Bullet casting basics, Safety

Safety equipment should include:
* Eye protection
* Long sleeves and long pants
* Shoes
* Gloves
* Hat
* Fan
* Thermometer (up to 1k degrees F)

+++  We are all big kids.  We can make up our own minds about how we choose to protect ourselves as long as we all know who to holler at when the lead splashes (and it will splash).  Remember – you are working with a liquid that can exceed 900 degrees F.  +++

Eye protection – It goes without saying.  I cheat as I wear prescription glasses.  For me, this is good enough.  For others, it may not be.

Sleeves/pants, shoes, hat – These items are personal choice.  See above for disclaimer.  

Gloves – I wear a heavy arc welding glove on my left hand and a lightweight TIG glove for my right hand (I am right handed).  Once the mold gets warmed up, sprues will easily break using nothing but hand pressure.  I break the sprue with my left hand and gently feed it back into the pot.  This keeps the pot full and cuts down on the mess.

Fan – If I am casting in the shop, I generally have a fan blowing behind me to move the fumes outdoors.

Thermometer – An accurate thermometer is a MUST, especially if you plan to use an un-regulated heat source to melt your lead.  Most electric pot thermostats will limit the temperature that the pot can achieve.  If a camp stove or other burner is used, don’t let the temperature exceed 900 degrees F.  I generally process wheelweights below 750 degrees F.

Lead can enter the bloodstream through the lungs in the form of gas from vaporizing lead.  Lead will begin to vaporize in the neighborhood of 900 degrees F.  Good hand washing and not eating, smoking, or chewing while casting helps keep the lead out of the system, too.

As we are discussing safety, water and molten lead do not mix without a huge and dangerous mess.  The water will turn to steam and will force large amounts of lead out of the pot in an eruption fashion.  The force and energy released from one drop of water will make a believer out of you.  Water can come in the form of rain, splashes from the quenching bucket (more on this in later discussions), sweat, or even flying insects.

Bullet casting basics, Equipment Needs

Means to hold lead
Means to heat lead to melting temperature
Means to get lead from the pot to the mold
Mold
Means to size bullet
Means to lubricate bullet

The above topics are vague on purpose.  Much like reloading equipment, casting can be performed with basic equipment or very advanced (and expensive) equipment.  The more advanced equipment will allow for increased speed, convenience, and in some cases accuracy.  

I use two different tools to melt lead.  For rough processing of wheelweights or scrap lead, I use an iron pot and a turkey cooker burner.  I am careful to keep the temperature down to the lowest temperature that will melt the lead.  This is both for safety and to keep zinc out of the solution (more on this later).  


Turkey cooker (Thanks again Athompson!) with iron pot melting scrap lead


Clean melted lead ready to go into ingot molds

For actual casting, I use an electric bottom pour furnace.  The electric furnace is nice as it allows a lot more speed and convenience and cuts down on fatigue during long sessions.  


Electric pot

It is a good idea to use separate pot to process scrap lead.  Contaminates found in scrap will quickly ruin a pot of good bullet alloy.  

As long as temperature is controlled, it is perfectly acceptable to use a pot and a heat source to cast bullets.  Cheap cast iron pots work very well.  A regular saucepan is risky as there is the danger of burning the bottom out and draining the pot in a rapid fashion.  

A ladle is useful for filling a mold from a pot.  It is also handy for stirring in flux and removing contaminates.


Different styles of ladles


Closeup of Rowell ladle.  This style of ladle is useful when working with dirty scrap as it pours from the bottom.  Lead will sink.  Steel and dirt will float on top

I use several different ingot molds to hold cleaned lead alloy.  The aluminum mold I made from aluminum angle.  The ingots are designed to be right at 5 lbs. each.  For me, this size fits my pots well and the ingots stack and store nicely.  I also use smaller iron cornbread and muffin molds, and the 1 lb. molds from RCBS, Lyman, and others.  I use letter stamps to identify what the alloy is as it works better than my memory.


Different styles of ingot molds


There are many choices for bullet molds on the market.  Materials for molds include aluminum, iron, steel, and brass.  Each have their advantages and disadvantages, but all will provide a long service life if they are cared for.  A mold can have as many as eight cavities but as cavity count goes up, so does weight and fatigue (and initial cost).  It is not uncommon to have one set of mold handles and use them between several molds.  Most of the mold manufacturers have proprietary dimensions so that the handles will frequently not interchange between brands.

