Lead bullet casting.
- Thread starter splash
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A smelter or similar?
Although in my case not for casting bullets but to add lead weight to fishing priests, I use the Lee Production Pot.
Although in my case not for casting bullets but to add lead weight to fishing priests, I use the Lee Production Pot.
Something to melt your lead in! The lee bottom pour pots are good for the money. Failing that a suitable pot for melting in (cast iron) on a stove and a ladle.
Before you buy a mold slug your barrel with a lead ball, you need to know your groove diameter to make sure the lead mold will produce a bullet 2 thou larger. This is really really important! An undersized bullet will lead your barrel and your accuracy will suffer.
The Lee moulds are cheap and cheerful but they do tend to be a little smaller on diameter than really required. MP moulds in Eastern Europe are very good brass moulds.
You’ll also need to apply a lube, this will depend on how fast you want to push them and if you’re using smokeless or black powder. The simplest method is to tumble lube them with Lee liquid Alox. If you want to go faster and seat gas checks the rcbs/ Lyman 450 lube sizer with a suitable diameter die would help. If you’re using black powder you’ll need a black powder friendly lube that doesn’t contain petroleum constituents, beeswax and olive is a simple lube BP lube.
It’s worth spending some time on the cast boolits forum. It can be frustrating at times with wrinkled bullets and poor fillout as your learn the ropes but once you’ve got the knack you can churn good quality bullets out at a high rate and with little cost.
Before you buy a mold slug your barrel with a lead ball, you need to know your groove diameter to make sure the lead mold will produce a bullet 2 thou larger. This is really really important! An undersized bullet will lead your barrel and your accuracy will suffer.
The Lee moulds are cheap and cheerful but they do tend to be a little smaller on diameter than really required. MP moulds in Eastern Europe are very good brass moulds.
You’ll also need to apply a lube, this will depend on how fast you want to push them and if you’re using smokeless or black powder. The simplest method is to tumble lube them with Lee liquid Alox. If you want to go faster and seat gas checks the rcbs/ Lyman 450 lube sizer with a suitable diameter die would help. If you’re using black powder you’ll need a black powder friendly lube that doesn’t contain petroleum constituents, beeswax and olive is a simple lube BP lube.
It’s worth spending some time on the cast boolits forum. It can be frustrating at times with wrinkled bullets and poor fillout as your learn the ropes but once you’ve got the knack you can churn good quality bullets out at a high rate and with little cost.
@Stalker1962 He does quite a bit of casting for various calibres
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38-40 will be a PITA as you'll pretty much need to size them yourself which will me a sizing set up in addition to your casting set up. So even secondhand you are looking at having to cast near a thousand bullets to cover the cost of your lubrisizer, lube die and top punch.
Sampo
Well-Known Member
Personally I would go for the Lee casting pot as it becomes a lot easier on the long run if you are planning on casting loads. Also lead coming from the bottom is usually a lot cleaner minus the impurities that seem to float to the surface. Good quality lead with the right characteristics is important as opposed to some which has either too much tin or alloys. Lee moulds does the job but do follow the instructions to get it conditioned properly. Also you may need a flux, beeswax is what I use, but even candle wax should do the trick. I use a metal tray with an old towel to catch the moulded lead balls/ bullets to enable them to cool and do quality control before I decide on what to keep. Also do have a set of fire mans gloves for emergencies, just to be on the safe side along with a pair of goggles. Somewhere outdoors is preferable unless you have good ventilation as you wouldn't want to breathe in the smoke created when you add the flux. For the first time I woud suggest taking it slow on a sunny day with no kids or pets running around as when dealing with molten lead, you need to stay focused. Also there are a lot of youtube videos to help and do PM me if I can be of further help as I am fairly self taught and have learnt from my own mistakes over time. All the best.
was in a mates kitchen on the gas stove !To size or not to size that is the question. Slugging your bore is a must, conventional wisdom is to have your bullets .001" over grove diameter. Depending on your alloy and mould your cast bullets will vary in size. Some say don't size if you don't need to, it's a bit of trial and error. Powder choice is a key question, if you go down the black powder route you want your bullets on the softer side. It seems counter intuitive but leading is actually caused by gas cutting where gas is escaping past the bullet base. With black powder the base will get a good thump as it starts it's travel and a soft bullet ensures that the base seals the bore preventing leading. Lee do a simple push sizer and you can order custom sizes if need be, certainly a lot cheaper than investing in a lubrisizer if you're just starting out.
