Step one beg, borrow, steal all the lead alloy within your counties borders. When you go walking look down for wheel weights. Talk to any and all plumbers and see if they take out lead from shower pans, etc. If your church has a lead roof talk the rector into letting you inspect it with sheet metal shears, in hand. parking lots and shopping centers provide unlimited quanities of wheel weights if you are willing to do a bit of work with pliers.
Visit print shops and see if they have linotype they wish to sell.
Visit antique stores there's lots of old pewter out there.
Once you have a pile lead alloy weighing twice the weight of your house you are ready to start.
Get Lyman's book on bullet casting.
Steal more lead
Visit Beartooth cast bullets web site.
Steal more lead alloy
Visit Cast Boolets web site.
Steal more lead alloy.
Get LBT's information on bullet casting.
Steal more lead.
Join the Cast Bullet Association and but their reprints of old bimonthly newsletters.
Steal more lead, an obsession with lead is good.
Buy the Lee handbook on bullet casting.
Yes, Steal more lead alloy.
Check Lyman's, Redding's, RCBS's, NEI's web site for various bullet designs.
Have fun, there's thousands of guys who would love to help you out and answer most any questions.
Hope this helps some.
Jim

I have just bought a 9.3x62mm and I am considering trying to produce some cast bullets for it.

I know nothing about casting bullets beyond the fact the moulds must be dry!

I would be looking for bullets for practice and possibly for shooting large whitetail size deer. I guess I would only need a couple of hundred a year at most; probably half that more like.

First what are the limiations of cast bullets as far as velcoity, accuracy and performace on game?

Where does a beginner start as far as equipment goes?

Finnally can anybody recommend any good websites concerning the in's and outs of casting?

Regards,

Pete

http://cast_boolits.aimoo.com/


Good-luck...BCB

You done good.

9.3x62 is an excellent choice for a man who hankers to hunt large whitetail with cast bullets. The diameter is big enough already so you don't really need any expansion. Unfortunately, I have no experience with that cartridge, so I have to fall back on its American cousin, the .35 Whelen. Cast bullets are limited to 2200 fps unless you are really good or really lucky. To get that, you need a hard alloy and a gas checked design. One of the boys will know of a source for 9.3 GCs, but it don't happen to be me.

Best cast bullet accuracy (or the easiest to get, anyway) seems to come from bullets with a lot of bearing surface and a short nose fitted to your rifle's throat and lead. Heavy for caliber is good, too. You'd probably want something around 290 grains.

Check out www.mountainmoulds.com . The easiest way to get what you need is likely to be to take a chamber cast, send it to Dan, and tell him to build you a mould. Even if you go to someone else, Dan has a program on his site that lets you design a mould. You can learn a lot about cast bullets just playing with that program.

"Where does a beginner start as far as equipment goes?"

Pete,
You prolly got most of it. A propane burner, a Coleman camp stove is perfect, a small stainless steel or cast iron saucepan, and a spoon with a long handle.
Getcher yourself a mould, I'd recommend a Lee in something you've already got, like 38 cal, got a 38Spec or 357 Mag around the house?? Lee push thru sizing dies are cheap and come with a bottle of lube. Mould and die from Midway run ya about $30.
Try that afore you get into custom moulds, bottom pour pots, lubrisizers, the list goes on forever. Lol, and you could end up like me, buyin' guns to suit my moulds, {;o).
Like reloading, it gets addictive, but nuttin' like havin' a freezer full of meat that you put the boolet and cartridge together for.
Cheers,
R*2

Rrussell, ordinarily I'd agree with you, but Pete's in Britain. He's about as likely to have a .38 or .357 around as I am to have a .600 Nitro Express. He's got a 9.3x62 that he needs to feed and I dunno of any inexpensive moulds for that. He's gonna have get off some money for that and Dan is competitive.

Otherwise, you are right. The Lee pushthrough is the way to go and Lee will make him a custom one for $25.(Specify .002 over your groove size, Pete.) A real pouring ladle would also be worth adding.

Everything else he can and should scrounge. Two hundred bullets a year does not justify a more than a minimum investment. (We don't have to tell him yet that his shooting will go way up once he's making his own.)

Thanks Gents...

I have been do a little reading too so i think I am beginning to get an idea.

I would like to start cheap and cheerful just to get some idea whats involved before I commit myself to spending on custom moulds.

Would is be possible to buy a .375 mould and swage the bullets down slightly? Lyman talk about a bullet sizer/lubricator, is that what this is for? Would I actually need one of these or can I get the appropriate dies for my Rock Chucker?

Regards,

Pete

Leftoverdj,

You are correct, there are few handguns left compared to what there used to be. Having said that, there are a few still legally held. Black Powder front stuffers is one sort, various antiques and you can also get a ticket for one for things like the humane distruction of stock or fallen animals. Many of the people who had handguns ( myself included) simply took the compensation the Government gave and bought other firearms. There was a surge in interst in lever action carbines for instance.

Of course the ban had no direct impact what so ever on crime either negatively or positively and I suspect even the Government realises that now.

Regards,

Pete

Welcome to the family, Pete!

If you are not going to be csting a large number of calibers, Lee makes a sizing system that is cheap and durable for use in single-stage presses. The diameter you will need (.367" or thereabouts) will have to be custom-made by their facility, but that's only a little bit more than standard diameters.