Treat your molds with the utmost respect.  In spite of the steel and iron materials used, molds are extremely fragile.  Carelessly slamming the blocks closed or beating the sprue plate open can permanently damage a mold.  Loaning a mold to someone else is on par to loaning a rifle.  You will generally always get it back, but it is seldom in the same condition that it went out in.


200 Grain 45 caliber mold, iron construction


55 Grain 22 caliber mold, aluminum construction


Early brass mold.  The handles are integral to this mold.

Molds will generally get a bullet “close” to the advertised finished size.  Similar to resizing rifle brass, fresh cast bullets are generally forced through a “sizing” die.  Most sizing operations will also “lubricate” a bullet with lubricant that acts as an anti-flux for solder.  Much the same way flux will chemically aid solder in bonding, bullet lube will prevent lead from sticking to the bore.  A “lubrisizer” is nice and it makes things move quickly, but the same work can be performed with a small pan and a size die.


Lubrisizer


Sizing dies for the lubrisizer.  These dies are available in 0.001” increments from 0.218” up to 0.585”.


An example of pan lubing.  The lube is melted, the bullets stand up in the lube while it cools.  The tube on the right is hollow and it “cuts” the bullets out cookie cutter style.  The lubed bullets are then sized by beating them through the die on the left.

Bullet Casting Basics, Raw Material

The primary reason most people get into casting bullets is to save money.  Other reasons include self-sufficiency, lack of commercially available products (cowboy shooters, odd bore/throat size), and to simply take reloading to the next level.  Key to all of this is the ability to obtain and process raw material.

We will start with what is important to a good cast bullet and then get into some of the details.  

First – The alloy must cast well.  The mold must fill well and all of the corners should be sharp.  Pure lead does not fill molds well.  The corners are difficult to get sharp and keep sharp throughout the casting session.

Second – The alloy must have some toughness and hardness.  This is especially true if the bullet will be used in a rifle or magnum handgun or will be used for hunting.  Pure lead is very ductile, but it is not tough.

Third – The alloy must be cost effective.  There are some fantastic casting alloys on the market, but the cost can be very high.
 
Fourth – The alloy must be available.  Wheelweights are getting tough to find.  Tire stores used to give these away (hearsay, I have never been able to talk my way out of a bucket and I buy a lot of tires), now they can’t/won’t sell them.  As the anti’s continue to seek ways to ban our toys, the availability situation will get much worse.  I do not think for a minute that any legislation that has to do with lead is not directly aimed at us.

Wheelweights - Most cast bullets start with wheelweights.  This is good as wheelweights make a great starting point.  The chemistry of the alloy works reasonably well as is.  It works even better if the weights are “water dropped” or “heat treated” after casting.  The problem is that not all wheelweights are created equal.  


Here is a good example of what is out there for wheelweights today.  Photo credits go to dryflash3, used with permission.

The weights pictured in the left column are the good stuff.  The weights pictured in the center two columns are the enemy – zinc.  The stick-on weights on the right are gold – pure lead.  The pure lead weights get segregated as you can always alloy lead but it is really tough to un-alloy lead.


Linotype – The printing industry used to use linotype.  As most of the industry has long since moved to computer generated print, linotype is hard to find and is generally considered expensive.  


Pure lead – Pure lead continues to be hard to find.  Sources for lead include sheeting, roofing material, x-ray shielding, etc, etc.  Once lead is alloyed, it will always be alloyed.  Dead soft lead is handy for special projects like muzzle loader bullets, vise jaws, dead blow hammer heads, and for diluting a batch of alloy that needs more lead content without adding tin or antimony

Chemistry
Lead – Primary ingredient for cast bullets.  In its pure state, lead is too soft to use for high pressure loads.

Tin – Used in lead alloy to increase fluidity.  Tin is expensive relative to other elements, so it is used sparingly.
Antimony – Antimony is added to lead alloy to give strength and hardness.  This is one of the elements that will allow for heat treating to add hardness.

Arsenic – Arsenic is an element added to Magnum shot to give it hardness.  As Magnum shot is easier to handle than Antimony, I use a spoonful added to a 20 pound pot to aid in heat treating.  

Zinc – Zinc is the enemy.  Zinc will prevent bullets from filling the mold and has a crystalline structure.  As the melting temperature is slightly above lead, it is important to control the pot temperatures when processing wheelweights.  I try very hard to not exceed 700 degrees F. when processing wheelweights.  Should a zinc wheelweight slip by the initial sorting process, it will float and be easy to spot.


