We have been reloading for a while but have never tried to cast bullets. I want to start with the pistol bullets . We shoot 357, 44 & 45 acp. I ordered a couple of molds, sizers and lube from lee today. I would like to find a couple of hollow point molds. Can you tell me where to look ? Also when you talk about adding tin . Where do you get it ? Thanks for all the help. Keith

Midway has pure tin and I occasionally see it for sale by individuals on the various gun forums.

You can make good bullets from plain old wheel weights. Plenty of time to start worrying about different alloys after you get the rest of your casting down pat.

Old fashioned solder is a good source for tin.Most of mine came from solder.
As reported,you don't absolutly need tin;anymore then you absolutely need sugar.
But both make life a little easier.Bullets will fill out the mold better,if some tin is in the alloy.
You don't need a lot;2 % is enough,and 5% is about the limit that is practical to use.
Good luck
Frank

Firstly welcome to the forum. Rules are simple, be nice and join in.

I've been shooting cast bullets now for better than 40 years and with 19 black bear killed and I don't know how may deer with hardcast lead bullets I'd question the need for a hollow point bullet. If your going to hunt with these cast bullets I doubt that it will make any difference and all hollow point bullet molds are single cavity molds which means casting much slower. I like the Lee double cavity molds, their fast and inexpensive.

If your casting wheelweights they will usually cast fine without any additional tin and so will linotype. I've been using Lee molds for quite a while, but RCBS and Lyman make hollow point molds if you just gotta have them. I'm using both the Lee tumble lube which usually I just lube and shoot as cast and several Lee standard molds which I tumble lube and size.

Your going to find all the cast iron molds two to three times as expensive as Lee's aluminum molds. I've had great luck with the Lee molds.

Here's a thread you might want to check out about lead mixtures.

http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=46111

I bought a couple of the double cavity and one that does 6 at a time from lee. They were the TL molds. I dont know that I need the hollow point . I have always liked them in my rifle bullets. We shoot alot of hog and a few deer with them .. Alot of plinking. And I just enjoy reloading. I have a cheap little melting pot we use to make sinkers out of. We get the wheel weights from a freind at the tire shop. I read on here that the tin makes the molds fill out better and the bullets look better.. I just wanted to start out the best I can and see where I screw up from there.. Thanks Keith

. I would like to find a couple of hollow point molds. Can you tell me where to look ?

Lyman still offers a couple of hollow point handgun molds in their Devastator Series; 356637, 429640 and 452374.
http://www.lymanproducts.com/lymanproducts/index.htm (scroll down to bottom of page)

Forester also offers a hollow-point drilling jig for their case trimmer.
http://www.forsterproducts.com/Pages/trim_pointer.htm

-ktw

Casting hollow points is slower and more expensive than I could recommend to start.
I'd go with casting a wide flat point (meplat) before a hollow point. Have fun first.

Good advice from everyone who suggested learning how to cast solid bullets before tackling the hollowpoints. Keith, the more detail you are trying to cast, the greater the chances of casting a "reject". The KISS principle applies here for sure. You can try the hollowpoints later. As Bob said, the solids kill just as effectively.

Guys thanks for all the help.. It seems when I start a new hobby I dive in head first.. I know I need to slow down. Thanks again . Keith

cast bullets work on the 2-hole principle one on each side,
think about it like this one hole in bullet expands and stops half way
the blood has to run out a small 450 hole.
with 2 holes you get the same damage just twice as far and two holes for the blood to run out
and other stuff also.
when using a fairly soft lead mix you will still have upset and a larger hole on the other-side.
and can still push it to good velocity.

Solder is the main source of tin. The old 50/50 lead/tin plumbing solder is a traditional source. Adding 8% traditional plumbing solder by weight to wheelweights is an old formula for getting "close enough" to Lyman #2 alloy without pushing the tin past the antimony level (which makes water-hardening effect decline more quickly). The modern lead-free solders are 90-95% tin, however, so even though they cost twice as much, they are almost twice as concentrated a source. Solder has to wet and flow well, so nothing else they put into those solders will be a bad for bullets, either, whether it's copper or selenium or whatever. There won't be any zinc or anything else bad, since that would interfere with the product wicking into copper pipe joints. So, 4% by weight of lead-free solder would be good addition level.

If you aren't going to quench-harden your bullets, you can up the ratios to 12% 50/50 solder or 6% lead-free for a prettier bullet and maybe just a little better mold filling.

Midway wants $17.50 a pound, plus shipping, for pure tin. A pound of lead-free solder from Lowe's is less expensive, faster to obtain and has no shipping. Midway might have a sales tax benefit, depending where you live, but that's about it.

Midway wants $17.50 a pound, plus shipping, for pure tin. A pound of lead-free solder from Lowe's is less expensive, faster to obtain and has no shipping. Midway might have a sales tax benefit, depending where you live, but that's about it.

When I read this I thought you had misread the description because I knew they sold it in two pound increments. I think the price has about doubled since I bought any.

Yeah. $35 for 2 lb. Since tin is imported, between the dropping dollar and Chinese demand, like other metals, it has shot through the roof. Even that pound of solder I mentioned is $15-$16. That's why a sales tax savings might work out to offset the shipping, but only if you included it as part of another order.