cr
Random ramblings about bullet casting
You can cast more bullets in the same amount of time by using a six cavity
instead of a four cavity.
You can cast more bullets in the same amount of time by using a four cavity
instead of a two cavity.
You can cast more bullets in the same amount of time by using a two cavity
instead of a one cavity.
You should never drip sweat into a pot of molten lead.
A Lee pot will drip constantly. Two Lee pots will drip twice as much.
Never use your fingers to pick up a bullet that missed the drop bucket.
You can make Lee pots not drip by reducing the amount of flux. But then, the
bullets do not completely fill out.
Use lots of flux and stir often. Stir often and use lots of flux. This is more
important to bullet formation than ratio of tin.
No need to add tin or anything else to wheelweights for cowboy loads.
Hard bullets at subsonic speeds are totally not necessary.
No need to water quench cowboy loads.
Dirt daubers will create havoc if they get to your molds and you don't have
bullets left in the cavities to block their construction plans.
Leaving bullets in the cavities to prevent rust is a wive's tale.
For long term storage it is best to store molds in airtight plastic freezer
container and soak 'em with motor oil.
Molds must be thouroughly degreased when brought out of long term storage.
Never skim crud off the top and sling unless you are sure your dog is not
behind you.
Never let your dog chew on extension cord running to the pots.
Always cast outside.
Never cast outside and get caught in sudden rainstorm.
Never allow .44 to get mixed in with .45, especially if both are same style.
Rob Leahy
is the dog OK?
cr
Yep. I skimmed the drop and not having my scrap bucket handy, just slung
it. She was laying under the flatbed trailer right behind me and got just a
drop, mostly cooled but hot enough to make her holler.
She did in fact chew the extension cord in two. I was not there to see it but
she's not done that again. She also has eaten my boat seats, battery charger,
shrub bushes, you name it. That was in years past. She is now ten years old.
Big Dave
Damn, all these do's and don't.....the stress, the stress.....
Harry O
You can cast more bullets in the same amount
of time with two single-cavity moulds than one two-cavity mould.
Button the top button of your shirt and wear socks, not just shoes.
A Lee pot will leak, but it can be made to leak a whole lot less with a little
wire (around the screw and plunger on the top).
Similar to one of yours: If you cast with two bullet moulds, they should be
identical or VERY different. Never close.
It helps to keep the center pin (for a hollow-base bullet) hot by resting it
(the bottom of the pin) on the top of the pot while you are waiting for the
sprue lead to harden.
Almost any problem with casting can be made better by turning up the heat. If
that doesn't work, add tin. If that doesn't work, throw out the stuff and try
again with metal that has not been contaminated.
cr
Wire between the screw and plunger? Tell
me more.
Harry O
The plunger rod has a small groove machined around it near the top. The head of the screw is supposed to fit in that
groove. Moving the screw up or down is supposed to adjust the plunger. It
often slips out of the groove.
I took a short section of stainless steel aviation tie-wire and wrapped around
the two of them so that the head of the screw cannot slip out. Cuts down on
the leaking a lot. It allows you to actually use a screwdriver on the plunger
like it is supposed to. I have relatively little leakage and it is easily
brought under control with the screwdriver.
vrmn1
My cast iron pot don't leak so that is not a problem. It also don't have a power cord.
The burner does have a gas line though.
OwenB
No matter how efficient you become at casting, you will always be able to shoot the bullets faster than you can
make them. It's not fair!
Wilson Dew
All of these sayings are true and I'll add one more.
It is now cheaper to buy already cast than to do it yourself in the more
common calibers...unless you want a "special" bullet.
I've learned that from almost 40 years of casting. I can buy caliber 32 100
grain cast bullets for .03 each. And for HBWC for my Smith 52 with shipping
for about .035 No way I can cast them if you count the time andlabor required
plus the cost of the equipment and on and on and on and on...
So why do I still cast???
cr
Dog gone Wilson, you started this mess. Gave me my first molds. I have cast literally thousands since then. Became
first class WW scrounger.
Now you tell me.
OwenB
That's right, and some of these commercial casters make really excellent bullets.
Charles
True.. but you bypass the moral element..
There are some of us that believe buying bullets of any kind is offensive to
the Shooting God's. Buying cast is not as bad as buying those dreadful little
yellow thingies, but it is the first step toward moral failure and it is
indeed a slippery slope.
Charles
Fluxing can be almost eliminated with a bottom
pour pot if after the first flux on a new melt, you place a 1/4" layer of Kitty
Litter on top of the melt. You can then add ingots which will go down through
the litter with no need for fluxing. The litter eliminates the contact between
the melt and the air.. hence no oxidation. Use the old fashion cheap clay
litter not the new fancy pearls, etc, etc.
It really and truly works and you can continue casting until you run out of
ingots or the pain in your shoulders get to you.. whichever comes first.
cr
I have used sawdust from table saw It does indeed work mighty well except for the crud it builds up on the walls
of the pot that just get harder and harder.
cas
How do you get this stuff out afterwards?
John K.
cas, every once in a while I empty my pot,put it in my outside sink, fill it up with water, plug it in and let it boil
for a few minutes, repeat a couple of times with clean water and I'm done!
Clean pot.
Scott Tschirhart
Charles, I had but one bottom pour pot and it was a Lee years ago. It always leaked and I had nothing but trouble
with it.
Which of the available bottom pour furnaces are any good? With the larger
bullets I now use, I think a bottom pour furnace may be in my future.
Charles
A cure for the dribbles. .
I use a Lyman but the RCBS seems just as good. Allot of my fellow casters use
the Lee. All bottom draw furnaces will develop a dose of the dribbles after a
time. It comes from the accumulation of crud in the spout that keeps the
lever/plug from seating all the way for a tight leak free fit. Here is the
fix:
Fill the pot with water and bring to a boil for a couple of minutes. Dump
water and this will clean 95% of the crud out of the pot.
Remove the plug/plunger and clean with steel wool or fine (400 grit) emery.
Clean out the inside of the spout and plunger seat the best you can with a
pick of some kind. I use a proper size drill bit to ream out the inside of the
spout and get rid of crud there.
Coat the seating end of the plunger with emery paste. I use Clover 320 grit).
Chuck it in a hand drill or an electric drill on slow speed. Place in it's
seat in the inside of the pot and lap it a little in place. If the pot has a
guide at the top for the plunger/plug use it to keep the gizmo straight during
laping.
Blast out any left over emery paste with carburator cleaner, clean the
plug/plunger with the same and reassemble the furnace.
This will stop the dribbles. How long depends on how clean your alloy is and
how you use the furnace.
This is just part of routine maintainance on a bottom draw furnace. It goes
with the turf. However, the benefits of the bottom draw (when used with Kitty
Litter) far outweight the problems.
John K.
A couple more...
NEVER, NEVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, MELT WHEELWEIGHTS DIRECTLY IN YOUR
BOTTOM POUR POT
Use spray brake cleaner to degrease moulds before use
Use an electric hotplate with a piece of steel plate on top to pre-heat moulds
While casting, use the hotplate to pre-heat ingots for the next pot
lloydsmale
never get a new mold and cast a thousand bullets before finding out none of your guns like the bullet.
Harry O
Been there, done that......Lee tumble lube 124gr 9mm Luger bullet. Cast a bunch of bullets with two
double cavity moulds. Neither my sons nor my 9mm would shoot it. Keyholed at 7
yards. I had some unsized (that was another problem -- I sized and lubed a LOT
of them based on the bore size). I tried it up to "as cast" and it
shot better the larger it got, but it never shot well enough.
