OT- First casting UPDATE

[Andrew]

Ordered a buch of stuff the other day for my reloading operations and got a ladle and a mold for the .45. I decided today was "the day" and set up camp on the carport. Nice breeze in my favor but I put up a fan to be extra sure I wasn't doing anything dumb.

Loaded up a bunch of lubed 9mm bullets and waited for the stew to brew. It was a lot of fun, but it took a bit before I was looking like I knew what I was doing. I cast a bunch of acorns in my .490RB mold before I got the proccess down and got nice little balls droping out. I moved on to the new mold which was a 452-200-RF that I thought would be perfect for the practice I need to do. They were a tad wrinkled, but they looked like a cast bullet though. last I tried two in the Lyman Maxi-Ball that tuned out ok. The bullets all cast kinda shiny and the fingernail test gave me the impression that they are an alloy, not pure lead.

Here are the results....



All in all, not a bad start IMHO. I will try again later and might actually get something usable.

[2ndovc]

Looks Pretty good.

I'm just getting started on the casting thing too.

Amazing that I've been reloading for over 20 years and never cast a bullet.

jb

[hartman]

Andrew,

More heat. Pre heat your mold by dipping a corner in the melt. Turn the heat up on the pot. Cast faster, get a rythem (sp?) and keep it up.

Next, did you clean the mold and smoke it before getting started? Use break cleaner to clean then use a wood match to smoke the inside.

I'm no professional, but have cast lot's of turds.

the bullets you cast are probably small in dia. as well

Hartman

[mescalero1]

Yeah, thats not quite right, work on the heat.
For me the rythem is not quite as important, don't have any anyway

[Lefty Dude]

Do you have a casting thermometer ? If not get one. Then you will know what your mix proper temperature will be. It looks like you need more mix heat. You are not filling out the mold and are not getting a defined impression from the mold. Round edges = small sized bullets.

Also with new blocks it takes a few to break-in new molds, they must be kept clean. I always leave the molds full and the sprue un-cut when I store or leave a casting session.

[Ray Newman]

See the 8 phase casting Cycle:

www.longrangebpcr.com/8Phases.htm

As others mentioned:

--Obtain a good lead thermometer.
--Increase the temperature of the melt.
--Besides casting to beak-in the new mould blocks, it will often take 10-20 bullets for the mould to come up to the optimize temperature to cast good bullets.

A very good way to do a quality control check on your casting technique is to weigh bullet & segregate them by weight. You’ll soon find out how consistently you can cast.

The more you can the better caster you’ll become if keep everything consistent.

[Sixgun]

Andrew,
The above boys have given you excellent advice but like all advice, nothing is like experience. Their advice will help you gain the experience in the easiest way.

Oh, those somewhat wrinkeled bullets? You would be surprised how well they shoot for informal plinking. ------------Sixgun

[Griff]

All of the above, mainly heat; you might need to do away with the fan, you'd be surprised at how much that can drop your pot temp.

Also, I would NOT recommend using anyrhing but pure lead for muzzloaders. I like a tight patch so there's a good grip on the rifling, imparting maximum effect from the rifling. YMMV.

[Andrew]

Also, I would NOT recommend using anyrhing but pure lead for muzzloaders. I like a tight patch so there's a good grip on the rifling, imparting maximum effect from the rifling. YMMV.

For me, I really don't plan on using anything but pure lead. I didn't know the mix of these until they dropped out; I still don't, just that they aren't just lead. They will serve as practice fodder until a use is found for it. I think a temp meter is in order like you guys said, I just couldn't find any that I liked the price of. I heard one guy saying once that candy thermometers are good to use as a casting thermometer and inexpensive.

I can see that this casting thing is kind of a hobby all in of itself. Oh well, more time making stuff is more time making stuff! Thanks for the advice and links guys.

[Chuck 100 yd]

Those bullets will shoot Andrew. I have cast thousands of bullets before I got a thermometer and then my wife got me one for my birthday so I have two. I only use them to locate or disregard temp. as a problem when casting. Most of the time,as others have said,the melt is not hot enough or the mold is not clean.
Have fun!

[Ysabel Kid]

Temperatures are finally tolerable outside so I am looking forward to rolling out the casting cart I made and getting back into this aspect of reloading. It has been 20 years for me...

Congrats Andrew - looks like a great first start!

[Rusty]

I like to cast mine hot enough so that I get just a little bit of frosting on them. It doesn't hurt anything. Another thing I've found that helps me is that to open the mould I use a piece of hardwood like a cut off sledge hammer handle or something that is the correct diameter. In one end I drill an oversized hole and epoxy in a common screwdriver bit. The idea is that once I start dropping bullets I don't want to stop for anything. the screwdriver bit will serve many purposes. I also put my box for catching my bullets at the bottom of an incline that I lay an old beach towel across to cushion the bullet's initial contact. When I cast .44's I turn the pot all the way up and add fresh lead when needed. I'm usually casting fast enough that the temps stay pretty constant.

[HEAD0001]

A fan is a good idea. However I put the fan on the downwind side and draw the air off the pot. I do not like to blow air across the pot.

IMO you cadence(rhythm) is most important to consistency. Develop a cadence and your bullets will come out great. Cadence is simple to learn. Just count slowly and do the same steps at the same number every time. Your consistency will improve drastically. Tom.

[Texican]

Temperatures are finally tolerable outside so I am looking forward to rolling out the casting cart I made and getting back into this aspect of reloading. It has been 20 years for me...

Congrats Andrew - looks like a great first start!

Any chance you could post a pic of your casting cart? I like that idea.

[Ysabel Kid]

Temperatures are finally tolerable outside so I am looking forward to rolling out the casting cart I made and getting back into this aspect of reloading. It has been 20 years for me...

Congrats Andrew - looks like a great first start!

Any chance you could post a pic of your casting cart? I like that idea.

Sure:

[Texican]

Cool. That's a lot simpler than I thought it would be. I was thinking it would be a lot more complicated and involved but then again I guess I tend to overbuild. [It's my genetic imperative; from both sides.]

Thanks for the pic.

[DerekR]

I cast and shoot a lot of the Lee 200RF in both my .45 Colts and my .45 acp 1911. For the ACP round I seat the bullet just slightly past the crimp groove. They feed real well in my Springfield 1911.

[Ysabel Kid]

Cool. That's a lot simpler than I thought it would be. I was thinking it would be a lot more complicated and involved but then again I guess I tend to overbuild. [It's my genetic imperative; from both sides.]

Thanks for the pic.

I tried to keep this one simple (I tend to over-engineer everything as well). I wanted the cart easy to move, so I could roll it outside to cast with minimal problems, and it would store out of the way. I think it is less than two feet square on top. The top is concrete, then coated with some left-over epoxy coat I had used on my garage floor. Figured this would be a darn near indestructible and safe top (see - I did over-engineer it). Both shelves also have light (okay, yes I really did over-engineer it!). Fun project, relatively-cheap, and my son helped me make it - so a "win" all the way around.

[Andrew]

I got out again today and had much better luck with them little boogers. I think they came out better looking today and they are more uniform, which is really nice. Only thing is they weigh in the neighborhood of 208gr, I find that odd 'cause they look like an alloy and I assumed that they would be a bit short of the mold spec. That's what I get for assuming.

Much better.....

[Lefty Dude]

Hey, they look good.

And don't worry about the weight, It would be hard to find two or more molds that throw the same weight. Unless you have the exact melt alloy that they used to QC check the original mould, you will not get a perfect 200 grains.

Live with it, shoot safe & enjoy.

[reo]

Good looking bullets. Looks like you got all the variables straightened out.

Great idea on the cart YK.