http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b191/WabashShootist/Guns/midway2.jpg

Well folks, as you can see, I've entered a new phase in reloading.

Supposedly these do not need to be run through a sizing die; if they do not measure correctly, I'll buy a die. Otherwise, they're for practice and I won't worry too much about it.

Other than that, I have NO CLUE as to any of this. I have a melting pot around here someplace, some ingots, and probably as many wheel weights as I want, from the junk yard down the street.

What do I use for antimony?

How much antimony should I use to keep leading down at 850fps max?

I've heard that dropping them in water will help harden them. Is this true?

Safety equipment - gloves, eye protection, what else?

If I cannot find the lead pot, I will use a Coleman camp stove until such time that I do find the lead pot. I plan to do this in an open garage, or set up outdoors, to keep myself away from fumes.

How does one go about lubing the bullets? Do I need commercial lube, or is there something I can make myself when this lil' 4oz bottle runs dry?

Any and all advice is sincerely appreciated.

Thank you,

Josh <><

P.S. Not thrilled about doing two bullets at a time, but this is the only mold anyone had in stock, so I jumped on it. If I find I'm good at this, I'll upgrade to a six cavity mold eventually. Thanks again. J.S.

Straight wheel weight metal is hard enough for a .45 ACP and maybe too hard. They don't need water dropping either. A Coleman stove and a steel pot is all I use, although temperature control is tricky without a thermometer, which I have.

Safety - Read this thread. http://www.shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=20767

There are several types of wheelweights now and you don't want the zinc ones. Do a search in this forum for "zinc".

Bye
Jack

Like Jack said, any decent gas burner and a heavy metal pot will do. I used a fish cooker for a number of years. Most of the bullets I cast don't need sizing. I just cast, tumble lube, load and shoot. I only use two cavity bullet molds but I usually run about three sets at a time. By doing this they do not overheat and I cast several size bullets at one time. I use mostly straight wheel weights and have never had a problem with leading. An inexpensive Lee electric production pot is well worth the money though. A buddy I load for usually comes over and helps me cast which really helps out.

And note that the tumble lube bullets will normally be a little bigger than a sized cast bullet. They should run right around .4535". The small grooves crush easily, so you don't need to size them from a pressure standpoint. The only time you might need to size them is if you have a chamber tight enough that the extra width interferes with feeding. I've never had an issue with that.

Wheel weights of the right kind already have all the antimony you will ever need. At least 3%. Many bullet alloys have more because it is cheaper than tin, but it also will make bullets hard enough to shatter in cold weather if you have too much in the mix. If you don't like the looks of your wheel weight bullets, add tin from lead-free plumbing solder. A little of the tin/silver low temperature silver solders also helps appearance and mold fill, but it costs a lot.

In my very limited experiance, air cooled wheelweight metal works good from about 700 to 1300 fps. with Lee liquid alox tumble-lubed bullets. No sizing at all from my molds.

I have some one, two, and six cavity molds from Lee and they all work well.

One "thing" that I do is to cast them all frosty (hot). I like them to all look the same.
My rectal thermometer does not read to that temperature, so I use the "eyeball method"(Wreaked two rectal thermometers before I learned that).

Lots of threads about LLA to read. You can come to you own conclusions about that.

Cheezywan

I started casting with my Mother's kitchen stove.It works great.
I put a "collar" around the burner,and heat resistant pads around it.I put heavy cardboard on the floor,too.
Never made a mess,but it is very slow,trying to be neat.
It was a gas stove.
Frank

Found it!

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b191/WabashShootist/Guns/leadfurnace.jpg

It's even a Lee. The name meant nothing to me back when I was casting the jigs.

I cannot overstate how much I miss my grandfather who gave this furnace and ingots to me all those years ago, and wish he were still here to see me getting into bullet casting; he would have been quite tickled.

Josh <><