Casting my own, any advice?

[john paul]

Used roofing lead - Perfect for lead balls, as said previously add nothing.
If you have a supply of lead just get the stuff and get casting it really is easy

Both my moulds are double cavity (BALL) LEE.

[troddenmasses]

I cast quite a lot of different calibres, including .44. When you have some spare time, pop around and you can have a go at casting some stuff. I mostly use Lee stuff - no need to ask Kranks for a catalogue, it's all on the internet at

http://www.leeprecision.com/

specifically

http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi

[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

[andrew375]

DO NOT USE WHEEL WEIGHTS FOR THIS APPLICATION! You need pure lead only, wheel weights have 3% Antimony. That slight difference is all that is needed to strain the ramming lever on the revolver.

[uk_biker99]

Thanks for all of your replies gents (and ladies?).
This place really is the fountain of all knowledge!
Troddenmasses, will nip over at some point and get a few lessons from you and keep my eye out for some cheap kit (though on reflection space is a bit of an issue at the moment, shed is rammed with summer kids toys).

Thanks again everyone,
Keith

[thibben]

Keith,

Also found using a carpenters pencil to 'crayon' the top of the mold and both sides of the spruce plate (including the feed cone) helps the sprue drop off.

If you're using scrap it might be better to also smelt down all your base lead, flxuing it to get all the crap out (Marvelux is ideal for this, no smoke or smells) then cast it inot ingots. this way, when you add new lead to your casting pot you do not change the consistency of the mix.

Just a thought.

T

[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

[enfield2band]

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.

That sounds like a good idea, I will try that, thanks for the tip.

[steve medlock]

Steve,

Thank you for the explanation.

Steve.

[doctordoom]

Hi Keith there is an American website completely devoted to boolit casting, if the answer isn't in here somewhere I will be very surprised, as said before casting muzzle loading bullets needs soft lead, old airgun pellets and church roof is good, does your club have a butts digout once in a while? good source of casting lead.
Try this link, hope it works, have fun, don't breath the fumes and keep everything DRY, beware the "tinsel fairy"!!
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?f=8

All the best with your casting; John