Posted: 11/10/2007 10:17:08 AM EDT
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So I'm thinking of starting bullet casting. I was looking at the Lee Pro 4 furnace and the RCBS Lubamatic. Here's the list so far... Mold Sizer Furnace Die What am i missing and are my selections good choices? I'm trying to keep costs down because I don't know how much I'll use it. I bought a progressive press and still use my single stage 99.9% of the time... |
| I think you've made good choices. The only thing I think your missing is a ladle. One thing you need to look at is where are you going to get the lead? From the looks of your choices your going to be shooting a 45 long colt with velocities up to 1100-1300 fps. If that is correct wheel weight lead may be just fine from what I remember. Try some large tire shops, you used to be able to just walk in and get a bucket of old wheel weights, but not anymore, you may have to throw them a $20 which isn't bad if your getting a 40lb bucket of lead. The scrap price for lead is around .90 to $1.00 a pound from what I've read, and bullet casters are now feeling the pinch from China's appetite for scrap metal. |
| Well the dipper or something like it would be used to skim off the slage and garbage that will float to the top of your pot. The little pieces of steel from the wheel weights will float to the top also so you'll need to skim them off. I think I stole a spoon from the kitchen when I was casting. |
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IMHO wheel weights is not good lead to make bullets out of all by it self but you can add different metals to it. Most of the people that cast there own bullets would pickup fired lead bullets and add wheel weight lead to it. Also you need good ventilation when casting and working with lead. You will need a tool to test the hardness of the lead after casting. After working with lead for a month have a blood test to measure any harmfull amounts of lead in the blood. I always wear gloves when I reload and clean my press after loading lead bullets. Mike |
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Wheel weights are about the perfect alloy for casting pistol bullets. I have an abundance of pure lead so I blend it with WW and cast a softer bullet for 44, 45, 45-70 and even some heavy soft 9mm. getting the right diameter is more important than hardness of alloy in typical pistol velocities +1 on the spoon, skip the ladle. Also, you might try the lee tumble lube molds at first, can skip the expensive lubrisizer on these. I started with them; the lee tl 200g swc & Unique is the most accurate bullet i've ever fired through my kimber Smelting your wheel wieghts in your bottom pour pot will give you trouble later- drips, caused by dirt grim grunge etc. Most smelt in a dutch oven over a gas cooker or something similar. I'll be happy to trade you some clean ingots for wheel weights if you want to try casting some bullets before you spend $ on smelting equipment. I have plenty put back right now and have some smelting to do now that the weather is cooler |
They add wheel weights to the berm alloy as it (the recovered bullet lead) is typically softer than most like for casting. The jackets bullets will be nearly pure lead. This is fine if jacketed but perhaps too soft for cast. WW alloy will firm it up some. Clip on wheel weights typically alloy out to be slightly down the bnh scale from Lyman #2 alloy. |
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Ya'll probably know this, but make sure your work area has good ventillation. It's also a good idea to wear gloves when handling lead. Lead is a heavy metal (duh) and once it finds it's way inside your body it's very hard to get out. Therefore, lead exposure can be a cummulative hazard. I'm not trying to doom and gloom you, but I've seen the results of lead poisoning first hand and it was a very sad situation. |