New to the Bullet Casting club

[Mats]

I finally scraped enough together and ordered my bullet casting/sizing setup. I've been reading "From Ingot to Target" and I ordered the Lyman casting manual, but any beginner tips are appreciated!

So far it doesn't seem too complicated though. I'm especially excited to save money by not buying $35 boxes of bullets for my .313 diameter guns.

 

[OKCHunter]

The lead itself seemed to be my biggest variable. Most sources (wheel weights, lead pipe, etc.) need to be hardened if you are planning to use in standard calibers / higher velocity bullets. Rotometals sells a product called “Super Hard” which is 30% antimony and is great for hardening up soft lead. I target 17 BHN for my bullets.

 

[OKCHunter]

From a safety standpoint, melt your lead into ingots outdoors while sitting up-wind. I also put a box fan behind and to the side of me to blow vapors down wind.

 

[Mats]

The lead itself seemed to be my biggest variable. Most sources (wheel weights, lead pipe, etc.) need to be hardened if you are planning to use in standard calibers / higher velocity bullets. Rotometals sells a product called “Super Hard” which is 30% antimony and is great for hardening up soft lead. I target 17 BHN for my bullets.

I was planning on getting some materials from Rotometals to start. I figured starting with known materials would make things a little easier while I'm learning.

 

[gl89aw]

If you haven’t already, visit the cast booklist website. There’s a ton of knowledge there. You might consider powder coating, small investment for great benefits.

 

[retrieverman]

@Master Carper on here casts and can probably offer some advice.

 

[swampratt]

I have not checked hardness of my bullets on a scale.
But I have ran thousands of Wheel weight clip on mixed with 50% soft lead like stick on weights or shower pan or plumbing pipe.
Straight clip on wheel weight in a 30-30 are good for 2000 fps easy with a gas check and Lee Alox.
That is for a Lee 170gr bullet.

On powder coated bullets I can run the 50/50 clip on/ soft lead mix in all my pistols without any issues and great accuracy.
Powder coated lead in other words does not need to be all that hard.
Softer alloy will bump up and seal quickly.
Too hard as we know is not good as you remove the ability of the bullet to seal the grooves.
Then the powder that is ignited blows past the bullet through the grooves and eats lead off the bullet and deposits it in the grooves.

Slug the barrels you have and size the bullet accordingly.
Usually 1 thousandths over bore I have some that run fine at 1/2 of that .
.0005" over.
I have some 45 pistols that measure .453" and I can't get anywhere close to that So I run a 50hard/50 soft lead powder coated and Bullseye or Red Dot powder which are fast powders and bump up the soft lead quickly and seal the bore.

I tried Alox lubed in those 45's and they did fine unless I shot quickly (mag dump) then the bore would get a lot of lead in it.
Powder coat I do not have that issue.

You will enjoy casting.

 

[gl89aw]

If you haven’t already, visit the cast booklist website. There’s a ton of knowledge there. You might consider powder coating, small investment for great benefits.

That should have bee cast boolits,

If you haven’t already, visit the cast booklist website. There’s a ton of knowledge there. You might consider powder coating, small investment for great benefits.

should be castboolits, notbooklist

 

[Mats]

If you haven’t already, visit the cast booklist website. There’s a ton of knowledge there. You might consider powder coating, small investment for great benefits.

I signed up on cast boolits as well! And I've powder coated a few bullets that turned out pretty good. I'm hoping to play around with lubed vs powder coated to see what my guns like most.

 

[swampratt]

I signed up on cast boolits as well! And I've powder coated a few bullets that turned out pretty good. I'm hoping to play around with lubed vs powder coated to see what my guns like most.

I played with JPW/Alox blend, JPW is Johnson Paste Wax.

Max load 357 Magnum did not like that mix at all so you can try it but I abandoned the JPW.