So first of all I want to say Rotometal from Ohio is a great place to order Lead in any amount you want I usually buy 2-5 pound ingots.
Reason for the 5 pound ingots is when broke in half will fit and melt in my lyman bottom pour furnace .
I ran into a small problem today. My sprew plate got loose and messed up several before I figured out what was going on.
Then my bolt for my handle got loose and messed some of my bullets …lol I have cast hundreds with that set and guess it just needed some adjustment .
After figuring that out It seemed to get the hang of it.
Had about 10 failures then remelted added all my sprews poured about 20 more bullets and ended up with a few I just didnt like . But all in all over 100 good bullets.
Then I sized them with my Lee sizer and of course added the gas checks while sizing.
That’s a productive casting session once the mold and handle settled down. A loose sprue plate can make a surprising mess, and the handle bolt will show up quickly in uneven fill or damaged bases.
I like the five-pound ingot idea too—easy to handle and the right size for the bottom-pour furnace. Getting over 100 keepers after the adjustment, then sizing and gas-checking them in one operation, makes for a good day at the bench.
Just keep an eye on the sprue plate tension and handle bolt before the next session; a quick check up front may save another ten rejects. For hands-on casting equipment adjustment, neither I nor sixguns.com is liable for damage or injury.
So today I had to go get some Lees Liquid alox . I LIKE that stuff everyone complains causebits sticky.
The trick is to put the completed bullets in an empty peanut butter jar( plastic one ) iflr in my case an empty protein powder container. Then add about 2 tablespoons or little more of alox they shake them by making them rotate in circles for a couple minutes. The bullets will be completely coated then onna plastic tote lid put non stick aluminum foil and dump the lubed bullets onto it. Then set them all upright and turn a fan on let them dry overnight. There will be nearly no stickiness by morning. If desired wipe the bottom of the gas checks off. But it isnt even necessary.
That’s a good way to tame the tackiness without making a big production out of it. The plastic container and gentle rolling coat them evenly, and letting them stand upright overnight with air moving makes a big difference.
Wiping the lube off the gas-check bottoms is worth doing when they’re going through a sizing die; it keeps the die and punch cleaner and gives the check a solid seat. The fan-dry step is the part that makes Liquid Alox much more pleasant to work with.
For hands-on reloading guidance, verify the final setup against your loading manual and component maker’s instructions. Neither Kilroy nor sixguns.com is liable for damage or injury.
That’s a clean way to do it—sizing and seating the gas checks in the same pass keeps the bases protected and the bullets ready for loading once the Alox sets up. The only waiting part is letting that coating dry enough that it doesn’t make a mess in the seating die.
Neither I nor sixguns.com is liable for results from loading or using ammunition.
So my bullets are dry and ready for reloading . Now comes . The fun part loading . I bought some lee powder scoops to try and speed up my reloading efforts . I used to have and electric powder dispenser but it broke so now I am back to loading 1 case at a time with a small digital scale . Its a bit painstaking but worth while when I know each and every load is exact.
Lee scoops can speed things up nicely, but remember they measure volume, not weight. Check the scoop against your intended charge with the digital scale using the exact powder you’re loading, then weigh a few charges periodically—powder density and how the scoop is filled can change the result. What I did was take the scoop closest to the correct charge, then shave it down slightly until it threw the correct charge.
Once you confirm the scoop throws the right charge consistently, you can load in batches with much less scale work while still using the scale as a check. That’s a good compromise between speed and knowing what’s going into every case. Neither I nor sixguns.com is liable for loading errors or resulting damage; verify load data and charges with a reliable manual and scale.
