Handcasting Preferences

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Bryan Austin posted this 11 hours ago

Do you prefer bottom pour or dipper/ladle? Which do you think results in better cast bullets and why?

44-40 Website -https://www.44-40.org

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Aaron posted this 11 hours ago

Depends on the mold actually. Some of mine like ladle and some demand bottom pour. Off the top of my head, the larger cavities like bottom pour. My 44-40 molds (200ish grains) like the ladle. I cast them in 20:1 alloy.

 

With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.

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Eutectic posted this 10 hours ago

I rarely use a ladle and then only with some of my old single cavity molds. The ladle is at a disadvantage with multiple cavity molds.

Adding small preheated ingots to the top of a bottom pour pot keeps the temperature and head pressure constant. This, with attention to mold temperature, makes the bottom pour pot competitive with ladle casting. By competitive I mean bullet quality. As far as quantity the bottom pour wins every time.

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Urny posted this 9 hours ago

Casting is a form of relaxation for me, so when casting for the simple joy of it, my preference is for ladle pour and single or double cavity molds. Three cavities or more pretty much require the bottom pour pot.

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Aaron posted this 9 hours ago

Casting is a form of relaxation for me, so when casting for the simple joy of it, my preference is for ladle pour and single or double cavity molds. 

I agree. Me too. Time is not a bother.

With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.

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Bryan Austin posted this 8 hours ago

Casting is a form of relaxation for me, so when casting for the simple joy of it, my preference is for ladle pour and single or double cavity molds. Three cavities or more pretty much require the bottom pour pot.

This is me now, casting less but better. I need to cast enough to maintain consistency through batches, but replacing quantity with quality.

I acquired a larger two cavity mold but that hinders mold tempt consistency.

44-40 Website -https://www.44-40.org

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Tom Acheson posted this 8 hours ago

Kind of an interesting subject. Had a 20-pound Lyman bottom pour that went in the dumpster years ago.

Bought a one-pound Rowell ladle and have used it ever since. Works great on +400 grain single cavity molds and (4) cavity 350-grain molds. No nipple to line-up with a sprue plate hole and rotate. So not a true “ladle”. Use it like bottom pour, but filling all (4) cavities one a time, passing the ladle across the full length of the top of the mold/mould. Speed is faster than you might think but not factor for me.

Tom

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RicinYakima posted this 7 hours ago

I'm right in there with most of the others. Match bullets were always from a single cavity mould ladle poured. Four cavity moulds get the bottom pour work. Almost all of my moulds are singles so I do a lot of ladle casting. 

Being retired and having cast thousands of 45 and 38 bullets that are in storage, I just cast bullets for current reloading projects in uncommon calibers. 

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Bryan Austin posted this 6 hours ago

That last target I shot, I weighed and measures each, separating them by .1gr. All ten shots I think were the 212.4gr. 

Now to just work on a little better casting.

44-40 Website -https://www.44-40.org

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John Alexander posted this 2 hours ago

Tom,

I had one of those early Lyman pots. Almost impossible but I don't know why. Wrote Lyman and got a hand written letter back from Killborn sp? (the guy who often gets credit for the 22 Hornet). The letter was more polite but essentially said, yes it hard to make good bullets with it.

I haven't cast with a ladle for sixty years, maybe more. When I get into a good groove, the bullets look pretty good to me. Being left handed may have something to do with it.

John

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