Bullet Casting 101

Wish they would open location in Maine!

I visited the Harbor Freight location in Springfield a few weeks back, but they had lots of empty spaces. Looked like a very busy store.

They didn't have any of the things on my list.

I did manage to get a BUNCH of boxes of the Nitrile gloves (blue) in XXL for $5.99 a box. That was almost 1/2 price!
 
Things I've observed while casting

Cast just under 1000 boolits the other day and thought it worth sharing some thoughts and observations...[wink]

  • Happiness is a hot mould... Amazing to me how many things that look like a problem clear up when the mould reaches a good operating temperature...
  • Happiness is also a clean mould.... Nothing beats a quick wipe down of the cavities before each casting session with a Q tip soaked in alcohol.
  • Amazing how fast cast bullets pile up when you are using a 5 or 6 cavity mould...
  • Each mould has a "sweet spot" that drops great boolits when that temperature is reached... Starting about one setting higher helps the mould settle in and then cutting back when the sprue starts taking more than 5-6 seconds to dimple....
  • Sharp edges on the driving band are the best indicator I've found for a good boolit fill when culling.... The most consistent way to get good yields here is adding about a pound of 50/50 solder to the 20# melt and ensuring that I pour a generous sprue....
  • A well filled 5 gallon bucket goes a long way to minimize "dings" when the newly cast boolits fall onto the ones resting on the bottom...
  • Keeping your pot topped up with frequent adds is the best way to keep your rhythm going and avoiding having to wait for the pot (and your mould) to get back to temperature...
  • Dipping the lower corner of your mould in the melt really helps get the mould to temperature fast....
  • Sizing and lubing right after casting is much easier than trying to do it after your alloy has had a chance to age.... Even 24 hours can make a significant difference....
  • The heavy duty plastic food containers at Ocean State Job Lot make excellent cast boolit storage containers.... Stackable and handle the weight well....

As always, YMMV.....[grin]
 
Bob,
I notice that you have switched over to the full buckets of water. When you were here for the casting workshop, you seemed to have thought (at that time) that a partially full bucket was better, since it "didn't splash as much". However, I was working with a full bucket, and the "ding difference" was the notable objective. It also provided a longer water column for the casting to cool before even hitting the bottom.

What have you done with regard to "aging" the cavities, or sooting them? The butane soot seem to work for me.

The fellow that sells the gas check tooling on eBay still hasn't really gotten back on line. Not sure what's up with him. I checked a week or so ago, and didn't see his stuff.
 
Hi Duke! Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow! [wink]

In hindsight I guess I was being too cautious and the full bucket of cold water definitely turns out less associated damage... Had one incident that freaked me out at the time but clearly showed that I was being too cautious.... Had a lee handle with significant porosity that when I opened it, broke off and dropped half of my H&G 68 mould in the bucket of water...[shocked] Thought for sure that it would be warped from the thermal shock but I oven cured it just to be on the safe side and then went back to casting..... No problem whatever.... Figured if the mould could take that then a tiny bit of splash would not be much of an issue.... Have been using a full bucket ever since....[smile]

As for sooting I haven't really found the need to do that.... Have found that for me the key was finding and keeping the thermal sweet spot for my moulds fixed any potential issues.... While I was casting with the 357 keith mould (for example) I have one cavity that regularly hangs up until the mould gets to temperature and then would release clean without a problem.... Once, when I added a bit too much replacement lead to my pot the hang up came back until the mould got to temperature and then disappeared again.... Have seen this too many times now for it to be an accident and the same applies to some of the other moulds that I have been using.... [wink]



DukeInMaine said:
Bob,
I notice that you have switched over to the full buckets of water. When you were here for the casting workshop, you seemed to have thought (at that time) that a partially full bucket was better, since it "didn't splash as much". However, I was working with a full bucket, and the "ding difference" was the notable objective. It also provided a longer water column for the casting to cool before even hitting the bottom.

What have you done with regard to "aging" the cavities, or sooting them? The butane soot seem to work for me.

The fellow that sells the gas check tooling on eBay still hasn't really gotten back on line. Not sure what's up with him. I checked a week or so ago, and didn't see his stuff.
Click to expand...
 
Cabinetree Hardness tester

Am expecting my first HP mould in any day now and am expecting to adjust my casting alloy to get good expansion..... Thought it might be worth getting a decent hardness tester.... Had been using a Lee for a while but it has been a real PITA since it involves optically measuring the diameter of an indent.... Did some repeatability studies on it and suffice to say it was not very precise....

