bullet casting

[stealintv]

Hey everyone. I just received a cabelas gift card for my b-day last month, and thought it might be time to start bullet casting. I was curious about which you like better in regard to a melter. I see there are bottom pour and dipper models. I am looking at the Lee 6 cavity mold and wondering which model of melter would be better for this application. Anyone with experience care to chime in? I only plan to cast for my 45acp at this time.

Do the bottom pour models leave a mess on your work bench? I would assume the dipper model is cleaner as you can work over the top and let excess drip back into the pot. Maybe that's a bad idea due to splashing...?

Also, how accurate in size are the cast bullets produced from the mold? I see that they manufacture bullet sizers/press. Is this necessary or just an added precaution to ensure size and safety?

Thanks in advance.

[Unclenick]

PM one of the moderators and ask him to move this thread to the Bullet Casting forum where you'll get more of the answers you'll want.

Bottom pour is faster and easier with a six cavity mold. Some swear by ladle pouring for best accuracy in rifle bullets and for less propensity to get dross inclusions in the bullets, but for pistol accuracy you won't usually notice the difference and you'll appreciate the improved speed.

You need a fire resistant surface in a ventilated area for casting. Molten lead will got on things.

Lubricator-sizers both final size a bullet and pressure inject lubricant into the lube groove of a conventional cast bullet design. For .45 ACP velocities you will get satisfactory results using Lee Liquid Alox or White Label Xlox which coat the bullets without need for pressure injection. If you combine that with a Lee tumble lube bullet design you may not need to size at all. Only if the bullets are too fat and swell the case too much to let your finished rounds chamber might you need to size them to 0.452". If that happens, the Lee sizing is designed to work on your loading press, so you don't need the separate lubricator-sizer press.

Just be aware you cannot use the Liquid Alox or Xlox to lubricate the mold the way you can a wax-based lube. They form a sticky varnish if you do. You will need some candle wax or beeswax or other lube for the mold pins and sprue plate pivot.

[AlaskaMike]

It's hard to add anything beyond what Unclenick wrote. I wholeheartedly agree on the bottom pour vs. ladle pots. I put a 2x6 board under the spout on my Lee 10 lb. bottom pour pot to catch the drips, and it works fine.

[armoredman]

My bottom pour Lee sits on an old end table with cardboard under it to save the table from splashes, and there are splashes. I also wear a towel across the front below the shirt, and that stops a lot of lead that might have neded up on my clothes. No, the cardboard doesn't catch fire, it doesn't even brown in the short time a lead splash needs to cool.
Welcome to a fun new world, don't forget another great resource is castboolits.gunloads.com.

[Edward429451]

I like bottom pour and 6 cav moulds for speed. With good technique you can put a whole mess of good boolits on the table in short order! The Boolits will only be as good as the mould manufacturer first, and your alloy second, and technique third.
Lee's bottom pour pots are dripomatics, I set an ingot mould under it.
RCBS bottom pour does not drip on mine unless debris is in the tip.
Lee is in the habit of shipping undersized moulds.
Wear long sleeves and hat & glasses.

[zippy13]

I, too, use bottom feed LEE melters and 6-cavity molds. I mentioned in a recent similar thread:

I cast using two electric melting pots simultaneously. With only one pot, it seems just when you get your rhythm going you run out of lead. Add more lead, and you have to wait for the pot to get back up to temp and the mold cools down in the process. With two pots, one is for casting while the other comes up to temp -- minimum down time and less frustration maintaining temp.

[hornady]

Asking about pots, molds, seizers, and lube you will get as many answers as there are products on the market. The first item I would buy would be the Lyman cast bullet book, not that Lyman is any better or worse than RCBS, or Saeco, and like all manuals they will push their equipment, but it will give you a good understanding of what you are doing.
The 45ACP is a relatively easy round to cast; a wheel weight mix will cover just about all your loads. But then how much shooting do you do, low volume, get the Lee Tumble lube mold, and you may not need to size them.
If you are shooting and casting up around what I do, you are going to need to slug the Barrel, for the proper sizing Die, and you may want to go with a little better equipment.
Ladle pouring bullets is very time consuming. If you go with the Lee bottom pour pot like most do, I would opt for the Lee 4-20, it’s a little more money, But the smaller 10 pound pots you will be filling constantly. Keep as much of the garbage as possible out of the pot, and you will keep the dripping too a minimum.

[armoredman]

One thing I found out the hard way, after using only Lee two cavity moulds, when using a 5-6 cavity, PRE HEAT. Put it on a hot plate, stove top, something, pre heat it and it's sprue plate for far better results!
Ed, oddly enough, my favorite mould, a Lee 124gr 9mm tumble lube mould, drops at .360, so I use the puch through sizers to size it .358 for 38 Special, and .356 for 9mm. Works well.

[GP100man]

yep 20#er for a six banger for shore !!!

As far as the mess , that comes with practice !!start on a peice of plywood on the table .

& get a hot plate to pre warm the six banger on !!!!

[MrWesson]

Why not just put one end of the mold in the melted lead for a min or so. I just ordered a 6 cavity mold to replace my 2 cavity and I just used a propane torch to heat it up.

[AlaskaMike]

Why not just put one end of the mold in the melted lead for a min or so. I just ordered a 6 cavity mold to replace my 2 cavity and I just used a propane torch to heat it up.

Both those methods are a little controversial, but normally that's with steel moulds. When it comes to aluminum moulds like the Lees (considering the rapid heat transfer qualities of aluminum), I don't think it's a problem.

I preheat all my moulds, both steel (RCBS, Lyman and Ballisticast) and aluminum (Lee and Mountain Moulds) on a cheap hot plate I bought at Walmart for $10.

[stealintv]

Thanks everyone for your replies and the mods for moving this post. I admit I did not see the Casting section at the top of the Reloading area. ooops! Anyway, bottom pour it is. I assumed that it could be messy, so a piece of wood underneath the work area is a given. I will definitely check out a new book though before I begin. My Lee manual only has a little section on casting, and it is manufacturer specific. Thanks again everyone.

[TXGunNut]

Welcome to the affliction!

[chris in va]

Use safety glasses, welders gloves and long pants. Sooner or later the tinsel fairly comes to visit.

[armoredman]

I also add the kevlar arm sleeves a buddy sent, especially when casting during hot weather and I'm not wearing long sleeves.