• If you enjoy the forum please consider supporting it by signing up for a NES Membership  The benefits pay for the membership many times over.

2022 Cast Bullet Seminar Sign Up Thread

Artie said:
Some pics. None of @Broc in his speedo. Thanks to @Michael J. Spangler and @pastera for setting up and hosting. Thanks to @mac1911 for the donations. As always, great time, good turn-out and good folks.

View attachment 674035View attachment 674036View attachment 674037View attachment 674038View attachment 674039View attachment 674040View attachment 674041View attachment 674042View attachment 674043View attachment 674044View attachment 674045View attachment 674046View attachment 674047
Click to expand...

Thank you for the photos of the equipment that I forgot to snap.

Also, THANK YOU for omitting the speedo pic. It was unsettling enough seeing that in person. I don't need reminders...
 
Michael J. Spangler said:
Ok who went home with a 25 Brinnel hardness bullet chubby?
I love how excited I get when I do these seminars. Ordered up a new MP mould today so I can start messing with hollow points in 9mm

Anyone else get the bug or relapse into lead fever?
Click to expand...
Lots of things went on the "list of things to get" based on yesterday.

Couple things are overwhelming (which mold to get) and others were pretty easy (HiTek or lube and be done). So, I have to think about some things and determine the best course of action. But I do plan on having it all ready for some casting sessions in January.

Thanks for all of the great information and the hands on experience.
 
Michael J. Spangler said:
Ok who went home with a 25 Brinnel hardness bullet chubby?
I love how excited I get when I do these seminars. Ordered up a new MP mould today so I can start messing with hollow points in 9mm

Anyone else get the bug or relapse into lead fever?
Click to expand...
I am really impressed with your buddy's 300blk mold by Accurate. The bullets from that mold were just perfectly beautiful. I might look into one in 308.
 
ddeck22 said:
Lots of things went on the "list of things to get" based on yesterday.

Couple things are overwhelming (which mold to get) and others were pretty easy (HiTek or lube and be done). So, I have to think about some things and determine the best course of action. But I do plan on having it all ready for some casting sessions in January.

Thanks for all of the great information and the hands on experience.
Click to expand...
You’re starting out right with that star sizer. What were you going to start with first?
A 2 cavity MP mould for a solid bullet design is a great way to start and you’ll never regret it. They cast so fast and have about zero rejects so you end up with a great production rate. I’ve bought a couple 2 cavities and when I realize I love them I buy the 4 or 6.
Artie said:
I am really impressed with your buddy's 300blk mold by Accurate. The bullets from that mold were just perfectly beautiful. I might look into one in 308.
Click to expand...
Yeah accurate makes amazing stuff! They’re like heirloom quality
 
Michael J. Spangler said:
You’re starting out right with that star sizer. What were you going to start with first?
A 2 cavity MP mould for a solid bullet design is a great way to start and you’ll never regret it. They cast so fast and have about zero rejects so you end up with a great production rate. I’ve bought a couple 2 cavities and when I realize I love them I buy the 4 or 6.

Yeah accurate makes amazing stuff! They’re like heirloom quality
Click to expand...
I think I'd prefer to start with a basic 9 mm 115 gn, 45-230 RN. Start with pistol and get used to that before moving on to anything for rifle. (Due to different alloys and such as was mentioned if you are going to be pushing it faster).

When you guys talk about 45-70, my shoulder starts to hurt :)

I'll look at MP for those ones. I don't need to make 1 million per hour, but something that is steady and has a low failure rate for novices.
 
ddeck22 said:
I think I'd prefer to start with a basic 9 mm 115 gn, 45-230 RN. Start with pistol and get used to that before moving on to anything for rifle. (Due to different alloys and such as was mentioned if you are going to be pushing it faster).

When you guys talk about 45-70, my shoulder starts to hurt :)

I'll look at MP for those ones. I don't need to make 1 million per hour, but something that is steady and has a low failure rate for novices.
Click to expand...
I would start with 45 then. Much easier to load. Loves any alloy and lube and tons of great designs from MP. The 454-200 is a favorite. Here is one with a penta pin

6928C433-A6D0-4632-89C0-91A2551D9629.jpeg

he nice thing about cast and mouse fart loads is it doesn’t have to hurt that much. These hollow points were moving at about 1100-1200 FPS which is a gentle push.

E467D975-42BC-4DAB-A1F3-863B8EA0F0BE.jpeg
 
ddeck22 said:
Lots of things went on the "list of things to get" based on yesterday.

Couple things are overwhelming (which mold to get) and others were pretty easy (HiTek or lube and be done). So, I have to think about some things and determine the best course of action. But I do plan on having it all ready for some casting sessions in January.

Thanks for all of the great information and the hands on experience.
Click to expand...
Best place to start is with what you have.
I started with a coleman stove a old frying pan and 20lbs of wheelweights.
Well I started long before that as. Kid with my dad but that came to a stall in my teens. . I did not get back into it until I got married
As for molds the lee molds are a good start. Cheap enough
Then you just work on getting more shit!
 
mac1911 said:
Best place to start is with what you have.
I started with a coleman stove a old frying pan and 20lbs of wheelweights.
Well I started long before that as. Kid with my dad but that came to a stall in my teens. . I did not get back into it until I got married
As for molds the lee molds are a good start. Cheap enough
Then you just work on getting more shit!
Click to expand...
Haha, not sure if all those molds were pastera's, but I thought "How many molds does this guy have?" :p

I'm sure they've been accumulated over many years.
 
Geez at the end of the day everyone was leaving and I realized I forgot to mention glue bullets!!! Primer only no powder. These things are fun

For anyone wanting to try this out here it goes

Take a mould and lube it with a little light oil using a q-tip to apply it.

