Casting ?!

[kutkota]

Spent a few minutes at the local reloading superstore and spoke with the owners. Not only did I pick up a few tips on making my guns more accurate, buffing and polishing the bore, but I had a good discussion on castings and casting my own.
Ingredients needed
1. Lead alloy
2. Melter
3. casting
4. sizer? Not sure what the name exactly is.
5. Apparently the sizer is also a luber?

He had over a thousand pounds of lead alloy ingents and claims to have the perfect alloy combination needed for casting. I forget what the exact percentages where.

Seems it all could be had for a few hundred as far as start up cost. He mentioned heat treating the cast bullets. I was running out of time or I would have spent more time with him.

He said cooling the cast bullets in water is good enough. What would be involved with heat treating and for you that do this is it truely needed. I am not wanting hyperaccurate rounds. Just some plinking stuff and a way to feed my addiction. I know you knife makers use oil when quenching your beautiful blades. Is this something to look into or is water good enough?

I think I want a single bullet cast as he explained it if you have a four or six bullet mold when the last is poured the first is to cool and the hardness of the casting would be effected.

Feel free to add, delete or whatever!
Thanks in advance. I thought it would be out of reach but I am thinking seriously about pulling the trigger. Haha, I crack myself up.

[stmtrn]

If you are making bullets for just practice and what not I would not try and harden. It is just another step. Once you have your bullets poured they will start hardening. I have been told that a bullet will gain a couple of hardness points a month just being in storage. With just wheel weight lead I can get 1 in moa out of my target pistols at 50 yards from a rest. Just pour, size-lube, reload and fire away.

[kutkota]

Awesome thanks for the advice.

[williepete]

I haven't checked prices in years, but I bet you can get a melting pot, ladle, molds and sizer for less than 200. The sizer is a device that actually sizes the bullet to the actual size and puts lube in the groves of the slug.

Bill

[kutkota]

Feb 4, 2013 11:54:26 GMT -7 williepete said:

I haven't checked prices in years, but I bet you can get a melting pot, ladle, molds and sizer for less than 200. The sizer is a device that actually sizes the bullet to the actual size and puts lube in the groves of the slug.

Bill

Great, thanks for the comments. It has seemed that your numbers are farly accurate. I have found most of what, atlest as far as I know, will need for right at 200. Perhaps I am looking at the wrong molds, but man they seem to be proud of those suckers. I am looking forward to the process. Thanks.