Which bullet casting equip. to get?

[1911lover]

I need some advice as to the brand/s of casting equip. to buy. Furnace/pot, moulds/handles/lube/sizer etc. Also any particular book to buy? I load .44 spec., .45acp, .38 spec and 9mm.

Your advice is appreciated and valued. Thanks in advance.

Jon

 

[Andy Griffith]

Well, first start with some good books.

Get the Lyman cast bullet book.

It is a great reference book to start with, and is indispensable.

A good Lee bottom pour furnace (the high one is better, IMHO) to start with is a great price and starting point. RCBS has gone crazy on their pricing and I just can't see paying what they now want for their pots. Pick up a good used pot in good condition if possible- the Lee and Saeco pot thermostats, heating elements and cords can be replaced. I know that some of the oldest Lyman pots are very hard to get thermostats for...so if looking at a used pot at a range swap meet or gunshow, be aware that it may need a new cord, thermostat or element. Also, look for zinc contamination in the pot too (this is a recent development).

Moulds...
Aluminum moulds such as Lee's are the most affordable and easiest to start working with and make great bullets- also they take less use and care than iron/steel moulds. Many folks say they don't last as long as a steel mould, but if treated with care I don't know if you really could wear one out before you wore out the gun for which you were casting the bullets!

Iron and steel moulds take a bit to get used to using- it is an art that takes a bit of time to "learn" the correct temperature of the mould to keep it either hot, or from getting too hot. Also, you need to keep iron moulds from rusting which is something that isn't an issue on aluminum moulds.

Bronze moulds are the best, but are the most expensive and are usually just custom undertakings.

It is also likely that you will need a lubrisizer, especially if you are going to cast for cartridge rifles and handguns. It is easier to start casting muzzleloading balls and bullets which rarely have to be sized just to get the knack for the casting process.

Just my two-cents.

 

[Tell Sackett]

After what Andy has said, nothing else needs be!

 

[Landric]

Andy makes a lot of good points. I have a combination of casting equipment from Lee, Lyman, and RCBS. All of it has its positives and negatives.

I started with Lee molds as a way to get my feet wet and see if I liked casting. Luckily for me, while I was acquiring equipment I bought a used Lyman 358430 195 grain +/- RN mold in addition to a couple of Lee's offerings. If I had just had the Lee molds, I probably would have given up on casting all together. I never got particularly satisfactory results when I was trying to learn the process (all through internet research and books on the subject, I don't know anyone else who casts) with Lee molds. On the other hand, I had great success with the Lyman iron mold, and since then all the molds I have purchased, save one, have been iron.

Now that I have more experience with the process, I've had much better results with the one Lee mold I still have. Its the 310 grain .430 FP GC, and while I've gotten some very good results with it, it still doesn't work for me as well as the various iron molds I have. I know the Lee molds are supposed to be easier to use and produce good bullets more quickly when one begins a casting session, but I've found the opposite to be true for me. YMMV.

I've also tried the Lee bottom pour pot, and I don't get results I like with it. I started with a Lee 20 pound pot (not bottom pour) and a RCBS dipper, and I've found I prefer that method to bottom pour. Again YMMV, I might prefer bottom pour if I had started out with one.

As for the rust issue with iron molds, so far I have not had a problem. I store them in a plastic box on several towels soaked in lubricant. I spray the cavities of the molds with lubricant and leave them that way until I want to use one. When I do, I attach it to my Lee handles (Lee handles work perfectly for Lyman/Ideal 1 or 2 cavity molds and are about 1/3 the price of Lyman ones), spray the mold with brake cleaner, wipe it down, and let it dry; lubricant gone, mold is ready to use. I heat the mold and my dipper up and get casting. If I do everything exactly right I generally get good bullets after about three pours.

 

[Superflywimpy]

I never had a problem with lee moulds

For me I found that keeping my lead very hot and not allowing my mould to cool down too much produces very good results for me. I have a lee melter with the pour tap built into it and once I mix my 16/1 mix and it's hot,I warm up my mould by dipping it in the lead and then I pour and cast. Dropping the cast bullets into a pot of water with an old teeshirt at the bottem to cushion them from deforming. Don't be afraid to buy lee,they are good if you take the time to find out what makes them work for you

 

[Beemer-mark]

I'm rather new at casting and started with a Lee 20# bottom pour and a 6 cavity 45 acp 225 gn mold. Maybe I was lucky but I'm amazed how easy it is. i've turned out about 500 bullets with great success. I use the Alox lube and don't have any problems with leading.

I've been reloading for decades and didn't start using Lee Precision dies and such until the last few years. Quite honestly I doubt if I'd ever buy anything but Lee based on my experience.

None of this stuff is high tech and I can't begin to understand why some 2 cavity molds are more than $100 without handles. Ditto for the lead pot, it nothing but an electric skillet.

 

[Cyrano]

Everyone'e experience varies. I haven't had good luck with Lee moulds. I use Lyman when I can't get anything else; RCBS is very good and SAECO even better in my experience. I've had no problem with them rusting, but I live in the desert. If I had a problem, I'd wrap them in 'vapor paper' and one of those plastic sleeves that the newspaper comes in when it rains. The mould has to be absolutely free of oil or grease, otherwise you'll get wrinkled bullets. They come with some sort of oil for a preservative. I've tried various methods of cleaning this, and had most luck with boiling them for abut 5 minutes in a strong solution of liquid dishwasher detergent and water. Then I rinse wiuth hot water and let air dry. Of course the chance of rusting with this treatment is high. I disasemble the mould completely and dry the parts as soon as they come out of the rinse water.

