I wanna get into bullet casting next month. I want to go with a LEE aluminum mold. First of all are the prices for the molds including handles? Secondly has anyone tried the 158 grain 38 cal flat point bullet that is new in their mold line up and if so how does it compare in ballistics and knockdown to a wadcutter? Thirdly is there other methods to melt lead besides buying a commercial melting pot that would be efficient for city limit use(can't build a fire in my yard). Would a 110 volt electric saucepan get hot enough? I can and may buy a LEE production pot but just looking for money savings if possible. Cory

[ 03-13-2003, 06:07: Message edited by: cmcalpin2002 ]

Handles are included with Lee molds.

There a a number of ways to melt your lead, if you're creative.

I used Dad's bottom pour casting furnace as I was growing up, but now that I'm out on my own and trying to pay for a house, my casting is limited to other means of melting lead.

I have a bunson burner that heats up a small pot and dip. Its slow, but it works. If you don't have a bunson burner, but have a gas grill, there is another way. Another way, although not recommended unless you are as hard headed as me is to heat it up on the kitchen stove. Lee and Lyman have some pretty cheap dipping furnaces, that's another option. But as soon as the money gets free, the bottom pour furnace is the best thing to get!

Now that you've heard some ideas, you'll probably be able to come up with other ways of doing it that suits you better!

Welcome to the wonderful world of bullet casting. I can relate to being anxious to get started but save up enough money to get a good electric melting pot and a separate lead thermometer. The cautions above about lead poisoning are real. Keeping your temp no more than 75 degrees above melting point of your alloy will minimize lead vapours (which are REAL nasty) and you will find a best temp for casting with that mold. The Lee temp controlis not as good as watching a thermometer.Always cast with adequate ventilation(real tough in Canada in the winter)and watch out for water near your pot.I'm sure you will learn the rest soon enough.
Guy

I think I will buy a good pot but I couldn't resist to ask. Cory

I have used a propane powered coleman stove and a stainless steel kitchen pot for many years. I do most of my casting at the cottage on the deck. (Bare feet are a no no! )

My wife thinks I bought the stove for camping.

When I cast round balls for my front stuffer I use a propane camping stove and just do it outdoors. Have a small cast iron pot and a dipping ladle. Use the same setup for casting fishing sinkers. Typically I only fire up the stove 1-2 times a year.

Does anyone know if a 110 hot plate will heat a pan enough? Cory

Yes, a 110 hotplate has plenty of heat for melting at least 15 pounds of lead.

It is important that you NOT use an aluminum pot to do it in. Cast iron is best.

Come on over the the cast bullet forum and we will tell you all about it.

It will work, but your element life may suffer. Cooking temps are much lower than lead melt temps.

At $45 or so for the Lee electric furnace, your pocketbook isn't going to get too badly beat up, and the extra convenience is worth it. They offer two versions that are almost exactly the same... get the taller one, so you have more room under your spout.

When the lead melts, the crud floats to the top, so a bottom spout is worth it. Your tin and antimony may come out of solution as the alloy melts, and float on the top as a gray film. When your pot reaches the right temperature, these metals will go back into solution.

Wear gloves, and eye protection. Don't do casting in a closed room. The "out on the porch" approach that was suggested is wise.

I did have a fling at temperature hardening my bullets in little used $6 toaster oven, and they did harden nicely. However, after a month or so, they became soft again, so I've given up on that. I found a local source for old fashioned type metal for rifle bullets, and use old wheel weights for revolver bullets.

Take lots of vitamin C, just to be safe. It does bond with the lead, and escort it out of your system.

I used a Colman camping stove to melt lead for years.

Cory, My advice is to buy the best bottom pour you can afford, (Lee @ $49 or Lyman @ $195), but use something else to smelt your wheel weights into alloy. For a long time I did my smelting and dipper pouring out of one old cast iron dutch oven on a coleman stove. it worked OK but was slow and the alloy quality was poor. I was always fighting with bits of crud left from the smelting operation. Then I bought a Lee bottom pour into which I only put well mixed and fluxed alloy, (which I was still making on the coleman). This improved things a lot. As the pot never had any crud introduced that problem was a thing of the past. Now I use a big pot welded up out of well casing on a turkey fryer to smelt the alloy, (200 lb at a time), which I pour into ingots and use in an old Lyman bottom pour. This gives me much more consistant alloy and no problems with 'crud" in the melt. Another note, although the Lee six cavity molds are more expensive, and you have to buy handles, they are of much higher quality and will greatly increase your production. BD

I USE A LEE PRODUCTION POT TO CAST WITH. DO BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO GET ANY WATER IN MELTED LEAD. ONE DRIP OF WATER WILL EMPTY A WHOLE POT OF LEAD ALL OVER YOU. MY BROTHER IN LAW HAD THAT HAPPEN TO HIM A FEW YRS AGO. BOTH HIM AND HIS SON WERE BURNED PRETTY BADLY.

THE 2ND AMENDMENT PROTECT US ALL.......

Denton. It usually take more than a couple of months for wheel weights to age soften. I have several large quantities of bullets I cast over two years ago that water quenched, using a toaster oven to heat, to 31 BHN. These two plus year old bullets are still in the 27 BHN range which is still very hard. I use 10 pounds of wheel weights, one pound of linotype and 1/3 cup of magnum bird shot which adds more antimony and a touch of arsenic, which really adds to the hardening process.
A question, if I may. Did you size the bullets AFTER heat treating them? I emphasize the after, because that's probably what ruined the treatment. If you're going to harden the bullets, size them first, then heat treat. Do not lube at this time as you will have a smokey fire. When you need to lube the bullets, use a sizer die that is .001" larger than what you sized the bullets to. As an example, I shoot bullets sized to .359" in my .35 Whelen and .358 Win. I heat treat them, and then lube them with a .360" die. Hardness loss is radically slowed down.
I believe Dennis Marshall make this point of not sizing after treating the bullets in either the NRA's Cadt bullet book or Lyman's cast bullet book, but I forget which.
Paul B.

When I started out casting bullets,I used our Kitchen gas stove the first year.It worked just fine.I made an aluminum bib to cover the stove top(after the first spill).I also put down a cardboard carpet in front of the stove,
I am fortunate that my Mother was such a Sweetheart,to let me do it.
I did'nt use any of her cookware,I bought a used cast iron pot.
Frank