Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting New equip recommendations

Boy, I was suprised to only see one post here so I thought I'd throw one out. Maybe everyone is afraid of inhaling lead anymore. Have always wanted to get into casting and never have. I probably have a hundred pounds of wheelweights a bar of supposed Linotype (25-30 lbs) and about a hundred pounds or so of lead (plumbers lead ??) that is in round dics of about five pounds each and these are connected to each other in 5-6. I have been moving this stuff around with me for 30 years or so, so maybe I should start melting it and shooting it. Looking for opinions on ladle casting as opposed to bottom pour. Should I start with a $50-$100 pot or go with a $200 Lyman or RCBS. I don't envision volume casting at this time. What products would you guys recommend. Are all moulds created equal? (I think I know the answer). I would probably start with 38 Special, 45 Colt, 41 Mag, 45/70, 25/20 and maybe 35 Rem. C'mon guys tell me all your horror stories and success's so I can start melting this stuff so next move will be easier on this 50 yr old body. OHH do you guys use a hardness tester, do you buy Tin Antimony and stuff if so please recommend sources. I know Midway sells some but have to believe there is cheaper out there. Thanks for the input, suggestions, advice...............Nick

OK, I went the cheap route with a melt pot and ladle. It works fine but I always wish I had a bottom pour with a 20 pound pot!

I don't cast volume but once I get started it's hard to stop so I do cast some volume. Maybe a couple hundred at a time, after weeding out the mispours, blems and the oops o sh... ones I get maybe 50 really good bullets.

I use the Lee moulds the aluminum ones and have a few of the real metal ones (for some reason the words escape me now....) I like them both.

Soooo, go with the bottom pour and pretty much any moulds you want. the will work fine.

I would start with your favorite gun first then get that caliber. Also ask around to maybe "borrow" a mould you're thinking about getting to see if it shoots good in your gun. I am glad I did this several times as I would have wasted money on a mould that throw bullets I can't shoot well.

Also start with your favorite gun you have faith you can shoot well. Because there will be a time when NONE of your cast bullets will shoot well at all and you may give up on the casting bit. It's all a learning curve and a consistency act. you must be consistent or you will not get results that are repeatable.

good luck!

You can start out with Lee stuff, their bottom pour furnace works well enough, it tends to dribble a little bit, but gets hot enough and will make good bullets, and same with their molds, just make sure that they are properly closed.

I've only cast from ww's and bottom pour furnaces, and have cast somewhere between 1000 and 2000 pounds in the past couple years. Use a dedicated cast iron pot and coleman stover or turkey cooker to melt down the ww's outside and make into ingots, as there is alot of crud that makes a mess out of your furnace.

I'd say the #1 problem with new casters is they don't get the mold hot enough, and end up with wrinkled incompletely filled bullets. rest the mold on the edge of the pot while it warms up, and after all the ingots are melted, put the corner of the mold in the melt for a minute or two to get it nice and hot. A good hot mold will make good bullets from the first cast, whereas a cool one may need 25-50 cycles to heat up.