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Wolfebyte

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Ok, the holidays are now behind me and I've got more time to play around with my toys.

I've done thread searches, searched a couple of different forums but can't find the answers that I'm looking for.. :confused:

I want to cast my own bullets for my BP weapons, .44 Remmie and a .50 Traditions.
I already own a mould for the .44. I'm looking at a Lee REAL 50 for the Traditions in a 325 gr Maxie. (Thinking that one is the correct for my twist)
So where do I go for the metallurgy information of smelting the lead. I have a supply of wheel weights, but I know I need to mix it with something else. Any pointers or recommended reading? ..

Used to help a guy about 30 years ago do this, and it seemed that he melted candle wax (beeswax?) in the lead to draw out impurities.. and skimming the top. But that may have been when we were melting down sterling silver :evil::evil:

I checked the sticky, nada..

Eventually I'll want to get into making my own BP ..
 
Ok so the first question. What are you going to melt it in. Its good to use a camp stove or something like that and an old pot to clean out the lead. Your still going to need a few more things. Laddle or a few. and Ingot molds.

1st. turn on the stove and put in the wheel weights. let them melt once they are totally melted lower the heat to medium.
2nd. Now start skimming out the wheel weight metal and all the other stuff on the top that is easily to get off
3rd. Candle wax add a pea sized amount of candle wax. stand back its going to smoke
4th stir up the lead stir it up very good. you will see a lot of ash grayish green stuff come to the top. skim it all out.
5 repeat step 4 a few times. When everything is out and the lead is pure. start pouring the lead into the ingots

thats the first part.
 
Ok now that you have the ingots you need a better heat source that has a temp control also you need a piece of wood. A piece of plywood about 1 foot square works good. The lee production 4 pot works good. Take a soda can and cut it into a cup about 1 1/2 inches high. get a few small towels some dry and some wet but not soaked just wringed out. If you are using the production pot 4 you will need a good sized flat bladed screw driver to adjust the pot from time to time when it leaks.

1. Turn the pot on crank it to #9 and put in the lead put the cup under the spout so if you have leaks the lead goes into the cup. Keep the board next the pot on the right and the wet towel layed out near by.
2. as the lead is heating up put the mold on top to heat it up. If this is the first time you have used it. clean it out with paint thinner lighter fluid or something that will remove grease. After that i usually take a zippo lighter and just go over the inside of the molds to give them a quick burn.
3. when the lead is melted down turn it down to #7. then put in a small pea sized amount of wax in the pot 1 more time to clean up the lead.
4. Test you mold Your mold should be good and hot. Pour in some lead until it comes out the top of the mold. Hold the screw driver by the metal part wait a few seconds then hit the sprue plate. If its too hard to open then you have to heat it up some more. If it cuts like butter it may be to hot.
5. Open the mold over the moist towel to let them coold down. then repeat.
6. if you think your mold is too hot a test is to rub the corner of the mold on the wood if it burns wood its too hot. Also the wood is to put the tools down when they are hot.
 
Those Clip On Wheel Weights will be a tad on the hard side "just shy of Lyman #2 alloy" for muzzleloaders but they can be used, your revolver will show it to you more so in the loading of the cast ball or conical that you make from it, also they will be slightly larger than what the mold states but slightly lighter.

I personally like to use Adhesive Wheel Weights because they are 98% Pure Lead & are very soft "my .457 ball comes out as soft as store bought Hornady .457's."

.495 ball cast using Clip on Wheel Weights = .498 & weigh 178.2gr. average.

.495 Ball cast from Adhesive Wheel Weights = .4955 & weigh 182.4gr. average.
 
Ok lets look at the bullets. did they come out with wrinkles or not filling out the mold completely. this happens from 1 of 2 things. either the mold is not hot enough or the mold is not clean.

If its not hot enough dont worry about it. you can put the corner of the mold in the pot and count to about 20 that usually helps. I just keep castint. If my molds are not hot enough after about 20 bullets they will start to fill the molds and look really good. the others well as soon as they cool its back into the pot. When you get really really good on casting i whack the sprue and the lead on top i let it slide back in the pot. Otherwise that pot you used to make the ingots whack the sprus in the pot.

What happens when you get a drip or the lead stops flowing. Easy forget to mention. You need a jumbo paperclip. Bend it to form an L shape. Once in a while no matter how clean you lead is you will get something in the valve. i take the L shaped paper clip and run it up the valve. It will clear out the valve easy. since you are holding the screw driver by the metal part when the pot starts to leak just grab the handle and you can adjust the flow to stop the leak. I usually will cast for about an hour. Set up is usually about 30 minutes on the time to cast. when the lead gets low on the pot i put the mold and tools on the wood. slide in some more lead and wait. then you can inspect your bullets and seperate the good from the bad. Never put the bad bullets in the pot. the lead can splash and its hot. I usualy keep the bad ones aside and the next time i cast i put them in the pot first.