Once a mix of alloy is zinc contaminated, it is no longer suitable for bullets.  It is much easier to keep zinc out of the solution than it is to remove it once it is there.


After skimming the clips and other waste from the melt, I will flux the alloy to remove the rest of the impurities.  There are a lot of different things that can be used for flux; I use canning paraffin.  As it will reduce the smoke output, I generally light the smoke and stir the flame into the mix.  Use caution as the lead can splash.  It is important to get as much flux below the surface as you can.  This will move the crud to the surface where it can be skimmed off.  

Scrap chemistry will vary depending on what goes into the pot.  In the interest of a consistent mix, I separate the ingots into rows and columns.  I will re-melt and re-flux the ingots in a different order.  It is easier to show than it is to explain.


I organize all of the 1's, 2's, 3's (etc) in a row.  On the re-melt, I melt the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.  This ensures a consistent mix.


Melting temperatures
Lead – 621.5 F
Tin – 449.47 F
Antimony – 1166 F
Arsenic – 1502.6 F
Zinc – 787 F

Common chemistries
Name*****************Lead %******Antimony %**********Tin %
Wheelweights**********95.5**************4***************0.5
Linotype***************80***************12**************4
Lyman #2**************90***************5***************5
Pure lead**************99+**************0***************0

Bullet Casting Basics, Fitting

Fitting a cast bullet to a firearm is the most important step to both prevent “leading” and to aid accuracy.  The throat diameter is THE MOST important dimension as a firearm relates to cast bullets.  The steps outlined below are important whether you use your own cast bullets or purchase XYZ brand mail order from CastBulletMart.  

Most volume commercial casters are more interested in having their bullet “fit” every application (smaller diameter) than having their bullet fit your throat.  Every now and then a happy match can be found, but the usual complaint is “ZYX brand leads my bore, so they use lead that is too soft”.  While hardness is a variable, diameter is a MUCH more important variable.

BORE diameter is important, but THROAT diameter is much more important.  The relationship between the two is more important than what the diameters actually are.  A throat that is slightly larger (0.002”) than the groove (major) diameter works well.  The bullet will pass through the throat and then guided down the bore.  If the opposite relationship exists, the bullet will be swaged down before rattling down the bore.

Leading is primarily caused by the expanding gas of powder “blowing” by the bullet as the cartridge is fired.  Much the same way the oxygen lever on a cutting torch works, the gas will cut the bullet as it rushes around it.  The lead deposits are then “ironed” into the bore as the bullet continues its journey down the barrel.

Leading can also be caused by a rough bore due to poor manufacturing or rust pitting.  While there are ways to correct these defects, they are well outside the scope of this project.

In order to prevent gas cutting, the bullet must fit the throat fairly tightly.  I am using some pictures of a 45 Colt cylinder with a LBT WFN bullet.  The large diameter bore makes the process easier to see (and take pictures of).  I opened the throats up to 0.453” from 0.451” on this cylinder to allow for a properly sized bullet.  The concepts shown apply to fixed chamber (rifles and semi automatic handguns) as well.




In the picture above, the throat of the cylinder can be seen.  It is the smaller diameter or “step” seen at the bottom of the cylinder.


The length of the throat can be seen here


The relationship between the case, bullet, and throat can be seen here


Now that the throat has been identified, it needs to be measured.  There are a few ways to do this.  

First method – an uber fancy gauge:


Set gauge using micrometer or known diameter hole


Measure throats.  The neat thing about this method is it will detect “bell” or “taper” in a straight throat while the other methods will only measure the smallest diameter.


Second method – using a push-through slug


Start with a slightly oversize lead fishing weight.  Pound this weight through the throat using a soft-faced hammer.


Measure the slug.

Third method – using a plug gauge.  The neat thing about the third method is just about anything can be used as a gauge IF THE DIAMETER IS KNOWN.  Many folks purchase commercial plug gauges for this step.

Fourth method – taking a throat cast.  This method is best suited for a “fixed chamber” rifle or semi automatic handgun.  There are many online sources for taking a chamber/throat cast.  Cerrosafe is the most commonly used material.  Throat slugging is another method and is more accurate.  Google “rifle throat slugging” for some great references.  


Cerrosafe



Plug the bore.  I use a few bore patches.


Make chamber/throat cast and measure.  There really isn’t much to see during the process of pouring Cerrosafe into the chamber (and I ran out of hands), but here is the finished cast.  Measure as close to the chamber mouth as you can.  

Most 45ACP throats are very short as shown.  This is a factory Colt National Match barrel and it measures 0.452”.  The barrel is currently heavily leaded and I think I know why.

