Success! I are a boolit maker now!

[rondog]

Made second attempt at casting today, SUCCESS! I are a boolit maker now! Hyuk!

I have two used molds for 230gr. RN .45acp, an RCBS and a Lee, a Lyman Big Dipper furnace, a Lyman dipper. Got 'em in a trade for 9mm brass a couple/three years ago. Got the melt up to 700 and the molds good'n hot on the hot plate, and all went smoothly this time.

RCBS.


Lee.


Lernt some things.....

Hot melt and hot molds, work much better.

Do the pouring with the mold over the pot, so drips/spill/overflow goes back in, and not all over the table.

Don't do the pouring over the pile of boolits you just made. Drips/spills/overflows ruin new boolits. (duh)

Leave the dipper in the melt. Hot dipper works much better than one that's cooled down between pours. (duh)


Knock the sprues off on the left side of the towel, and drop the boolits on the right side, so you're not mixing the boolits up with the scrap. (duh)


Ceramic tiles don't really dig being heated on hot plates. Might need a piece of steel plate for this.


Flux the melt every so often. Clean melt is happy melt.

1Lb. Lyman bars fit perfectly in a .30 cal. ammo can. (well, already knew this, needed a caption for the photo.)


The RCBS mold works much better than the Lee, but the Lee did OK.

If you're shooting for a certain number of boolits, say, 100, cast a few extra, like 10 more. Just in case you find some rejects after the party's over.

It was fun! I think I've created a monster.....

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

Your second attempt and you are already a "boolit master"? Impressive! Good looking boolits! Congratulations on your new endeavor. Enjoy!

[pjames32]

Congrats! Look good. Keep casting.
PJ

[Ole]

Those look like dandies!

[35 shooter]

Yep, your hooked for sure now! They look great!!

[runfiverun]

steel and aluminum molds run at different temperatures.

an old saw blade from your circular saw will do what you want on top of the heater.
an old electrical box will make a little oven for your mold[s] and you can turn down the heat a bit.
if you wanna get super fancy drill a hole in the box and add a thermometer.

[rondog]

Your second attempt and you are already a "boolit master"? Impressive! Good looking boolits! Congratulations on your new endeavor. Enjoy!

Oh no, not boolit master, "boolit maker". No claims to be a master at anything. At least not here.....

[JeffinNZ]

I see the Force is strong in you. Nice work.

[Ola]

And now starts the interesting part: making them shoot. If you are lucky (or/and learn fast) you'll soon be wondering: "why did I ever use jacketed bullets"?

[mongoose33]

You've been a member since 2009, you have 857 posts, and only NOW you are casting boolits?

What have you been doing here all that time?

Anyway, they look good.

[GhostHawk]

Well slow starter it looks like, but you have the bug now, and the bit in your teeth, stay out of his way and let him run!

Nice looking boolits.

[Blackwater]

Indeed, you likely HAVE created a monster, but it's a very friendly one. All it requires is regular feeding with molten lead, and worse fates are common, so consider yourself lucky. You did good. You researched, learned, tried, adjusted, and succeeded. Not at all as hard as you first feared, is it? If I can do it, anyone ought to be able to, if they'll just put forth a little effort and attention to it.

[pworley1]

Now you will need more molds and then more guns and then a bottom pour pot and then .....

[gwpercle]

Now you are the master of your own boolit supply...the creator of shiney orb's of death and destruction.
Some of us let all this power go to our heads....welcome to the addiction. You doing real fine boolit making. Don't spend too much time measuring and weighing, there will be variations, don't know why, just cast and shoot (choot), the slight variations will not hurt a thing.
Gary