Close the mould and hold the handles really tight.

Squeeze your hot glue into the mould making sure to leave a generous sprue on top. This stuff shrinks a ton and will suck that sprue right down inside.

If you push too hard with the glue gun it can actually force the mould open so you need a gorilla grip for a few seconds.

Now let the glue cool down for a couple minutes.

Slide the sprue plate open. Pop the mould open and gently pinch your bullets out.

Now the fun part. Get an appropriate piece of brass and drill out the flash hole to about 1/8”. When you fire a normal cartridge the primer actually backs out of the case a bit due to back pressure. Then the case presses back against the breach reseating the primer. Drilling the flash hole out will prevent this. Mark the brass so you don’t use it for normal load from now on.
This is counter intuitive but trust me here and be careful. Seat the glue bullet into the sizes case like you would with a regular reload. However you’re going to seat the primer gently after this.
If you seat the primer first then the air can’t escape when you’re trying to seat the glue bullet and it just pops back out.

Now you fire them only in an approved range of course. They will go about 500-600 FPS and if you have a proper bullet trap you can reuse them.

Oh and a side note a little light oil in the bore keeps the fouling down.
B0DF3E73-B8DB-4BA3-9358-A6E692B94CF1.jpeg
 
ddeck22 said:
I think I'd prefer to start with a basic 9 mm 115 gn, 45-230 RN. Start with pistol and get used to that before moving on to anything for rifle. (Due to different alloys and such as was mentioned if you are going to be pushing it faster).

When you guys talk about 45-70, my shoulder starts to hurt :)

I'll look at MP for those ones. I don't need to make 1 million per hour, but something that is steady and has a low failure rate for novices.
Click to expand...
I have several single cavity 45 cal molds. They work great.
I do have 4 and 6 cav also but the majority of molds I have a 2 cav and I find they fit with the time I have to do a session
When I do cast its usually small sessions. wake up a bit earlier than usual turn on the pot go make coffee and then start dropping lead until kids/wife are up
Or I run a pot on a friday /saturday night my wife works.

As for Smelting sessions. I try to plan an long day. Get a shit load of alloy ready to go
I honestly only have maybe 75lbs of lead not smelted up into ifnots ready for the casting pot.
 
Like @mac1911 says - Lee molds are a good bargain especially when you're not certain what you really want.
However for 45 ACP stay away from the 228 1R. The tumble lubed 230 2R is fine as is the 200 RF (flat nosed copy of the 228 1R).
In 9mm, the 120 TC will work in just about anything.
 
Jay77 said:
I’m pondering a new mold in the .355 100grain range like Alex was casting. Going to run his casts and if the 380’s like them it’s a sale. Awesome class and I can’t thank you guys enough…
Click to expand...
Happy to have you and happy that your son is an outgoing well adjusted member of society. Most kids his age would not want to hang out with “geezers” talking about lead all day. You done good man.

Hmmm @pastera was talking about a new MP mould in that size range. You’ll have to ask him for a review when he gets it
 
mac1911 said:
I have several single cavity 45 cal molds. They work great.
I do have 4 and 6 cav also but the majority of molds I have a 2 cav and I find they fit with the time I have to do a session
When I do cast its usually small sessions. wake up a bit earlier than usual turn on the pot go make coffee and then start dropping lead until kids/wife are up
Or I run a pot on a friday /saturday night my wife works.

As for Smelting sessions. I try to plan an long day. Get a shit load of alloy ready to go
I honestly only have maybe 75lbs of lead not smelted up into ifnots ready for the casting pot.
Click to expand...
I gave all but some indoor scrap to the seminar which was not much.
That indoor stuff is a smoke’n mess!
 
pastera said:
Like @mac1911 says - Lee molds are a good bargain especially when you're not certain what you really want.
However for 45 ACP stay away from the 228 1R. The tumble lubed 230 2R is fine as is the 200 RF (flat nosed copy of the 228 1R).
In 9mm, the 120 TC will work in just about anything.
Click to expand...
230 RN tumble lube is a fine bullet and drops right at .452 for me . I still tumble lube when I dont need to size
 
@pastera I mixed up the Hi-Tek last night you sent home with me and I’m going to coat up a batch of nines before I coat the 380’s from the class. I also want to pimp out my pot with that awesome cover and probe holder you designed. Maybe the class should be a Saturday so we can play on Sunday….
 
Jay77 said:
@pastera I mixed up the Hi-Tek last night you sent home with me and I’m going to coat up a batch of nines before I coat the 380’s from the class. I also want to pimp out my pot with that awesome cover and probe holder you designed. Maybe the class should be a Saturday so we can play on Sunday….
Click to expand...
You know we could do a Saturday next year if everyone is down for it. I tried to keep it to Sunday so @1919FAN could make it but he likes to go to shooting matches more than hanging with his lead head friends.
 
Paper patched some 535 grain Lyman’s last night. I wanted some fun stuff for a range trip today with someone who hasn’t shot a lot of the obscure stuff.
I loaded some this morning and then realized I had dozens of these bullets already sized and patched on the bench. Ah well.
After hearing them slam the 200 yard steel I think I need to load some more.
 

Similar threads

bullet pulling with a 550
Replies
21
Views
244
Malibru
Malibru
Looking for Lee small bullet feeder fingers
Replies
0
Views
99
Ripshot
R
i decided to cast rifle freedom seeds ..
Replies
19
Views
555
Lennypeters
Lennypeters
2023 Cast Bullet Seminar!!!
2 3 4
Replies
105
Views
3K
Jenska22
Jenska22
Dillon Prices (This Might Belong In The Inflation Thread)
2
Replies
30
Views
986
45BPCR
45BPCR
Back
Top Bottom