Once the throat diameter is known, selecting the size die or properly sized commercial cast bullet is the next step.

Bullet Casting Basics – Sizing and Lubricating

In casting, it is highly desirable to have a bullet mold drop a bullet that is perfectly round and exactly the diameter needed.  In reality, most molds are purposely built slightly oversize.  This is to allow for alloy variation when the mold is used and for manufacturing variation while the mold is built.  While a slightly oversized bullet can be “fixed”, nothing can be (easily) done to repair an undersized bullet.

The goal of sizing a bullet is to make the bullet “fit” the gun that it is intended for.  In the earlier fitting section, measuring the gun was discussed.  

Sizing

In sizing, the goal is to size the bullet the smallest amount possible in order to get it to the correct diameter.  The easiest way to accomplish this is to force the lead alloy bullet through a tapered die which gently “squeezes” the diameter down to the correct size.  As the bullet is gently forced into the die, the die also “trues” up the outside diameter.  Most machines will automatically force lubricant into the lube grooves of the bullet at the same time although this is not necessary for strictly sizing.

Lubricating

Bullet lube is one of the historical mysteries.  Early shooters used tallow as lube.  Present day shooters have experimented with different greases, waxes, powders, and even Teflon tape.  The industry standard was the NRA formula for many years.  This formula was finally decided on as 50% beeswax and 50% Alox (a formulation of vehicle undercoating).  Colonel Harrison himself admitted that there were probably better things out there, but this was the best he had tried.  


Here are a handful of the commercially available lubes.  If you find one that you like and it works, stock up.

Based on the poor lubes available at the time, Elmer Keith designed the “Keith” bullets to have deep and square lube grooves to hold as much bullet lube as was possible.  Modern lubes have changed the need for the huge lube grooves.  

Modern day formulations are closely guarded secrets.  My advice is to try several different formulations and buy a lifetime’s supply when you find one that works.  I have pretty much standardized my lube to LBT Blue (for smokeless loads).  There may be a better product out there, but I have stopped looking for it.

Bullet lube acts as an “anti-flux” during the act of shooting.  There are several theories out there about how the lube is distributed down the bore during the firing process.  A couple of the theories include centrifugal force forcing the lube onto the bore and obturation of the base of the bullet forcing the lube onto the bore.

Lubrication is usually applied while sizing using a lubrisizer.  Soft lubrication can also be applied by using a finger to force it into the lube grooves or by “pan lubing”.  The bullets stand vertically in a pan and the melted lube is poured around the bases covering the lube grooves.


In order to pan lube, melt the lube in a shallow pan using a controlled heat source.  It doesn't take much heat.  Stand the bullets up in the pan leaving some space in between the bullets.  You want enough lube in the pan to cover the lube grooves.


Allow the pan to cool.  If you want to speed up the process, let it sit in ice water or toss it in the refrigerator.


This tool used to be commercially available from Lee; I don't see them listed anymore.  These are a piece of cake to make if you know a friend with a lathe.


Press the cutter down around the bullets.


Extract the bullets leaving the holes behind.  Leave the holes for next time.  This will allow you to simply place the bullets into the holes and allow the lube to flow around them  when it is warmed up.


The finished product.  Depending on diameter, these are either ready for sizing using a separate step or to be loaded as is.

Lube grooves


Lube grooves are in place to serve as reservoirs for the bullet lubricant.  Deeper lube grooves hold more lube, but are more difficult to cast with and are more difficult to manufacture.  It is possible to “over-lubricate” using modern lubes.  

Troubleshooting

The most common complaint is having a bullet that does not fill out the mould.  You should expect to see very sharp corners and no wrinkles.  


Wrinkles are generally caused by contamination in the mould cavities.  Many of the preservatives that we apply to prevent rust are difficult to remove.  Scrubbing with a solvent like brake cleaner and an old toothbrush will usually remove the contamination.  


Not filling out is usually temperature related.  If you bullets come out of the mould like this, try increasing your casting temperature.  If your temperature is hot enough (800 degrees or so), try adding a small amount of tin to the alloy.  Tin is an element that dramatically increases fluidity.  


A lot of commercial casters follow these guidelines.  If the bullets don't fit the customer's firearms, they get a lot of returns.  Most people expect cast bullets to lead, so when they do nobody gets really excited.

Resources and FAQ

FAQ


1000 degree thermometers can be found online fairly easily.  Accuracy is important. I purchased mine from  the antimony man and have been very satisfied with it.

