I cast my first boolits yesterday.

[Animal]

I've been a member on this forum for a good little while and I've been reloading for about a year now. I've been shooting a lot of commercial cast boolits and soaking up all the info that I can from you guys.

Well yesterday underneath the tree was the final component I needed to start casting. My wife bought me a Lee 6-Cavity Bullet Mold 452-228-1R 45 ACP, 45 Auto Rim, 45 Colt (Long Colt) (452 Diameter) 228 Grain 1 Ogive Radius.

After everyone opened their gifts, I beat feet outside, fired up the turkey fryer, gathered my lead supplies and got to work. I carefully followed Mr. Lees instructions to break the mold in properly.

It took a good long while before I had any recognizable boolits, but eventually I started throwing some fine, sharp boolits. It took a lot of trial and error to figure out the ideal alloy temp, mold temp and pour technique but I made it.

I found that keeping the alloy at 750deg and touching the mold to the sponge after every drop produced the best boolits. 800deg seemed okay to, but I had too much trouble getting the boolits to drop. Mr. Lee states a frosty boolit is okay to because it helps the LLA stick.

In the end, I came up with 290 excellent boolits. I'm throwing about 150 back into the pot. A good bit of the 150 I threw back looked good, but not 'perfect'. I debated on keeping them but I chose not too because I didn't want to come this far just to shoot 'okay' boolits, I want to shoot perfect boolits.

I water dropped half and am air cooling the other half. The quenching wasn't necessary, but I wanted to compare the 2 and see if there is much difference at the range. The air cooled ones have a much shinier appearance. I'll wait about 2 weeks before I do anything with them.

I went ahead and ran the quenched ones through a Lee .452 sizer and lubed with LLA. I'll try to test them out on Monday and give the air cooled ones a good 2 weeks to cure.

So far I have a bunch of boolits approx 225-226 gr that are perfectly round and at a perfect .452. They all have sharp edges and look great.

I can't wait to shoot'em! I'm glad I can finally say that

Thanks for the help from the guys on this forum, Mr. Richard Lee and Lyman.

[Pb2au]

Excellent report! I am glad you are enjoying success.
What firearm are these destined for? The reason I ask is that for most 45-ish applications, water dropping may not be required. I am using the same mold for my 45ACP and simply air cool them and I am off to the races. That particular mold you have also produces a bullet that plays very nicely for my Blackhawk in 45 colt!
Glad you are having fun!

[Animal]

Pb- Rock Island 1911. This firearm is also new and my first non-sixgun.

[Foto Joe]

You might also experiment with not sizing these as well, chances are it really isn't necessary and it will eliminate the need for lubing them twice with LLA. Remember, a little LLA goes a looong way.

[Pb2au]

Pb- Rock Island 1911. This firearm is also new and my first non-sixgun.

Cool. I been wondering about the RI 1911's. I've been hearing some glowing reports about their build quality and function.
That boolit is the one I found that is one heck of a plinker and feeds superbly. I think you will have great success with it. I would be confident in saying that moving forward you shouldn't need to water drop them. I just recently ran a bunch of them through a friend of mine's M-10 full auto! What a hoot that was!
Good luck and let us know if you need anything.

[bangerjim]

Remember.......preheat your mold on a hot plate! You want it pretty much up to temp before you even start. That way, your 1st boolits may/will be perfect right off. With heated molds, I get perfect boolits the 1st drop using a Lee 4-20 bottom pour and pressure casting. Actually I can get perfect slugs with a COLD mold using pressure casting, but I normally pre-heat on my hot plate.

Congats on finally getting in the casting game!

Save up for a Lee 4-20 pot........much better than a turkey fryer for casting. They are about $60 from several on-line sources. Shop around for the best price. You will be much happier with a bottom pour electric pot. Keep your fryer for smelting only.

Bangerjim

[AlaskanGuy]

I want to encourage you sir.... Awesome job.... Maybe next year you can get a lee 4-20 bottom pour... Sounds like you did your homework, and got busy... Awesome Job... Post some pics next time... i am very excited for you, and remember last year when i cast my own first boolits.... I have been reloading for over 25 years or so, but till i started casting, i was just a load and shoot kinda guy, and not very interested in reloading except for the necessity of obtaining ammo.. Now i just cant seem to get enough of it... It has added a whole dimension to my reloading, and now it is fun and exciting... My arrow making gear, and archery stuff thinks that i have abandoned them...lol... Havent built a single arrow sence i started casting... Good thing I have a large supply...lmbo..

AG

[osteodoc08]

Pics or it didn't happen!

Good job buddy. Keep up the good work.

[dverna]

Yes, seeing little shinny pills come out of a mold the first time is a great experience.

You are taking the right approach. There is no need to shoot poorly made bullets when you can make good ones.

Don Verna

[62chevy]

Good deal!!! I had about the same results the first time I cast some boolits. The first time you shoot 'em will be just as exciting as the first cast too.

