Bullet Casting - first time!

[hgsw67]

tri3ed my hand at bullet casting tonight. First off, good ventilation is a must. even with a fan 10 feet behind me i needed my respirator. after a few trial runs at pour, break sprue, dump bullets replace sprue to casting pot, etc. I decided to keave the sprue on the table, and run a 10 minute test of just how many 9mm bullets i can do in that time period. I ran 155 bullets! After this run I still had a bit of lead in the pot so I then made several ingots to empty the pot. I now have 155 bullets, 7 ingots, and about 1 lb of sprue to start with next time.
Overall I would say a success, I'm sure my count will improve, but honestly I'm not in a race here. Looking for consistent quality, not just a lot of bullets.
Harry(hgsw67)

[Flash]

tri3ed my hand at bullet casting tonight. First off, good ventilation is a must. even with a fan 10 feet behind me i needed my respirator. after a few trial runs at pour, break sprue, dump bullets replace sprue to casting pot, etc. I decided to keave the sprue on the table, and run a 10 minute test of just how many 9mm bullets i can do in that time period. I ran 155 bullets! After this run I still had a bit of lead in the pot so I then made several ingots to empty the pot. I now have 155 bullets, 7 ingots, and about 1 lb of sprue to start with next time.
Overall I would say a success, I'm sure my count will improve, but honestly I'm not in a race here. Looking for consistent quality, not just a lot of bullets.
Harry(hgsw67)

Wonderful ! (Addictive, isn't it?) 155 bullets in 10 minutes is not bad. What molds, what alloy?

There are two schools of thought about emptying the pot when you finish.
I don't know which one I fall into, maybe just lazy, but i don't empty the pot when I finish, I just let the thing 3/4-full and cool at that. I don't know if that makes it heat up any faster or more efficinetly, it's just convenient for me.

Those who do empty the pot may claim cleaner, no rust, able to begin right off with whatever alloy they wish and so forth. I wonder what other casters do and why.

Flash

[hgsw67]

Hi Flash,
Absolutely addicting!, I'm using lee 6 round molds, the alloy is old wheel weights. Yeah I know, getting it clean is a PITA but a little time goes a long way. No time to get anymore down today but definately this weekend.
hgsw67

[Lucas]

I had my first run at casting a few weeks ago. Smelted around 8 pounds of WW, then started casting 255 grain and 300 grain "boolits". I personally am water dropping, just to harden the lead a touch for the velocities I run.
I've recovered a few of the 300's from a dirt backstop, I'll throw them back into the pot next casting session. How's that for recycling?

Flash, I've found myself being in the "I'm too lazy to empty the pot" category. I started out pouring ingots to empty the pot, then I thought to myself why take the time to make ingots when I'm going to just remelt them in the pot later. Now, if I'm going to cast round balls for use in a black powder gun I'll take the time to clean the pot so I can use pure lead.

I find it a no stress, productive, way to spend an evening.

[hornady]

I may have mis-read a couple of the post, but you do not want to put wheel weights or range pick up in your lee pot, Lee makes a great cheap pot. I am on my 3rd one a 20 pound bottom pure, The main problem guys have though is impurities in the pot, you only want to put clean lead or ingots in the pot. Try to keep as much of the garbage out of the pot as possible. Water dropping was mentioned, this only works with the clip on wheel weights, they have trace amounts of arsenic which water dropping or heat treating will harden. Clip on WW will also harden with time. A clip on WW alloy will harden on its own in about 30 days. But for maximum hardness you still need to water drop or heat treat. A couple other things I will mention. If using WW, pick the stick on and zinc weights out of the alloy you make into ingots. The zinc is junk, the sticks on ones are almost pure lead, and are good for Muzzleloader or shot gun slugs. I would also recommend a copy of the Lyman cast bullet book. It will dispel many of the myths surrounding bullet casting.

[WVBob]

I've been casting for over 30 years and never empty the pot. It heats up better when it's about 3/4 full. Never put your sprue back in the pot while casting. One, it cools off the lead and two, you need to flux the lead after you put it in. Fluxing gives you a cleaner pot and will mix the lead, tin and other things.

[imashooter2]

I like to run a 30 second cycle with the Lee 6 bangers. I add my last sprue back while I wait for the current sprue to cool. I also keep ingots on the edge of the pot preheating to add as the lead level goes down. When I add an ingot, I replace it with another. This method gets me about 700 an hour and allows for continuous casting. I'll generally run for 2 - 3 hours before I get tired and take a break.

I thoroughly disagree with the need to flux when adding clean ingots or fresh sprues to a running pot. Particularly when that pot is a bottom pour. Fluxing breaks your rhythm and allows the mold to cool without adding any benefit to the final product. I flux once after my session is over and before turning off the pot. After running 30 - 50 pounds of ingots, plus reuse of sprues, there is never more than a teaspoon of dross to be removed. The key is only clean ingots go in the pot.


I leave my pot full because my method always has the lead level high for consistent head pressure, which I find makes for consistent pours. A full pot melts faster on the next start because there is perfect contact with the sides of the pot.

[hgsw67]

learning every day, thanks for the great input.
harry (hgsw67)

[richbug]

I have also found that the nozzle of the pot is not so likely to get plugged up if you keep lead in it.

[hgsw67]

casting day two!... alright, I've checked the temp of the lead, (650*), yet still getting lines in casts like worms had been there. Note, not holes, just lines along the bullet, either running up & Down or lateral near and across the grease grooves. Whats up with that.
Thanks In Advance,
Harry