| Posted: Tue Sep 8th, 2009 01:49 AM |
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Rockydog
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mr mom and I have exchanged PMs here and on BSB for about 5 years. We hit the chat once in a while and even phone once in a while. We've traded or just sent each other a few small things over the years.
About a year ago I acquired a .357 magnum. Just a cheap shooter for plinking. mr mom, who I've never met in person, took note of that and sent me a care package one day. 1000 .38 Sp cases and 1000 cast boolits to fill them. Along with 250 bullets for my .45 colt. I was taken aback at his generosity. I knew he was looking for a certain .44 mag mold and set out to find one to return the favor. I was scrounging at a local emporium of such items and found a whole box of assorted molds. Not the one mr mom needed but one for nearly every caliber I shoot plus about 8 others. I bought the box for the price of a new mold thinking I'd sell a few and keep the rest in case I ever decided to cast my own. I sold and traded enough to pay for the entire box and gave one to mr mom that he wanted, not THE ONE he wanted but one he could use. He started giving me encouragement to start casting. So I've spent very little money but some time gathering up what I needed. I found a smelting pot, ingot molds, ladles etc. The last piece I needed was a pouring pot. Last week a package showed up on my doorstep with mr mom's return address and inside was a used but servicable LEE 10 pound bottom pour pot.
This morning I gathered my stuff and my courage and fired up my plumbers pot and smelted 2 batches of pure lead and a batch of wheel weights. I learned bunches and didn't even burn myself! Tonight I poured my first bullets! Thanks to mr moms advice everything went very well. I cast 55 177 grain bullets from a 311291 lyman mold in about 20 minutes. These were water dropped WW and came out .313 all the way around. Very nice fill out, no frosted bullets. I was grinning from ear to ear.
Also tried out an unidentified brass .357 SWC 3 banger mold. It is a little unhandy with a front facing sprue tab but it cast 152 gr. also from WW but not water dropped. These cast at .363 to .365 depending on the cavity and direction of the mic. I tried 21 of these and all were very nice.
For the hell of it I cast 5 bullets from a 38-55 Winchester mold that I'd like to sell or trade. These were a little wrinkly as I didn't let the mold get up to full temp. They cast 240 Gr. at .372-.375. Pretty darn good for a 100 year old mold.
Anyway I owe it all to mr mom. One of the good guys on here. Thanks Al!, One of these days I'll find that .429303. Rockydog
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| Posted: Tue Sep 8th, 2009 12:02 PM |
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2nd Post |
mr mom
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| Posted: Tue Sep 8th, 2009 06:16 PM |
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-6
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Wow, nothing like good friends--especially those with lead to spare--LOL. Looking for a few moulds if you still have extras. I bought a couple of moulds from a cyber buddy and he tossed in a Lee bottom pour. Works great and have poured a few with it. Like I said-good friends are fantastic, wc
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| Posted: Tue Sep 8th, 2009 08:28 PM |
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Charley
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I learned bunches and didn't even burn myself!
You will...
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| Posted: Tue Sep 8th, 2009 10:17 PM |
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Timberghozt
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Yup ole Al is a good guy..He gave me my first mould and helped me get started casting for a 357 mag..
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| Posted: Tue Sep 8th, 2009 10:37 PM |
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wheezengeezer
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And now it is like lead poisinin,gonna be hard to get outa yer system!
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| Posted: Tue Sep 8th, 2009 11:42 PM |
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mr mom
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gene 1 ?? have you burned yourself yet ????
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| Posted: Tue Sep 8th, 2009 11:53 PM |
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Timberghozt
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Burned the piss outta myself once or twelve times AL  .. but I learned what not to touch..lol
I hear ya wheezen, I branched out to 32-20 bullets for an original 1892 Win, workin on ones for my dads wedding present old 94 in 30-30 and this derned micro groove barreled 45-70 is the one I want to get a real shooter for along with a 250 grain mould for my 45 LC..
Yup I am hooked on cast boolits.
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"He who fights with monsters might take care, lest he thereby become a monster; For if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - F.Nietzche
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| Posted: Wed Sep 9th, 2009 01:22 AM |
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Rockydog
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Timberghozt wrote: Yup I am hooked on cast boolits.
I've only cast 81 bullets and I've already decided it's about as much fun as anything you can do with your clothes on. RD
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Charley
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Rockydog wrote: Timberghozt wrote: Yup I am hooked on cast boolits.
I've only cast 81 bullets and I've already decided it's about as much fun as anything you can do with your clothes on. RD
I'm not quite sure of that one, but it is fun.
