Some casting questions.

[Beau]

1) What is the best hardness tester you have used? What type/brand do you wish you would have bought?

2) Are 6 cavity moulds worthwhile or should I stick with 4 cavity? (I'll be using LEE moulds.)

3) Does anyone use the micro-band bullets? Are they as good as the bullets requiring hard lube?

4) When melting wheel weights do I need cut with tin or linotype?

5) Where can I get linotype?

Appreciate your answers. Thanks.

 

[phil1640]

Cast Boolits - Dedicated To The World Of Cast Bullets! A lot of info at this sight

 

[Delmar]

1) What is the best hardness tester you have used? What type/brand do you wish you would have bought?

2) Are 6 cavity moulds worthwhile or should I stick with 4 cavity? (I'll be using LEE moulds.)

3) Does anyone use the micro-band bullets? Are they as good as the bullets requiring hard lube?

4) When melting wheel weights do I need cut with tin or linotype?

5) Where can I get linotype?

Appreciate your answers. Thanks.

Linotype is a particular alloy made of 4% Tin 12% Antimony and 84% Lead. I am assuming that is by weight. That is the composition of the alloy they used for setting type on the Linotype printing press.

 

[G_Stines]

1) What is the best hardness tester you have used? What type/brand do you wish you would have bought? I personally don't use one that often, but I have a Lee hardness tester. I use wheel weights for most everything.

2) Are 6 cavity moulds worthwhile or should I stick with 4 cavity? (I'll be using LEE moulds.) That is a decision completely up to you. I use single molds for all my bullets.

3) Does anyone use the micro-band bullets? Are they as good as the bullets requiring hard lube? I have no input on this one, as I have never used it.

4) When melting wheel weights do I need cut with tin or linotype? I don't usually.

5) Where can I get linotype? EBAY!!!!! eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

Appreciate your answers. Thanks.

You're welcome hope I helped at least a little bit!!!

 

[Delmar]

Cast Boolits - Dedicated To The World Of Cast Bullets! A lot of info at this sight

+1 on Cast boolits. There are not only people there who can tell you what you need to know there are vendors there that can get you what you need, in many cases.

 

[IndianasFinest]

I use straight wheel weights with Lee six cavity molds to cast .45 ACP, and 9mm boolits. I don't use a hardness tester either, and have never had a problem. I also highly recommend the castboolits forum for information since it is jam packed with it. Ton's of knowledgable people over there !!

 

[IndianasFinest]

Forgot to mention that I use the tumble lube/micro band molds, and they work well. I suffer from a mild case of OCD so I run everything through the sizer, but usually they just slide right through.

 

[Beau]

Thanks for the answers.

Next question. How many 175-180 gr. boolits will I get out of a pound of lead?

 

[mac45]

1 pound = 7000 grains
7000/175=40

 

[dleeharrison]

I use both wheel weights and spent bullets that I salvage from shooting ranges. I don't use a hardness tester either. The copper and impurities from the spent bullets are separated and the mix is fluxed before I pour the mix into ingots for later use. I use two melting pots - one for reclaiming bullets and the other for casting bullets. I cast 357, 45-70 as well as minie bullets and round balls. I tumble lube the bullets and run them through a sizer.

 

[Leadeye]

Good answers all, welcome to casting, you will save cash and have fun.

 

[Gunaria]

The boys & girls over at cast boolits, that's all they do. They know their stuff. Also a very friendly site. They won't tell you read the FAQ. Just ask what you want to know and they will tell you more than what you ever wanted too hear.

 

[451_Detonics]

I used the Lee six cavity mold for the microband bullets...actually I used two, hate waiting... and they do fine. The bullet shoots very well and I won several Action Pistol Matches with them.

Linotype...I got mine from a couple of print shops that either closed or quit using offset printing. You might ask around as there is gold in some of those basements, especially older shops.

 

[wolfman]

1) What is the best hardness tester you have used? What type/brand do you wish you would have bought?

2) Are 6 cavity moulds worthwhile or should I stick with 4 cavity? (I'll be using LEE moulds.)

3) Does anyone use the micro-band bullets? Are they as good as the bullets requiring hard lube?

