Author Topic: Casting 101  (Read 846 times)

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Offline stimpylu32

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Casting 101
« on: September 03, 2005, 07:10:53 AM »
I like shooting cast bullets and am getting tired of my local dealer telling me that my order is back-ordered .  :(

How hard is it to cast and what do i need to get started .  :?

Any help  please .

Stimpy

I have read the part in the LEE manul on casting but still need help
Deceased June 17, 2015


:D If i can,t stop it with 6 it can,t be stopped

Offline powderburner

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Casting 101
« Reply #1 on: September 03, 2005, 10:13:20 AM »
casting is easy and as enjoyable as shooting.
you need a dry well ventalated room where you can be alone a 10# lee lead pot and a bullet mould of choice . Lee moulds cost around 20.00
this will get you going . scrounge beg or look for and pick up wheelweights melt em down pour into a warm mould and voila bullets . you should wear gloves when casting and keep all moisture away from the pot, big explosions occur when lquid water and lead come together .
an excellent link to bullet casters is www.castboolits.com there lies all you want to know about casting .there there will be no dumb questions and a plethora of the best casters in the world to answer any and all questions...................Dean

Offline Forest T

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casting help
« Reply #2 on: September 03, 2005, 10:39:40 AM »
you have a pm  :D  :D

Offline stimpylu32

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Casting 101
« Reply #3 on: September 03, 2005, 12:06:12 PM »
Right now all i have is about 100 lbs of w/ws and old lead pipe and a need to start casting .

I like LEE products so the pot fits ,

Most of what i will be casting will be .357 dia. 158 gr and .452 dia. 250 gr for handgun

Powderburner - Thanks for the link

Forest T - will get reg

Thanks guys

Stimpy
Deceased June 17, 2015


:D If i can,t stop it with 6 it can,t be stopped

Offline CJ

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Casting 101
« Reply #4 on: September 05, 2005, 03:48:21 AM »
Dean, when I use the link you provided I go to a "junk" page, gambling, cell phones, meet Jewish singles. Any ideas? Id rather read about casting. LOL
NRA Lifer

Offline powderburner

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Casting 101
« Reply #5 on: September 05, 2005, 11:15:53 AM »
being computer illerate I screwed up  try http//castboolits.gunloads.com
  Dean

Offline JPH45

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Casting 101
« Reply #6 on: September 05, 2005, 04:09:25 PM »
Boycott Natchez Shooters Supplies, Inc

Offline JPH45

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Casting 101
« Reply #7 on: September 05, 2005, 05:16:35 PM »
Once upon a time, there was a good disscussion on the NEF Centerfire board here at graybeardsoutdoors. You may want to go there and do a search, there was a great list of the equipment needed to do this on a shoestring or go all out.

The thing you need other than equipment is some "stick with it" Casting, while easy, can be difficult ot get right first time around. Be absolutely sure your mold(s) is clean and free of oil. Washing in as hot water as you can stand will help, the mold must get hot enough to dry once removed from the hot water. My personal favorite is to clean with laquer thinner or xylene. But the mold must be oil free, if not, you'll cast wrinkled bullets till you burn away the machining/preserving oils, and then there will be a "soot" that clings to the mold and causes another problem altogether. It is like leading, the best way to deal with it is prevent it.

Make your ingots in a pot seperate from the pot you use to pour bullets from. If you are using wheel weights, they have a lot of oil and other carbonaseous gook on 'em and are fairly self cleaning. It won't hurt to add a bit of used motor oil to the melt (like you would beeswax for flux) don't be afraid to add some. Add enough to do some good, 1/3 cup won't hurt.
Another way to get to this point is to get some sawdust and soak it in oil and cove the melt with a good layer, 1/2 inch or so. You can open a hole through this to get a dipper in to pour your ingots from. But don't use your casting pot for cleaning and mixing metal.

Choose a metal and stick with it, at least for 10,000 bullets if you are starting out. Different allys cast diffeerent, and shoot different as well. Pistol bullets not going faster than 900 fps can be 50/50 WW and plain lead. WW and WW+2% tin (by weight) is a much better bullet metal than it might appear to be. WW makes a good pistol and low velocity rifle bullet, adding tin makes the mold fill out better (aids wetting) but some say they don't get as good results with the added tin. A bit of experimentation answers the question. Type metals are largely a thing of the past unless one is buying foundry metal or lucks into a supply. Newspapers were the main source in past, as were print shops. It never hurts to look.

