basic equipment for casting

[MK3 Brandenberger]

I have been reloading for about 2 years and am now interested in casting my own pistol bullets (soon to be 21 and owner of .454 casull). I have been collecting wheel weights fo a few months and melting them in a cast iron pot over propaneand making ingots by pouring into a small brass pipe. I intend on using a lee 2 cavity 300gr fngc mould. Question is what else do I need?

 

[Floppy_D]

Bullet Casting 101.

 

[loadedround]

The three basic items you will need to start is a bullet mold and handle, and a lube sizer with dies unless you cast the ready to shoot Lee bullets and tumble lube them and a pair of heavy work gloves. My suggestion to you is buy the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook and read it throughly before casting your own bullets.

 

[bullseye308]

Well I was gonna list some helpful info, but that link pretty much covered it. Thanks Floppy_D for the link.

 

[rcmodel]

making ingots by pouring into a small brass pipe.

How the heck do you get the ingots out of the pipe???

Save yourself some grief and buy a small metal muffen pan at Wallyworld.

You can make as many ingots (up to 12) as you have lead for at one pour.
And they fall out when you turn the muffen pan over.

rc

 

[MK3 Brandenberger]

i use a 1 1/2" brass pipe about 4"s tall and set it on top of a piece o2 2" aluminum flat stock pour the lead and wait for it to frost on top, pick it up with pliers and tap it on the floor.

 

[bullseye308]

If you go with a muffin pan, don't use aluminum. They might stick. :banghead: If you can find a cast iron one at goodwill you will be better off. If not get a steel one and wire brush the non-stick coating and set it down then let it sit outside and develop some rust on it. That will help loads with the ingots falling out.

 

[rcmodel]

Hmmm?

So I should stop using my 30 year old aluminum muffin pan?
And my Lee aluminum ingot mold?

rc

 

[zxcvbob]

The steel muffin pans are the ones you really have to watch out for. Maybe they are OK if they are old and rusted, but I bought a new one from the Dollar Store and had to totally destroy it to get the ingots out because they stuck.

I use 2.5 or 3 ounce stainless steel "condiment cups" for ingot molds. They work great; just don't tip them over when they are full of hot lead.

 

[RustyFN]

Save yourself some grief and buy a small metal muffen pan at Wallyworld.

And make sure they are not the tin coated ones, the ingots will stick in those. You can also make some out of 3" channel. The ones I made are 3" channel by 6" long and make around an 8 pound ingot.



I also have some cast iron muffin pans. I never would have spent that on ingot molds but the wife came back from out of town and surprised me with them.



You will also need a production pot. I would recommend the Lee bottom pour pot. I have been very happy with mine. Sprue plate lube for the mold. I use anti-sieze from the auto part store, a little goes a long way.

 

[snuffy]

If you go with a muffin pan, don't use aluminum. They might stick. If you can find a cast iron one at goodwill you will be better off. If not get a steel one and wire brush the non-stick coating and set it down then let it sit outside and develop some rust on it. That will help loads with the ingots falling out.

Yeah, what RC said! I use a steel muffin tin, it works real well. Like was said, some are tin coated, tin+lead=solder! Makes a real good, strong joint when hot lead is poured in to solder the lead muffin to the steel pan!:banghead: Oh, and the best lead muffins I made were with the teflon coated aluminum muffin tins.

These are the steel muffin tins, along side a Lyman ingot mold and a 3" channel mold similar to yote hunters mold.



Turkey fryer and 12 quart dutch oven smelter.



Starting to smelt range lead from an indoor range.



MK3b, you can use lee liquid alox on standard lube groove bullets, you don't have to have the tumble lube design lee mold. Just order the appropriate lee sizer, it comes with a bottle of lee liquid alox.

 

[GP100man]

Go to auto supplier & get a can of spray graphite coat ingot molds good, let dry then warm em up to make sure there dry , then fill with alloy !!

Drop out like nuttin you`ll ever see , just make sure the home made molds have drafts on em !!

Good controllable heat source , a good ladle , clean alloy & a STEEL pot !!!

 

[Russt]

Here's a couple other sites that are loaded with cast bullet information. They've helped me a lot.
http://www.lasc.us/IndexBrennan.htm
www.castboolits.gunloads.com

 

[MK3 Brandenberger]

wow looks like some of you guys have quite the setup. currently i am using a small coleman propane stove and my pot is an empty 1LB propane bottle i cut in half. My skimming ladle is a 2' piece of broom handle with a bent spoon on the end (use the other end for that charred wood fluxing). of course my lead source is the local quicky lube (10LBS every other week) and my ingot mould is about 5oz

 

[zxcvbob]

wow looks like some of you guys have quite the setup. currently i am using a small coleman propane stove and my pot is an empty 1LB propane bottle i cut in half. My skimming ladle is a 2' piece of broom handle with a bent spoon on the end (use the other end for that charred wood fluxing). of course my lead source is the local quicky lube (10LBS every other week) and my ingot mould is about 5oz

I'm using an electric hotplate (has to be an open-coil type, not cast iron heating element even if higher wattage) and a 1.5 or 2 quart Revereware saucepan with lid. I've melted down many hundreds of pounds of scrap in the past 2 years with it. I use a Lee 20# bottom-pour pot for casting.

 

[David Wile]

Hey MK3,

I started casting over 50 years ago with a Coleman stove, a Lyman pot, a Lyman pouring ladle, a Lyman 2 cavity mould, a box of gas checks, and a Lyman Lubrisizer. I used that equipment while adding more moulds and sizing dies and a few other things as years went went by. After about 25 years of casting, I finally bought a Lyman Mag 20 bottom pour furnace and a big cast iron pot to make up really large melts of alloy over a propane burner.

More important than anything I mentioned in the first paragraph is to buy yourself a Lyman Cast Bullet Manual as Loadedround already mentioned to start your real learning about casting bullets.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile