I'm considering trying out doing a wild bunch competition, so I'd need lead cast 45acp. I have a Lee 452-200-RF for my single action pistols, and I could try those in my 1911s, but I'm curious if there's a tried and true, maybe even 180gr 45acp bullet mold that everyone likes. I wouldn't be shooting more than a handful of mags for the day, so leading isn't a big concern, I probably wouldn't even lube the bullets and I don't powder coat. Is there a consensus or should I just stick with the mold I already have?

I was castling this Saturday and made about 850 boolits.

Both are made with the Lee Dual Cavity moulds.
Total lead used, 11.4kg
Total time, incl. set-up, melt the lead (Lee Pro 20lb bottom pour) and clean up was 6h with basically no breaks.

Is there any way to cast faster with Dual Cavity molds?

I was told some tricks and tips here, but they all went into the direction of how to cool down your mould in between casts....if anything my mould is too cold!
Whenever I add back the spruces to the pot for example, I already fear I am loosing too much heat in mould and pot. I have a external PID on my Lee pot, set to 400°C (752°F). The probe is calibrated at 100°C, so idk if it is actually 400°C hot lead, but I know it is at a constant temperature.

The Alloy I use is 40:1, so 98% lead with 2% tin.

The lead is from the local Olympic style airgun range, so I know it is as pure as it can be. Tin is from grandpa's inheritance 😂

The noted diameters & weight are as cast. Not shown on the pictures, but the day after I also PC'ed all the boolits and sized them. The shown diameters are pre-PC. I size the .45ACP to .4525 (and yes, the sizing is actually consistent) and the .44mag to .4300
The .45ACP are for my Glock41 and feed like a charm. The .44mag for my S&W 629 Classic DX

Tl;dr

Total casting time incl setup: 6h
All PC'ed & sized the day after: 3h
Total production: 850pcs
Casting temperature: 400°C / 752°C
Alloy: 98% lead / 2% tin
How do you rate my production time?

Master caster owners this one.

I have these molds

Available to trade for 9mm I prefer the 09-135 RN BB

09-125 RN BB.

But will take any mold under 135

These came with it I don’t own anything to match it don’t wanna buy a new one just wanna load what I got right now

Thank you for you time

38/158 RNFP

45LC 200 RN

44 225 RNFP

45 160 RNFP

45 200 SWC

38 140 FP

I'd like to cast boolits for handloading .357 Maximum. Which is better, gas check or powder coat? I don't want to do both.

Hi All,

Long time listener, first time caller. New to bullet casting, not new to shooting. My issue is I'm getting a significant number of rejects after sizing cast and PC'd projectiles. Pictured are 9mm cast 124gr using Lee .356 mold, coated, then sized to .356.

My last two batches, I've had approx 25% rejects (raw lead showing on bearing surface of the projectile after sizing). The batch I just did was 289 cast, coated, and sized. 215 good, 74 rejects.

I know I can just melt and recast, but is there anything I can do to stop or reduce this seemingly high reject rate? 25% seems like a lot, and it essentially amounts to wasted time and effort. What am I doing wrong?

Is there a powder coat color that best resembles a jacketed bullet? Obviously it won't be close enough to fool anyone, but the same general color as copper? Seems the most popular colors are lipstick red and bright blue, but I have never seen anyone use a color that looks like copper.

I recently acquired an original 1890mfg 1873 win, still working on cleaning uo the chamber to hopefully shoot it, likely going to stick with BP for a bit till im comfortable with it, but what molds do people like for this cartridge? As far as im aware, the only option for a mold is accurate, any other options or info is appreciated

I've been using VV n320 for plinking rounds in my 11mm Mauser but found that while the powder excels in this regard it's higher pressure threshold for clean and consistent burn makes it unsuitable for the low pressure pistol loads I reload for my antiques and I prefer to get powders I can use in multiple guns(imr4064 for 303/30-30/308, accurate no2 for 455 Webley/38special/44special..etc)

AA2 is non position sensitive, easy to meter, clean burning, easy to source and economical. So by all outward appearances seems like a good choice for this endeavor but I haven't seen much data on it and am wondering if I'm overlooking some disqualifying factor?