I started with a SAECO pot and after about 45 years when it burned out I got an RCBS. One peculiarity of my RCBS is that unless the lead in the pot is kept pretty hot, the spout freezes. It often does this when adding more metal to the pot and waiting for it to melt. If you're running bullets, the stream of lead keeps the spout warm enough. But often, when adding lead, I have to turn up the temp and wait 10 minutes or so for the spout to unfreeze. I've used a friend's Lee pot and liked it a lot, although rather small. Don't know why, but his Lee mould worked a lot better than the ones I've tried.

The Lyman cast bullet handbook is the bible. Nothing even comes close. If you can find Col Harrison's book on cast bullet loading, it goes into a lot more scientific detail. It's long out of print, and came from a series of articles in the American Rifleman. It mostly deals with loading for rifles.

Wear long sleeves, eye protection, gloves, and shoes whose tops come up under your pant legs. Lead spatters when casting, and it's HOT. Also make sure there's a stream of air across the pot away from your face; breathing the fumes is dangerous. I cast outdoors, and have it arranged that no wind can come across the pot towards me.

The Lyman lubri-sizer is good. The RCBS uses the same dies, and is more expensive, but I've never used one. I used a friend's SAECO once, and it was sort of awkward. The Star is very expensive and extremely crranky to set up. Once adjusted, it will sizer bullets faster than anything else. it doesn't work with gas check bullets, and isn't good for rifle bullets or round nosed pistol bullets; it's at its best with wadcutters, which is what it was designed for.

I use whatever bullet lube is cheap. Some of the hard ones, usually designed for high velocity rifle bullets, require the sizer to be heated before they'll flow.

Moulding bullets isn't the most fun I've ever had. I like to produce them as fast as possible; for pistol bullets I try to get 4 cavity moulds so I don't have to work so long to get a good quantity of bullets. However the're expensive, and for some calibers I only have two cavity moulds, which are the norm for pistol moulds.

 

[1911lover]

Thanks very much for the info., experience and recommendations gentlemen. I appreciate it all. My first priority is to get my hands on the Lyman book, then start gathering the equipment, probably a piece or two at a time. I am also dropping in on the Casting Boolits forum for info. on melting wheel weights to make ingots. Not rocket science, but info. to pay attention to for safety and quality.

Thanks again.

 

[acl864]

I just started casting myself. I went with the Lee 20 lbs bottom pour pot and Lee molds. I was casting useable bullets within an hour of turning the pot on using some store bought alloy. The tumble lube 158 LSWC's for 38/357 are working good for me with out sizing. Now I smelted my first batch of wheel weight into ingots Saturday and we'll see what kind of results I get using those.
The Lyman book had some good info but I got as much or more info from this forum and the castboolits forum. Not to say the book is not worth buying. It's definitely a good starting reference book. But there is also a lot of advanced expertise that is freely shared on these forums.

Good luck!

 

[machinisttx]

Andy, could you point me to where I can obtain a replacement thermostat for my Saeco pot? Mine is cranky and doesn't want to stay at the temp I have it set for.

 

[epj]

I have used both steel and aluminum molds. Both are good and make good bullets. I am currently using Lee 6 cavity molds with a Lee bottom pour pot. For sizing, I use a Lyman Lubrisizer with a heating element, since I favor the hard lubes that harden at room temp. With this setup, I can cast 450-500 bullets in an hour without too much difficulty. The 4 cavity Lyman molds are too heavy for me to use for an extended casting session. If you want to cast smaller quantities of bullets, the 2 cavity molds and dippers are ok. I used those for years.

 

[Andy Griffith]

Andy, could you point me to where I can obtain a replacement thermostat for my Saeco pot? Mine is cranky and doesn't want to stay at the temp I have it set for.

Ok...here goes.

Well, first let's hope it is the thermostat.

However, it is possible that it might be the element...or rather the ends of the wires on the element. The wires into the element are multi-strand copper instead of solid and they are known to get brittle and oxidize and break off because of the heat.

Here is a link to how a feller completely rebuilt his furnace...however I'd go with the company below that will custom make an element that goes near the spout- the one on mine is hard enough to keep hot anyway if not pouring very fast.
Link to the "rebuild" of the pot:
SAECO Element Replacement

If you need an element, these fellers can fix you up- all you have to do is send them your old element:
L & H Branding Irons
(much better than trying to bend your own!)

If you need a new thermostat, this one I have been told will work by my buddy, as he found it on another forum:
DATASURGE RETAIL

I have not changed it out myself yet, but a friend that has the same pot as mine has and it works well. I bought the thermostat in anticipation of failure.

However, if you don't want to fiddle with it yourself, I've been told these fellers can do it for you:
(They don't have a website that I can find)

Kings Klin Repair
9100 E 83rd St
Raytown MO 64138
816-358-9220


The last thing that it is possible to do to make it work that I have read, but don't want to try is to "straight wire" the element into a dimmer control/tool speed control that you can buy at Harbor Freight- just make certain to get one that handles enough amps. I wouldn't like this set up myself as I don't think it would look professional.