This started off as a response to the thread on hot or cold casting, but the writing got out of hand and got me thinking more broadly about my casting system.
I would describe myself as a subsistence caster – I make a few hundred bullets a year for hunting and a few hundred more for a couple of rifle competitions, but I do care about quality, accuracy and effectiveness. My gear is pretty basic.
The illustration shows my setup:
* Single element electric stove. Switch has numeric scale from "Off "through 4 to "Full" and a bit beyond, but no thermostat.
* Lead pot made by a friend using a tractor cylinder liner and a round steel offcut (with aluminium heat shield cut from a disposable barbecue tray). Capacity is 10 lbs.
* Lyman and Lee dippers.
* Lyman ingot mould.
* Large fruit juice tin for sprues and reject bullets; small tin for dross (transferred to screw top bottle when cold, and thence to scrap dealer for safe disposal).
* Folded towel to receive the bullets.
* Bullet mould.
* Large candle for fluxing material.
* Plastic mallet, pliers and vyce grips, plus screwdriver in case the sprue plate comes loose.
I used to have a Lyman lead thermometer but when it died I did not replace it. I also use my Lyman Ohaus 1005 gn powder scale to weigh a few bullets at the start if I think I’ll need to adjust the alloy.
Edit: I adjust the sprue plate so it is almost able to swing under its own weight. This allows it to lie flat against the mould under the weight of the dipper. I pour with dipper held against the sprue hole. I note the position of the screw slot so I can see when it comes loose, which invariably it does eventually.
My casting table is in a breezeway that runs through the house separating the living quarters from laundry, extra bathroom, etc. There is nearly always a nice breeze running through, which is a plus for casting. I cast on cool days with some wind.
I am now down to just four single cavity and two double cavity steel moulds. Two of the singles are hollow point. I have also used aluminium and brass moulds but prefer steel.
The process begins with the alloy. I label my “lead” with the bullet weight obtained from a previous cast or a test cast. The soft material is labelled for #311008 and the hard stuff for #U321297HP, but I do have the relativities of my moulds worked out as well. For #311008 I am currently casting 116 gns and for #U321297HP I try for 170 gns.
Provided Sn % is less than Sb %, “non-lead %”, and hence bullet weight, is a good proxy for bullet hardness. The cast can be with predetermined alloy or with a mix calculated to give the required bullet weight. The weight of material in the pot is noted in case the bullet weight is off, requiring recalculation and alloy adjustment.
With everything in the pot, the stove is turned on to “Full”. The mould sits on the sprue tin with blocks in contact with the lead pot. The melt takes about 20 minutes.
Fluxing is with candle wax. When the lead is hot enough the liquid wax will self ignite, but until then the process is best started with a lighted match on the surface of the melt to ensure immediate ignition. Otherwise the smoke might attract the Fire Brigade. I hold the candle above the melt, apply a hot lead dipper to it so that melted wax drips on to the melt, and hold my nerve when it ignites. Then stir with the Lee dipper. Dross is skimmed (Lee dipper again) into the small tin, which is then set aside out of harm’s way.
The Lyman dipper is used to make the bullets. I leave it floating on the surface of the melt at the start of operations to bring it up to heat.
Mould warmup begins with pouring the first bullet. Front edge of the mould is then immersed in the melt. I picked up this trick from an article years ago by Ross Siefried and it is one of the more valuable things I have learned about bullet casting. A blob of lead forms on the mould edge and remains there until hot enough to fall off of its own accord. All the while the melt is getting hotter. Once the blob falls off, wipe the residual lead smearing from the mould with leather glove. Cut the sprue, dump the bullet in the sprue tin and cast another. With any luck, and with a clean mould, this will be a keeper. If not, dump and make the next one. I fully expect to be making good bullets right from the start.
I leave the pot on “Full” for a while as I make the first dozen or so bullets. If a weight check is required it can be on the last half dozen or so of this initial casting. If not, just keep going.
At first the sprue will set almost immediately, but as the metal and the mould heat, the sprue will take longer to set and will become smaller (from runoff). At this point I will turn the stove down slightly. There is now the risk of striking the sprue too soon and smearing lead across mould and sprue plate. If I am unsure of my sprue I tap it lightly with the mallet to check. From here on I use the stove settings to regulate how long I have to wait for my sprues to harden. I settle on an acceptable delay and keep the stove adjusted to hold that timing.
“Constructive time wasting” comes into the picture also – finding little jobs like putting a few sprues back into the pot or picking up lead spatters. With the HP moulds, drawing the HP pin seems to take just about the right amount of time to let the sprues harden.
I get cleaner sprue cutoff when I cut them just in time. If I leave them for a while, that’s when I get the lumpy sprues.
For each pour I clear a patch on top of the melt and dip from the clean metal.
A few rounded bases or other small faults are picked up as the mould is opened. I prefer to dump these in the sprue tin straight away – I figure I can make a new bullet in less time than I would later waste agonising over these “maybes”.
I like to keep a count on how many bullets I have made. I do this by dumping the newly cast bullets in the middle of the towel. Then when I have ten I put one aside for the count and push the others into the main pile. Somewhere around the 100 bullet mark I will again flux, and then by about 200 or 250 I will have had enough for the day.
I stand to cast, which limits my endurance, but I don’t fancy the risk of spilling molten lead in my lap.
The last casting task is to flux again and empty the pot into ingots. To avoid sputtering I put a dipper of melt into each cavity of the ingot mould to warm it, remelt the mini ingots, then pour for real. Pot is held by folded towel on the handle plus vyce grips on the wall of the pot. Gloved hands of course.
Bullets are checked visually with a magnifying glass. Loss may be as little as 5% or as much as 20% depending on the mould. Then I sort by weight. This also finds any extra lights or heavies (e.g. HP pin not right in). Ingots are labelled with median bullet weight.
You are only as good as your library.
