Educate me on casting bullets

[Josh89]

Some folks really like to dip and ladle pour, I prefer the bottom pour pot. That pot you are looking at is smaller than a 420 pot. Did you look at titan reloading? They might have a sale.

Just checked there. Think I will go with the 4/20 pot. They have it for 30 cheaper than Amazon.

 

[Josh89]

Any other stuff you would recommend picking up from them. Might as well get most of what I need at once and save on shipping multiple orders.

 

[ageingstudent]

Any other stuff you would recommend picking up from them. Might as well get most of what I need at once and save on shipping multiple orders.

Let me llookup my first order. My brain is scrambled right now i can't remember everything.

 

[2Wheels4Ever]

I looked into it a while back, and unless you have a vast amount of lead, it is not much more money to buy cast bullets and it is a lot less work.

 

[Josh89]

I looked into it a while back, and unless you have a vast amount of lead, it is not much more money to buy cast bullets and it is a lot less work.

Mostly just something to do on boring rainy days and just another thing I can do myself and not buy.

 

[ageingstudent]

Any other stuff you would recommend picking up from them. Might as well get most of what I need at once and save on shipping multiple orders.

Looks like this is what I got to start from Titan anyway. 4/20 pot, 1 lee ingot mold, and a .358-125-rf mold and a .358-158-mold.

For melting scrap I have a 15" deep dish cast iron skillet and propane burner with a 5 gal tank and a stainless ladel and spatula.

 

[Josh89]

Looks like this is what I got to start from Titan anyway. 4/20 pot, 1 lee ingot mold, and a .358-125-rf mold and a .358-158-mold.

For melting scrap I have a 15" deep dish cast iron skillet and propane burner with a 5 gal tank and a stainless ladel and spatula.

I know a place near buy where i can buy some pure lead bars,if I got those and some of the shot you mentioned would I be able to melt that down in the 4/20 pot or would I need a set up similar to yours to make ingots then melt those in the Lee pot?

 

[ageingstudent]

I know a place near buy where i can buy some pure lead bars,if I got those and some of the shot you mentioned would I be able to melt that down in the 4/20 pot or would I need a set up similar to yours to make ingots then melt those in the Lee pot?

I do the final alloy mix in the 4/20 pot. I just use the propane set up for smelting down scrap or reclaimed shot into ingots for storage. Ingots are just easier to measure and fit in the pot and of course they have been purified once and that makes the casting operation a cleaner endeavor. If you have clean lead that will fit the pot you wouldn't have to do the ingot making first.

 

[BWH]

also needed...depending on which way you go.
Lee push thru size dies, Powder coat powder and a dedicated toaster oven if powder coating.
Lee tumble lube molds and alox work rather well

always wear eyes, NO liquid around the operation, do it outside or in the garage with a fan moving air away from the operation and you.

Find a mentor and learn, its not hard but you learn better with someone who knows.
I been casting for 30+ yrs and have mentored a handful of folks that WANT to learn the methods.

 

[Papercidal]

I started with a Lee 4/20 pot and a 6cav mold. I pick up whatever scrap lead I can get and alloy it with foundry metal from Roto metal it's basically Lino wih exactly twice the antimony and tin so rather than 1lb pure lead to 1 lb Lino to get hardball alloy its 2lb pure to 1 foundry metal ( I go for 5lbs to 15 random scrap and am usually 18-20bh)

The Lee stuff is great to figure out if it is for you without a huge investment but I have gradually moved to other stuff in quest for better production rates. I use high-tech coating and just size with the Lee dies.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I looked into it a while back, and unless you have a vast amount of lead, it is not much more money to buy cast bullets and it is a lot less work.

Lead is re-usable. Legend has it that Dan'l Boone's family used the same bullet for four generations.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Looks like this is what I got to start from Titan anyway. 4/20 pot, 1 lee ingot mold, and a .358-125-rf mold and a .358-158-mold.

For melting scrap I have a 15" deep dish cast iron skillet and propane burner with a 5 gal tank and a stainless ladel and spatula.

This is about the same setup that I use for pouring my fishing sinkers & cannonball weights. For ingots I use one of my wifes old muffin pans....

AS noted above, use caution when melting lead for whatever reason. Maximum ventilation is best so I generally work outside under cover.
Good luck Josh, making your own stuff rules!!!

 

[ageingstudent]

also needed...depending on which way you go.
Lee push thru size dies, Powder coat powder and a dedicated toaster oven if powder coating.
Lee tumble lube molds and alox work rather well

always wear eyes, NO liquid around the operation, do it outside or in the garage with a fan moving air away from the operation and you.

Find a mentor and learn, its not hard but you learn better with someone who knows.
I been casting for 30+ yrs and have mentored a handful of folks that WANT to learn the methods.

Yeah I forgot about a sizer because I already had them for powdercoating lead bullets I purchased. Depending on how the alloy drops from your mold you might not need to size the bullets. I do like the powdercoating it works quite well.

 

[ageingstudent]

Lead is re-usable. Legend has it that Dan'l Boone's family used the same bullet for four generations.

Actually @Josh89 @Certaindeaf brings up a good point. I know you have a private shooting spot for you and your friends. If you have a sandy backstop it's pretty easy to sift out some scrap, melt it down, and shoot it again. I use quite a bit of scrap it's doable and free.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Actually @Josh89 @Certaindeaf brings up a good point. I know you have a private shooting spot for you and your friends. If you have a sandy backstop it's pretty easy to sift out some scrap, melt it down, and shoot it again. I use quite a bit of scrap it's doable and free.

Yea, "free"/immortal lead is pretty awesome especially for like 1 oz slugs which add up in a hurry.

 

[Josh89]

If it's still has remnants of the jacket or plating on it can it be melted down still?

 

[ageingstudent]

If it's still has remnants of the jacket or plating on it can it be melted down still?

Yes you just scrape it off the top and put it in a metal bucket. If you decide to do that pm me and I will walk you through it. You have ro be careful not to get any residual water under the surface of your molten lead.

 

[nammac]

If it's still has remnants of the jacket or plating on it can it be melted down still?

It can, but eventually you need to fish out the leftovers, can be a real pain, I tried it once...

I'll second a Lee bottom pour pot, been using the same one for nearly 30 years, along with the same dual cavity Lee molds... I cast .380/9mm, .38/.357 and .45 ACP...

Like the Lee molds because the aluminum heats up quickly and you get right into casting high quality projectiles...

This setup has poured many tens of thousands of rounds... I've gotten my monies worth out of the hardware for sure...

I keep a sufficient supply of raw materials on hand for the unthinkable... If worse comes to worse, I can roll my own from scratch... always be prepared...

 

[Mikej]

@Josh89 Have you seen this? WTS WA - Lee 4-20 bottom pour melting pot

Probably not. It was just posted 7 minutes ago...8 now

 

[etrain16]

@Josh89 Have you seen this? WTS WA - Lee 4-20 bottom pour melting pot

Probably not. It was just posted 7 minutes ago...8 now

Same model I bought new a month or so ago - haven't broken it out for a test run yet.