Linotype is the type metal most often refered to. That is because it is a eutetic metal.... it melts and freezes at the same time, meaning the metal in your pot, once it reaches some 465 df, melts, and as soon as the metal you have poured into the mold reaches 464 df, it solidifies. Wheel weight and all other lead/antimony alloys have a "slush" phase in which the metal undergoes a period of solidification as the different elements of the metal reach "chilled" at different rates. Those who harden WW by waterdropping are taking advantage of this slush. Linotype has no arsenic element, and willnot harden by cooling, but it really doesn't need to as it is naturally 21-22 BHN. It makes a good high speed rifle bullet, but is expensive. It also will drop bullets a tad larger than the mold drops from other alloys, and is useful for experimenting to find a bullet size that shoots well. But most these days use it to alloy with lead, to take advantage of the high tin content. 50/50 lead/WW makes  metal known as Taracorp Magnum. It is 15 BHN and contains 92% lead/4.5% antimony/3% tin. Cut again with lead at 50/50 it makes a metal quite similar to whell weight. Arsenic can be gained by adding chilled magnum shot (about  1/2 cup per 10 pounds) and you'll have a heat treatable metal.

Most of us use WW or WW+2% tin exclusively. By doing so, analyzing cast shooting problems can be done more easily. In past, jsut the metal being used created difficulties and not everyone was using the same stuff. These days, WW is about all that is readily available, and has us talking the same language, so to speak.

Heating your mold by laying it on the melt as it heats up will greatly speed up the time required to cast good bullets over that of a mold heated by casting alone. I do this with both aluminum and iron molds and have had no problems related to this practice in over 25 years of doing this. If it gets too hot, the metal takes too long to solidify, and opening hte mold too soon makes a mess. The best indication for opening is the sprue. I always wait to open the mold till the sprue changes color, unless I am cooling the mold or sprue plate by placing against a water soaked rag. This is an area where experience makes clear.

Don't flux too often, even if you are dipping. A lot of casting can be done by simply pushing oxidized metal aside. Covering the melt with sawdust or finely ground charcoal or evn kitty litter will greatly reduce the formation of oxidized metal and reduce the need (perhaps desire) to flux.

As to a casting method, only you can decide this. I prefer bottom pouring. I always hold the mold below the spout, making a stream of melt about 1" long. Some hold the sprue plate against the spout, Dipping can be done the same, pouring a stream or holding the dipper against the sprue plate. Each of us has to work out this method for ourselves, the key is to do this the same way every pour.
Boycott Natchez Shooters Supplies, Inc

Offline Black Jaque Janaviac

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Casting 101
« Reply #8 on: September 07, 2005, 10:30:42 AM »
Stimpy,

I take it you are experienced in handloading for cast bullets, or at least lead bullets.

If so, your venture will be made all the easier.  You already should have some idea of the effects of pressure on obturation and leading.  Casting bullets should be as simple as duplicating the bullets you already have loads developed for.

If the cast bullets you're accustomed to purchasing are really hard magnum bullets, then you'll want to cast with a hard alloy, or look into hardening bullets after casting.  Hardening bullets can be as simple as dropping them from the mold into a pale of cold water, or you can heat them in an oven at 350 for a while before quenching.  For hard bullets, you're looking for Lynotype or Wheelweights (quenched).

If you're accustomed to soft, swaged, bullets, then you'll use plumber's lead, or wheelweights.  The wheelweights can be air cooled after casting or softened in an oven at 350 and let cool slowly by turning the oven off and leaving them in the oven 'til cool.

Other than that.  Heat source can be as simple as a campfire, or as specialized as a bottom pour furnace.  I use a cast iron propane burner and a pot with a big ladle.

Lee 6-cavity molds are awesome for casting lots of decent bullets quickly.  You've got to smoke the cavities really well though.

For my .357/.38spl, I have a Lee 358-158-RF and a TL358-158-SWC.   I use the RF for moderate .357 loads, and the SWC is nice for the .38 cases.  I like the tumble lube design of the SWC because I can seat it out on a .38 case using any of the numerous grooves as a crimp groove.  This makes for a longer OAL which helps it feed through a lever action better.
Black Jaque Janaviac - Dat's who!

Hawken - the gun that made the west wild!