BULLET CASTING

**fritz1919** · April 26th, 2012, 01:55 PM

.45gg

I can sense the excitement in your writing and can certainly relate. Warm weather, spring fever, casting, etc.

Is there any chance you can find a seasoned reloader/caster at your local club and ask for some tutoring. That way you can get some exposure to the different equipment and think about the approach you would like to take. That may save you some time and money. If you have lots of both, hey, full steam ahead.

Also, I see you are looking for a cast iron pot. One of those full of molten lead has the potential of making a big mess of the back porch if not handled properly. That is the best case scenario. I don't want to bum you out too much with the worst case scenario. Maybe consider a hot plate and a small (1 quart) cheapo pot from wall mart. Not that a small pot of lead can't also ruin your day.

Again, I can see how anxious you are to acquire all of the tools and start cranking out some ammo and I sure hope you do not perceive my suggestion as negative. Just be careful with that molten lead. (I can hear it now, of course ya dumb old man).

I have a saying about casting/reloading. "It's not as hard as it sounds. It's not as easy as it sounds".

fritz

**.45gunguy** · April 26th, 2012, 02:39 PM

Originally Posted by fritz1919

.45gg

I can sense the excitement in your writing and can certainly relate. Warm weather, spring fever, casting, etc.

Is there any chance you can find a seasoned reloader/caster at your local club and ask for some tutoring. That way you can get some exposure to the different equipment and think about the approach you would like to take. That may save you some time and money. If you have lots of both, hey, full steam ahead.

Also, I see you are looking for a cast iron pot. One of those full of molten lead has the potential of making a big mess of the back porch if not handled properly. That is the best case scenario. I don't want to bum you out too much with the worst case scenario. Maybe consider a hot plate and a small (1 quart) cheapo pot from wall mart. Not that a small pot of lead can't also ruin your day.

Again, I can see how anxious you are to acquire all of the tools and start cranking out some ammo and I sure hope you do not perceive my suggestion as negative. Just be careful with that molten lead. (I can hear it now, of course ya dumb old man).

I have a saying about casting/reloading. "It's not as hard as it sounds. It's not as easy as it sounds".

fritz

I'm not thinking that at all I am glad for any imput I get I know there's a lot of people on here that know what there talking about. And I read ever post that comes my way. That is a good suggestion to start small till I learn more,i dont want any mishaps.I'm waiting for my Lyman bullet casting book to come in the mail (can't wait). And I will definitely ask around my range for some guidance on casting.

**Tim Ault** · April 26th, 2012, 04:25 PM

Originally Posted by hornady

Tim what bullet are you using in your hunting loads. I took a nice 9 point this year with the Lyman 311291 GC bullet. I did not get a chance too run it over the Chrony. But at 100 yards bullets cast from an alloy Converted from my Saeco to BHN, they were a BHN of 12 shot with GCs. I got very good accuracy and the expansion was not bad for a cast bullet in wet phone books. I used BAC/ Special blend lube from http://www.lsstuff.com/lube/. Great price and a good guy to do business with. The rifle was a Marlin 336 with a Nikon scope. A fun cheap load for Cast rifle is Red dot, I don’t use it for a hunting load, but in 3030, 308, and 3006 nice light plinking load.

Hope not to hijack the thread too bad but my hunting load is for a Rem. Model 600 in 35 Rem,Bullet is from saeco #351 mould (200 gr flat nose) and a health dose of 4895, again alloy is 50/50 WW and pure air cooled, That bullet is a plain base so I used a PB check made from soda can alum. I also use Lars Lube mainly the 2500+

**hornady** · April 27th, 2012, 08:29 AM

Mauser I should have worded the Lyno-type statement a little better. Last I looked Lyno was still somewhat easy to find. About two years ago on E-bay, I bought 100 pounds of Lyno for a $1.25 a pound + shipping, shortly after that a guy on this forum was giving Lyno away for the price of shipping, and I had him send me another 100 pounds.

