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Re: Going To Try Bullet Casting Idaho_Shooter #16334574 08/11/21
Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 131,452 USA T The_Real_Hawkeye OP Campfire Sage
OP The_Real_Hawkeye Campfire Sage T Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 131,452 USA	Originally Posted by Idaho_Shooter The Lyman cast bullet handbook is a must have. Thanks.

GB1

Re: Going To Try Bullet Casting The_Real_Hawkeye #16334577 08/11/21
Joined: Feb 2009 Posts: 11,911 Plains,Texas P plainsman456 Campfire Outfitter
plainsman456 Campfire Outfitter P Joined: Feb 2009 Posts: 11,911 Plains,Texas	That pot will do a lot of casting.

Re: Going To Try Bullet Casting Idaho_Shooter #16334579 08/11/21
Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 131,452 USA T The_Real_Hawkeye OP Campfire Sage
OP The_Real_Hawkeye Campfire Sage T Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 131,452 USA	Originally Posted by Idaho_Shooter I turned 100 lb of alloy into bullets with the Lee bottom pour 20# pot. I still do not own a ladle or a thermometer. The pot is thermostat controlled. It does a great job of holding temp once you find where to set the thermostat. You will know the pot is too hot when the top surface of the melt scales over quickly and changes color. (oxidation) Too cold and it will not flow well into the mold. Use a bit of flux on the top of your melt to protect it from Oxygen, but don't burn the house down. There is 300 lb of unknown Lead alloy in the shed waiting to become bullets. I will add Antimony and Tin to increase hardness and pourability. Pure lead does not fill the mold as well as with a bit of Tin added, What's flux?

Re: Going To Try Bullet Casting The_Real_Hawkeye #16334609 08/11/21
Joined: Aug 2015 Posts: 13,232 Henderson, NV NVhntr Campfire Outfitter
NVhntr Campfire Outfitter Joined: Aug 2015 Posts: 13,232 Henderson, NV	Bees wax, paraffin, sawdust, basically something carbon bearing. Read this: Fluxing the melt. Then go to the home page and download the whole casting .pdf. Very informative and free. Buy a thermometer: Lead casting thermometers Last edited by NVhntr; 08/11/21. Let's Go Brandon! FJB

Re: Going To Try Bullet Casting The_Real_Hawkeye #16334611 08/11/21
Joined: Feb 2009 Posts: 11,911 Plains,Texas P plainsman456 Campfire Outfitter
plainsman456 Campfire Outfitter P Joined: Feb 2009 Posts: 11,911 Plains,Texas	I like sawdust best. If you can get some oak or other hardwood it will smell like lunch. Any wood will work.

IC B2

Re: Going To Try Bullet Casting The_Real_Hawkeye #16334626 08/11/21
Joined: Sep 2010 Posts: 41,062 TX DMc Campfire 'Bwana
DMc Campfire 'Bwana Joined: Sep 2010 Posts: 41,062 TX	Lotsa fun and keeps you shooting more!! Make Gitmo Great Again!! Who gave the order to stop counting votes in the swing states on the night of November 3/4, 2020?

Re: Going To Try Bullet Casting The_Real_Hawkeye #16334747 08/12/21
Joined: Jun 2004 Posts: 34,094 MN S steve4102 Campfire 'Bwana
steve4102 Campfire 'Bwana S Joined: Jun 2004 Posts: 34,094 MN	Originally Posted by The_Real_Hawkeye Originally Posted by Idaho_Shooter I turned 100 lb of alloy into bullets with the Lee bottom pour 20# pot. I still do not own a ladle or a thermometer. The pot is thermostat controlled. It does a great job of holding temp once you find where to set the thermostat. You will know the pot is too hot when the top surface of the melt scales over quickly and changes color. (oxidation) Too cold and it will not flow well into the mold. Use a bit of flux on the top of your melt to protect it from Oxygen, but don't burn the house down. There is 300 lb of unknown Lead alloy in the shed waiting to become bullets. I will add Antimony and Tin to increase hardness and pourability. Pure lead does not fill the mold as well as with a bit of Tin added, What's flux? wax or sawdust added to bring out the impurities that can be skimmed off the top Last edited by steve4102; 08/12/21. Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Give a man a welfare check, a forty ounce malt liquor, a crack pipe, an Obama phone, free health insurance. and some Air Jordan's and he votes Democrat for a lifetime.

