need lead
- Thread starter bkovire
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Little Wattsy
69 Cal.
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bkovire said:
I was a little reluctant to start casting...Well now that Ive done it, It cost $20.00 for a double cavity Lee mold, lead is $1.00 a lb (figure 2 to 2.5 lbs per 100 depending on the calibur) and I was making money and having fun inside of 200 rounds. Its the ONLY way to roll! :thumbsup:
Never shot'm. But .454 is for pistol ain't it? As long as they shave a bit whilst loading they should be good right?
I too got tired of paying high for factory ball and having them "out of stock" at times, and started casting my own.
Go ahead an jump into casting with both feet and never look back :wink:
I too got tired of paying high for factory ball and having them "out of stock" at times, and started casting my own.
Go ahead an jump into casting with both feet and never look back :wink:
Hornady and Speer are not cast, they're swaged. That leaves no casting ring or sprue; so some will claim they're better than cast balls. The Dixie's will have the sprue and likely a seam, but will shoot as well IF they are properly cast (no voids and the mold was fully closed & clean).
Dixie's cast are probably better than mine, so I'd go with them. Some claim they can tell a difference between Hornady and Speer . . . and those folks would probably drop a cast ball like it was a dog turd. But that's what m/l are supposed to shoot (cast balls, that is). ;-)
Dixie's cast are probably better than mine, so I'd go with them. Some claim they can tell a difference between Hornady and Speer . . . and those folks would probably drop a cast ball like it was a dog turd. But that's what m/l are supposed to shoot (cast balls, that is). ;-)
paulvallandigham
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Try using the .457 balls, which often are more available than the .454. They will shave off a bit larger ring, but not enough to give you a hernia! :shocked2:
hanshi
Cannon
RBs are easy to cast and cheap compared to bought ones. Everything I shoot in my rifles is cast by me. I don't like to cast but it does go fast.
I say you should think about casting. There are several good mold and casting equipment places out there, they have all been mentioned on the forum at some point. I suggest starting with a low cost mold from Lee or Dixie just to see what it's like. A small, cheap cast iron skillet and a camp stove and a borrowed mold is how I started.
Now I cast for everything except .22's
Jon
Now I cast for everything except .22's
Jon
.
. apr 1 / 18:45
i just picked up two boxes of hornady .454 from grafs for $10.95/100 (swaged), small handling fee, and free shipping.
. 454's - IN STOCK
. apr 1 / 18:45
i just picked up two boxes of hornady .454 from grafs for $10.95/100 (swaged), small handling fee, and free shipping.
. 454's - IN STOCK
Rock Island
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I got tired of buying bullets after the first week of owning a CVA revolver years back. I buy molds for everything I shoot. For me finding pure lead is not easy, I have all the 90/10 or harder lead I can ever use being that I am in the business of scrap, but the soft stuff is not coming in that much anymore. When I find the soft stuff I cast it all, I did 1000 .75, and .69 musket balls this winter, and a big can full of .454's for my summers shooting. I cast in winter, shoot in summer. Dive shops sell lead weights for divers that tend to be pure, plumbing supply houses still have some, or the online sellers, but they tend to be pricey. Try your local scrap yard, they might have some old pipe you can melt down and use, just make sure it scrapes easy with a fingernail. I use a small Iron kettle on a Colman camp stove, a small lead dipper to transfer molten lead to the mold, I do this for the big bullets. For the modern, and small stuff I have a Lee bottom pour electric lead furnace. I got lucky this winter, scored 300 pounds of 20/80, and something over 150 pounds of soft lead pigs leftover from a plumbers stash.
paulvallandigham
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The difference in diameter of a .454 and a .457 ball is so small, that after you shave off the extra width, it should pose no problems.
Remember that even revolvers only can efficently shoot a maximum amount of powder.
The formula is still 11.5 grains per cubic inch of bore, only you can add the length of the cylinder to the length of the barrel. If we assume that your revolver has an 8" barrel, and a 2" cylinder, for a total of 10" of "bore", a .45 caliber revolver will only efficiently burn 18.3 grains of powder in it. That is not a milktoast load, BTW. A more accurate powder charge, using 3Fg powder, would be down in the 12 grain range. /A filler on top of the powder charge to the base of the RB will give you the best accuracy.
I am sure, if you are like I was when I owned a brass framed revolver, that you are putting more powder in that chamber than 20 grains. You not only send unburned powder out the muzzle, but the burning powder and gases created behind the round ball or conical will be rushing past the edges of your muzzle, and creating turbulence in the air in front of the muzzle. If the muzzle is not square to the bore, and if you don't have an 11 degree taper to the crown to allow the gases to expand normally when they exit, you are going to get flyers, no matter how good a bore you have, or how accurate the sights are. You will also beat that brass frame with the cylinder recoiling rearward, so that the brass stretches, or develops a groove in the recoil shield that matches the rear shoulder of the cylinder.
When that round groove gets deep enough, the edge of the frame at the loading port will ignite the percussion cap on the chamber aligned with it, when the gun is fired, and you will get a double fire-- one down the barrel, and the other along side the right side of the frame. Often it will nick the barrel key and ricochet off into the dirt to your front left. Either way, when you have created that condition, the gun is dangerous to fire.
You could have a machinist cut you a washer from steel to fill the round groove, or you can scrap the gun for parts, and get a new one. Keeping the powder charge down to what the gun can burn efficiently, or less, will extend the life of the gun for years, and keep the frame from stretching. :thumbsup:
Remember that even revolvers only can efficently shoot a maximum amount of powder.
The formula is still 11.5 grains per cubic inch of bore, only you can add the length of the cylinder to the length of the barrel. If we assume that your revolver has an 8" barrel, and a 2" cylinder, for a total of 10" of "bore", a .45 caliber revolver will only efficiently burn 18.3 grains of powder in it. That is not a milktoast load, BTW. A more accurate powder charge, using 3Fg powder, would be down in the 12 grain range. /A filler on top of the powder charge to the base of the RB will give you the best accuracy.
I am sure, if you are like I was when I owned a brass framed revolver, that you are putting more powder in that chamber than 20 grains. You not only send unburned powder out the muzzle, but the burning powder and gases created behind the round ball or conical will be rushing past the edges of your muzzle, and creating turbulence in the air in front of the muzzle. If the muzzle is not square to the bore, and if you don't have an 11 degree taper to the crown to allow the gases to expand normally when they exit, you are going to get flyers, no matter how good a bore you have, or how accurate the sights are. You will also beat that brass frame with the cylinder recoiling rearward, so that the brass stretches, or develops a groove in the recoil shield that matches the rear shoulder of the cylinder.
When that round groove gets deep enough, the edge of the frame at the loading port will ignite the percussion cap on the chamber aligned with it, when the gun is fired, and you will get a double fire-- one down the barrel, and the other along side the right side of the frame. Often it will nick the barrel key and ricochet off into the dirt to your front left. Either way, when you have created that condition, the gun is dangerous to fire.
You could have a machinist cut you a washer from steel to fill the round groove, or you can scrap the gun for parts, and get a new one. Keeping the powder charge down to what the gun can burn efficiently, or less, will extend the life of the gun for years, and keep the frame from stretching. :thumbsup:
Ron, just because you've found dentist lead to be harder, you shouldn't state it as a hard and fast rule. I've heard of many people who have found it to be very soft. It seems that it must vary on perhaps the dental film supplier.
Contact your local building contractors who do remodeling work.Sheet lead was a common item used in older construction and it is so soft that it bends when you stare at it.My buddy who does that type of work has given me enough lead that I can cast thousands of balls.
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