A Rainy Saturday

[Jeff Higgins]

Might as well cast some bullets...

[Shaun @ Tru6]

you will need more.

[Jeff Higgins]

Might have to switch to silver in place of the lead wheel weights I normally use...

[GH85Carrera]

Did you need a Casting Couch” for that like the Hollywood directors?

[herr_oberst]

This is probably the dumbest question ever, but can a home bullet-caster jacket the lead with copper? Or would he even want to? Here's my line of thought...I know - through this BBS - that Higgins is fussy about the loading process, and I'm thinking that if that discarded lead has any impurities, then bubbles or occlusions might cause the trajectories and velocities to differ from cartridge to cartridge, and perhaps a jacket would smooth the airflow thus making results more consistent....

(Full disclosure - I'm not a gun guy..)

(All of you gun guys probably just figured that out.)

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

This is probably the dumbest question ever, but can a home bullet-caster jacket the lead with copper? Or would he even want to? Here's my line of thought...I know - through this BBS - that Higgins is fussy about the loading process, and I'm thinking that if that discarded lead has any impurities, then bubbles or occlusions might cause the trajectories and velocities to differ from cartridge to cartridge, and perhaps a jacket would smooth the airflow thus making results more consistent....

(Full disclosure - I'm not a gun guy..)

(All of you gun guys probably just figured that out.)

Great questions, really - lots of folks who would call themselves "gun guys" are kind of in the dark on all of this as well.

Yes, we can swage a copper jacket onto home made bullets. A company called Corbin makes the equipment that makes this possible. It's a lot of work, though, and really unnecessary for handgun or lower velocity rifle bullets. Rifle bullets meant for high velocity use are pretty much required to wear a copper jacket. Not for any in-flight issues, but just to keep the lead from smearing in the bore - "leading" the bore, which results in a dramatic loss in accuracy. The harder copper jacket prevents this.

Yes, this discarded lead does have its share of impurities. We remove those through generous fluxing when we first melt the lead so that we can pour it into ingot molds for later use in our casting pots. I use a camp stove and a big cast iron kettle to melt down the discarded wheel weights I get from the local tire store. This allows me to flux it, and also to remove the steel clips that are crimped to the rim. I then pour the molten lead into a muffin tin to form my "ingots", which fit nicely into my casting pot.

By the time I cast bullets with it, the lead alloy is quite clean and consistent. I'm very picky about the bullets I keep as well - any with visible defects as they come from the mold are just tossed back into the pot. Internal inclusions or voids are virtually non-existent, to the point that with handgun bullets, I don't bother to check for them. For long range match rifle bullets, I weigh them to check for these defects.

Jackets are really quite unnecessary on handgun bullets. The very best handgun bullets, for any purpose, are those we cast ourselves. Jackets (on handgun bullets) only exist as a manufacturing, handling, and shipping expedient, with the manufacturers having sold the shooting world a bill of goods regarding their actual usefulness in shooting. Good cast bullets, of the proper designs and proper alloys, are impossible to mass produce for many reasons. So, unable to provide proper cast bullets, the industry has duped shooters into believing jacketed bullets are "better". Nothing could be further from the truth, at least as far as handgun bullets.

[A930Rocket]

How fast can you make the rounds? Once poured, what’s the cooling period where you can remove them and repour the molds?

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

How fast can you make the rounds? Once poured, what’s the cooling period where you can remove them and repour the molds?

I use two molds at a time during a casting session. The way it works out, timing-wise, is just about perfect as I alternate the molds.

Starting from where I have both molds full, it goes like this: I pick one one up, knock its sprue plate open with a plastic dead blow hammer, open the mold to drop its two bullets on the towel (the photo shows the molds sitting on this towel), close it up and re-fill it, set it down, put its bullets in the cardboard tray, pick up the other mold and repeat. Alternating like this, I can keep the molds hot enough to produce good bullets without overheating them. If you cut the sprues too soon, when they are too hot, they will streak the top of the mold and make a real mess.

The quantity shown in the photo, about 150 each of two different bullets, represents about three hours of casting.

Here is a good photo of an open bullet mold, with the sprue plate swung open. When closed, the sprue plate holes are over the cavities in the mold. The cavities are filled until overflowing, leaving a puddle on top of the sprue plate. Hitting the tab on the sprue plate swings it open, cutting the sprues, and leaving a nice flat base on the bullet. Opening the mold then drops the bullets out of it.