After some research and discussion over on Cast Boolits I settled on the Cabinetree model......

http://www.castingstuff.com/cabinetree_llc___lead_testers.htm

I have to say after using it for a while that I love this tester....[smile]

Readings are very repeatable and it is very quick and easy to use.... A bit pricey but well built and designed.....[wink]
 
Bob J said:
Am expecting my first HP mould in any day now and am expecting to adjust my casting alloy to get good expansion..... Thought it might be worth getting a decent hardness tester.... Had been using a Lee for a while but it has been a real PITA since it involves optically measuring the diameter of an indent.... Did some repeatability studies on it and suffice to say it was not very precise....

After some research and discussion over on Cast Boolits I settled on the Cabinetree model......

http://www.castingstuff.com/cabinetree_llc___lead_testers.htm

I have to say after using it for a while that I love this tester....[smile]

Readings are very repeatable and it is very quick and easy to use.... A bit pricey but well built and designed.....[wink]
Click to expand...

I will second this recommendation. The description. "A bit pricey but well built and designed," is spot on!
 
you order up on swede's re-run of the 360180WFNHP? (it was actually my suggestion to re-run that mold! it's actually gonna be my first HP setup too...went with the RG-2 mold blocks, so it oughta go pretty quickly)

i have no hardness tester yet, then again, i'm using range scrap (i'd guess 30:1 at BEST, probably MUCH softer, although once air-hardened for a week or two they dont scratch with a fingernail, and dont lead the barrel excessively)

i noticed your points above. happiness is indeed a clean and hot mold.

ive been in my glory all afternoon. i bought a second Lee Pro 4-20, and run them both around 700-725* or so. i can run each down about halfway, swap to the other pot, pour sprues and 4lb ingot into the low pot, and by the time i've run the other one down, the first one's back up to temperature! it's great. only upkeep now is a wet rag to occassionally cool down the mold a bit.


i'm still not water dropping (i tried it with a Lee 2-cav for my gaschecked 158gr SWC's). the "splash" freaked me out even though the bucket's on the floor and the pots up on the bench. i'm not using a full bucket though (full 5 gallon bucket i assume?)....perhaps that'd make a difference.


oh well. still a good afternoon. casted about 750 230gr TC's for my .45acp loads, and ~ 1200 158gr RNFP's for my wheelguns. gotta size/lube em later this week when ive got some free time.


Bob J said:
Am expecting my first HP mould in any day now and am expecting to adjust my casting alloy to get good expansion..... Thought it might be worth getting a decent hardness tester.... Had been using a Lee for a while but it has been a real PITA since it involves optically measuring the diameter of an indent.... Did some repeatability studies on it and suffice to say it was not very precise....

After some research and discussion over on Cast Boolits I settled on the Cabinetree model......

http://www.castingstuff.com/cabinetree_llc___lead_testers.htm

I have to say after using it for a while that I love this tester....[smile]

Readings are very repeatable and it is very quick and easy to use.... A bit pricey but well built and designed.....[wink]
Click to expand...
 
Hi Jasper, guess I missed that one.... Was looking for a HP for my 357 and will definitely check it out.... Just got in on the 359640 Cramer GB but always good to have another choice.....[smile]

Am still waiting on my first HP mould (mihec .452-200 Cramer) which should be in any day now.... Mould was shipped 11 Nov but I guess the postal service from Slovenia is a bit slow these days.... Have heard great things about these and it will be coming with the 5 sided pin option which makes an awesome HP....[wink]

Am thinking of starting with a 20:1 pure lead to 50/50 solder which should fill well and still be pretty soft... All my HP moulds on order have GCs and will be lubed with Carnuba Red so am hoping not to have any leading problems when I go to the HP alloy... Will air cool some and then water drop some to see where I am for hardness.... I've have read and heard that the water drop primarily hardens the antimony so theoretically the alloy I'm looking at shouldn't harden if it is water dropped but will check it out and see what I get... I really like water dropping since I seem to get much less dings from bullets hitting bullets when I water drop as opposed to air cool... Will post the results when I get this fully set up and debugged....

Great idea with the second Lee pot..... I hate breaking the rhythm of casting waiting for the alloy to get back to temperature and/or the spout to unfreeze.... I try to remember to add more alloy to the pot at frequent intervals but often find I'm focused on casting and forget until the pot is well below half full.... Those S&W 500 bullets sure go through the lead...[crying]

If you would like I can check your hardness for you.... PM me and I'll get you my address.... Send me a couple of your bullets and I'll check them for you...[grin]

I am using a 5 gallon bucket for my water drop, pretty full with cold water.... At first the splash freaked me out as well but then I had a mould handle break on me and drop half of my H&G #68 mould in the water.... Was sure it would have warped or been otherwise damaged but after cleaning and seasoning again (just in case) it continued to perform like a trooper dropping great boolits.... If it can take that it certainly is not a problem with a few drops....

