Well, I got started casting this week. I spent a week smelting and casting ingots in muffin tins and stockpiled about 100, 2.25lb ingots. Figuring that was enough for now, I thought I would wait until I bought a bottom pour pot before starting to cast bullets. Well, I don't have the $250 to get a rcbs pot right now and I don't want the lee or lyman ... and the curiosity was killing me! So I went ahead and tried my hand at dipper casting from a small stainless steel pot. It worked great! I cast about 600 220-grain .45 swc bullets from a 4-cavity hensley and gibb mold in about 4 hours. I definitely got better at it as I went along, figuring out the proper melt temperature and the proper mold temperature, and figuring out the right way to pour the lead into the mold, etc. It is great fun. I had already procured a lyman 450 with the proper top punch and sizing die, as well as lee alox stick lube and some lee alox liquid lube. I sized those puppies to .452 (they dropped out at .454) and loaded 45 of them up in some acp cases, and another 50 in some 45 colt cases over a light charge of unique. I'll try them next week. I am very excited because this means much cheaper shoot of the 45s and 44s and 357s, hehe! regards and thanks to all.

Hey, All right! Better to make bullets with what you've got than wait until you can buy the "proper" equipment. I started with an old Coleman stove, and I'm still using it.

Bye
Jack

Lawboy
Isn't satisfying to see a pile of shiny hot fresh bullets laying there? When I finish an evenings casting I still feel like I've got my own money making machine or my own ammo factory when I see all those pretty bullets.
May I suggest that you take some of those bullets, as cast, and lube them and shoot them just as they came from the mold. Do everything the same as you do with the bullets you sized to .452 and see if there's much difference.
Jim

Welcome to the wonderful world of bullet casting.

I am new to the mix myself, and have found nothing but kind, helpful, and considerate people on this forum. I have been snubbed on other sites due to my age (23) but not here as of yet. Alot of people just think I can't know anything, or am just a childish kid. I have only been into reloading and bullet casting for about a year, but I already have quite a bunch of stuff. I do quite a bit of research before I buy new equipment, because at my age the funds can be kind of tight!. My casting equipment consists of:

Lee Molds
Lee 10 pound bottom pour pot
Lee 20 pound bottom pour pot
lee liquid alox bullet lube
cans to drop bullets into
Lee ingot mold

I have had nothing but success so far with my casting. As they say " Ask questions, and you shall learn"

If you have any questions, or would like to talk to another newcomer, let me know

Justin Korpal
920-471-8008

Guess most of us started by melting lead in a pot and hand dipping...sometimes I wodner if I wasn't better off staying with that simple equipment.

Still think it's the best way to get started. Great way to learn, get a real first hand feel for lead temeprature and its effect on casting.

I have cast for 30 years. I still have and use the first Lee pot I bought. I have 2 other Lee pots and process alloy from scrap in 200lb batches. My point is the Lee pots aren't fancy but they keep on trucking. I have never seen the need for a more expensive one.

Got to agree with bigfoot, If your new to casting I'm wondering when you decided the Lee was not any good. I've had my ten pound bottom poor model for 15 years now and hundred of thousands of good bullets. If it is price alone inexpensive does not always mean poor quality. I've also found the Lee molds usually cast bullets that unless your putting on a gas check do not need to even go thru a sizer.

At under 25 bucks a pop you can add a lot of Lee molds to your bench for the price of one of the high end lead pots.

Welcome to the casting clan. My son and his two girls and I put about 500 to a thousand rounds of cast bullets down range a month.

IF your casting with a pot, dipper, and a fire has showen anything, it's show that the lead doesn't much care what melts it.

lawboy .What can I say? You've bitten and taken the bait.Your friends & family will never see you again youv'e been bitten by the bug to cast the perfect bullet .Enjoy.The savings are amazing.& you feel yuo've got more control over yuor ammo

yeah, it is a great feeling and it a lot of fun.
i'll be here asking for more help for sure!