4) When melting wheel weights do I need cut with tin or linotype?

5) Where can I get linotype?

Appreciate your answers. Thanks.

1) I have a Lee, is a pain, but works ok
2) Lee only makes 2 or 6 cav, and the 6 cav are worth the money if you shoot a lot, I have both.
3) I use the TL style WC in my .357, the SWC in both my .40 & .45, and the 2R in .45. I TL using a 50-50 mix of Alox and Johnsons Paste Wax thinned with mineral spirits, I get great accuracy and no leading.
4) When I get my wheel weights from the tire shop, the bucket contains a mix of clip on and stick on weights. The stick on's are pure lead, and the clip on's contain some tin. I don't sort before smelting, and usually end up with a 12 bh alloy.
5) You can find several sources of Lino on Cast Boolits, but really shouldn't need it unless you are casting for a rifle, and expect to be over 1,000 fps.

 

[Beau]

Dropped $300 on casting equipment yesterday. The way I figure it I will save at a minimum $500 a year on ammo by casting. And that is just the savings on .40 that I use for competition.

 

[G_Stines]

I used the Lee six cavity mold for the microband bullets...actually I used two, hate waiting... and they do fine.

This makes me smile. I use only single cavity molds... I actually prefer them.

Linotype...I got mine from a couple of print shops that either closed or quit using offset printing. You might ask around as there is gold in some of those basements, especially older shops.

This is very very true!! And some of the local car mechanics will give you wheel weights. I get most of my lead from these fellas.

 

[IndianasFinest]

Thats where my lead comes from since I work as a mechanic for our local Ford dealer. As of right now I have four 5 gallon buckets filled to the very, very top Another nice thing is that I know exactly what is in my pot when smelting. I hand sort all of my wheel weights before they go into my stash (see previous post about OCD, lol). I add about 20 pounds a week so it's not like I sit down, and go though a 5 gallon bucket at one time. Little by little the buckets get filled, and my firearms get fed

 

[jason867]

1) What is the best hardness tester you have used? What type/brand do you wish you would have bought?

I've only used the Lee tester. Works great. But it's kinda hard to use in a progressive press.

2) Are 6 cavity moulds worthwhile or should I stick with 4 cavity? (I'll be using LEE moulds.)

I love the 6 cavity moulds. Really accelerates your casting. The problem is, you'll need a bigger pot and pouring ladle, or just a big bottom-pour pot, to keep up with them. You'll need more lead too, otherwise it's all over too quick

3) Does anyone use the micro-band bullets? Are they as good as the bullets requiring hard lube?

I've used the micro-band boolits, but I prefer the traditional style, for a couple reasons.

I think the traditional style is easier when it comes to setting overall length and the proper amount of crimp. The many ribs on the tumble lube boolits gave me trouble with OAL and crimping.

The traditional style can be tumble lubed as well, mine works fine that way.

Also, I don't bother sizing my boolits. Sometimes a finished cartridge will be too wide to chamber, because of a slightly bigger boolit. But I use the lee factory crimp die and post sizer, and it squeezes them back down to where they should be. That's lots easier than using a sizer, because of the progressive press. I'm probably sacrificing some accuracy that way, by not having uniform boolits. But I mostly reload for pistols and shoot at 25 yards, so it's negligible in my opinion. It may be better to size the boolits for more accuracy in rifle loads.

4) When melting wheel weights do I need cut with tin or linotype?

I just use straight wheel weights. I recommend seperating out the adhesive weights, they're pure lead and will result in more varying hardness levels from batch to batch.

You may put some linotype in to increase hardness for high velocity rifle boolits. But not needed really for most pistol boolits.

also, when melting down wheel weights, anything that doesn't melt is either steel or zinc weights. Pull them out and throw them in the trash. The zinc will eventually melt but it will ruin the rest of your lead by making it very hard to pour.

5) Where can I get linotype?
ebay

Appreciate your answers. Thanks.

just thought I'd give my

 

[Beau]

Thanks Jason. Good info. I'm getting close to being able to get started. I have the stuff to start melting wheel weights into ingots. Apparantly the mould block is supposed to get some type of lube so I'll have to order that if I can't find it in a shop somewhere.