Casting Help! :(

[JayFramer]

Hello all! I just bought a civil war style muzzle loading minie ball rifle. Factory minie balls are very expensive and I want to shoot it a lot. Clearly, casting is in my future!

I’ve never casted in my life, but live in an apartment (with a balcony, will probably cast there for ventilation) and move often (military) and money is a factor. I won’t need a massive output, I’m not arming the Grand Army of the Republic!

So I know I need a lead melter. Can anyone recommend a cheap one of some kind? Preferably electric and small? Then, I need a mold. I’ll also need to determine my bore size of my musket to get the right mold and maybe a sizer to get them to the right size for my bore, which I hear is 1-2 thou. smaller than bore diameter for a minie ball. How would one determine bore size with a muzzleloader?

Just looking for recommendations and tips, and maybe a good source for pure lead, for an absolute first time beginning young virgin bullet caster!

Thanks in advance!

-Jay

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Midway sell Lee and Lyman casting equipment. Lyman is better, Lee is affordable and very usable.

Lee makes Minnie moulds that work well.

Use a lead melting pot and ladle for best results. When starting with a mold you will need to season it first, simply follow enclosed instructions to the letter! When casting 1) for Minnie's and round balls use only pure lead 2) when filling mould, always leave a small puddle of lead (3/8" dia.) on top of sprue cutter (you will notice a divot in center a peddle cools) this provides for proper filling of mould.

Lyman and Gun Digest both print very good Black Powder Loading Manuals, Midway will have one or both: GET ONE! Lots of info on casting included.

I had a reproduction Remington Zouave in 58 cal., I had 3 different Minnie moulds with different skirt thicknesses to play with the accuracy. You may want to consider buying 50 Minnies and seeing if all the expense is worth while for the amount of shooting that is typically done.

Some hints:
1) clean with HOT soapy water, dry, and oil right away!
2) Use real Black Powder for better ignition, consistency and accuracy.
3) Musket caps are not as common as pistol caps, If a local dealer has them, buy a tin of 250 (that is the normal size) and store them inside an air tight container with a dehumidifier packet.
4) Nipples go bad from normal use and really fast from dry firing I always keep spares for my C&B firearms. There are different thread patterns, be sure you purchases fit (companies change thread patterns with out telling anyone!)
5) You will need a nipple pick and a nipple wrench. There is no substitute for the correct wrench! Copper wire will work for the pick.

If you have questions you can PM me. If I don't know the answer I know who to ask.

Ivan

 

[Qc Pistolero]

Lee electric pot;cheaply priced and it works.The dripping is annoying but for the price it is tough to beat.
Up one grade RCBS or Lyman 20pound pots are excellent.
If you need to cast 50 or so pounds of lead/year,the Lee 10 pounder would be my choice.If you shoot a lot more,the 20 pounders are the way to go.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Might I suggest round ball for shooting a lot and range work and a Minie for hunting?

Missouri Bullets sells round ball for $11 to $14 per 100.
I'm only making the suggestion because you move around a lot for the military and the equipment is heavy and bulky.

Dixie Gun Works has almost everything you might need for muzzleloading and shooting old guns. (including casting) Dixie Gun Works muzzleloading, blackpowder and rare antique gun supplies.

 

[Fishinfool]

If you use soft lead bullets with a hollow base / skirt, then bullet fit does not have to be perfect, as the bullets base will expand on firing, and provide good fit. You can measure bore size by driving a soft, slightly oversized lead ball a couple inches down the bore, then use just a cap and a safe backstop to push it back out. Measure the flat on the ball (I am assuming smooth bore?) Bullets with a slight friction fit work well. Just remember, always seat your bullet firmly on the powder charge. Leaving a gap could cause a big pressure peak, as BP is an explosive, and burns different from smokeless.

Years ago, I found a used skin divers belt in a local paper that had six five pound pure lead weights on it, for cheap. That lead lasted me a long time for my limited BP casting purposes. Plumbers lead is also often found, and works well.

