What did you CAST today?

[Germz]

It was an inevitable thread. Here is my (40 pound) birthday cake.

[orangeusa]

This might be a short thread. But I've tried it and its fun.

Do you have a hardness tester? Or how do you control that?

[SunsetIE]

Nothing! Havent made a mold since i was doing sand casting with aluminum in high school metal shop, I would love to have a forge and everything to go with it!

[gunboat]

I have not cast any lately, but am getting ready to do a bit of sizing --
311291, 311284, 257312, 358295, 452374 and 225415 --
Should keep the star and the 450 occupied a while --

[Germz]

This might be a short thread. But I've tried it and its fun.

Do you have a hardness tester? Or how do you control that?

I don't I plan on powder coating to help compensate for that. All this lead I just cast is range scrap so its fairly soft.

Nothing! Havent made a mold since i was doing sand casting with aluminum in high school metal shop, I would love to have a forge and everything to go with it!

I use a cast iron fry pan and a coleman stove! I really want to upgrade to the lyman mag 25 when it comes out.

[anyracoon]

Just did up some 155gr and 230gr for the 300 BlackOut. Will run them through the lube sizer tomorrow. I do have a hardness tester so I try to blend to a brinell hardness of at least 15 plus.

[MKT]

None today, but yesterday I finished up casting, sizing and lubing about 30 pounds of finished 158 SWC. That is just shy of 1400 bullets working from a 2 cavity mold. The completed pile almost fills a three pound coffee can (newer plastic type).

[Fishslayer]

I'm just getting started. Watched some YouTube videos. Might hit Kobes this weekend to look for a frying pan and corncob ingot molds. Seem to be the tools of choice for backyard smelters.

Watched a guy melt down wheel weights. Pretty simple. He let the lead melt & picked out everything that wasn't melted. I was worried about zinc but I guess the difference in melting points is enough that if you're paying attention it's not an issue. He picked some out of the pan that weren't even close to melting.

So we're posting up pics of our hoards of lead now? See ya tomorrow.

Do you have a hardness tester? Or how do you control that?

Lee makes a BHN tester you can get from Midway. You control the hardness by alloying different metals like wheel weights, linotype, pewter, etc with the lead. Dropping the boolits into water out of the mold will increase hardness. Missouri Bullets has a great tutorial on bullet hardness. Harder isn't always better.

[Capt.Dunsel]

I'm just getting started. Watched some YouTube videos. Might hit Kobes this weekend to look for a frying pan and corncob ingot molds. Seem to be the tools of choice for backyard smelters.

Watched a guy melt down wheel weights. Pretty simple. He let the lead melt & picked out everything that wasn't melted. I was worried about zinc but I guess the difference in melting points is enough that if you're paying attention it's not an issue. He picked some out of the pan that weren't even close to melting.

So we're posting up pics of our hoards of lead now? See ya tomorrow.



Lee makes a BHN tester you can get from Midway. You control the hardness by alloying different metals like wheel weights, linotype, pewter, etc with the lead. Dropping the boolits into water out of the mold will increase hardness. Missouri Bullets has a great tutorial on bullet hardness. Harder isn't always better.

Check out your local Thrift store ( goodwill , salvation army, St.Vincent DePaul) you can use the mini muffin tins as well. Full size muffin tins make 1lb ingots.

And the pencil method works for a hardness tester , I found it easier than the Lee tester.

[koehn,jim]

I cast up some 7mm 150 grain bullets for my 1908 Brazilian.

[wilit]

I quit casting until I can get a lubrisizer set up. My pan lubing attempts have failed miserably.

[SanPedroShooter]

Gearing up for a 405g .458 bullet for an OG trapdoor.

Still doing my research.

I need lead, BP, dies, molds, lead pot, possibly a lubrasizer.... Hope to get shooting by the new year.

[BigBronco]

I have not cast in a few months. However I am watching this thing called powder coating very closely.

[sargenv]

Dependng on where you get it from, Range lead can vary from about 10 to as high as 16 on the BHN scale.. to give you an idea of hardness... "hard cast 92-6-2 hardball" is about 16 on the scale...

I suggest you get a hardness tester.. they don't cost too much (I paid $100 for the one I got from LBT) and it takes the guessing out of the equation.

[Germz]

I have not cast in a few months. However I am watching this thing called powder coating very closely.

I like the idea that it sweeps your barrel clean and reverses leading.

on a side note, according to my Dad he used to plug a barrel and fill it with some mercury..swish it around for a few minutes... and the barrel would be completely de-leaded.

not sure if I wanna deal with mercury lol.