[Animal]

My water quinched boolits don't have the same shine as my air cooled ones. Not sure if that makes a difference.
My logic behind quenching a few handfuls was so that I could have something to load next Monday and to see firsthand the difference in leading and performance. I believe it is normal to allow the air-cooled boolits cure for a minimum of two weeks. Right?
Concerning a hotplate, I assume this would basically be a steel or cast iron plate that sits between the fryer and the melting pot? and large enough to lay the mold on? I was preheating the mold by laying it over my RCBS pot. Is there much difference?


Not great pics, but best I can do with my cell phone. BTW, my alloy was all COWW. I used a Lyman Ladle, an RCBS thermometer.

[Wag]

Awesome looking boolits.

Welcome to the addiction from another newbie!

--Wag--

[boatworks]

I've had a R1 for a little while, shoots everything I put in it, cast 452's included. The only thing I ever did to it was to polish the feed ramp.

[Animal]

I selected this mold because it looked like a fairly easy mold to fill out and its appearance leads me to think that it will feed similar to ball ammo.

One more question... these will be the first lead boolits I've ever loaded for a semi-auto pistol. How far should I open the case mouth to seat the boolit without sizing it down?

[Animal]

Cool. I been wondering about the RI 1911's. I've been hearing some glowing reports about their build quality and function.
That boolit is the one I found that is one heck of a plinker and feeds superbly. I think you will have great success with it. I would be confident in saying that moving forward you shouldn't need to water drop them. I just recently ran a bunch of them through a friend of mine's M-10 full auto! What a hoot that was!
Good luck and let us know if you need anything.

I'm incredibly pleased with RIA 1911. Almost 300 rounds through it and not a single malfunction. I'm using Wilson Combat #608 magazines. I paid attention to details during its initial break in and took great care to keep everything clean and properly lubed... strip, clean, oil and shoot every 5 founds till I got to 30, 20 more and clean again. I've run Armscor ball ammo through it and my own handloads with XTP JHP. The firearm feeds both extremely well.

[Down South]

I selected this mold because it looked like a fairly easy mold to fill out and its appearance leads me to think that it will feed similar to ball ammo.

One more question... these will be the first lead boolits I've ever loaded for a semi-auto pistol. How far should I open the case mouth to seat the boolit without sizing it down?

Your expander die is what it is. It will/should open the case enough to not size the boolit down "In most circumstances". I run oversize expanders on some cast boolits. To be sure, you can load a few dummy rounds, pull them and check diameter. After that, just a slight bell on the case mouth. If I can feel it with my fingers, it's good enough.
Your boolits look great and shine doesn't matter.

[BNE]

"One more question... these will be the first lead boolits I've ever loaded for a semi-auto pistol. How far should I open the case mouth to seat the boolit without sizing it down?"

I think the correct answer is 0.100". (The boolit should drop that far down into the case.) I usually try some and confirm each time I prep to load a few boxes. I am just looking to not get lead shaving off the boolit.

Nice looking boolits! I am happy to hear your report as I got the same mold under my tree. I have been using a steel mold and it makes nice looking boolits, but they are longer than I care for. I hope to cast some this weekend.

Welcome to the addiction. I think I like casting as much as shooting.

[waco]

I just got the same mold a few weeks ago. Casts a bunch of boolits in a hurry! I have not got to shoot any yet....

Mine drop from the mold at around 225-227gr and measure .452-.453"

Attachment 91670

[Pb2au]

My water quinched boolits don't have the same shine as my air cooled ones. Not sure if that makes a difference.
My logic behind quenching a few handfuls was so that I could have something to load next Monday and to see firsthand the difference in leading and performance. I believe it is normal to allow the air-cooled boolits cure for a minimum of two weeks. Right?
Concerning a hotplate, I assume this would basically be a steel or cast iron plate that sits between the fryer and the melting pot? and large enough to lay the mold on? I was preheating the mold by laying it over my RCBS pot. Is there much difference?




Not great pics, but best I can do with my cell phone. BTW, my alloy was all COWW. I used a Lyman Ladle, an RCBS thermometer.

I do the same thing. My ancient lyman pot has a nice flat area on the back of the pot that fits molds nicely. When I turn the pot on, I set my mold back there to warm up with the pot. It is handy to put an ingot back there too to pre-warm.
As for letting boolits age after casting, I am in the camp of casting them, letting them hang out overnight, then size lubing and loading. That being said, I do have many boolits cast and in storage to be used when ever. Basically, I get a burr up my behind and cast. Then I size them and load them whenever.

Hey! Is that a reloading manual I see???? I thought those things were out of style these days????

[Pb2au]

I just got the same mold a few weeks ago. Casts a bunch of boolits in a hurry! I have not got to shoot any yet....

Mine drop from the mold at around 225-227gr and measure .452-.453"

Attachment 91670

That is going to make some funky tasting coffee.
I love that mold. It simply works.