Casting my own, any advice?

[uk_biker99]

Evening all.
I'm thinking if starting to cast my own balls but don't really know where to start.
Can anyone recommend any kit or point me in the direcion of any good websites / books?
If anyone has any old kit they want to flog please IM me.
I've got a .44 and use .457 balls.

Cheers,
Keith

[Lansdown]

Hi UK Biker,
Not sure if this helps, but I just got a copy of the latest Henry Kranks catalogue. Included with it was a Lee Reloading catalogue. They have several casting pots and moulds available - might be worth trying to get hold of a catalogue from Kranks.
Regards
Lansdown

[uk_biker99]

Thanks mate, I have got a copy of the Kranks catalogue buy didn't come with the Lee catalogue. Will drop them an email.
Thanks again,
Keith

[slowcoach]

The Lee electric pot with pouring valve/ lever. Used with a double cavity mould is simplicity itself and a very high rate of manufacture can be obtained.
Simple to use, variable temp settings highly recommended. Saves faffing with gas burners, ladels etc. Plug in and go

[Treebone]

Pre-cast a large quantity of your chosen alloy into ingots, that way you can top up your pot safe in the knowledge that the composition of your bullets will be the same and aslo for each casting session and flux regularly using a compound specifically for the purpose
If you have not already got a book, the one from Lyman is excellent.

TB.

[davederrick]

Some links I found a while back -
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...9/ai_98124194/
http://www.tacticoolproducts.com/bulletcasting/

[enfield2band]

Evening all.
I'm thinking if starting to cast my own balls but don't really know where to start.
Can anyone recommend any kit or point me in the direcion of any good websites / books?
If anyone has any old kit they want to flog please IM me.
I've got a .44 and use .457 balls.

Cheers,
Keith

Hi,
I have just read some of the recommendations for bullet casting and some of them are misleading.
Use only pure lead for casting muzzleloading bullets. You do not need to use beeswax when you are doing this.
The only time you use beeswax when casting bullets is if you are casting bullets for centrefire firearms. Centrefire bullets have to be hard so tin is used in the melt to harden the lead. The tin seperates out and beeswax is used as a flux to pull the tin back into the alloy.

The lead in a muzzloader has to be soft so it can engage the rifling. If you are using a hollow based bullet, (Minnie)? the charge blows the skirt outwards so it grips the rifling. If you have the slightest amount of tin in the melt it will stop the skirt expanding and you will not get any accuracy.
Revolvers also need pure lead because the bullets is forced into the rifling to engage it.
A small amount of tin in a patched ball firearm is ok, it is the patch that grips the rifling, not the lead.

Lead flashing, airgun pellets, water pipe and gas pipe are all ok for casting muzzleloading bullets. I have done a drop test on balls cast with these and then measured them with a micrometer and they all come out the same.
Lead flashing and water pipe tend to be corroded/oxidised by the time we get it so a lot of scum comes off it. Don't worry, once this has been removed the lead will be clean.
New flashing has, I believe, zinc in it and is not suitable for casting bullets.
Wheel weights are no longer made from lead, I think these are zinc also, don't use them the metal is too hard.
If you have lead pipe with a joint soldered on remove it before melting the lead. Solder has a high tin content and will contaminate the melt.

Before you start casting bullets/balls wash the mould off with lighter fuel to remove the grease or oil. Then, "smoke the mould". To do this use a match
to put a coating of soot on the inside of the mould. This stops the bullets coming out wrinkly and gives them a smooth finish. You only need to do this once and you can cast a few thousand bullets without having to "smoke it" again, although you can re-do the mould if you think you need to.
Don't use a candle, the soot is greasy and will spoil the finish of the bullets and defeats the object of "smoking the mould".

NEW ADDRESS FOR HSE RCA DOCUMENT:-
Health & Safety Executive,
Explosives Inspectorate,
1.2 Redgrave Court,
Merton Road,
Bootle,
Mersyside, L20 7HS.

Tel-0151 951 3775
Explosives.licensing@hse.gsi.gov.uk

I hope this has been helpful. Good luck with your casting.

Steve W

[LONG REACH]

I wish I'd had someone to give me the sort of info you have just given Steve, when I first started casting my own, I found out the hard way. But now I do it almost to the word of what Steve has described and have been problem free ever since.
Using scrap lead is fine (I still use it now), but getting a 9Kg roll of lead flashing from your local builders merchants adds a bit of luxury, as there's no cleaning etc involved, doesn't make the slightest difference to the balls though

One thing I did try, when I started competitions, was to weigh and check the size of each ball and put them into groups of similar weights etc and the best ones I rolled between a sheet of toughened glass and a faced block of steel, resulting in balls that had no sprue marks and were as round as you were ever going to get them. This must have done something, as I won Gold, two seasons on the go in my division, using a club .44 Remington in the Cumbria postal leagues.
You will have times when nothing goes right, but it'll all come good in the end, then when you start casting your own bullets (if you haven't already), you'll see what a "Dark Art" it really is As an old newspaper advert used to say "I never knew there was so much in it"

Best of luck with your casting !!!