If you plan to be casting for a number of calibers, the Lyman system is a little better. A lot of casters use the Lee system exclusively.

I use the Mountain Molds design in 9.3mm, as developed by a poster on this board--"Eirik". I usually run these boolits about 1600 FPS, and they are superbly accurate. They remain accurate to 2200 FPS, which is as fast as I've run them. As another poster mentioned, 2200 FPS is considered a sort of classic top end for cast boolit velocity using conventional methods. A 270 grain flat-nosed .366" boolit going from 1600-2200 fps will leave a lasting impression on any critter it hits.

Pete
You know any machinists? They could hone out a smaller Lee push through sizer die for you. For the cost of having Lee make you a custom size you could buy two of a smaller size and hone them out across the pond.
Jim

Pete, that sizing down a .375 to .368 is possible, but there are problems. You'd have to have bullets of the right design so that the nose which would not be sized would not prevent chambering. I'd also want to do it in steps which would take two sizing dies.

I understand wanting to do it cheaply. For those of us here in the states, a mould from Mountain Molds costs $65. A custom sizer from Lee is $25. Gas checks are about $25 a thousand. There would be a little shipping, but what you need would cost one of us about $130. If you have a contact here in the states who would buy and ship or deliver the stuff to you, that's what you could get for.

Lord knows what it would cost to order and have it shipped directly. The gubmints have gone plumb nuts about gun stuff, but a mould sent as a gift and properly declared as a mould would pass straight through. So would a package of copper discs properly declared as "gas seals" and a sizing die identified as such.

YOU WILL WANT A LEE PRODUCTION POT...........

Pete,

Get yourself off to a car boot sale and look out for any cast iron saucepans that are for sale, get more than one if you can. Then it is off to your nearest quickfit or some other tyre sales place and get yourself as many wheel wheelweights as you can. Get in touch with York guns or Tim Hannman or some such place and get yourself a Lee ingot. Melt your wheel weights (in one of the saucepans and keep it for initial ingot making) and make ingots. Of course you will need to do a search on this forum that will cover this process to include the fluxing and such stuff. Now you need the moulds for this you need a friend in the States as the prices here do hurt, get as much as you can shipped over, I did it makes a big difference. Now don't forget you can make other bullets as well not just for your new fancy African trip monster. The Lee sizers and gas checks you can get here they are reasonably priced, the Lyman stuff gets real expensive real quick, so it pays to make sure you get just the really expensive kit shipped, a juggling act between shipping cost's and initial outlay.

It also helps to keep kidding yourself that you are saving money.

John

"look out for any cast iron saucepans that are for sale," JAYB

And for your ingot mould, pick up a muffin/cupcake/yorkshire pudding tray. Makes great lil ingots, {;o). For skimming the dross and wheelweight clips and general rubbish you'll get in ur refining process, one of those cooking/vegetable spoons with the seive holes in 'em is perfect, and a soup ladle for the pour into the muffin tin. You might wanna' look around roofs too, lots of slate with lead flashing around the chimleys, I'm sure in Wales.

Cheers,
R*2

IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT HOW TO CAST BULLETS YOU'LL WANT TO STUDY HARD ABOUT HOW TO GET GOOD CAST BULLETS......THE MOLD HAS TO BE BROUGHT TO THE RIGHT TEMP TO AVOID WRINKLES...THE BEST WAY TO LEARN HOW TO CAST IS HAVE AN EXPERIENCED FREIND TAKE THE TIME TO SHOW YOU HOW......I WOULD HAVE NEVER LEARNED HOW IF I HADN'T HAD THAT BEST FRIEND HELP..... THANKS AGAIN H. P.

JAYB
I have to know, what is a "car boot sale"? Is that "British" for what we call flea markets?

Pete E--By all means get a Lyman Manual--even their standard manual has cast loads and info. Their Cast Bullet Manual ofcourse has more. Yes you can get by with a heat source such as Coleman stove and cast iron pot---but atleast here I can get a Lee bottom pour electric furnace cheap enough its worth the cost. I use the heat source and cast iron pot to render down my wheel weights into ingots. You really don't want to do that part in an electric furnace as its smoky,dirty,messy---do it outside and you dont want to do that part in your furnace as it clogs em up. Some will make it such,but it aint rocket science.

"car boot sale"?
Yellowdog,
In some countries, boot=trunk when used to refer to automobiles, eg. bonnet=hood as well. Take a vacant lot, or shopping mall parking area, and invite the people to display their wares from their vehicle. Kinda' of a mobile flea market, {).
Cheers,
R*2

Yellowdogs

There you have it complete with a comprehensive translation.

John

Jay,
Lol, I can even drive on the wrong side of the road mate.
Cheers,
R*2

Gents,

Thanks for all the info..Apart from starting to gather some kit together the project is on hold at present as my rifle is being returned to CZ by the British importer. I am not sure if they are going to try to fix a problem on it or ship me another, iether way i am expecting a delay of at least a couple of weeks maybe longer.

Regards

Pete

John,

Thanks for the advice. I can get dirt cheap military ammo for my other rifles so I don't think i will be casting for them in the immediate future.

I have a buddy who makes fairly regular trips to the States so bring back small stuff should not be a problem. I guess I needto read up on how to slug a barrel properly ready to order the mould.

What calibres to you cast for?

Regards,

Pete