| Posted: Thu Apr 9th, 2009 02:38 AM |
|
1st Post |
RemMan700
HB Life Member
| Joined: | Tue Feb 24th, 2009 |
| Location: | DFW, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 213 |
| Photo: | | | Are you a handloader?: | Yes | | Favorite type of cartridge to load?: | rifle | | My favorite chambering is:: | |
| Status: |
Offline
|
back to top
|
So who makes good casting stuff for Noob's? The only reasonable stuff seems to be the Lee melting pots? Would a bottom poor be good for a beginner or should I just go old school and use a pot and pour with a ladel?
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 9th, 2009 11:32 AM |
|
2nd Post |
Charley
Board Founder
| Joined: | Fri Sep 9th, 2005 |
| Location: | San Antonio, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 3793 |
| Photo: | | | Are you a handloader?: | Yes | | Favorite type of cartridge to load?: | I load everything! | | My favorite chambering is:: | all of them |
| Status: |
Offline
|
back to top
|
Pot and ladle work, that's how I started. Bottom pour electric pot is cleaner and easier, not to mention faster.
____________________
TANSTAAFL
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 9th, 2009 01:58 PM |
|
3rd Post |
miestro_jerry
Guest
| Joined: | |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | |
| Photo: | | | Are you a handloader?: | | | Favorite type of cartridge to load?: | | | My favorite chambering is:: | |
| Status: |
Offline
|
back to top
|
You can start with a Lee Bottom Pour Pot, what ever mold with handles that fits your needs, an old hammer handle, a Lead Thermometer, a bucket full of water. For a sizer to start out with the Lee luber sizer method is a good beginning. I have used these all. You will need some small things like an old spoon, maybe a screw driver, paper clips and things I will have to go out and look at in my casting area
I do recommend safety glasses, light welders gloves and a good shop apron, these may not be needed right away, but I would ratehr have them around and not need them, than need them and not have them.
Jerry
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 11th, 2009 03:32 AM |
|
4th Post |
fryboy
Administrator
| Joined: | Sun Feb 24th, 2008 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 2867 |
| Photo: | [Download] | | Are you a handloader?: | Yes | | Favorite type of cartridge to load?: | I load everything! | | My favorite chambering is:: | ones that work |
| Status: |
Offline
|
back to top
|
i thought old school was a ladle on a hearth or campfire ? (musta watched patriot too many times) you can melt enough in a coffee can if u have a decent ladle ,the lee molds would be the cheapest way to try it out even for round balls , follow the directions and smoke and lube the mold tho ,barring the cost of a decent ladle or the bottom pour furnace the lee setup would be less than 50$( most molds are 15-25 and then the sizer die )altho i keep thinkin how nice a six cavity mold would be for pistols !!! the used molds i see at most gun shows reminds me of junk tools in a pawnshop -over priced and i can usually find new ones cheaper ( tho i did get a decent one or two at garage sales  ) btw ? that coffee can or old iron pot still makes for the best smelter and then use the ignots in the furnace ( or the stove top pot )as smelting down ww's in a furnace is a pain,then if ya get bit by the bug comes the better stuff like the thermometer and lubrisizer and maybe even a alloy/hardness tester, u can scrounge lead or buy the premade alloy .it's a investment i consider worthwhile ( one can always use lead to make fishin sinkers and jigs as well )
____________________
(happy shootin'-the best way to get empty brass!)
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 11th, 2009 04:09 AM |
|
5th Post |
miestro_jerry
Guest
| Joined: | |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | |
| Photo: | | | Are you a handloader?: | | | Favorite type of cartridge to load?: | | | My favorite chambering is:: | |
| Status: |
Offline
|
back to top
|
Up until recently, I cooked up my alloys outdoors. This is the new old fashion method for many people.
Campfire getting to 620 degree, the melting point of lead, is very doubtful. Campfires burn at about 500 degrees F after it has been going for 2 to 3 hours with a constant feed of wood, maybe with a good set of bellows. I could see doing this at a Smithy in those day back in the 1600s, 1700s, 1800s, etc.