Stalker62
Well-Known Member
A First-Aid kit...
.38-40 anecdotally is I will advise a hugely frustrating cartridge to reload for and you WILL need to size every bullet IMHO. The reason is that it is a bottleneck cartridge of an inbuilt problem for the reloader (it is very thin) that if not reloaded with care will give you collapsed shoulders. Therefore you need to have a physical "feel" when the bullet is being seated to know if you are applying too much upward force as the bullet is seated. AND also when then applying the crimp. To help you get a sense for that you must have all the bullets of consistent diameter. My own advice is don't buy a .38-40. If you must go down the xx-40 route buy a .44-40 it is more forgiving to reload and also you can buy ready cast GM Bullets bullets.
Stalker62
Well-Known Member
As above.
Never melt lead in a confined space. Out in the garden. Go slow. Do not try and do it in shorts and flip-flops - because that smarts: I had a "friend" who did that...
Any lead that has moisture in it when melted with not 'pop', it will go off like a fing Mills Grenade.
I now used full PPE (topical) with a leather apron, welders gloves, full-face guard. I also have a bucket of water nearby (dunking any bits of burning skin) and a foam fire extinguisher to hand. Yeah - melting lead, what could possibly go wrong.
If you have an egg and a Grandma this bit is for you - lead is also highly toxic. In the olden days, hatters used lead in the construction of their wares: hence the "Mad Hatter" in Alice in Wonderland: so the danger is not confined to the hot aspect but there is also a risk of insanity in simply handling the raw materials.
Any hoo, you enjoy yourself...
Never melt lead in a confined space. Out in the garden. Go slow. Do not try and do it in shorts and flip-flops - because that smarts: I had a "friend" who did that...
Any lead that has moisture in it when melted with not 'pop', it will go off like a fing Mills Grenade.
I now used full PPE (topical) with a leather apron, welders gloves, full-face guard. I also have a bucket of water nearby (dunking any bits of burning skin) and a foam fire extinguisher to hand. Yeah - melting lead, what could possibly go wrong.
If you have an egg and a Grandma this bit is for you - lead is also highly toxic. In the olden days, hatters used lead in the construction of their wares: hence the "Mad Hatter" in Alice in Wonderland: so the danger is not confined to the hot aspect but there is also a risk of insanity in simply handling the raw materials.
Any hoo, you enjoy yourself...
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splash
Well-Known Member
Could go 44-40 just looking for a smooth shooting gallery rifle to use on club pistol range .
I've owned a .44-40, although it was in a Colt New Service revolver and that with care wasn't too fraught to load. But do remember that your dies will be steel and you will need to crimp in a separate process from seating unlike much stronger bottleneck rifle cases.
As a regular caster I would suggest the following:
Bottom pour lead pot (RCBS is the best but is expensive, Lee drip o matic not recommended)
Source of lead (indoor pistol calibre range is good, plus a source of pure lead scrasp)
Lubesizer (Star or RCBS again and sizing dies .002" over the bore diameter)
Boolit lube ( lots to choose from on ebay)
M die for you resized cartridge cases.
That should start you off!
Bottom pour lead pot (RCBS is the best but is expensive, Lee drip o matic not recommended)
Source of lead (indoor pistol calibre range is good, plus a source of pure lead scrasp)
Lubesizer (Star or RCBS again and sizing dies .002" over the bore diameter)
Boolit lube ( lots to choose from on ebay)
M die for you resized cartridge cases.
That should start you off!
Thread hijack, didn't Vivian in the Young Ones have a Ford Anglia? Maybe this emphasizes Dodgyrog's point. I've have a .43" Spanish mould from Old West Moulds and am quite impressed with it. They do the weird & wonderful, if you need a 17.8mm for your Tabatiere they do it. He does a variety of pistol moulds including .44-40. They are based in the USA though.
8x57
Distinguished Member
Purely out of curiosity why are you considering a .38-40 or .44-40 rather than one of the more modern calibres such as .44 mag or .45LC?
Components and dies being far more available for the modern chamberings.
Smellydog
Well-Known Member
Mercury.
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