All the best
Baz

[mat BRC]

Hi,
I have just read some of the recommendations for bullet casting and some of them are misleading.
Use only pure lead for casting muzzleloading bullets. You do not need to use beeswax when you are doing this.
The only time you use beeswax when casting bullets is if you are casting bullets for centrefire firearms. Centrefire bullets have to be hard so tin is used in the melt to harden the lead. The tin seperates out and beeswax is used as a flux to pull the tin back into the alloy.

The lead in a muzzloader has to be soft so it can engage the rifling. If you are using a hollow based bullet, (Minnie)? the charge blows the skirt outwards so it grips the rifling. If you have the slightest amount of tin in the melt it will stop the skirt expanding and you will not get any accuracy.
Revolvers also need pure lead because the bullets is forced into the rifling to engage it.
A small amount of tin in a patched ball firearm is ok, it is the patch that grips the rifling, not the lead.

Lead flashing, airgun pellets, water pipe and gas pipe are all ok for casting muzzleloading bullets. I have done a drop test on balls cast with these and then measured them with a micrometer and they all come out the same.
Lead flashing and water pipe tend to be corroded/oxidised by the time we get it so a lot of scum comes off it. Don't worry, once this has been removed the lead will be clean.
New flashing has, I believe, zinc in it and is not suitable for casting bullets.
Wheel weights are no longer made from lead, I think these are zinc also, don't use them the metal is too hard.
If you have lead pipe with a joint soldered on remove it before melting the lead. Solder has a high tin content and will contaminate the melt.

Before you start casting bullets/balls wash the mould off with lighter fuel to remove the grease or oil. Then, "smoke the mould". To do this use a match
to put a coating of soot on the inside of the mould. This stops the bullets coming out wrinkly and gives them a smooth finish. You only need to do this once and you can cast a few thousand bullets without having to "smoke it" again, although you can re-do the mould if you think you need to.
Don't use a candle, the soot is greasy and will spoil the finish of the bullets and defeats the object of "smoking the mould".

NEW ADDRESS FOR HSE RCA DOCUMENT:-
Health & Safety Executive,
Explosives Inspectorate,
1.2 Redgrave Court,
Merton Road,
Bootle,
Mersyside, L20 7HS.

Tel-0151 951 3775
Explosives.licensing@hse.gsi.gov.uk

I hope this has been helpful. Good luck with your casting.

Steve W

That is fantastic, finaly a proper person to give advice lol, ive searched loads and they all say difrent, yours makes sence, nice one cheers

[steve medlock]

I've always used a small amount of beeswax in the pot before I start casting to draw out the muck and oxide.

Are we saying then that this is unnecessary or that there is a better way of cleaning up the lead in the pot?

Steve

[steve medlock]

The other query I had was about smoking the mould. I thought that this was to prevent bullets sticking in the mould?

I've always understood that wrinkly bullets are a sign that you are casting too cold and frosted bullets, too hot, rather than anything to do with smoking the mould.

Steve.

[acmsarh]

Another way instead of smoking the mould is to use teflon spray ,Let it dry and then polish the cavity with cotton buds and toothpicks for the sharp corners/lube groove's and all your casting should just fall out and be smooth and shiny.

[enfield2band]

I've always used a small amount of beeswax in the pot before I start casting to draw out the muck and oxide.

Are we saying then that this is unnecessary or that there is a better way of cleaning up the lead in the pot?

Steve

Hi Steve,
The only reason beeswax is used in the melt is too act as a flux to pull the tin back into the lead so you have an alloy, which you do not want with muzzleloaders.
If you just keep stirring the lead the impurities will rise to the surface anyway because they have a lower specific gravity than the lead.
It certainly won't do any harm using beeswax, all I am saying is that it is not necessary.

What you said about the lead temperature causing wrinkly or frosted bullets is right.
Smoking the mould helps them come out easier and it definitely gives them a better finish and does help to avoid a wrinkly finish.
When I had a handgun I used to cast 5,000 bullets at a time and I tried different methods of casting and found the method I have said to be the most effective for me.

I am not telling anyone how to do it, or not to do it, I am only giving them the benefit of my experience to give them an insight into how to get the results they want. And I hope my suggestions have helped other shooters expand their knowledge into another area of shooting.

Happy casting.
Steve w