About this same time I built a clam shell bullet trap. I now use very little Lyno, But have a good stock pile, And before anyone ask no I don’t want to get rid of any of it. The trap gets a little of everything, I empty the Trap into a 5 Gallon bucket. When the bucket gets full. I melt, skim, flux, and then test a slug from the Dutch oven with my Saeco lead tester. If need be I just add a little Lyno, Once the BHN is right I pour the alloy into pigs and mark with the BHN reading, I basically cast bullets of two different harnesses, And mix too the hardness I am looking for. I have had very good results with my loads, I use a BHN of around 12 for 45ACP, 45 colt, 38Spc, and GC rifle hunting loads, I use around an 18 BHN for everything else. I even load a 175 Gr., RCBS Bullet for my Glock 22 with the 18 BHN, And the gun dose have a factory polygonal barrel I get no more leading with this gun than any other I load for.

I saw the WW drying up, thus the Bullet trap, so its been a couple year now of not scrounging WW or Lyno. I do know of a an over looked source by many, Go to yard sales I have found Pewter Belt buckles, mugs and plates very cheap, and this two is a very good source for a hardening alloy.

Tim sounds like you have a winner with the load and bullet. There is just something about working up that perfect load and getting that cast bullet to perform just the way you want, and then when you take a nice Deer with your creation, It just don’t get much better. The 35Rem with that bullet must be a real thumper on Deer.

**mauser** · April 27th, 2012, 12:06 PM

Originally Posted by hornady

Mauser I should have worded the Lyno-type statement a little better. Last I looked Lyno was still somewhat easy to find. About two years ago on E-bay, I bought 100 pounds of Lyno for a $1.25 a pound + shipping, shortly after that a guy on this forum was giving Lyno away for the price of shipping, and I had him send me another 100 pounds.

About this same time I built a clam shell bullet trap. I now use very little Lyno, But have a good stock pile, And before anyone ask no I don’t want to get rid of any of it. The trap gets a little of everything, I empty the Trap into a 5 Gallon bucket. When the bucket gets full. I melt, skim, flux, and then test a slug from the Dutch oven with my Saeco lead tester. If need be I just add a little Lyno, Once the BHN is right I pour the alloy into pigs and mark with the BHN reading, I basically cast bullets of two different harnesses, And mix too the hardness I am looking for. I have had very good results with my loads, I use a BHN of around 12 for 45ACP, 45 colt, 38Spc, and GC rifle hunting loads, I use around an 18 BHN for everything else. I even load a 175 Gr., RCBS Bullet for my Glock 22 with the 18 BHN, And the gun dose have a factory polygonal barrel I get no more leading with this gun than any other I load for.

I saw the WW drying up, thus the Bullet trap, so its been a couple year now of not scrounging WW or Lyno. I do know of a an over looked source by many, Go to yard sales I have found Pewter Belt buckles, mugs and plates very cheap, and this two is a very good source for a hardening alloy.

Tim sounds like you have a winner with the load and bullet. There is just something about working up that perfect load and getting that cast bullet to perform just the way you want, and then when you take a nice Deer with your creation, It just don’t get much better. The 35Rem with that bullet must be a real thumper on Deer.

I was just wondering if there was a source of Lino that I was missing.
+1 to you for the pewter suggestion, I was wondering if I was the only one collecting it.

Modern food grade pewter is supposed to be lead free and be comprised of 92%tin, 6.7% antimony and possibly as much as 1.2% copper and/or silver. Belt buckles, picture frames or other decorative pewter isn't held to the same standard and anything that appears to be food grade that was made before the Pewter Guild set forth their standards will have different but similar percentages.
I've been scouring yard sales and flea markets for a few years getting all sorts of worthless looking mugs, bowls, goblets and canslestick holders for 25¢ to 50¢ each. Most weigh somewhere between ¼ pound to 1 pound. The mug in the following video weighs in at 14¾ ounces with the glass bottom removed.
Anyone who wants to start looking for these items needs to know the difference between pewter and cast aluminum that is what too many people call pewter. Invariably when you mention pewter someone will come out with a decorative or "collectible" metal plate and insist that it's pewter. Flick it with your fingernail, (like you're trying to get rid of a booger), if it has any sort of ringing sound it's not pewter. If you hear a dull thud you're on the right track. At that point you ask the price and if it's what you're willing t o pay for pewter try to bend or deform the item. Real pewter can be easily manipulated by hand and if you listen closely you can hear a crackling sound if you deform it far enough. That's the tin crystals making that noise. I had too much background noise and not high enough quality video equipment to capture the crackling sound.