Cast my first rounds today!

[swampratt]

You must be shooting at something way hard or you got some soft lead.
Straight wheel weight i get ZERO expansion when shooting oak trees.
Pure lead and i get leading.
You may have a good mix there.

 

[aviator41]

Yes, I was shooting at cut spruce logs, shooting into the end grain. Thats where I recovered the mushroomed rounds. Rounds that went through paper and into the ground were virtually untouched. Looked like they could have been reloaded right out of the ground! (though I do know better)

Rounds hitting steel were nicely mushroomed as well.

 

[Blitzfike]

The bug has bitten you... Welcome to the fraternity. I'm with swampratt, there are lots of different recipes for lube and most all of them work. I like the Johnsons paste wax by itself, and I have mixed moly powder with both it and alox for experimenting with pistol caliber carbine loads. I get some pretty impressive velocities out of a 40 carbine I have, using AA#7 and the moly coated bullets. The slower burning rate of the AA#7 really makes a difference, and the moly coating reduces the friction even more. I'm careful not to use the moly powder dry as it tends to attract moisture and cause rusty bores. There are folks who swear by moly and others who swear at it.. I know from my experiments that it does make a difference in the rifle rounds. Also, try dropping your bullets from the mold into a bucket of water. The wheel weight alloy will harden a lot faster with water quenching than waiting for a week or so. I have about thirty molds and when casting, normally do several hundred at a time. I have both the tumble lube molds and conventional molds with lube grooves. I also have a couple of lubrasizers and dies for most of the calibers I cast. For simplicity, the Lee bullet sizing dies are the best bang for the buck. Enjoy

 

[aviator41]

Yep, I'm hooked. I cast 175 tonight with my son, dropping in a quenching bucket.

dlbleak was generous enough to pass on some lead to us to cast with and man are we having a ball with it! We've actually really enjoyed the process of turning WW lead into bullets. we both agree that the lubing part sucks, setting them out to dry overnight sucks, but thats a part of the deal. Learned the hard way that we need to use wax or freezer paper instead of paper towels to let the lube 'cure' otherwise you end up with paper towel on the bottom of every bullet (again, sucks).

I can say we are hooked. enjoying the process is actually more important that the end result right now. that may change, but for now it's keeping us going.

So, does anyone see a problem with leaving a the pot full of weight and letting it cool? I don't have an ingot mold yet, so thats what I did (hope this wasn't a mistake). I assumed that since the lee directions say that leaving a few inches of metal in the pot after a session will speed the melting process next time, leaving a whole pot wouldn't be a problem. is this a correct assumption?

 

[swampratt]

Yes you can leave it full. I do sometimes.
Any muffin pan will work for an ingot mould.
My first moulds were dry aluminum soda cans.
Peel the aluminum off when you need them.
Pour the lead into a big stainless spoon will work also.
I make no snag sinkers like that.

You can use notebook or copy paper in place of wax paper..that is what i use now.
You can use it many times over.

For a harder bullet in less time you can add lead bird shot to the mix.
Arsenic in the mix aids in hardening during water quenching.
and shot has that in it..

 

[aviator41]

The quenched bullets are surprisingly hard! I think I'm going to bracket up the load a little with these, work my way up to 6.5grs of Unique in .2 grain increments, 5 rounds at a time. I expect to see some leading somewhere around 6 grs. My hope is, a chrono shows up on the doorstep today. I 'hinted' to the wife that it would make an excellent birthday present!

 

[swampratt]

When i pushed my 45 bullets fast they began to tumble
When recovered they had Zero rifling grooves. they looked like i sanded the sides on a masonry block.
Those rounds were skidding through the barrel and powder burned around the outside of the bullet.

But when i slugged my barrel it slugged at 454" i think..I will need to look through my notes on that one.
I can't chamber a bullet large enough to be over bore diameter.
So i am stuck with slower speeds for accurate ammo.
Your 1911 i would bet is tighter than my Hi Point.
A buddy of mine uses power pistol and 230gr bullets that are cast from wheel weights.
and steel cases...we chronied some and they were shall i say above the speed of sound by a bit...
and they grouped good and no leading.
I like steel cases.
You never worry if you can find them all or not.

 

[Old Fart]

I usually thin my Alox with a little mineral spirits to help in the coating process, then let them dry.

Sometimes I get in a hurry and load while still not completely dry.
This works fine but you may have to strip your die and clean it more often.

But like most folks I can't justify spending more money on more expensive molds.
I can buy 3 or 4 Lee molds for the cost of a pricey steel one.
I still have my first Lee mold, a 357 SWC and it still works fine.

I enjoy casting about as much as any part of reloading.

 

[dlbleak]

Victor, glad you are having fun with it and getting your son involved in the process. I can remember standing on a chair and leaning over the stove casting bullets with dad. Man, have ideas on safety changed!
Swampratt, I take it you are using carbide dies for the steel cases? I've been reading up on the use of the steel for awhile, still a little hesitant about it.

 

[aviator41]

dlbleak, He's defiantly having more fun that I am! Being able to take the 45 out and shoot 'his' rounds is very satisfying. He's even asked about competition, so I guess I'm going to have to come up with some 3-gun drills to see if he likes it.