bullet casting info

[ldsparamedic]

Hey all, I'm looking to start casting my own bullets and have a couple of questions.

1. Can you cast hollow points or do you have to hollow them out?
2. Is it possible to copper plate them to reduce fowling?
3. How do you reduce the lead fouling from a non plated bullet?
Thank you. -John

[DM]

Hey all, I'm looking to start casting my own bullets and have a couple of questions.

1. *Can you cast hollow points or do you have to hollow them out?
2. *Is it possible to copper plate them to reduce fowling?
3. * How do you reduce the lead fouling from a non plated bullet?
Thank you. *-John

1. Yes, with a HP mould...

2. Yes, but it's really not practical... In fact i'm not shure where'd you'd get copper wash today?? I lube bullets with ALOX in the bullet groves and i don't have any fowling...

3. By adding tin to make the lead harder ... Also there's tempering and a few other tricks to hardening bullets...

If your bbl is smooth in the first place, and if you add a bit of tin to the lead to harden it, (if needed) unless your driveing your bullets very fast you shouldn't have leading problems.

DM

[kawalekm]

Hi John
I've cast my own hollowpoints, though the problem with them is it is usually harder to produce the best quality bullet with a hollowpoint as compared to a soft point. *They're kind of slow too, because the hollowpointing pin means there can only be one bullet per mold. *Other soft point bullets come in molds with 2, 4, or 6 bullet cavities per mold. *Look at the semi-wadcutter (SWC) style that is made in most calibers. *The best ones were designed by Elmer Keith himself and are excellent game getters.

I've got a long-term project planned for electroplating my own bullets. *You need access to chemicals like cupric sulfate and sulfuric acid. *Unless you have access to a chemical laboratory, you might not get it to work.

I make good bullet alloy by collecting scrap wheelweights (free) at my tire shop, and add between 2.5-5.0% tin in the form of scrap solder, pewter, and tinware. *I've accumulated about 20 lbs of tin to alloy with as much as 400 lbs of wheel weights, so I'm set for the next 18-20 thousand bullets.

Besides the alloy, you should also lubricate the bullets before loading. *Some styles of cast bullet have a "grease groove" designed to hold the waxy-like lubricant. *Other styles have lots of shallow grooves and are designed to be "tumble lubed" by shaking them in a can.

If you want some great information on bullet making check out Dean Grennell's book "The ABC's of reloading". *Each addition has had several chapters devoted to bullet making.
Good luck to you,
Michael

[DM]

A HP design bullet is NOT one that i would want to learn to cast on... But i've cast thousands of them, and once you learn how to make them they aren't so bad to cast... Learning to keep the temp right is EVERYTHING.

As for the EXACT bullet Elmer Keith designed, the Keith "style" bullets are for the most part, a better design. The real Keith bullet has the design of the grease grove in such a way, it's VERY hard to cast.

I like the RCBS Keith style bullets much better, and i've won a LOT of long range competition using them, especially the RCBS 44-250KT... I prefer that bullet even over the much liked Lyman 429421...

DM

[sethwyo]

Once upon a time i had about 50 or so bullet molds, i cast everything from .22's to 50's , i did gun shows and sold the common and the uncommon and even a few rare cast bullets by the 100 or 500 round box.

in two years i went through a ton of ingots.

i really liked making bullets, your in for some fun.

a small copper cup called a 'gas check' is added to the cast bullet before it is luber-sized, it snaps over the bottom of the bullet, it will remind you of the little half jacketed bullets.

with a gas check, which comes in whichever cal. you need for the bullet, you can get higher vel. and it helps prevent leading to a point.

with aluminum molds you cant cast as long, if the aluminum gets too hot, and it will, the lead sticks and dosnt cool to allow the bullet to form, the molds will also warp.

use a pencil to scribble on and coat the top of your molds between the top and the sheer plate, this will stop leading inbetween there. the graphite in the pencil is what does it.