Resources
This is a partial listing of some of the suppliers out there.  It is in no way complete, but it will provide a starting point for what is out there.

Molds

Lead Bullets Technology  Tracer lathe cut Aluminum molds.  Great stuff.  Custom sizes
Lyman  Cherry cut Steel molds
RCBS  Iron mold blocks (nice), famous RCBS guarantee
LEE  "Lathe bored" Aluminum molds
Mountain Molds  Lathe bored Iron, Brass, Aluminum molds
NEI Handtools  Cherry cut Iron and Aluminum molds
Saeco

Casting supplies
Lead Bullets Technology
Lyman
RCBS
LEE
Saeco
Midway
Grafs
Cabine Tree
Brownell’s


Online forums/groups dedicated to the cause

Yahoo Cast Bullet List  (Yahoo email list with tons of great information and 1150 members to help new guys out)  Cast Bullet List
Cast Bullet Association  (Fancier forum, many of the same folks as the Cast Bullet List)  Cast Bullet Association Forum
Mountain Molds Forum  (Some good information.  As a manufacturer, the information has a bit of a slant) Mountain Molds Forum
Beartooth Bullets (Forum and some technical articles) Beartooth Bullets


Books



Jacketed Performance with Cast Bullets  (LBT)  MUST read by Veral Smith of LBT.  More useful data than any other single source.
Beartooth Bullets Technical Guide (Beartooth Bullets, J. Marshall Stanton).  A lot of similarities to the above book, not as in-depth.



Cast Bullets  (NRA)  Colonel Harrison  Long out of print back when the NRA had a technical department.  Good information though much of it is obsolete.



Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook (Lyman).  Good information though much of it is obsolete.  The older copies better than the newer copies.




Wolfe Publications books.  Great books.  These are a collection of articles from the early magazines back when magazines had technical articles and didn't concentrate on advertising.

Links

John Linebaugh’s site.  Lots of good information on modern high-pressure loads.  While this is geared towards large bore handguns, much of the information crosses over to rifle.

This thread shows promise.  

Right on! I'm looking forward to more info. Are thermomiters up to 1K a garden variety type or do they need to be obtained from a specialty shop?

I know I'm lazy... but would it be possible for you to post the places you got your equipment from or places you recommend (online or otherwise)...

Very cool.  I think there's some stuff about this over in the reloading section, but this is cool.

Let's see some pics!

Equipment updated

This is awesome.  Makes me wanna get started....................

Excelent Bis! I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

I went out and plugged in my pot tonight. I think it needs to go back to RCBS. IIRC, they have a lifetime warranty on it, I hope so.

RCBS and Dillon have the best Cust Svc of any Company I can think of. Most questions regarding "Where can I find a replacement..." are met with, "give us your address" and they mail you a new widget.

I've told RCBS I bought a .45 ACP dies set at aq garage sale and needed rings for it, they sent me the rings gratis.

When the motor bearing on my Dillon Turbo 2000 tumbler started making noise they wanted to replace the whole tumbler for free even after explained  that the tumbler is old enough to vote if it were a person.
After some phone calls I got a bearing on the local economy and I still have the bragging rights of owning a tumbler that's older (and quieter) than some some of our members.






*edit to add *

PHIL! Can we get this tacked?

Apparently I was dumber than my pot yesterday. The good news is that I am smarter today.

The pot works fine. I think all I need are some sizing dies and a thermometer.

More, more, more...........you're doing Grrrrreat so far.

Aloha, Mark

All,(sorry Phil)

I sent Phil an email 'round LCR time asking if we can have a "Reloading" section added to either our WAHTF "resource" page or to AR15 home page. Interest is rising to see threads EXACTLY LIKE THIS!

Please, if you truly want "More, more, more.........you're doing Grrrrreat so far.?

Send Phil a message,,  



BTW, if we get a WHTF Reloading Resource Page.,
My Garage, Start from finish, reloading set-up documented thread....

Speak NOW or forever hold you pieces!!!!!

That would be cool.

Now obviously we've got a great Reloading Forum in the Armory section.  Lot's of good info over there.  Some of us do hang out there also.

It would be cool to have one for local resources, but I'm not sure if it's "in the cards".  Those of us here though can always share good info like this through threads like this and IMs, of course.

This really is a great thread.  It's makin' me seriously consider getting into casting.  Been thinkin' about it for a while now.

ETA:  it would actually be very cool to have a Reloading resources page, or something like that, right here in the WAHTF.  I do see some of you guys over in Reloading:  Dryflash, and Mark, off the top of my head.  It would be cool to have a local "pool of resources" so to speak, for us.