Larry

 

[k22fan]

Casting for my muzzle loaders in an apartment. The good old days. The apartments' electric and gas kitchen ranges easily kept a cast iron pot with 40 pounds of lead as hot as I wanted. That put the pot right in front of an exhaust fan. Outside an old style pump up white gas Colman stove makes plenty of heat. At one place I used the Colman stove in an out building in front of a box window fan. Casting outside gets cold in the the winter and most places the outdoor lighting is poor. I cast for 20 years before getting an electric lead pot and only got my first one because I inherited it from a range buddy. It is debatable whether a bottom pour pot is easier to use than a made for the purpose ladle with a side spout. A lead thermometer is a higher priority than an electric pot.

Unfortunately, getting pure lead to fill out the skirts makes minnie balls the hardest projectile to cast. You have to separate the base plug from the minnie ball and get it back in the mold before the mold cools too much for the skirts to fill out. For that reason I recommend an iron mold. Aluminum molds cool too fast. Lyman made their slightly over 500 grain mold in two diameters. IIRC they were advertised to be .575" and .585". Typical of Italian made reproductions my 1863 Springfield's land diameter was too large for best accuracy with the smaller diameter. I used a mallet to drive mini balls from the .585" mold through a sizer. At .580" the fit to the land diameter was so close that they would not free fall down a clean barrel. They'd go down that clean barrel if a I shook it up and down. That fit made a huge difference in 100 yard groups.

During the civil war mini balls were under land diameter and were bumped up in diameter by the black powder. That made reloading faster, made casting the mini balls easier because they could vary in diameter, and was accurate enough for their purposes.

On the other hand round balls are the easiest shaped bullet to cast. The mold diameter is not critical for single shot guns because you can use thicker or thinner fabric to make them a tight fit. The shallow military rifling is less than ideal for round balls but the slow 72" twist is ideal for them. With a tight fitting patch my rifle musket grouped round balls very well at 100 yards.

I suggest for your first project cast round balls for your Remy.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Midway sell Lee and Lyman casting equipment. Lyman is better, Lee is affordable and very usable.

Lee makes Minnie moulds that work well.

Use a lead melting pot and ladle for best results. When starting with a mold you will need to season it first, simply follow enclosed instructions to the letter! When casting 1) for Minnie's and round balls use only pure lead 2) when filling mould, always leave a small puddle of lead (3/8" dia.) on top of sprue cutter (you will notice a divot in center a peddle cools) this provides for proper filling of mould.

Lyman and Gun Digest both print very good Black Powder Loading Manuals, Midway will have one or both: GET ONE! Lots of info on casting included.

I had a reproduction Remington Zouave in 58 cal., I had 3 different Minnie moulds with different skirt thicknesses to play with the accuracy. You may want to consider buying 50 Minnies and seeing if all the expense is worth while for the amount of shooting that is typically done.

Some hints:
1) clean with HOT soapy water, dry, and oil right away!
2) Use real Black Powder for better ignition, consistency and accuracy.
3) Musket caps are not as common as pistol caps, If a local dealer has them, buy a tin of 250 (that is the normal size) and store them inside an air tight container with a dehumidifier packet.
4) Nipples go bad from normal use and really fast from dry firing I always keep spares for my C&B firearms. There are different thread patterns, be sure you purchases fit (companies change thread patterns with out telling anyone!)
5) You will need a nipple pick and a nipple wrench. There is no substitute for the correct wrench! Copper wire will work for the pick.

If you have questions you can PM me. If I don't know the answer I know who to ask.

Ivan

Ivan has just given you everything you need to know to get started! Excellent advice.

 

[JayFramer]

Thanks, friends.

I’d like not to shoot a round ball, but want to do the minies. I must learn how to do them, obviously people can do it. I must persist! I must succeed!!

 

[trapper9260]

What cal is your muzzle loader. I shoot a 1864 real civil war Musket it is a 58 cal. I had it rebuilt for there was parts missing and need to be fix. It shoots Minnie and done round balls also.I use the#10 caps on it.works fine and also 777 FFG powder works fine also. I got the mold for the minnie is from Lee. I also use the bottom pour of 10# Lee pot. As for alloy your can get it a salvage yard if you able to smelt your own alloy if not you can get it at Bullet Casting Alloys - RotoMetals they have all the mix and alloys to mix your own. Also have a hot plate to preheat your mold before casting . I use rubbing alcohol to clean my molds and a tooth brush . it always works for me.

