Have you ever wondered what it is like to cast bullets (first person vids)?

[Tyler Durden]

m25operator wrote:  my responses in blue

Very timely and appreciated TD, I started casting ingots 3 weeks ago, and just doing it on Sunday afternoons, up to 140 with 2, 5 gallon buckets to go, and of course still scrounging. I bought my casting equipment from some old timers that were retiring from shooting and reloading. That was 10 years ago and I just let the stuff sit for a rainy day, 2009, seems like it's raining a lot.Ya got that right! I look forward to the luber sizer part, as I have helped cast bullets, but have not done the resizing yet, any tips would be appreciated. I will post a link to someone else's lube sizer video down below.

What do you consider the ideal casting temperature? Some where in the 700's.  I think that the Lyman thermometer I briefly showed was reading about 710*F.  At about 650*F is when the spout freezes up.  I have noticed that I can get by gingerly placing one ingot in at a time, and the temperature drops enough to see the thermometer's needle drop.  Now, dropping in two ingots drops the temperature down so low so quickly that the spout freezes up.   

I could not read the lubricating agent you were using on the molds, It is AMSOIL 2 cycle synthetic motor oil.  I get just a little bit on a Q-tip and apply it on the underside of the sprue plate.  I got 2 cans of silicone spray with the deal, and did not know if it was used during the casting or just for mold protection afterward?  I don't know what those old timers were using the silicone spray for.     I am guessing just for rust prevention.  When you do go to use the moulds though, the cavities have to be oil or wax free.  I use automotive brake cleaner to degrease the cavities.  Just wear safety glasses when you spray the brake cleaner in there.  It comes squirting back at ya fast and in all directions.

Do you do any gas checks? Nahhh!  This is just for pistol ammo for USPSA, IDPA, and steel plate matches.  If I ever got into rifles and wanted to up the velocity and the accuracy then yeah I would look into gas checks.  The guys over at the cast boolits forums are making their own gas checks out of aluminun cans.  I hear that the new Budweiser or Bud Light aluminum bottles are just the right thickness.

Your casting room looks like my home shop Those are buckets or cans or tins filled with the crappy lead shot that was made when I was first tinkering with the birdshot maker.  I still have to sort through them to get the good shot, if any, that might be in there.    I have a lathe, a knee mill, 2 tool boxes, an air compressor and 3 work benches in a 2 car garage. Room for 2 people working together and that's it.  I am half tempted to get rid of all my woodworking tools and buy a Bridgeport and a lathe.  There's money to be made in making gun parts/accessories and reloading stuff.  The downside though in this economy is it seems that everybody is trying to offload their woodworking equipment too, via Craig's List.  My next project is make a double aught (#00) and a #4 buckshot mould out of aluminum.  I am going to "borrow" my friend's mill.   

This is that Star lube sizer video:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCtLi8i7tMg

The nice thing with the Star is that the boolits are sized nose first.  That means you only need maybe a punch or two of the correct size to push the boolit through.  I think with Lyman and RCBS/Saeco sizers you push the boolit by the nose, so you have to have special shaped nose punches to match the boolits profile.

This is video should give you an idea of how the Lyman and other lube-sizers work:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83IFeT0Ru1k&feature=channel_page

[Tyler Durden]

Jumbofrank on the first page wrote:

I never saw bullet casting done before. I thought it would take longer for the bullets to solidify.

Actually, if I had not left the mould on top of the melt for so long "before I rolled tape", then the mould would have been cooler and I could have pushed the sprue plate over and dropped the bullets into the water even sooner.

That was like my third "take" of that particular vid.  The first 2 times the mould wasn't hot enough and I was having to beat the sprue plate over with whatever was handy.   

so for the third take I let it go a bit longer on top of the melt to get really warmed up.

Pushing the sprue plate over by hand is so much nicer.    I think applying that oil helps too.

at m25operator... another thing I should add is that if you got some moulds from these old timers, it would not be a bad idea to take them apart... unscrew the screw that is holding the sprue plate down... the one it hinges on and then the second one it latches closed on... apply some anti-seize to them and then reassemble the moulds.

And when you attach the mould to the mould handles, you should put anti-seize on those screws too.

[dj454]

Cool video. I have wanted to get into casting my own bullets, but  the cost of the equipment has kept me from it. With the current cost of reloading components it may be a worthwhile investment.

[Tyler Durden]

I think at one point I figured you could get into casting boolits for about $120.  It would be all Lee stuff.  Lee has a 20 pound pot that everyone calls the "drip-o-matic". It might be at most $60, which beats the $250 I spent on my RCBS Pro Melt.  Guys that have the Lee pots just clamp a small pair of visegrips to the rod arm and that keeps it from dripping.  And then there are the Lee aluminum 6 cavity moulds, and mould handles.  Then there is the Lee push through sizer that goes on top of your single stage press.  And then you can use Lee Liquid Alox (LLA) to tumble lube your boolits with.

And if you are really frugal there are cheaper ways still.  A Coleman propane camp stove, a steel or cast iron pot,  a ladle and a mould with handles.

I probably have a tendency to go overboard with things or getting into new projects, so, hmmn... yeah I kinda splurged when I bought the RCBS Pro Melt and the Star lube-sizer and Lyman steel moulds.

Cha-ching!   

[m25operator]

Tyler, thank you for your input, really great for 15 posts. Welcome aboard

[Sponsor]

[twyacht]

Thank you Tyler and welcome. You and others of your "talents" will always be critically important to a gift that most don't have. With store or internet ammo being hit or miss in a few calibers, .380, 9mm, and/or .45, for example,  and a gov't that could jerk a major knot in simple availability, I say,...

Keep the wheel weights comin', 

Can I place an order?

[Tyler Durden]

Thanks guys!

Don't let the 15 (now 16 I guess) post count fool ya!

I am a veteran of most gun related internet forums.

I just chose to fly under the radar on this forum with a different screenname.  That's all.  I have chosen different screen names for a few other gun/reloading forums too.

The links to my posercam videos in my signature lines on all these various forums would be a dead give away though.