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Bullet Making
Lonestar86
Member Posts: 130 ✭✭✭
Got my new lead smelter and bullets casts today. Made 1000 357, 500 44 mag, 500 9mm, and 250 45 Colt. I think it has almost paid for itself in 1 day (My lead is free from a tire shop in town). I wish I had started doing this sooner.
It only took about a dozen from each caliber before they started to open up without blemishes and creases. I think I need to heat the molds up more before I start forming.
I thought it was more difficult, but man was it easy and I had zero experience with it previously.
How many of you cast your own bullets?
It only took about a dozen from each caliber before they started to open up without blemishes and creases. I think I need to heat the molds up more before I start forming.
I thought it was more difficult, but man was it easy and I had zero experience with it previously.
How many of you cast your own bullets?
Comments
What brand moulds were you using. Single or double cavity[?] What type of furnace[?] Sized any of them yet. What alloy lead[?]
LEE molds, 2 hole on the 44 and 45, 6 hole for the 9 and 357, the pot is a LEE 4-20. All are tumble lube bullets except the 45. A friend was making them for me in the past and he never sized them just lubed with Allox and I had great results with them in my guns so I am going to try this batch and see if I have any issues with not sizing them. The 45 I bought a Lee .452 sizer die.
Not sure about the lead, they are all tire wieghts, and again my friend who made them for me previously said they are perfect hardness for handgun bullets. I have shot 1,000's of his bullets and have not had any lead fouling issues in any of my guns to date. He showed me how to flux the lead, skim, and clean out the debris. The bullets are coming out nice, no frosting, bubbling, and only minor creasing on the first couple (as I noted earlier, I think it is from not pre-heating the mold, if I am wrong on that let me know)
Any advice from experienced bullet casters would be greatly appreciated.
Jim, I hear you on that smoke, I wear a respirator while I am molding, don't want to take a chance.
ANYway...he's going to hook me up with a progressive press that he has set up for 9mm, given me over 1500 brass cases, as well as a 6-cavity mold. Hell of a nice guy, don't ya think!!?
I'm looking forward to joining the ranks of the reloaders. [:D]
Glad to hear of your good experience. My brother-in-law has been casting and loading his own ammunition for about 20 years now. I just purchased my first firearm, a Springfield XD(M)-9, and I'm looking forward to honing my defensive shooting skills, as well as seriously considering competitive shooting.
ANYway...he's going to hook me up with a progressive press that he has set up for 9mm, given me over 1500 brass cases, as well as a 6-cavity mold. Hell of a nice guy, don't ya think!!?
I'm looking forward to joining the ranks of the reloaders. [:D]
That's the best brother-in-law deal I have heard in a while, mine just comes over a mooches all my loaded ammo and keeps telling me how he is going to get me one of those LEO discounts on a M1A1, been waiting 10 years for that one.
I use a small window fan to pull out any fumes while casting, and I drop my hot bullets three feet into water straight from the mold.
Have fun being self sufficent with bullets.
However lead doesn't turn into a gas until about 1000 degrees. I run my mix at about 800 for a hot run, 700 normally. You can surely poison yourself with lead by getting it on your hands, smoking while handling lead, eating, etc., but not from fumes unless you get over 1000.
In either case I don't like getting all that crud in the basement so I cast in the garage near the open door with a good fan set up in the summer, and over a small exhaust van spliced into the dryer vent in the winter in the basement.