Kentucky Armory Club

I loaded some of the purple & orange 45 cal. semi-wadcutters shown in post #26 above. Shot a few today in 2 RIA 1911s with no problems. Here are the recovered bullets, along with some tumble lubed round nose bullets.

I cast in my basement reloading room. I recently installed a range hood vented outside. I flux with candle wax and it makes smoke and I now vent it outside. Lead does not produce fumes below 900° but some of the other stuff in the lead can be harmful.

I have barely scratched the surface. There is a ton of information available. I recommend anyone interested in casting bullets visit "castboolits.gunboards.com" regularly. I have learned a lot from that site. I am happy to answer any questions.

My current setup. I have the 10# pot melting ingots and feeding the 20# pot. If I start with both full, I can cast 700-800 44 or 45 cal. bullets without stopping.

I usually leave my pot about half full of lead when I end a casting session. This helps the pot heat up quicker next time. After lead is cool, I add ingots and rejected bullets to fill pot. When I start a casting session, I turn on the pot & hot plate, put a few ingots on hot plate, then clean, smok...

Now the mold. If you have a new mold, it needs to be cleaned before using. You can use dish soap, toothpaste or solvent. Remove all oil from mold blocks, then use a q-tip and solvent to clean mold cavities. I then smoke my mold cavities using wooden kitchen matches. This helps the bullet release fro...

For a starting pot I recommend the Lee 10# bottom pour Production pot IV ($55) or the 20# Pro 4-20 ($65). I have both, started with the 10# pot. I have been casting a lot of 44 cal. 240 grain bullets and 45 cal. 230 & 250 grain bullets. These can empty a 10# pot in an hour or less. Then you have to ...

And now we have Powder Coating instead of lubing. See step-by-step thread.

Conventional lubed bullets need to be pushed thru a sizer to make them the correct diameter for your gun. Tumble lube bullets usually do not need to be sized. I have tumble lubed thousands of bullets and only pan lubed about 200.

Now for the easiest way to lube. I use Lee tumble lube. Place the bottle (with the spout open) in a container of warm water. Put about 100 bullets in a plastic container, pour just a drizzle of tumble lube on the bullets, then shake up & down & in a swirling motion for 30 seconds. Dump the bullets o...

For the next batch, place bullets in the existing holes and put in a toaster oven or on a hot plate to melt the lube.

I use a battery to push the bullet out of the brass.

Ok so now you have a good supply of lead ingots and want to make some bullets. You need a bullet mold (I now have 17) for the bullet you want to cast. I recommend a Lee 2 cavity mold to start ($20). You need to decide how you are going to lube the bullets BEFORE you buy a mold. Conventional bullet m...

SAFETY EQUIPMENT When melting lead you need will the following safety items: 1. Leather gloves. I use welding gloves for making ingots and leather work gloves when casting bullets. 2. Eye protection. I wear wrap-around safety glasses for making ingots or bullets. Some people use a full face shield. ...

A warning about sawdust/wood shavings. Do not use treated lumber as it may contain arsenic. I also do not use plywood as the glue may be toxic. My brother-in-law has a wood planer and works with cherry wood a lot. I have a lifetime supply of cherry wood shavings. Smells good too.

Here is the ladle I use, stirring in the burnt wood shavings.

I have 6 ingot molds ($20 each) made by Lee, RCBS & Lyman. The Lee have 2 1# molds & 2 1/2# molds. The others have 4 1# molds. The RCBS is cast iron and does not have a handle (I use pliers). The Lee & Lyman are aluminum & have handles.

Here are some pics of making ingots.

If you plan to buy ready-to-use lead you can skip this section. I will show the method I use to melt lead into ingots. This should be done outdoors. I cast ingots outside my garage on a concrete slab. I got a 6 qt. cast iron Dutch oven with lid at Harbor Freight for $30. I bought a seafood fryer (tu...

Wheelweights used to be lead with a steel clip. You could fill your COLD pot with wheelweights and as they melted the steel clips would float to the top. Skimming out the clips left a good lead alloy for bullets. Nowadays wheelweights (WW) are made from iron/steel, aluminum, zinc, even plastic. If y...

To make cast bullets you need the following: 1. Lead 2. Bullet mold 3. Pot for melting lead 4. Safety equipment Lead is found in some wheelweights, solder, roof flashing, old water pipes, x ray shielding (from your dentist), recovered from shooting ranges, and plumbers blocks. It can also be purchas...

I have been reloading for over 30 years, mostly .357 mag. & 38 special. A year ago I started loading 45 auto, using fmj bullets at first, then trying lead bullets. My favorite 45, a 1911 with threaded barrel, shoots lead bullets just fine. I pay 12-14 cents each for fmj bullets, making my loading co...

Reloading allows a person on a budget to shoot a lot more compared to factory ammo. It also allows you to tailor a load for your specific gun and purpose. Factory ammo must fit and function in every firearm made in that caliber, possibly over a 100 year span. It is basically "one size fits all".

Geno wrote:Great write up! Now, how about a "how to" on casting bullets? You make things seem very doable. I've been through Lyman's book on casting, but you do a better job "showing" how. This is one of my favorite threads. Thanks, Geno

Hmmm I think that is a good idea. Let me see what I can come up with.

I chronographed 5 rounds each pan lubed and PC bullets loaded exactly the same. The PC bullets averaged 25 fps faster.