Spent yesterday afternoon doing mould upgrades/maintenance which is something I have been putting off for too long.... Upgraded all my lee handles with the pematex fix and put never seize on all of the screws... Also pulled all the sprue plates and made sure the front edge was well broken and stoned the bottoms.... Rinsed in mineral spirits to remove any trace of grit and reassembled.... All ready to go for the next time I fire up the pot....[smile]

Sounds like you had a great afternoon... Nothing like lots and lots of good boolits to put a smile on your face.....[wink]

Jasper said:
you order up on swede's re-run of the 360180WFNHP? (it was actually my suggestion to re-run that mold! it's actually gonna be my first HP setup too...went with the RG-2 mold blocks, so it oughta go pretty quickly)

i have no hardness tester yet, then again, i'm using range scrap (i'd guess 30:1 at BEST, probably MUCH softer, although once air-hardened for a week or two they dont scratch with a fingernail, and dont lead the barrel excessively)

i noticed your points above. happiness is indeed a clean and hot mold.

ive been in my glory all afternoon. i bought a second Lee Pro 4-20, and run them both around 700-725* or so. i can run each down about halfway, swap to the other pot, pour sprues and 4lb ingot into the low pot, and by the time i've run the other one down, the first one's back up to temperature! it's great. only upkeep now is a wet rag to occassionally cool down the mold a bit.


i'm still not water dropping (i tried it with a Lee 2-cav for my gaschecked 158gr SWC's). the "splash" freaked me out even though the bucket's on the floor and the pots up on the bench. i'm not using a full bucket though (full 5 gallon bucket i assume?)....perhaps that'd make a difference.


oh well. still a good afternoon. casted about 750 230gr TC's for my .45acp loads, and ~ 1200 158gr RNFP's for my wheelguns. gotta size/lube em later this week when ive got some free time.
Click to expand...
 
Jasper said:
i have no hardness tester yet, then again, i'm using range scrap (i'd guess 30:1 at BEST, probably MUCH softer, although once air-hardened for a week or two they dont scratch with a fingernail, and dont lead the barrel excessively)
Click to expand...

I just smelted some range scrap and got around 35 Lbs of ingots. I tested an ingot
on my Cabine and it tested out at 10 BHN. There wasn't a lot of .22 in it as I took
the lead which had washed down to the bottom of the berm and was just skimming
the surface for the scrap and probably picked up mostly large caliber scrap. I had
been told that it would have come in softer, almost like sticky WW. The 10 BHN
is similar what my latest WW smelt came in at.

The scrap came from an outdoor range. I've been told that indoor range scrap will
definitely be softer. I am expecting to get some of it in the near future to see what
the BHN is.
 
Bob J said:
Spent yesterday afternoon doing mould upgrades/maintenance which is something I have been putting off for too long.... Upgraded all my lee handles with the pematex fix and put never seize on all of the screws... Also pulled all the sprue plates and made sure the front edge was well broken and stoned the bottoms.... Rinsed in mineral spirits to remove any trace of grit and reassembled.... All ready to go for the next time I fire up the pot....[smile]
Click to expand...

What is the "permatex fix"? Is this something to fix the handles on the molds so they don't slip off?
If so, I need to do this also.

I also need to do this maintenance - thanks for the reminder...
 
Patriot said:
What is the "permatex fix"?

I need to do this maintenance - thanks for the reminder...
Click to expand...

No problem..... I use lee six banger handles and they would loosen over time and start to come loose in the middle of a casting session...... Would knock them back on and go back to casting until they came loose again.... Major PITA....[crying]

For the "fix" I take the handles off, fill the handle cavity about a quarter to half full of permatex liquid gasket goop and then reinstall..... Once it cures it is pretty much permanent..... Have also heard folks using JB Weld (love that stuff [smile]) and gorilla glue.... They all seemed to work well.... [wink]
 
Last edited:
Patriot said:
I will second this recommendation. The description. "A bit pricey but well built and designed," is spot on!
Click to expand...

Richard, I have created a correlation graph based on the Cabinetree LLC data.... Makes it easy (for me anyway) to take the dial indicator reading and quickly turn it into BNH.. If you would like a copy PM me your email address and I'll send you one....[wink]
 
yea bob, this one looks like it'll be fun :)

314SP129GR005.jpg


180gr WFN/HP in .358 (drops .360). rather ingenious hollowpoint pin system.


speaking of getting in a groove, holy carp. casted ~ 1/2 a gallon jug of 440gr .502's today, another ~ 2k 230gr TC's....then proceeded to size/lube all ~ 2800-3k of those .45's. man my arm hurts lol
 
Jasper, who makes that HP mold?

