[horsemen61]

Casting want to get started what do I need? I am wanting to cast for 9mm 38s and maybe 40 for now.

[GLOOB]

Bottom pour furnace. Bullet mold. Ingot mold. Wood stick. Work gloves. Tumble lube. Lead. Flux.

Optional: big pot and ladle if you want to scavenge dirty lead.

[Elkins45]

Bottom pour furnace. Bullet mold. Ingot mold. Wood stick. Work gloves. Tumble lube. Lead. Flux.

Optional: big pot and ladle if you want to scavenge dirty lead.
If you own a Coleman stove you can cast nice bullets using a cast iron pot and a casting ladle. In fact, the first bullets I ever cast were made using an electric hot plate as my heat source. It wasn't fast, but it eventually got my lead hot enough to pour. I made thousands of bullets using that old hot plate before I moved on to a Coleman stove for recycling wheel weights and then eventually a Lee bottom pour melter.

Gloob mentioned tumble lube, and I think that's a good idea. Many pistol bullets can be tumble lubed and shot without sizing. You might consider starting out with Lee bullet molds that are tumble lube designs.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forum.php is the mother lode for information on boolet casting.

[greyling22]

how are you planning on getting lead? wheel weights are nasty nasty and need to be melted outside or the smoke will kill you. or your will will kill you for making all the smoke.

but other than that gloob pretty much nailed it. Molds don't generally come with handles so you'll need a set of those. I bet there is a pretty good youtube video showing it somewhere.

Gloob, what is the wooden stick for?

[Elkins45]

what is the wooden stick for?

I'm betting it's for whacking the sprue plate. I have a short little maple billy club that I salvaged when somebody threw it in the scrap pile in my high school shop class. I'm still using it 30+ years later.

[blarby]

That would be what the whacker is for, yep.

[greyling22]

I'm only familiar with lee's dies and have never had an issue with opening the sprue plate, even on the 6 cavity molds. (but then I go fast and the lead is still soft when I open it and drop into water.) Why would you need to whack it? Are you beating it open? just loosening it?

I do keep a spoon around to knock sticky bullets out of the cavities.

[chris in va]

GLOOB
Member


Join Date: September 16, 2007
Posts: 4,132
Bottom pour furnace. Bullet mold. Ingot mold. Wood stick. Work gloves. Tumble lube. Lead. Flux.

Optional: big pot and ladle if you want to scavenge dirty lead.


I would add using a long sleeve heavy cotton shirt or jacket, jeans and eye protection. The bottom pour Lee tends to drip and a bit of splatter can get on your legs and shoes.

You'll need something to drop the sprue into. A small iron skillet works great. A towel in the water bucket minimizes backsplash.

You'll need something to lube the mold, such as 2 cycle oil or Bullplate. A propane torch frees up what's known as 'spout freeze' on the bottom when the lead solidifies.

[grubbylabs]

Quite a few of the basic things have been covered here, but if you purchase the Lyman casting hand book, and read it you will find it most helpful. There are loads of other useful sources as well such as the castboolits forum, and of course this one as well.

A short list from memory.

Lead source, wheel weights or purchase lead.

Pot of some kind

Mold

ladle if not using a bottom pour

wood dowel about the size of a broom stick

Good pair of leather gloves

A spot to work in

If you are going to use wheel weights, you will need some other stuff for smelting as well.

An outside head source like a turkey fryer or a coleman stove.
Pot to smelt in, don't use your casting pot. Many people use a cast iron ductch oven. I use a speckled camp pot.

Flux material, wax or wood shavings

different wood dowel for stiring the lead during smelting.

a slotted spoon for skimming weights and clips of the top of the lead pot.

Ingot mold of some kind. Many people use muffin tins, the ones that are not soldered together.

Good luck and hope that helps.

[Mike 27]

Is it all dependent on the cast or is a lubesizer a must? Been looking a bit as well at getting started but I have not seen much for tools to get started with. Lee molds are out pretty much everywhere, I have found hit and miss Lyman and RCBS in stock but wow they are pricey.