For example:  Hey, cheap high quality Montana Gold Bullets––I get mine at Welchers on 64th and Pacific in Tacoma.  Great source for those.  

See?

Gosh dang it,,, Thank you Vini, I shut my hole.....Armory for f' sake........ BTW Vini,,,,,, Can't help it, I'm getting a shotty loader,,,

Naw, it would be cool to have our own Reloading resources in here.  I do hang out in Reloading, but it would be cool to have our own local resource page for it here.

Those opposed, flame on!

I went out and put the strong mount on the press and mounted it to the bench. Getting closer to getting set back up.

I couldn't stand it so I fired up the pot and busted out the NOS Saeco molds and fiddled around till I got some squiggly bullets.



I took the torch to the mold to heat it up enough to get them to look like this:



I don't know if thats SOP or not, but it worked.

Still in on 1!
Great thread...But I still can't comprehend the first dozen or so lines


I can definetly see that this is starting to reach the epic proportions of the "make your own .223 bullets thread" a few years back...IIRC that was from The Red Horseman?

Fitting updated.

This is one of the most informative threads I've seen in the WAHTF as long as I've been here.

Keep it up.

Aw, c'mon - I was going to leave the entire first section out until you posted your pictures in the other thread.  

Bad Man!!!!

Gonna have to have someone(Matt....cough....beer.......) show me how to do this stuff...That Lee Progressive is still in the friggin box......

Resources updated.

HABU,

Thanks for the contribution of your pics.

Now, BTT.

Aloha, Mark

Raw Material updated.

I've been casting for 17 years and can say for a fact that this is a good write up. I'd like to add a comment about lubes. If it's hard like a crayon then it's junk and the bullets will leave lead in the barrel. I've tried them all and can honestly say that LBT Blue Lube is the best. It's soft but won't leave the bullets sticky when you hold them.
I bought some commercial hard cast bullets with the hard crayon lube. They would heavily lead the barrel and when I dug the shot bullets out of the dirt the lube was still in the groves. The rifling left engraving in it. I then bought the same bullets without the hard lube and lubed them myself with LBT. No lead.
If you are gonna spend all this time on casting your own the don't skimp on the lube or you'll be sorry.

Howdy from the east coast!  

Well this is an awesome thread.  Thanks!

I don't have the room to cast right now but I can stock up on education!  I've been reloading for over 20 years, shotshells, pistols, and rifle.  

I do need to cast!

Way to go bis, you have attracted staff!

Great thread 45ColtBisley. Thanks for spending all the time to help other bullet casters.

Glad I had a pic you could use.

Please post in the Reloading Forum when you are finished.

Thanks for the primer.
I have just started to collect together what I need to delve into the black arts.
I have a source for pure lead, and tin can be had, but hells bells, how do I harden the lead when there are no sources for antimony?
I am a chemist, and perhaps I could get some through my place of work, but I need to source independent of them (as there is no good way for me to pay when they order something).
Any tips on hardening lead or where I can get antimony?

P.S.–– from what I have read, I think your percentages for linotype are backwards. Everywhere I see linotype as 12% antimony and 4% tin.

www.Theantimonyman.com

Good catch!  I oops'd had the headings for the tin and antimony columns crossed.  

WOW thanks.
My google fu must be on the fritz!

Apparently there is a significant quantity of anitmony for sale at todays Annual Rock & Gem Show in Everett.  Bismuth too.

group buy?

Hey Doc: If you're by Lake Placid there's a foundry there that sells virgin bullet alloy. It's 6% antimony/2% tin. They supply alloy to commercial bullet casting companies.
Look up Pure Lead Products.

Since I was in this thread I wanted to post this here.
Just found a great source for antimony and tin.
Antimony $9.49/LB free shipping
Tin $9.99/lb
Rotometals

This one needs to be bumped.

Great info here, in the process of starting to collect materials to cast my own for .223, 300/221, 9mm, and .45-70

I'd like to thank 45ColtBisley for all the effort he has put into this thread!

If not for this thread serving as a gentle kick in the ass, I'm sure I still wouldn't have the press set up AND be casting my own bullets.

Today I finally loaded up my first 100 self casted rounds.

Thanks Bis!

'Bout fuckin' time.

I mean................excellent, thanks for doin' that!

ETA:  Habu, that's awesome.  Must feel really good to be loading up what you yourself casted.  Very cool progress right there.