Cast My First Bullets!
- 357cyrus
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Cast My First Bullets!
Hey I'm officially a bullet caster! Well, I've had casting on my brain lately, all my casting toys just sitting around waiting for my sizing die to come in so I figured, what the heck, might as well get my feet wet. Just kind of a practice run that'd go back in the pot one way or the other. Sunday night was my first run. Long story short, EVERYTHING came out frosted, some pretty badly. Some smears, mostly rounded corners, overall pretty frustrating. Did a few quick searches over on the castboolit website and realized I was of course running them way too hot on the "8" setting with a Lee 4-20. Well I gave it another go this morning, this time on "6" and took about 2 minutes between pours. Got some pretty nice looking bullets! Not all the greatest, but, much improved. Cherry picked a few for some pics below. Feels like I might need to dial it back to "5" and see how it goes on the next run. I was using RD's 375gr 480 Ruger mold, and his 95/5 alloy. The only difference was I had to use pewter instead of tin, so i added an extra ounce of it to bring my tin content up a little. Just measured three of them. Average weight was 376-377gr with the gas check installed. Diameter was between .478+ and just under .480". Pretty pleased with them!
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- pricedo
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Re: Cast My First Bullets!
Very consistent, clean looking bullets.
Excellent job !
Excellent job !
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- Ranch Dog
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Re: Cast My First Bullets!
Very good work!
I don't know if I would go any colder as you didn't mention the "frosting" again. Also you do not want the time period between castings, it should be one drop after the other as this is what will keep the blocks hot and the bullets consistent. On a mold this size and with the temperature set just right, I would expect to see a light frosting on the bullets in 6 to 10 drops. At that point, I place the blocks on a damp rag/towel for 10 to 12 seconds and hit it again.
I don't know if I would go any colder as you didn't mention the "frosting" again. Also you do not want the time period between castings, it should be one drop after the other as this is what will keep the blocks hot and the bullets consistent. On a mold this size and with the temperature set just right, I would expect to see a light frosting on the bullets in 6 to 10 drops. At that point, I place the blocks on a damp rag/towel for 10 to 12 seconds and hit it again.
Michael
- 357cyrus
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Re: Cast My First Bullets!
I realize frosted boolits aren't necessarily a bad thing, but yes if I was moving faster than 2 minutes they were coming out a little frosted. The two things I'm suspect of at this point are that I let my mold heat up a good bit of time touching the lead before my first pouring, (tried the damp rag thing for only a couple seconds) and that my alloy isn't exactly what was recommended. I will most likely be using actual tin instead of pewter with the bullets I load up for testing.
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- Tuco Ramirez
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Re: Cast My First Bullets!
Looks darn good to me!!
Wait till you start sending them down range... That is the part I really like.
Wait till you start sending them down range... That is the part I really like.
- Pb2au
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Re: Cast My First Bullets!
Welcome to the casting community!
The key that I find in casting is consistency. Get everything down to a rhythm. Once you have your method and rhythm, it is much easier to identify and change a part of it to solve a problem.
The key that I find in casting is consistency. Get everything down to a rhythm. Once you have your method and rhythm, it is much easier to identify and change a part of it to solve a problem.
- Missionary
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Re: Cast My First Bullets!
Good morning
Bully for you !! Welcome to the world of bullet freedom !
You do not have to wait for a sizer... You can hand lube those pretty lead objects. Put a dobber of lube on a finger tip and smear it into the grooves. I would load an unlubed bullet into a case with no primer and see if it will chamber without having to mash it in. If it will chamber it will shoot. Use a rod to knock the bullet out of the case later.
You could also check bullet diameter for that firearm by pushing it through the cylinder. Hopefully it is snug in the throat. Tight is good. If it is loose going through the throat area you will want a fatter bullet. Use a harder mix.
Mike in Peru
Bully for you !! Welcome to the world of bullet freedom !
You do not have to wait for a sizer... You can hand lube those pretty lead objects. Put a dobber of lube on a finger tip and smear it into the grooves. I would load an unlubed bullet into a case with no primer and see if it will chamber without having to mash it in. If it will chamber it will shoot. Use a rod to knock the bullet out of the case later.
You could also check bullet diameter for that firearm by pushing it through the cylinder. Hopefully it is snug in the throat. Tight is good. If it is loose going through the throat area you will want a fatter bullet. Use a harder mix.
Mike in Peru
Way down south in Arequipa, Peru till June 2020.