Bullet casting

Status
Not open for further replies.
J

Jenrick

Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Messages
2,066
Location
Austin, TX
I've got a C&B revolver (Remi .44 Navy) and am in the process of getting a '61 Springfield rifle musket. I'd like to start casting to be able to feed them rather then being limited to what's out their commercially. Does anyone have any good recommendations on resources (books mainly) that covers this? If anyone feels inclined to write up a detailed reply covering everything I'm not gonna complain either :)

I know I need lead, pure dead soft if possible. Also a cast iron pot or melting pot, a burner if I don't go with a melting pot, flux, ladle, molds, wooden mallet, and a catch tray with something soft. What else am I missing here (I've got personal protective gear, used to be a welder, so no worries on that end)?

-Jenrick
 
probably done about 4 write up on casting already. Lee precision where you can get the molds. You will need a method of melting the lead. I like the lee production pot 4. price and effectiveness are pretty good. As for the write up your best bet is to do a search on lead casting. You may also want to try castboolets.com
 
Jenrick I've got a C&B revolver (Remi .44 Navy) and am in the process of getting a '61 Springfield rifle musket. I'd like to start casting to be able to feed them rather then being limited to what's out their commercially. Does anyone have any good recommendations on resources (books mainly) that covers this? If anyone feels inclined to write up a detailed reply covering everything I'm not gonna complain either

I know I need lead, pure dead soft if possible. Also a cast iron pot or melting pot, a burner if I don't go with a melting pot, flux, ladle, molds, wooden mallet, and a catch tray with something soft. What else am I missing here (I've got personal protective gear, used to be a welder, so no worries on that end)?
Click to expand...

Try this site for ideas but be prepared to spent some time reading.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/

Also, Lyman published a casting handbook.

More later.
 
Stick-on wheelweights that are lead-based are dead soft, almost pure lead with only a tiny amount of tin added. Some are zinc, iron, and even aluminum stick-ons have been showing up. Test with a thumbnail on a corner. If they cut...they're soft lead. They come in squares in linked weiner form with a tacky, double-faced tape. Just toss the whole works in the pot and let it burn off. Flux well, stir, and cast.

Get'em while you can. Lead based wheelweights are on their way to extinction.
 
For minie ball casting also see the North/south skirmish association website stickies or archives. Lyman makes good molds for the musket. Get the double cavity roundball mold (.454 dia) and the double cavity conical C&B mold for the 200gr bullet from LEE Precision. It is a nice thumper.
 
Casting is neither difficult nor is it childsplay. It takes a bit of initial cash outlay but the rewards are pretty good.

For starters I would suggest you stay with the round ball for both of your firearms. Very easy to cast and once you use them you can then determine if you want to shoot conicals. Lee makes decent molds and they are often found for slae used in some of the forums. For the revolver, if it is 44, try the .454 diameter. If it is Navy caliber try .380. I believe they are still available in double cavity molds so that makes it a bit quicker. (Once you find what works, you can buy a second mold to speed up production.) For the musket, buy some round balls at first to see what works. I prefer a 570 round ball and a thick patch. Easy to load and good accuracy. A lot of guys like the .575 and a thinner patch but let your musket tell you what it wants. Then you can buy molds.

If you choose to scrounge lead and smelt it into ingots, I would suggest you get one cast iron pot (harbor freight for less money) to smelt in and another pot to cast from. This way only clean metal is going into your molds. It is especially important not to smelt in a bottom pour pot. It is difficult to clean the pot and the crud will clog up your spout. You can get away with one pot if you ladle cast so the choice is yours.

Once you get the hang of running round balls and you see how they perform, you can decide if you want to try conocals from your guns. The hollow based minie is a bit harder to pour correctly but not impossible by any means. Everything needs to be hot and kept hot. Solid base bullets are a lot easier to cast. I use round ball in all of my muzzleloaders and don't feel the need for conicals. The patched round ball is a great hunting bullet and doesn't take a back seat to any conical at hunting ranges.

Good luck and ask questions.
 
A Colman propane camp stove and an old steel or cast iron flat bottom pot will do the trick for melting lead.
Simple candle wax is great for flux'n the lead, just light the smoke and the smoke goes away.
A wooden hammer handle is a great tool for open'n the sprue plate on a hot mold. or a tree branch cut to size.....be creative.
An old bath towel, folded is a great mat to drop hot bullets on.
Tin coffee can filled with water is good for dumping slag into as it keeps the lead dust down.......you dont want to breath that stuff.

All you really need to buy is a ladle and mold, the rest you probably have already!!!

For your 61 Springfield........go with a Minie Ball, but 1st measure your barrels insize diameter and buy a mold close to that size, but not smaller. It's better to have cast a larger Minie and size it down than to have an under size Minie....your minie should be only about .001 to .003 under your bore size, any more than that your accuracy will suffer.
For my 55 Springfield and 51 Harpers Ferry, both bores measure .577 so I size my Minie to .576 This is ideal as it is small enough to load yet big enough that the Minie expands and graps rifleing the instant the powder goes off.

Keep your lead hot and your mold hot, and you'll be casting perfect rounds in no time!!!
Best of luck to you! and Have fun!
 
Last edited:
Are all 44 BPs 45 caliber (454 - 457)?
Click to expand...

Dunno about bullet moulds, but Hornady's swaged lead round balls are .451 diameter.
When the ball is seated by the rammer, the front of the cylinder cuts a thin lead ring off the ball.
That's on purpose. It sizes the ball to fit the chamber and effect a gas seal to prevent
fire setting off charges in the adjacent chambers. "Known as "Chain Firing" it's a real hoot if you ever get the chance to experience it first hand.

Using a good grease over the ball is also recommended. It keeps the fouling soft and positively seals the chamber mouths and pretty well eliminates the risk of having to do a dance called
"The Chain Fire Jig" as it's known among cap and ball revolver fans.

Yeah. Ask me how I know...
 
Just remember, once you start casting, you can't stop with just one mould, it becomes an addiction. I cast boolits for all my ML and CF guns.

P1010001-7.jpg
 
I just thought of something..I bought a used Lee mold that casts conical balls specifically for the Ruger NMA, it's way over size for my Pietta '58 Remington, but my Walker barely shaves a ring off my .457" balls. That leads me to believe that the cylinders are slightly chamfered at the mouth. A pseudo ring rises up inside each cylinder around the balls. I wonder if the Ruger conicals would fit in the Walker cylinder without as much fuss as they do the Remington? I'll fire up the rig tomorrow and see. I also bought an Italian repro of a brass Walker mold that casts a conical and round ball, but haven't measured them yet. The last time I cast the Ruger balls, I was using lead that had a lot of clip-on WW's in it, so they didn't shrink like the more pure stick-on WW's and dive weights.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

S
  • Locked
First Casting Experience
2
Replies
30
Views
2K
hildo
H
A
  • Locked
Setting Up & Learning To Cast Round Ball
Replies
13
Views
1K
MCgunner
M
bullseye308
  • Locked
Pure lead help needed.
Replies
8
Views
564
Zeke/PA
Z
E
  • Locked
Lead casting round balls
Replies
17
Views
1K
ontarget
ontarget
P
  • Locked
Bullet/Roundball molds: Brand preference
Replies
14
Views
988
Smokin_Gun
S
Back
Top