wanting to get started casting bullets. i plan to use ww for lead. i know very little about this. i have cast a few sinkers but that all i know. i am gonna be casting for a .45 colt. and a .357. who makes the best mold i like the looks of lyman and rcbs. is there a down side of getting a 4 or 6 cavity mold. and what kind of sizer is the best? what kind of lube do i need to be using for these calibers? soft, hard? i really don't know a lot so any help is great thanks

colekurt--I like the RCBS molds and their warranty makes them even more attractive. Wheelweights work fine. Many try to make it rocket science and have all kinds of blends etc----my blend is free wheel weights and wheel weights you didnt buy mixed any ratio. Someplaces people have to buy wheel weights but can still get them free here. I use soft lube--never used a heater. I have only used Lyman and RCBS sizer/lubers and they are pretty much the same--again RCBS does stand behind theirs as good as anybody in the industry. Downside to 4-6 cavity is they are heavier. But faster.I do recommend you get a Lyman reloading Manual if you don't already have.

+1 on the Lyman manual!! There is supposed to be a new edition comming out soon. In the meantime, log on to the "Cast Boolit" web site and start reading. Lots of info there as well as helpful people, just like here.

I'm a newbie to this also, and can say that Youtube helped me out a bunch. I'm the visual type and read about this a bunch, but watching someone crank a few out really helped it all come together for me. There are great vids on casting, fluxing, sizing, and even making/applying lubes. Good luck. and +1 on the Castboolit site.

Casting is pretty simple once you get the hang of it and wheelweights make great bullets. The key is to get the alloy clean when you melt down the ww's, and cast them hot to get the mold to properly fill out.

As far as molds, I've used molds from every maker. If you want to cast in quantity, you can't beat a six cavity mold, and for the $, the lee 6 cavities are great molds, and their bullet designs shoot very accurately. As far as the best molds, I'll give it to balisticast hands down.

If you're going to be lubing and sizing lots of bullets, you can't beat the star sizer for speed. I've used an acient lyman and it works well enough for my use. As far as lube, lbt blue is outstanding, but you can melt beeswax and add moly/lithium axle greese to make a great lube. I prefer soft lubes and have done tests that show a big difference in accuracy between different lubes.

thinks for all the help this will get me started in the right direction. i will post again later and let ya'll know how it's going again thinks

I have been getting some Zinc WW lately. The solution is to melt all your WW in a Turkey Cooker and put about five pounds of Sulphur in and stir gradually. When the slag stops coming up as a skim, you can then make quality bullets out of the mix.

Rich

colekurt, if you do indeed buy RCBS blocks, do yourself a favor: when the mould(s) arrive, take out the set screw that holds the sprue plate retaining screw in place. Take care not to let the retaining screw loosen, and drop a #7-1/2 shot in the threaded hole for the set screw. Then put the set screw back in.

This will hold the sprue plate in one place. RCBS blocks are as good as it gets, but the sprue plate retention screw has a habit of loosening over time, and typically they have to be replaced. I love the blocks but see this as a design problem.

Just a suggestion, but this is a really simple fix that works well for me. Typically RCBS adjusts the sprue plate to where it should be, so what I suggest really doesn't affect anything; it just remedies a problem before it occurs.

Have fun learning to cast. But beware: it becomes very addictive, and will cause you to fill your garage or storage shed with all sorts of lead and alloys, some in pretty crazy configuration!

The Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook is great. The Lee manual has useful section on bullet casting. Getting cheap or free scrap for alloy is the tough part now days. More & more tire shops are moving to non lead. You do NOT want zinc in your melt.
Best lubes, check WhiteLabel lubes. I like CarnubaRed w/ a heater or BAC w/o. Best luber/sizer, hands down is the Star/Magma. The RCBS is good, then Lyman. BEst molds, I prefer iron molds, but they get heavy above 2cav. The Lee 6cav molds aren't bad, but QC sucks & you never know what you will get.
Keep in mind you want to size bullets at least 0.001" larger than groove dia. If your cyl throats are larger, size for that, if smaller, open them to groove dia. It's always about bullet fit, then alloy & a good lube helps.