How difficult is that thing to run? How do the pins retract so that you can get the casting out of the mold?

Jasper said:
yea bob, this one looks like it'll be fun :)

314SP129GR005.jpg


180gr WFN/HP in .358 (drops .360). rather ingenious hollowpoint pin system.


speaking of getting in a groove, holy carp. casted ~ 1/2 a gallon jug of 440gr .502's today, another ~ 2k 230gr TC's....then proceeded to size/lube all ~ 2800-3k of those .45's. man my arm hurts lol
Click to expand...
 
ill let ya know how it runs when it comes in (should be ~ 2 weeks or so)

NOE makes the mold.

the pin slides in that track on the bottom. turn to the side to let pins slide/boolits fall out....closing the mold guides the pins back into place. as i said before....its actually a REALLY ingenious system.
 
Nice! Amazing how fast you can churn out the boolits once you get in the groove....[smile]

Got my Cramer .452 HP mould in Tuesday but work had me on the road until last night..... Am cleaning it this afternoon and hope to crank up the lee and check it out.... Has the new 5 sided pin which looks like it will be pretty sweet.... Will keep you posted....[wink]

Jasper said:
yea bob, this one looks like it'll be fun :)

314SP129GR005.jpg


180gr WFN/HP in .358 (drops .360). rather ingenious hollowpoint pin system.


speaking of getting in a groove, holy carp. casted ~ 1/2 a gallon jug of 440gr .502's today, another ~ 2k 230gr TC's....then proceeded to size/lube all ~ 2800-3k of those .45's. man my arm hurts lol
Click to expand...
 
Cramer Mould

Cast a bunch of great boolits today and got a chance to cast my first hollow points using my new Cramer mould.... Awesome design.... Very easy to use.... One 45ACP mould allows me to cast a traditional 200 grain HP, a 5 sided HP or a RFN....

Cramer45ACP5sidedPin.jpg


This is a pic of the 5 sided pin round recovered by one of the other cast boolits shooters....[smile]

452HP_mp_molds_1.jpg


This is what the mould and pins look like..... This is an awesome design...

452HP_mp_molds_4.jpg


This shows the mould configured to drop one HP and one RFN....[wink]
 
Was 72 Euro ($110 at current conversion) shipped..... Was a group buy over on Castboolits by Miha and I even think he made a couple of extra to sell on his site....[wink]

http://mp-molds.com/index.php?pr=E_-_shop

He just got a new CNC milling machine and his workmanship is outstanding..[grin]

It's my first brass mould and it's noticeably easier to use (wider thermal sweet spot) than my aluminum moulds....

The casting process with this mould is pretty sweet..... Cut the sprue, open the mould... Tap the HP pins clear of the mould and maybe a tap or two on the handle nut and the boolits drop clear..... Easy peasy as my kids say.....[smile]

Fixxah said:
That is one nice setup. What did you spend on it?
Click to expand...
 
Bob J said:
After some research and discussion over on Cast Boolits I settled on the Cabinetree model......

http://www.castingstuff.com/cabinetree_llc___lead_testers.htm

I have to say after using it for a while that I love this tester....[smile]

Readings are very repeatable and it is very quick and easy to use.... A bit pricey but well built and designed.....[wink]
Click to expand...
Bob, I couldn't find a price on this link. What should I expect to pay if I was to buy one. I think Santa is bringing me a pot next week. Time to fill the gaps and get the rest of my needed equipment. TIA.
 
ArmedMainer said:
Bob, I couldn't find a price on this link. What should I expect to pay if I was to buy one. I think Santa is bringing me a pot next week. Time to fill the gaps and get the rest of my needed equipment. TIA.
Click to expand...

You certainly won't regret getting one.... They are by far the most accurate and easiest to use of any that I have tried.....[wink]

IIRC they are $114 shipped......[grin]

Have a great holiday! [smile]
 
Bob J said:
You certainly won't regret getting one.... They are by far the most accurate and easiest to use of any that I have tried.....[wink]

IIRC they are $114 shipped......[grin]

Have a great holiday! [smile]
Click to expand...
Thanks for the heads up. It's now on my "to buy" list. Might be a couple of months but I'll be all set up soon enough.[wink]
 
Had a good day casting yesterday..... Just under 500 375gr SP for my S&W 500.... Sized, lubed and ready to load.....[wink]

P1010082.jpg
 
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