Casting curious

[croue]

[bruce381]

look over the cast boolits site lot of sticky things to look at you tube is hit and miss but Fortunecokie45lc has very good instuctions.

fun to do hardest thing is to find cheapo lead anymore wheel wights are long gone now for lead.

[RiskyBusiness]

look over the cast boolits site lot of sticky things to look at you tube is hit and miss but Fortunecokie45lc has very good instuctions.

fun to do hardest thing is to find cheapo lead anymore wheel wights are long gone now for lead.

you can still find 1lb/1$, just gotta be persistent at looking for it or have found yourself a connect

[bohoki]

try to do it on the cheap

that way you can sell your molds on ebay and probably not be out anything

if i quit now my only outlays in money are

the lee molds at $20 a piece

the lee sizers at $15 a piece

a contaminated pan and stove


do not melt your lead in aluminum

lead is heavy it stays heavy even when liquid

lead is hot

fire bad

[koehn,jim]

I would not recommend trying to do it on the cheap, cheap molds usually wont sell for much and often do not produce good bullets. I have been casting over 30 years and gave up on cheap molds. I enjoy turning out high quality bullets and that means high quality molds. Look up NOE molds, they are expensive but worth it.

[croue]

Jim - I notice NOE makes only brass and aluminum molds?

Thoughts on best ones and trade offs?

C


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[bruce381]

I would not recommend trying to do it on the cheap, cheap molds usually wont sell for much and often do not produce good bullets. I have been casting over 30 years and gave up on cheap molds. I enjoy turning out high quality bullets and that means high quality molds. Look up NOE molds, they are expensive but worth it.

I agree BUT you have to start somewhere and Lee molds will get you going on the cheap to see if you like it that's where I started 40 years ago.

Now have 1,2,4,6 cav molds of all brands even have the worn out Lees.

Starting with a brass NOE mold while nice is $100 or more and you still have to learn all the ins and outs that you can learn on a cheapo mold.

Kind of like start relaoding with a single stage press or go right up to a dillion 1050 deal walk before you run Plus buying molds is/are a fun hobby in itself.

[sghart]

The new Lee molds are vastly improved over what I started with years ago.

I would start with Lee equipment. It is reasonably priced and good enough to get you going.

Over the years I have added molds from NOE, Accurate and Arsenal for bullets that Lee doesn't offer or for oversized, non-standard diameters like in my microgroove Marlins or my 1930's 7X57 Mauser.

But for standard diameters in standard calibers I use a ton of Lee molds. I just finished casting 400 Lee TL452-230-2R for my 1911 and 400 Lee 429-200-RF for my 44-40.

Read all you can on Castboolits, ask questions, then get started. There is a steep learning curve but you will soon be asking yourself why you took so long to try it.

[koehn,jim]

croue I prefer the aluminum the brass are pretty but I don't like them as well, Lee molds may have improved from what they were, but I still prefer to buy the best and use it. If you check re-sale you can get more for the better mold. I also prefer the fact that better molds come in different sizes, within a caliber instead of one size fits all. Maybe that's just me. I do not work for NOE I just like their molds.

[NeilMo]

Lee molds are not cheap, they're inexpensive and work very well. I've yet to cast a poor performing bullet using Lee molds.

[koehn,jim]

If they work well for you than you are fortunate and should use them. I have rifles that need different sizes from what they make, and I like 4 or more cavities. My 7mm needs a slightly larger diameter than Lee makes and I wanted 4 cavities not 2. I also don't powder coat I use Hytek coating cause it will do a larger batch.

[RiskyBusiness]

worst thing you can do is drop a hundo on a nice NOE mold and fck it up badly as you're inexperienced. Order a Lee for $20 from amazon and have no worries if you scuff it up by practicing, you can even return and exchange it for a new one for free within the return window. If you end up being happy enough with the bullets, then its all up to you whether you want to upgrade to an NOE for a specific bullet type. Lee has a variety of sizes and you can always open up your bullet sizer if you want a larger diameter, or powder coat.

[croue]

[Abenaki]

Nice looking boolets!

Take care
Abenaki

[McGuiver]

Casting curious

The Lee push thru sizer will work for the gas checks while crimping them on.



500 S&W cast bullet. About 440 grains. Powder coated, Gator gas check and crimped with Lee push thru sizer.



30 Caliber cast bullet. About 190 grains. Powder coated, Gator gas checked and crimped with Lee push thru sizer.

Good molds produce better bullets. I usually only buy NOE bullet molds, unless I need something unusual that NOE does not have. Practice casting and Mold temperature also have a lot to do with casting good bullets.

Pretty soon you will have 20 to 30 molds and a ton of lead.



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