NOw lets look at the molds. they need to be lubed. I like graphite. a quick spray of graphite on the mold haves keeps them from sticking and makes the molds lign up easily. let me know if you have any questions i have probably casted over 100000 bullets of all kinds of shapes.

Oh for the .50 the mold has to heat up pretty good almost need to keep the setting to around 7 1/2 the .44 7 will do.
 
alloy mix

Wheel weights are great for hard casting. Not that great for round balls. However you can make them work. the lead to tin content on wheel weights make it ideal for everything except round balls for cap and balls. However if you have wheel weights what you need to do is add more pure lead to the mix. to thin it out. On a 10lbs pot you almost need to add 2lbs of pure lead to soften up the lead. After you make ingots you should be able scratch the lead with your finger nail if you cant its a little too hard. Pure lead can also be found from wheel weights from the form of the stick on wheel weights. Plumbing lead is also good. Avoid any kind of solder as solder contains zinc. which can ruin your lead mix. The more pure lead you can get your hands on the better. i remember one year i was running low on lead and decided i didnt want to do much fishing so all my fishing weights turned into bullets. Well most of those weights were pure lead and made excellent bullets.
 
Thanks guys!

wife said get a new hobby, she has noooooo idea.. LOL

for now, it's probably going to be a cast iron pot on a camp/propane stove. I've got to look around for a ladle or perhaps buy one.

the Remington revolver actually came with a set of Rapine moulds..

The .50, I assume would use the Lee 50 REAL ?
 
One more thing:

Get some heavy, heavy denim or canvas cloth and make an apron to wear. And cover your feet with the same material. You WILL splash some molten lead on yourself at some point in your life, and it would be best if there was something other than a thin cotton tee shirt or a synthetic material between your skin and that lead.
 
Thanks!

Had a friend that smoked, he carried his cigs and lighter in his boot..

that was fine until one day he was welding and slag went into a fold of his pants leg, into his boot..

he's ok, but it was not a pretty sight..
 
Thanks Scrat for the graphite tip. I have always used a smokey candle flame to "non-stick" the insides of my molds but will now use graphite. Protective clothing, particularly eye cover, is a must. If you get any moisture, eg. water stuck to a wheel-weight clip, you may get a most unpleasant visit from the "Tinsel Fairy". Enjoy it, casting your own becomes more enjoyable each time you think of the money you are saving!
 
...it's probably going to be a cast iron pot...
Click to expand...

Woflebyte, try to find yourself an enamel-coated cast-iron pot if you can. It will keep your melted lead much cleaner since you won't have to contend with rust from the pot itself. I've seen them at reasonable prices in thrift stores from time to time. A 1-quart pot will easily hold 30 pounds of lead.
 
What kind of lead can I use for making round balls for C&B revolvers? I recovered some scrap lead from our shooting range, we only shoot .22LR there. The balls I've cast so far can be scratched quite a bit with a finger nail. Is that soft enough?
 
Any rust on a cast iron pot is no problem. First of all any well used dump find cast iron pot can be wire brushed roughly.

2ndly, any crude lighter than lead floats on top. The best way to gather that is to drop bacon grease, bee's wax, and or cheap tallow in the melted laed and set the smoking mess on fire with a match.

I said match... A butane light might give you a bad day.

When the flame goes out, a cheap stainless table spoon is al, you need to skim scum.. Rust is a no problem material in lead.

Water sure isn't. it is one thing to cast odd assorted lead, but try to see that it is dry. While lead is melting any water will boil off, but never EVER add a drop pf water on lead or from anyplace else into a melted pot, unless it is appealing to wear that whole pot!
ONE DROP OF WATER will instanly empty that pot!!!!
 
Thanks, then I shall get some more :) Heck, I used an industrial vacuum cleaner to get a hold of it. In 10 minutes I had about 20-30 kilos maybe. Must be many tonnes back there :neener:

// Daniel
 
Wheel weights?

Hey There:
While I see you have been given good advice on the casting end. I must say that IMO the wheel weights are likely too hard . Mix in more pure lead to thin it down. Straight wheel weights last I knew had some antimony in them.
Fine for center fire hand guns, but .50 cal BP may not shoot well with the harder lead. And they won't likely expand the way you would hope.
 
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