Christmas (Casting) is Coming

[Land_Owner]

Santa was asked for a new smelting pot, some bullet moulds, a new sizing press, sizing dies, and a load book or two.

Poster 45-70 invited me to his place in Fernandina on the beginning of one of the COLDEST nights in Florida history to introduce me to casting by making some 357 bullets with his LBT mould.  It went well AFTER we got the Lee 20-pound pot to heat up.  I had never seen RED HOT wheel weight clips before, but after we went to dinner and came back they sure were.  The pot didn't like the 45 mph winter wind blasting her (outside and exposed) or the 40 degree F dropping to upper 20's cold snap, which felt like MINUS 20 in the wind - me either.

I learned a LOT and REALLY LIKED the experience.  This was my first bullet casting.  Some of the things I learned and will incorporate in my own casting: pre-heating the mould; pre-heating the lube-sizing press; experimenting with lube; refining my visual inspection of the finished product;

My two boys want to cast more ingots.  Together, we made 20 ingots last Saturday night in the moulds from D. Crockett.  They turned out VERY WELL using a separate propane tank and the turkey fryer heating element.  It is ALL ABOUT the heat.  Getting it JUST RIGHT makes a world of difference. 

Reel me in Johnnie!  I'm HOOKED and so are my boys.

[AtlLaw]

I hear ya!     Ol'd D.Crockett is a heck ofa generous guy ain't he!  And it seems 45/70 door is always open.  What a group we have here!

I have one a D.C's smelting pots and a hundred pounds or so of WW's that I need to get poured into his moulds.  I think it's as much fun making those blocks of lead as it is bullets!   

[Land_Owner]

I carried four 'beautiful' ingots around in my Australian Duster pocket, to 45-70's place, and they made me think of bars of pure silver...hehe.  With DC's pot and a real hot fire I can turn a whole lot of pure lead into ingots REAL FAST.  The "Alchemist's" portion of my brain wants to analyze and proportion WW's to pure lead without so much as a BH tester.  Just a scoop of this and a dash of that.  How hard it is I have NO IDEA, but it sure LOOKS GOOD and we're having a ball making them (ingots that is).   

[gypsyman]

LO, making ingots is fun. But, wait till ya get the molds your after, you get them cleaned out and up to temp. And they start dropping bullets. Everytime you open the mold and bullets drop out, it's like silver rain. And, after an hour or 2, and you got a passle of them, all for penny's of what the store bought ones would cost, makes ya feel real good. Then, after sizing and lubing, you go to the range and blast thru a couple hundred, then you feel REAL good. What might have cost you $50-$60, cost you less than $5. Plus, just knowing that down the road, if there is ever a SHTF situtation, you got that end of taken care of.Good luck, and welcome to the club. gypsyman

[Old Fart]

Winter casting is my theraphy for cabin fever.
Old uncle Arthur moves in and I move out to the man cave.
My wife appreciates my hobbies this time of year.