[Reefinmike]

lee makes tumble lube molds that have several small groves along the bearing surface. you tumble these in alox lube for about 15 seconds, spread em out on wax paper and let them dry for 12 hours before loading up

[kerreckt]

The best thing for you to do is to go to this website:http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forum.php
It is dedicated to just casting and there are more resources and people there who can help you start finish and everything in between. There is everything there.....Good luck... it is a great past time. I love it.

[James2]

Good basic info.

I am a sort of a "Keep It Simple" type person. I cast using a used cast iron Dutch oven for a pot. The heat source is a propane camp stove. I have a large ladle used for making ingots, and a smaller ladle for filling molds. I like the 4 cavity molds. You will need mold handles. I have just an old large kitchen tablespoon for skimming. I use tallow from my deer for flux. I melted the tallow and poured it in a jar. Just grab a little with the tablespoon as needed. Yep a stick and a pair of old Levis to dump the hot bullets out of the mold onto, about sums up the required tools.

A couple of cupcake tins can be used for ingot molds.

I always cast outdoors, so don't worry about the smoke. Yes, it can be stinky and smokey.

I did splurge on a Lyman sizer/lubricator. I think was a good investment. I am a hobby beekeeper so get some wax every year. I have a friend who takes the wax and mixes it with something and molds it to fit the lubrisizer. Spoils me as far as lube goes.

A feller can make a lot of bullets in an afternoon of casting, then lube them when you get time, a little at a time or a bunch, whatever turns your crank.

My son gets me wheel weights for free. The lube comes free. I spend a bit of my time casting and loading, but money out of pocket for bullets is nil. I am really smiling when I see the price of a box of 45s in the store.

I don't know how many of these ideas will work for you, but casting is certainly worth a look.

One of those bottom pour electric furnaces would be nice. Ya, a feller may spend some $$$ up front, but it comes back quickly.

[Elkins45]

I'm only familiar with lee's dies and have never had an issue with opening the sprue plate, even on the 6 cavity molds. (but then I go fast and the lead is still soft when I open it and drop into water.) Why would you need to whack it? Are you beating it open? just loosening it?

I do keep a spoon around to knock sticky bullets out of the cavities.
The six cavity have a camming lever to cut the sprue. Almost all two cavity molds just have a protrusion on the sprue plate that is intended to be whacked to cut the sprue. Once a mold is fully up to temp it can usually be opened by hand, but the first few casts usually need a bit more effort to shear the (relatively) cold metal.

[greyling22]

Aha! thanks elkins. the only 2 cavity mold I have ever run didn't have that problem, but then I only ran it a couple of times before I went to 6 cavity for everything. I still shoot some lead that comes out of 2 cavity molds, but I let a relative cast those for me.


Mike, about sizing, it's hard to say. I've found that the fattest bullet that will fit in the chamber shoots best for me. for example, my lee tumble lube 9mm mold is supposed to drop .356, well it drops .3565ish, but my gun actually likes a .358 sized bullet. Now my buddy's 9mm won't chamber my .358 bullets, his will only take a .357 or smaller. My lee non-tumble lube 357 mold is supposed to drop a .358, but it drops a .360 in 5 cavities and .361 in the 6th. They work awesome in my 357 guns as cast, and I size some of them down to .358 with a sizing die and use them in my 9mm.

Long story short, you kind of have to guess and check, but I would buy a 38spl mold, hope they cast fat and use that for the 38's and buy a sizing die (about $15) and size down for your 9's. I have .357 and .358 sizing dies because I was trying to figure out what worked best for me.

I'm a huge fan of lee molds. They're affordable and I honestly think they are better. They don't rust, the heat faster, and if your mold doesn't work for you, you're not taht invested in it financially. The lee sizing dies work very well, and I have no complaints with tumble lube, either lee's alox, red rooster, or some homemade formula. Never needed a lubesizer.

I've tried almost every product lee has made at one time or another, and with the exception of their progressive presses (which almost work and are full of so many good ideas), and some of their older priming attempts (good ideas that didn't pan out) I think all their stuff is a spectacular value.

[hAkron]

Lee makes great bottom pour furnaces and moulds. They are a very practical and inexpensive way to get started.

[grubbylabs]

I forgot to mention that you can get Lee sizing dies to use in your regular reloading press, that's all I use and they work great.