Re: Going To Try Bullet Casting The_Real_Hawkeye #16334750 08/12/21
Joined: Jun 2004 Posts: 34,094 MN S steve4102 Campfire 'Bwana
steve4102 Campfire 'Bwana S Joined: Jun 2004 Posts: 34,094 MN	Originally Posted by The_Real_Hawkeye Originally Posted by slumlord They sau itll make u stoopid, the fumes and such. I don’t know, I can’t smell it when I done it It obviously hasn't effected your intelligence. Lead Fumes are released at 900°F.. Way hotter than you will need for casting. One of the best sources for casting alloy is clip on Wheel Weights. They are getting harder and harder to find as most manufactures have turned to zinc. If you melt Zinc into the mix you pretty much ruined the lot. Don't do that. Zinc melts at 788, lead at 622, keep your melt at about 700* when making ingots and the zinc along with the metal clips will just float and can be skimmed off with a slotted spoon. Get one of these for temp control. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010268761?pid=357906 and one of these for making ingots. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/101020375?pid=361222 Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Give a man a welfare check, a forty ounce malt liquor, a crack pipe, an Obama phone, free health insurance. and some Air Jordan's and he votes Democrat for a lifetime.

Re: Going To Try Bullet Casting steve4102 #16334777 08/12/21
Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 115,424 South Florida deflave Campfire Sage
deflave Campfire Sage Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 115,424 South Florida	I would not bother with a bottom pour like the Lee because it’s going to be a piece of schit. Start with this: https://www.grafs.com/catalog/product/productId/20474 If you make good stuff and enjoy it you can upgrade down the line to a big bottom pour furnace. But for moderate volume a ladle and old style furnace is best to learn on in my opinion. If you start casting bullets you’ll want to get a sizer and dies at some point. Originally Posted by Geno67 Trump being classless,tasteless and clueless as usual. Originally Posted by Judman Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit. Originally Posted by KSMITH My young wife decided to play the field and had moved several dudes into my house

Re: Going To Try Bullet Casting The_Real_Hawkeye #16334818 08/12/21
Joined: Aug 2003 Posts: 5,737 Richmond, Virginia arkypete Campfire Tracker
arkypete Campfire Tracker Joined: Aug 2003 Posts: 5,737 Richmond, Virginia	My first pot was a Lee and like most everything made by Lee is was a waste of money. I have since bought two RCBS pots, I been using them for the past 20 some odd years. I'd advise getting welders gauntlets for casting, hot lead burns hot and deep. Candle stubs, blocks of canning paraffin make great flux, don't use the wife's unused candles. They get real testy about that. Go to Goodwill and buy a soup spoon, drill holes in it for slag and crude out of the molten lead, I bought a pair of cheap vise grips at a yard sale for gripping the spoon handle, the spoon will get real hot. Have fun and be careful "Whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force." --Thomas Jefferson

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Re: Going To Try Bullet Casting The_Real_Hawkeye #16334987 08/12/21
Joined: Apr 2010 Posts: 14,682 Northeast Louisiana S Sharpsman Campfire Outfitter
Sharpsman Campfire Outfitter S Joined: Apr 2010 Posts: 14,682 Northeast Louisiana	Yeah! Hang in there and in about ten years you’ll cast some good ones!! Even birds know not to land downwind!

Re: Going To Try Bullet Casting deflave #16334999 08/12/21
Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 131,452 USA T The_Real_Hawkeye OP Campfire Sage
OP The_Real_Hawkeye Campfire Sage T Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 131,452 USA	Originally Posted by deflave I would not bother with a bottom pour like the Lee because it’s going to be a piece of schit. Start with this: https://www.grafs.com/catalog/product/productId/20474 If you make good stuff and enjoy it you can upgrade down the line to a big bottom pour furnace. But for moderate volume a ladle and old style furnace is best to learn on in my opinion. If you start casting bullets you’ll want to get a sizer and dies at some point. Thanks.

Re: Going To Try Bullet Casting Sharpsman #16335005 08/12/21
Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 131,452 USA T The_Real_Hawkeye OP Campfire Sage
OP The_Real_Hawkeye Campfire Sage T Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 131,452 USA	Originally Posted by Sharpsman Yeah! Hang in there and in about ten years you’ll cast some good ones!! LOL.