 

[gwpercle]

Thanks, friends.

I’d like not to shoot a round ball, but want to do the minies. I must learn how to do them, obviously people can do it. I must persist! I must succeed!!

It's not rocket science .
1.) Lee electric pot (Magnum Melter is best)
2.) Lee bullet moulds , minnie and Round ball .
3.) Lyman Ladle (the little spout is secrete to good cast bullets,get it ...the Lee spoon ladle sucks rocks)
4.) Cast of mostly pure lead .
5.) Minnie bullets and round balls do not need to be sized, shoot them as cast .
6.) Get some books on shooting and loading black powder , they will save you a lot of time and effort in the learning curve .

I started casting in 1967 , I wish I had the Lee Magnum Melter then. The small Lee pot doesn't hold enough melt especially when casting big Minnie Balls...bigger is better , trust me !
Gary

 

[old tanker]

Casting Minies with a bottom pour Lee furnace might not be the best. I have found with big bullets dipping works better. Pure lead needs to be hot, and the mould, especially the core pin need to be up to temp to get consistently good bullets.

The technique to use with the Lyman dipper,

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xjr0S-Hy7dI[/ame]

 

[max503]

Go to the Cast Bullet Association forum and sign up there. I'm not downplaying what you've heard here, but there is so much experience on the CBA forum you might as well make use of it. They are very helpful.

 

[cgt4570]

I use a small cast iron skillet on a Coleman single burner propane camp stove out on my driveway. I just stay up wind. I use old candles for wax flux.
It took a while, but I have a decent stockpile of pure lead, wheel weights and Linotype for different bullet uses.
Dirt track race car drivers use lead sheets to add offset weight to their cars. If you can find a track, you can find some used pure lead for a decent price.

 

[mikld]

I purchased my Lee 4-20 pot approx. 30 years ago. Use clean alloy, clean it out occasionally, and when needed clean the needle/seat and it will not drip. Casting on your balcony is prolly fine, but I wouldn't smelt or use a real smokey flux. Using a different smelting pot is advised to keep clean alloy only in the casting pot. Neighbors might not like smokey fluxing. Storing a pot and molds isn't a bug deal, but moving/storing a hundred lbs+ of lead may be a consideration...

 

[mtgianni]

Lee makes a dipper pot that is affordable. Lyman used to make a 4 lb pot if you can find one. Definitely go with a ladle. When the mold is full tilt it 5 degrees and pour the rest of the ladle over the sprue plate.

 

[ACORN]

I'd go with the Led filled lot and Lyman ladle also. That way you don't need to worry about the dripping. Ladle pouring may be slower but you are not going to be shooting mass quantities of projectiles. I'm just getting back into casting and gathering up the hardware needed. I used to find it somewhat therapeutic

 

[max503]

You can scrounge a lot of lead off of range backstops.

 

[StrawHat]

Here is something to consider. Moving heavy items is a pain. I enjoy casting and when I competed in PPC, I cast all of my practice bullets and eventually my competition bullets also. I also cast bullets for my ACP revolvers because they get shot a lot.

My rifles? Well, I am still trying to shoot up the 100 to 500 bullets I cast for them maybe a decade ago.

My point? If you don’t plan on shooting a lot with that musket, it may be cheaper and easier to buy 500 (or 300 or whatever) bullets and call it good.

Kevin

 

[StrawHat]

The only thing I would add to Ivan’s advice is to get a small hot plate to preheat the mold and plug and to keep the mold and plug up to temperature between pours.

Kevin

 

[k22fan]

Unless you sort out soft lead by projectile shape, lead dug out of back stops is too hard for minnie balls. I used to be able to get soft lead pipe and sheet lead that was used for flashings on roofs. Unfortunately those have not been used in house construction for a long time.

I have both Lyman's cast iron laddle with the side spout and the RCBS aluminum version. Both work fine but I prefer the RCBS because it holds more lead.