when i cast, i droped the bullets in a bucket of water, it hardened them. you can heat the cast bullets in a tray in a oven, not too hot to melt them,but you can control how hot they are that way,then place them in water to harden them.
there is a hardness scale tester available, i payed about $100 for mine ten years ago.

a lube and sizer press is like a reloading press,you put differnt size dies in it to size the bullets to what dia.you want,.308, .309, . 310 ect. you lubricate the bullets at the same time with the press.

some pistol bullets dont need sizing, and you can put them in a can with lube and shake it the coat the whole bullet.

if you use wheel weights, use soem flux like wax or borax to keep the tin and antimony from seperating from the lead when you smelt them into ingots.

[High_Desert]

All good advice above. the only thing I would add is you can get multi cavity hollowpoint moulds made.

In additon you can do a "Cramer" style HP conversion that keeps the pins retained in the mould. This speeds up casting considerably.

Casting is addictive, have fun.

HD

[Pitdog]

I got a box full of molds coming in the next week, and am looking for help for whenever they get here. Ladels? Heat source? etc?

[sethwyo]

whatever works works.

i used some electric heat pots that held ten pounds of lead, these wore made spicificaly for melting lead for casting, and had a port in the bottom with a handle you pulled that let molten lead stream out the bottom right into the mold, It was so easy it didnt even feel like work.

Iv used a spoon for a ladel, a simple table spoon from the kitchen drewer bent to fit the job.
And iv melted lead in a pot on a stove, but dont breath the fumes from the melted lead.
a fan set to suck the fumes away and push them out a window or something like that.

A good thick leather glove for the hand you will be using, And do be VERY careful that you NEVER let any water or moisture of any kind get into the pot while its hot, it will litterly cause the lead to explode out everywhere and blind you, you'll get burned too.

[High_Desert]

I got a box full of molds coming in the next week, and am looking for help for whenever they get here. Ladels? Heat source? etc?

Pitdog,
I am using a cheap Lee pot and an old lyman dipper, no issues. I keep meaning to buy a couple more pots but I keep buying molds instead! "Bill Ferguson, The antimony man" makes some really nice pots and ladles. My wife bought me one of his ladles but I need a bigger pot to use it. It will be perfect for multi cavity molds.

You may consider joining the Cast Bullet Association also.
www.castbulletassoc.org
Great magazine, with some very knowledgeable writers. Also Handloader magazine does some great cast bullet articles.

Best Regards,
HD

[Teg]

Recently found this company that sells ingots (pure lead and some alloy) for casting, they also sell some casting equipment.

http://www.rotometals.com/Bullet-Casting-Alloys-s/5.htm

[kawalekm]

Remember now, the more things you have to buy, the greater your overall bullet costs will be. I wouldn't even consider paying money for lead. I've got a bunch of 5 gallon buckets overflowing full with old wheelweights that I keep as a reserve. All of it from visits to service stations when I need something done. I've even got lead from stations I wasn't a customer at, but just happened to be passing by and poked my head in. I have payed money in the past for tin, but I've gotten good at scrounging that too, and my cost for tin averages <1$ per pound.

[Wyobuckaroo]

If you absolutely have to have hollow points, there is a couple different ways of drilling them.

One uses a jig in a drill press. The other used a jig and drill in a case length trimmer.

Or at least these were available 25 or so years ago.........

Good luck
Wyo

[kawalekm]

This might be the tool that Wyo is talking about.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=371968

It is designed to work with the Forster case trimming die, but I bought one and tried to use it on my drill press. You are supposed to drill the hollowpoints after making complete cartridges.

I had a couple of problems with it on the drill press. It was hard to keep the case from spinning after the drill bit caught, and concentricity is nowhere near what I would expect they should be. The lead was also carved out of the hole in a ribbon, instead of as chips and it only worked if the bit was well oiled. Haven't shot them yet, so I can't say if they're inaccurate or not.
Michael.