Re: Going To Try Bullet Casting The_Real_Hawkeye #16335030 08/12/21
Joined: Nov 2007 Posts: 47,099 south texas-Corpus Christi stxhunter Campfire 'Bwana
stxhunter Campfire 'Bwana Joined: Nov 2007 Posts: 47,099 south texas-Corpus Christi	got everything to do it, need to set all that stuff back up. God bless Texas----------------------- Old 300 I will remain what i am until the day I die- A HUNTER......Sitting Bull Its not how you pick the booger.. but where you put it !! Roger V Hunter

Re: Going To Try Bullet Casting The_Real_Hawkeye #16335039 08/12/21
Joined: May 2004 Posts: 56,042 In the Swamps DigitalDan Campfire Kahuna
DigitalDan Campfire Kahuna Joined: May 2004 Posts: 56,042 In the Swamps	IMHO, you want to smooth the path step back from Lee casting equipment. They do have some good products, but bottom pour pots and aluminum moulds are way down at the bottom of the valley. I am..........disturbed. Concerning the difference between man and the jackass: some observers hold that there isn't any. But this wrongs the jackass. -Twain

Re: Going To Try Bullet Casting DigitalDan #16335057 08/12/21
Joined: Mar 2010 Posts: 10,896 Nebraska FlyboyFlem Campfire Outfitter
FlyboyFlem Campfire Outfitter Joined: Mar 2010 Posts: 10,896 Nebraska	Originally Posted by DigitalDan IMHO, you want to smooth the path step back from Lee casting equipment. They do have some good products, but bottom pour pots and aluminum moulds are way down at the bottom of the valley. Good advise and spot on ! You better be afraid of a ghost!! "Woody you were baptized in prop wash"..crossfireoops Woody

Re: Going To Try Bullet Casting DigitalDan #16335065 08/12/21
Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 115,424 South Florida deflave Campfire Sage
deflave Campfire Sage Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 115,424 South Florida	Originally Posted by DigitalDan IMHO, you want to smooth the path step back from Lee casting equipment. They do have some good products, but bottom pour pots and aluminum moulds are way down at the bottom of the valley. Agreed. Originally Posted by Geno67 Trump being classless,tasteless and clueless as usual. Originally Posted by Judman Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit. Originally Posted by KSMITH My young wife decided to play the field and had moved several dudes into my house

Re: Going To Try Bullet Casting The_Real_Hawkeye #16335070 08/12/21
Joined: Nov 2006 Posts: 10,784 The Palmetto State C cra1948 Campfire Outfitter
cra1948 Campfire Outfitter C Joined: Nov 2006 Posts: 10,784 The Palmetto State	Lots of good advice here. If all you’re going to do is balls for your revolver it’s pretty straight forward and simple. I would agree with ‘flave, stay away from bottom pour initially, it overcomplicates the process while learning. If you’re going to go for high performance cast bullets for magnum revolvers and rifles be forewarned: you’re going down a rabbit hole. There are a lot of guys here who are great sources of knowledge about bullet casting. Have fun. Mathew 22: 37-39

Re: Going To Try Bullet Casting slumlord #16335072 08/12/21
Joined: Nov 2005 Posts: 10,365 Central, PA G gemby58 Campfire Outfitter
gemby58 Campfire Outfitter G Joined: Nov 2005 Posts: 10,365 Central, PA	Originally Posted by slumlord Originally Posted by The_Real_Hawkeye Hey, the lead seller is asking me if I want all 1lb ingot, all 1/2lb ingots, or a mix. Any reason to prefer one to the other? I have a Lee pot like in that link. It’s old and still works great Not really but the little might fit into the pot more totally and get up to temp faster. I need to make some time for casting. I have hundreds of lbs of soft lead from old roof top plumbing flashings. And sections of soft lead water services. Biden said the infrastructure bill will help pull out all the rest of the lead water services in America. No more dumb kids. Yay!!! As if the little bastids actually drink tap water anyway. They're more into drinking hand sanitizer Last edited by gemby58; 08/12/21.

Re: Going To Try Bullet Casting The_Real_Hawkeye #16335082 08/12/21
Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 115,424 South Florida deflave Campfire Sage
deflave Campfire Sage Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 115,424 South Florida	Originally Posted by The_Real_Hawkeye Originally Posted by Sharpsman Yeah! Hang in there and in about ten years you’ll cast some good ones!! LOL. You’ll have good ones dropping in no time. There’s nothing to it. I gave all my magazines away in the last move otherwise I’d send you some of Venturino’s best stuff. But anything he writes about casting is worth reading. https://gunsmagazine.com/our-experts/casting-revolver-bullets/ Originally Posted by Geno67 Trump being classless,tasteless and clueless as usual. Originally Posted by Judman Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit. Originally Posted by KSMITH My young wife decided to play the field and had moved several dudes into my house

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