I now have a foundry building nearing completion and that is where I will be making ingots of lead, as well as my bronze castings.
Jerry
Attachment: cookingleadalloy1a.jpg (Downloaded 42 times)
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 11th, 2009 04:24 AM |
|
6th Post |
Sprue
HB Pro Staff
| Joined: | Mon Aug 18th, 2008 |
| Location: | WV |
| Posts: | 103 |
| Photo: | | | Are you a handloader?: | -- | | Favorite type of cartridge to load?: | none | | My favorite chambering is:: | |
| Status: |
Offline
|
back to top
|
That looks like the general consensus of setups are far as the equipment goes but the picture makes my back hurt. Tables are a must for the boomers.
____________________
Sprue
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 11th, 2009 04:51 AM |
|
7th Post |
miestro_jerry
Guest
| Joined: | |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | |
| Photo: | | | Are you a handloader?: | | | Favorite type of cartridge to load?: | | | My favorite chambering is:: | |
| Status: |
Offline
|
back to top
|
I agree with you about the tables, so I put up a building to do this in, with a table or bench. The floor has 2 to 3 inches of sand on it and I will install Durock on the walls for more fire protection.
The building has a strange roof shape so the wind causes a negative draft, causing good air flow through the building an out at the roof line. I even have temperature sensitive shutters ready to install.
I did paint this with a good roofing/foundation sealant last fall.
Jerry
Attachment: foundry6b.jpg (Downloaded 41 times)
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 11th, 2009 04:59 AM |
|
8th Post |
fryboy
Administrator
| Joined: | Sun Feb 24th, 2008 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 2867 |
| Photo: | [Download] | | Are you a handloader?: | Yes | | Favorite type of cartridge to load?: | I load everything! | | My favorite chambering is:: | ones that work |
| Status: |
Offline
|
back to top
|
it was always the coals on the campfire/hearth ( just think there wasnt always a smith or a foundry around ) but then again they didnt use much in the way of alloys ,i smelt and alloy much like jerry does either right outside the garage door or inside it ,i have a small portion of a bench in the shop for casting/culling then i lube and load in the house ,all but the smelting is on a bench( dont really think i'd like to smelt on the bench but i do keep a stool handy to the smelter
edit ...tho i do have the propane a lil farther away ,i also try to do most my casting( smelting especially) when it's colder outside ( actually i think i have too much lead -anyone else ever feel that way ? but still will pick up a ww if i see it layin in the street lolz)Last edited on Sat Apr 11th, 2009 05:04 AM by fryboy
____________________
(happy shootin'-the best way to get empty brass!)
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 11th, 2009 05:31 AM |
|
9th Post |
miestro_jerry
Guest
| Joined: | |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | |
| Photo: | | | Are you a handloader?: | | | Favorite type of cartridge to load?: | | | My favorite chambering is:: | |
| Status: |
Offline
|
back to top
|
Getting camp fire coals that hot takes a good while and a lot of wood. A set of bellows would help a lot. Now if you could feed your horse Taco Bell and White Castles, then let him or her flatulate on the fire, you could probably melt any alloy you wanted to.
Because of the volume of branches and tree limbs that we burn, I check the temp with my infrared therometer to check the burning temp of the brush. When the pile has collapsed in on it's self after 2 to 3 hours of burning and I am adding more wood all the time I can get the temp up to about 550 F. for the embers. I want the temperature to be high enough, so I get a fine white ash as a result. Some times I use a 5 pound fire log from the grocery store to keep the temp up.
You may get different results, because the wood in my area that is down on the ground after the snow goes away, is mostly oak, beech and buckeye.
