My girlfriend and I recently attended the casting seminar held by Michael Spanner. I learned a lot and got to cast my first bullets. It was also a great crew of folks to spend the day with and learn.
I have many questions that I want to bring to the forum and get your guys (and gals) take on it. I'll try to be organized and I hope including thumbnails of the relevant photos doesn't bother people. If it does bother you all, I will include full size images in the future.
Project 1 Casting Ingots: I have about 100lb of range scrap that I'd like to smelt, clean up and cast into ingots.
I have acquired a stainless steel pot that I hope to use as a crucible, various spoons and scoops, , two RCBS ingot molds, some mini muffin tins, and a bunch of metal that I believe to be pewter. I'm picking up a turkey fryer tomorrow.
Q1a: Do I need to add pewter to range scrap to make my lead into the right formula for casting bullets? I got the impression that we were adding pewter to the wheel weights that Mike had but that range scrap would already have the right mix.
Q1b: Are there any problems with the materials I have shown so far?
Q1c: Why not skip the turkey fryer and just take the grate off my gas grill and set the crucible on the burner covers and cook it up like that? Seems like most gas grills would also be sturdier than the small turkey fryer.
Q1d: Why not just get rid of the flame all together and go the hotplate method that one of the class attendees described a few times? (maybe my batch volume is not going to be practical for his method)
Q1e: So I picked up a "Masterbuilt Turkey Fryer with timer" and will use it under whatever crucibal I go with.
Q1f: Another crucible option: I also picked up a 11lb older used propane tank from a friends house. From all the warnings Ive read online, I think I might want to have someone else do the cutting in half part. I really liked the door prize at the seminar and would be willing to pay another member to cut one of these tanks open safely. The one at the seminar was painted blue and should be in this picture
Project 2 Casting Bullets: Once I have a bunch of ingots, I will cast 9mm at first. Michael was kind enough to size my bore and my Canik TP9sfx came in at .355 max and my Sig p938 was 355.5 to 356/357. I maybe possibly expanding to shooting 38 and 357Mag in the next year. I have yet to fall in love with revolvers.
I also purchased a Lee production pot from member Knob Creek's personal collection that I will use for my initial casting setup.
I have been looking at 9mm molds and they are becoming harder and harder to find. I would prefer to avoid lubing and would follow Michael's Hi Tech coating method, therefore a mold w the lube ring in it seems to be a waste ( and harder to coat).
Q2a: What mold should I buy? The first 3 that I have been giving consideration to are:
MP 356-125 2R 6 Cavity Bevel Base
MP 356-125 2R 6 cavity Bevel base mold ~ MP-molds
MP 356-125 2R 8 Cavity Flat Base Mold
MP 356-125 2R 8 cavity Flat base mold ~ MP-molds
or the only one that is actually in stock now:
MP 359 -125 Hollow Point PB 4 Cavity
MP 359 -125 Hollow point PB 4 Cavity mold ~ MP-molds
or another from NOE that might fit the bill but only puts out a 354 but thats without the three coats of mikes fancy coating:
HTC354-115-RN-V6 5 cavity BB | NOE Bullet Moulds
Project 3 Coating:
I like Mikes method and I wont try to repeat it properly here but I am going to follow his method, so I am looking for counter top convection ovens on craigslist in the meantime.
Q3a: Do I need to coat in any particular time frame after casting? Can I wait 6 months?
Project 4 Sizing: I have a Dillon 650 that I will be loading with, however I don't have anything to size my future cast and coated bullets down to the 355 that my Canik apparently wants. my current setup:
Q4a: What device can I get to size my 9mm cast and coated bullets down that will add to my capabilities and not just be redundant with the functions of the 650 press?
Project 5 Making Ammo: I have previously loaded a few thousand 9mm rounds on the Dillon 650. My only problem is a sideways primer every once in a while. The ammo has performed well but they were always store bought FMJ bullets so I don't know what to expect in switching over to handmade bullets. I took a bag of unsized coated 9mm bullets from the casting seminar but I don't have anything to size them with so I don't want to just load them up and shoot them quite yet.
Q5a: Once cast, coated, and sized, are there any differences I should look out for when I finally do a run of assembling ammo?