[Bill Douglas]

I hope you don't breath the fumes.

A friend who casts his own pistol bullets goes around the tire centers and gets old lead wheel weights for free. He said this lead has just the right properties for pistol bullets.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Great questions, really - lots of folks who would call themselves "gun guys" are kind of in the dark on all of this as well.

100%.

I really enjoy these threads, Jeff, especially the attention to detail.

Rainy Sunday here in Maryland - cleaning my shop and identifying things to sell at the big Amish Auction in November

[javadog]

Are there any parting lines visible on the bullets, where the two mold halves come together? Ever do any hand finishing on any of them, or do you just case them as cast.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

I hope you don't breath the fumes.

A friend who casts his own pistol bullets goes around the tire centers and gets old lead wheel weights for free. He said this lead has just the right properties for pistol bullets.

Yup, that's exactly what I do. Wheel weights are about 97% lead and 3% antimony, which render them pretty ideal for pistol bullets. One of the happy little happenstances with this mix is that they are also able to be hardened post-casting. Some "water quench" them by dropping them straight into a bucket of water, some heat-treat them in the oven. Either results in a somewhat harder bullet. Myself, I just shoot them as cast.

For my match rifle bullets (used in long range black powder competition), I spend some money and buy my lead alloy from a local foundry. I use a 20:1 lead/tin mix for these, with no antimony. The tin hardens them just a little bit but, more importantly, makes the alloy fill out the molds for these big bullets (500 to 540 grains in .45 caliber) better.

Originally Posted by javadog

Are there any parting lines visible on the bullets, where the two mold halves come together? Ever do any hand finishing on any of them, or do you just case them as cast.

Good question. You would be amazed at how nicely these cast - there is hardly a visible parting line at all. Not enough to affect anything.

The next step after casting is to apply the bullet lubricant and, if necessary, size the bullet a bit. Most molds cast a bit oversize for their given caliber. We can actually play with this a bit by varying the alloy, as different alloys shrink more upon cooling. Pure lead casts the smallest bullets, and adding an alloying metal increases their size. The bullets shown above, for the .357 and .44 magnums, come out of their molds at .359" and .431". I size them to .358" and .430".

Here is a photo of the Lyman lubricator/sizer that I use. Pulling down on the big handle (at the top of the linkage and large ram, exiting the frame to the top left), the ram forces the bullet down into a sizing die that is held under that hex nut. When down inside the die, the lube is forced into its lube grooves. The left side of this thing houses the lubricant, and turning the spindle (with a wrench) sticking up out of it forces a piston down into it. The lubricant is then forced over to the sizing die part of the press on the right.



Here is the sizing die. The lube enters it through the holes in the side. This is really two pieces, the outside ring is the die and the inside is a piston, or a plunger, on which the bullet is placed. This is pushed down into the die along with the bullet. Once the bullet is sized and lubed, raising the big handle then raises the black steel u-shaped strap that runs from the press handle and linkage all the way underneath the die, which pushes up on the bottom of the plunger inside the die, pushing the now sized and lubed bullet back out.



My pistol bullets all cast oversize and get sized and lubed in this manner. My match rifle bullets all cast at the size I will be shooting them, so they don't get sized. I still run them through this lubricator/sizer, but I use a sizing die that is the diameter of the as-cast bullet. All I'm really doing, then, is lubricating them.

[javadog]

I’m not surprised that this has all been figured out long ago and people make the right equipment to do it. That’s a pretty efficient way to size something.

[Jeff Higgins]

Yeah, that particular lubricator/sizer has been unchanged since the late 19th century, believe it or not. It's from the old Ideal Tool Company, which was purchased by Lyman. Two of my powder measures date from the same period. It's all still produced today, unchanged.

[gsxrken]

Nice work. There is a certain zen that can be achieved passing time in such pursuits and gaining insight into the nature of things.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by gsxrken

Nice work. There is a certain zen that can be achieved passing time in such pursuits and gaining insight into the nature of things.

I find it very relaxing. Crank up the tunes on the garage stereo, take a seat, and start casting away. And when I'm done, I have a pretty good pile of free bullets that will out perform anything we can buy commercially.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

I find it very relaxing. Crank up the tunes on the garage stereo, take a seat, and start casting away. And when I'm done, I have a pretty good pile of free bullets that will out perform anything we can buy commercially.

This is a cool hobby, I need a hobby like this or in reality I need to make time for a hobby

Jeff, thanks for posting and taking time to explain