizer way, or get the dies for the RCBS lubrisizer?
Lots more to learn and experiment with.

Nice start. As you cast more, you will learn the ins and outs of the casting.

I have found the different materials, cast iron, aluminum or brass, used for bullet molds require different operating procedures. Sometimes it is a bit of a trial and error experience getting the motd temperature right.

Here is my take on lubricating/powder coating and sizing. Just one point of view and not necessarily the "be all to end all".

The Lee push through sizing dies work fine. I used the lube pan/cookie cutter method of lubing for a while and used the Lee dies for sizing. A reasonable low cost method for lubing.

I still use the Lee push through sizing dies with my powder coated bullets. I do use a little mink oil boot polish (Imperial sizing wax would works as well) on my fingers to give the bullets a bit of lubricant for passing through the die. It makes the bullet slide through the die easier.

I did a bunch of casting up into the 1990s, stopped then picked it up again in the past couple years as a hedge against component shortages. I bought an RCBS lubri-sizier at this time and like it (Other brands, I'm sure, work fine as well) where I lube bare bullets.

Powder coating is cool but it does some take time. I do run my powder coated bullets through a sizer but some folks do not. Watch a bunch of You Tube videos on powder coating and decide what system will work best for you. I shake the bullets in a plastic bottle (Eastwood powder coat bottle) for a couple minutes until coated and place them by hand on a cookie sheet protected by a silicone baking sheet. I coat my fingers with powder as I handle the bullets to keep the bullets coated with powder as I set them up on the cookie sheet.

Other folks do things differently so see what they do, try the methods out and see what works for you.

I've found not all powder colors work well. Some coat better than others. I've only used Eastwood powders.

Using a lubri-sizer and lubricating the bullets is an alternate process. Lubricant can be purchased or through on-line searches you can find recipes for home brew lubricant. I tend to lubricate hollow point bullets and powder coat solid point bullets. I'll admit that I am trending away from powder coating due to the extra time involved.

There are one or two bullet diameters that Lee did not have the appropriate sizer dies. I did purchase additional sizer dies for my lubri-sizer that I do not run lubricant through for sizing powder coated bullets. It just saves having to clean the die when setting up for the powder coated bullets.

Part of the reason that I am continuing casting is that I like shooting wadcutters. While 32 and 38 caliber wadcutters are easily available, but, I also like shooting 41, 44 and 45 caliber wadcutters and they are not as easy to find on the commercial market.

Hope this helps.

 

[mstreddy]

I ended up going with the Lee push through sizers. I also went with the powder coat instead of lube.
Here are a couple of samples. I can't wait to shoot them in a couple of days.


I need to improve on the coverage of the PC, but overall, I'm happy with it. I did the Dry tumble with Airsoft BBs. I think I need a deeper/narrower container and maybe less bullets at a time. There were some bare spots on some bullets. But, again, I think they'll shoot just fine.

I cast two types of 45 ACP profiles. I loaded the shorter ones for this batch. I also cast three types of 38s, the two shown here, a SWC and RNFP, and a 148 DEWC.

The short 45s took some adjustments to get them to plunk. I tried the leaving a fingernail's width above the case mouth, but no joy, I had to pretty much fully enclose the band.

Next steps is to PC more of the longer profile ones and load a few.

Thanks to all for the feedback, suggestions, and support.

 

[bullseye308]

Looks good. Glad it worked out for you.

 

[Walkalong]

Here are a couple of samples.

Those look great!

 

[lightman]

Powder coating looks cool! I have not gotten into it despite all of the advantages, but maybe someday.