If you read this far, I have to say a big thanks and I hope to see you at the next NES event. This hands on casting seminar was awesome
I have many questions that I want to bring to the forum and get your guys (and gals) take on it. I'll try to be organized and I hope including thumbnails of the relevant photos doesn't bother people. If it does bother you all, I will include full size images in the future.
Project 1 Casting Ingots: I have about 100lb of range scrap that I'd like to smelt, clean up and cast into ingots.
I have acquired a stainless steel pot that I hope to use as a crucible, various spoons and scoops, , two RCBS ingot molds, some mini muffin tins, and a bunch of metal that I believe to be pewter. I'm picking up a turkey fryer tomorrow.
Q1a: Do I need to add pewter to range scrap to make my lead into the right formula for casting bullets? I got the impression that we were adding pewter to the wheel weights that Mike had but that range scrap would already have the right mix.
Q1b: Are there any problems with the materials I have shown so far?
Q1c: Why not skip the turkey fryer and just take the grate off my gas grill and set the crucible on the burner covers and cook it up like that? Seems like most gas grills would also be sturdier than the small turkey fryer.
Q1d: Why not just get rid of the flame all together and go the hotplate method that one of the class attendees described a few times? (maybe my batch volume is not going to be practical for his method)
Q1e: So I picked up a "Masterbuilt Turkey Fryer with timer" and will use it under whatever crucibal I go with.
Q1f: Another crucible option: I also picked up a 11lb older used propane tank from a friends house. From all the warnings Ive read online, I think I might want to have someone else do the cutting in half part. I really liked the door prize at the seminar and would be willing to pay another member to cut one of these tanks open safely. The one at the seminar was painted blue and should be in this picture
Project 2 Casting Bullets: Once I have a bunch of ingots, I will cast 9mm at first. Michael was kind enough to size my bore and my Canik TP9sfx came in at .355 max and my Sig p938 was 355.5 to 356/357. I maybe possibly expanding to shooting 38 and 357Mag in the next year. I have yet to fall in love with revolvers.
I also purchased a Lee production pot from member Knob Creek's personal collection that I will use for my initial casting setup.
I have been looking at 9mm molds and they are becoming harder and harder to find. I would prefer to avoid lubing and would follow Michael's Hi Tech coating method, therefore a mold w the lube ring in it seems to be a waste ( and harder to coat).
Q2a: What mold should I buy? The first 3 that I have been giving consideration to are:
MP 356-125 2R 6 Cavity Bevel Base
MP 356-125 2R 6 cavity Bevel base mold ~ MP-molds
MP 356-125 2R 8 Cavity Flat Base Mold
MP 356-125 2R 8 cavity Flat base mold ~ MP-molds
or the only one that is actually in stock now:
MP 359 -125 Hollow Point PB 4 Cavity
MP 359 -125 Hollow point PB 4 Cavity mold ~ MP-molds
or another from NOE that might fit the bill but only puts out a 354 but thats without the three coats of mikes fancy coating:
HTC354-115-RN-V6 5 cavity BB | NOE Bullet Moulds
Project 3 Coating:
I like Mikes method and I wont try to repeat it properly here but I am going to follow his method, so I am looking for counter top convection ovens on craigslist in the meantime.
Q3a: Do I need to coat in any particular time frame after casting? Can I wait 6 months?
Project 4 Sizing: I have a Dillon 650 that I will be loading with, however I don't have anything to size my future cast and coated bullets down to the 355 that my Canik apparently wants. my current setup:
Q4a: What device can I get to size my 9mm cast and coated bullets down that will add to my capabilities and not just be redundant with the functions of the 650 press?
Project 5 Making Ammo: I have previously loaded a few thousand 9mm rounds on the Dillon 650. My only problem is a sideways primer every once in a while. The ammo has performed well but they were always store bought FMJ bullets so I don't know what to expect in switching over to handmade bullets. I took a bag of unsized coated 9mm bullets from the casting seminar but I don't have anything to size them with so I don't want to just load them up and shoot them quite yet.
Q5a: Once cast, coated, and sized, are there any differences I should look out for when I finally do a run of assembling ammo?
If you read this far, I have to say a big thanks and I hope to see you at the next NES event. This hands on casting seminar was awesome