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| Posted: Thu Sep 10th, 2009 06:26 PM |
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steel13
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I've had a similar experience with another fellow on here, Armored man. he had sent me a couple of lee molds to get started with a few years ago,now its a full time hobby, a good amount of Boolits I cast I dont even have guns for.LOL
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| Posted: Fri Sep 11th, 2009 12:29 AM |
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Rockydog
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steel13 wrote: a good amount of Boolits I cast I dont even have guns for.LOL
Steel, Seems if you've got the mold curiosity just gets the best of you. I don't own a .38-55 but I was casting for it 15 minutes after I poured my first bullet. Do I sell the mold or buy a .38-55? Decisions, decisions. RD
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Irish Bird Dog
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interestingly this summer I fired up the LEE bottom pour and cast a few hundred .54 round ball .527 for my flintlock. first I've done in at least a couple of years....store bought "balls" got to pricey this past year or so......got lazy when a guy just 15 miles from me sold me cast bullets so cheap I couldn't take the time to make my own......these were in .45 Colt 255gr FN for my cowboy guns, revolvers and rifles....& 535 gr Postells for the BPCR & .405's for the Trapdoor..."WhiteHorse Cast Bullets" was the name but the 'ol boy up n died couple yrs back and all his stuff was sold and went to Texas. Now either find a new source or start casting agin.......did buy a new Lyman Postell mold for my BPCR s a few yrs back..... so with that old boy gone will have to try that one as my supply of those is near gone......gotta get some lead at 1:20......got lead need antimony.
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daboone
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Irish Bird Dog wrote: got lead need antimony.
Try Rotometals. The shot sized antimony make it easier to alloy in at low temps. Start with well flux clean melt then add the antmony and sawdust as a flux, but leave the ash on top as it somehow help with alloying antimony in. At least that what works for me.
I have the opposite problem got antimony need LEAD. WW have been added to the endangered species list.
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72coupe
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I usually cast in 10 pound to 30 pound lots. 10 pounds of 225415 bullets is nearly 1000. 26 pounds of 314299 is again almost 1000.
When you sort these into lots of 0.1 grain it gives you usable numbers of bullets.
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Irish Bird Dog
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daboone......thanks for the input.....I'll put rotometals in my favorites list and see what they offer......lots of good info has surfaced here recently.....thanks to all others who piped up to my needs. -10*F this AM so no "smelting" until the weather allows...needs to be outside, no vented areas inside here. The thought just came to me that an outside vented Range Hood set up in a garage area on an outside wall would be a good way to work indoors and get proper venting of the fumes.........mmmmmmm.....scrounge the appliance dealers to see what might be available.....& most have a light in the hood too....mmmmmm....getting better all the time......me n my old Lee 10lb bottom pour may just be getting back into the bullet making business.....hark, what's that voice.....it seems to be coming from my gun room...yes...it's the Marlin M93 30-30 asking for some cast bullets.....it was talking with the .455 Webley MKVI who has been in need of ammo for some time now...........ie some nice cast bullets over a dose of BP.......
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miestro_jerry
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There is a guy on Evil Bay that I buy my antimony from. I get 10 pounds for $70 shipping is included.
Jerry
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fryboy
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Rockydog wrote:
Steel, Seems if you've got the mold curiosity just gets the best of you. I don't own a .38-55 but I was casting for it 15 minutes after I poured my first bullet. Do I sell the mold or buy a .38-55? Decisions, decisions. RD
somehow i didnt note this post before ....leaving me to query ... what size of 38-55 boolits ? umm etc dont have that caliber myself but i do have a win 375 .... ( tite bore too )
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Don Fischer
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This is great, one more inexpensive hobby to save money so the little woman can get some new shoes. What's it cost? Well a new Lee mould about $20, Lee ladle about four bucks, old cast iron pot from Good Will to smelter and cast from. Lee lube, about four bucks. Don't ever tell the little woman anything else. And she's gonna think your nuts when you stop in rush hour traffic to pick up a wheel weight, she'll hate you for the one's she didn't see you pick up but somehow ended up in the laundry! Oh don't worry about ingot moulds, muffin tins work really well!
When I was married, yea I was once, my ex was really upset when she got in trouble for moving and leaving my box of wheel weight's because she was to lazy to get help moving them!
I love mens toys!
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Rockydog
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Fryboy, This is an original Winchester mold. I cast a half dozen pure WW boolits from it but to see what they looked like but the mold wasn't up to temp and fill out was poor, with rounded driving bands etc. These only cast about 373 across the back driving band but I think it'll cast larger with the right alloy and temp. The bullet is 230 Gr. FP/FB design. I'm thinking it probably was cast from pure lead to bump up over a BP charge. Next time I'm doing some handgun bullets I'm going to pour a few with a 95/5 Pb/Sn to see how they fill out. Remind me and I'll send a few your way if you think they'll work. RD
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