Jerry
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 11th, 2009 07:05 AM |
|
10th Post |
fryboy
Administrator
| Joined: | Sun Feb 24th, 2008 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 2867 |
| Photo: | [Download] | | Are you a handloader?: | Yes | | Favorite type of cartridge to load?: | I load everything! | | My favorite chambering is:: | ones that work |
| Status: |
Offline
|
back to top
|
ewwww taco hell and white castles i wouldnt even feed that cra..erm stuff to myself ( nor shlitz malt liquor and hot momma's backed up with boiled pickled eggs ),most the wood around here is hedge or whatever else the settlers planted when they planted thier 160 trees,oak usually burns hot as does pine tho pine burns fast( speakin of hedge it burns hot but also makes an awesum smokin wood ! )i spent many a winter feeding a wood burning stove seen cast iron sides glowing red hot ( without coal or coke )one can melt thin plain solder with a bic lighter ( hate to have to melt 10#'s that way tho  )they used to sell solder in temp melting catagories or was that just plumbers lead ? i know gold and silver solders come in at least 3 differnt heat ranges and the ancient navaho's had nothing but fire to melt thier silver with ditto the frontiersmen with thier lead altho for the most part i like the modern way of doin things ! along time ago they made buck n ball all the ball with molds and alot of the buck too but they used to take sheet lead cut it into lil squares and beat the corners round ,i'm sure they had the best system they could use for that but man that sounds like a big pain to me !speakin of burnin hot and fast and natural gas ..u ever light a big pile of tumbleweeds ? fast hot and intense ! they used to use straw to help get the fires hot enough to make the branding irons red hot at least until they got a decent bed of coals ( we used to use a electric one until we finally switched to ear tags )i wouldnt believe it if i hadnt seen it so much but a burning tire can melt an aluminum rim perhaps not smelt it nor totally melt it but enough to puddle quite a bit of it ,wonder how aluminum bullets would do ?long range would be out but 25 yards ought to be do-able... i know i read a article years ago by masaad ayoob( i think it was him ) on pewter bullets ,pewter being a lead tin alloy that melts easier than plain lead ,they got a 85-90 grainer chrono'd at just under 2600 from a 4" dan wesson barrel in 357 for a 357 thaz humpin !( it was in either an old handgun hunter or magnum handgun rag )i've thought of pewter but it isnt cheap nowadays kinda brittle too ,thaz prolly why it never took off,makes me curious what u do with ur fine white ash ?makes great lye soap ( if there is such a thing lolz)and it'll eat the hair off of a green rolled up hide .
____________________
(happy shootin'-the best way to get empty brass!)
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 11th, 2009 07:52 PM |
|
11th Post |
miestro_jerry
Guest
| Joined: | |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | |
| Photo: | | | Are you a handloader?: | | | Favorite type of cartridge to load?: | | | My favorite chambering is:: | |
| Status: |
Offline
|
back to top
|
Aluminum bullets would be too light to be effective, you could probably fill a case up with powder to the top and shove an aluminum bullet in it, and fire it with out a lot of effect other than maybe a fire ball coming out of the barrel
Winchester has the Silver Tip bullets which are aluminum with a lead base or core. Some of the hunting ammo uses the aluminum as the tip of a conventional copper jacketed bullets with a lead core.
WWs and Lyman number will do most peoples needs. Many times harder the alloy is not for a better bullet, you want to have a bullet that will deform when it hit your game animal. That will transfer energy to your target better.
Jerry
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 16th, 2009 01:27 AM |
|
12th Post |
hawkeye1
member
| Joined: | Wed Feb 11th, 2009 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 6 |
| Photo: | | | Are you a handloader?: | Yes | | Favorite type of cartridge to load?: | I load everything! | | My favorite chambering is:: | |
| Status: |
Offline
|
back to top
|
The Lee bottom pour pot is great and great priced. Either ten or twenty pound capacity. The only gripe is the constant Lee Drip. But that is just a little annoyance. As for the molds, I have had great results with the Lee molds. Also use RCBS and Lyman and Saeco molds. All are great, but the Lee are much more affordable. As for the aluminum vs steel, I don't see much difference in the two. They both make good bullets.
I finally found a RCBS Lube a Matic on ebay for a good price. It took some time to get a decent price, but it was worth it. Wouldn't go back to the Lee for anything. Never did like the Lee Alox.
As for lead, I use nothing but wheel weights. From 32acp all the way up to the 454 Casull. No leading and no problems.
good shooting
|
|
