Hello all, I find bullet casting intriguing. I have recently started reloading and am interested in giving casting a shot. I have a lot of old downrigger fishing lead to start with. Is that lead good for casting .38, .357, and .45? Do I have to mix something in it to harden it? Book recommendations? I (from reading this site recently) see that Lee products are used and can be ordered from Midway or maybe a better source. What does "gas check" do or mean? Thanks for site and will keep reading this great source. Thanks C

Welcome to the forum calab. Rules are simple, be nice and join in. If what you have is prue lead it helps to mix in some wheel weight or Linotype to make it a little harder. You can often trade pure soft lead to folks that load muzzle loaders for wheel weight's for your handguns.

I like the lee equipment and thier liquid alox lubing system is simple and works very well. Gas checks are small copper cups that are crimped on the back of a lead bullet to allow faster velocities without leading. To install them you need Lee's bullets sizer or a lubra-sizer.

I use a Lee bottom pour melter and Lee's aluminum molds along with the swirl lube system of lubing. I cast and load for the 357/38, 40 S&W, 41 magnum, 44 magnum and 45 Colt handguns and for the 30 and 8mm rifle.

This is good fun stuff to do and can save you a bunch of money if you have some time to invest in it.

caleb:

Hello and welcome. Be sure to read the safety topic at the top of the forum. When casting lead don't do anything that you are not sure about. Casting bullets is not that hard to do, but an accident or mistake can have catastropic consequences. Also remember that lead is poisonous and will accumulate in the body.

Your lead sinkers are probably very soft, maybe even pure lead. If you use it to cast your bullets be sure to use very mild loads. Even at that you might end up with nasty lead smears in the barrel that are hard to clean out. I have "bit the buller" ( no pun intended) and now purchase lead of known alloy. The alloy content of wheelweights, battery lead, and plumbing scraps varies all over the place. Linotype is frequently mentioned, but this type of metal is getting harder to find. It is not really used in modern printing operations. If you don't have a rather expensive hardness tester you never will know the hardness of your metal and may be wasting your time.

I use a 20 lb Lee bottom pour furnace and lube and size my bullets on a Lyman 4500 sizer. Be sure to get extra sticks of lube. It seems to take almost one stick just to prime the reservoir. The Lyman 4500 comes with a gas check accessory. Some molds are designed for gas check bullets and some have a plain base. In theory, the gas check, which is a small copper cup, will allow higher velocities without leading the barrel.

I cast my bullets with 1 in 30 alloy (one part tin to 30 parts lead) for black powder cartridges, 45-70, 40-70SS, and 45 LC. Im sure that there are others on this forum that can advise you better than I can on bullet casting for modern smokeless powder loads.