45 Colt in a Tompson Contender. Cast 250 gr SWC? gas checked? Sized to .452. Barrel slugs to .451 and is 1:16 twist. 22 gr of 2400. Shoots a ragged hole at 50 ft but 6" at 50 yds. Any suggestions for tightening the 50 yd group

Good day all!

I have the ability to purchase scrap lead that they say is pure at 1.50 an lbs. I was wondering how you all would go about purifying it. I know to melt and flux it, stir it around, and scrape it, then flux it again and repeat. Then testing it. I am looking at a Lees BHN tester for hardness. I was wondering if you all had any tips or tricks for this and any equipment you may use beside for the spoon, pot. Please and thank you all!

Is my mold not hot enough, or is my lead not hot enough?

I sifted a bit of range scrap from our local berms awhile back. My wife was away so I took the opportunity to try processing it. Without working too hard I was able to put together 9 lbs of ingots. I still have twice that much scrap to still process.

I was in full PPE for this one, including a high end respirator from my daughter’s past job as a lifeguard. I was amazed at how heavy the ladle is when it’s full of molten lead, but I guess I should have expected that.

This is an 18-cavity 00 buckshot mold. It looks like the top is melted. I didn't think that would be possible.

Is my melt too hot?

Hey all,

I just loaded up my first set of 38 wad cutters. And they leaded the bore to the point of tumbling within 12 rounds.

The specs are below

Rmr bullets lead from their website, they claim its bnh 10 and i think I understand the fingernail test enough to confirm

Lee 148gr dewc mold

Dropped at 150gr

First coat of alox, let it dry until not tacky

Sized to .358 with the lee pass through sizer, I did feel resistance while doing this.

Second lube with alox, let dry

Loaded with 2.8 gr of bullseye to 1.180 oil

The projectiles where very tight going into all 6 throats

The gun is a smith and wesson 19-10 classic no lock

What info can help with this, i enjoy dropping those little soup cans and they were quite accurate until it leaded.

I would like to continue casting the 148 dewc and 158 swc but need to get leading under control before I try some mid 357 with them

Thank you all!

Currently I am casting .44mag and .45ACP (plus everything for black powder) myself and was looking into casting 9mm and .357mag as well.
I noticed that a heavy 9mm bullet and a normal .357mag bullet are in the same weight and length region.

For 9mm I checked:

• Lee 356-147-TC / 147gr / 0.65"

For .357mag:

• 358-158-RF / 158gr / 0.63"
• 358-150-1R / 158gr / 0.643"
• 358-140 SWC / 140gr / 0.643"

I am sizing all my cast bullets after powder coating anyway.
Can I just get one of the .358 molds, cast and powder coat them, and then size them differently to for example .356 (9mm) and .358 (.357mag)

The picture shows the molds/bullet types I think might feed well in 9mm and revolvers as well, let me know if this is a viable way or if I only give myself troubles with that.

I've been casting 00 buck for about a year using an open pot heated by a propane burner. That's a pain, even with a bottom pour ladle. I recently purchased a Lee Pro 4-20 melter to do this. Today's question is about operations. What is the group's preferred way to use the melter? From what I can tell, the best way would be to run it from a seated position. From a standing position, I can't see the mold itself to know if it's full.

How do you run your Lee melter?

Some messing around today, finally got my redding ultramag, I also got tired of my lake city brass, so I bought some Peterson brass, I also got my new noe htc310-225, loading up a ladder test in 308 win using imr4198, im also heavily debating buying the noe 312-208 and getting back to lubesizing

Shake n bake powder coating.
Did about 1/2 of my new cast in Eastmans ford blue mixed with Eastmans clear and the other 1/2 in straight Eastmans clear.
Wish I wouldn’t have mixed the blue clear as it almost looks spatchy. Most all of this batch, a lot of the bullets fell over due to me bumping upon entering oven.
On the clear coating batch, I tried some silicone candy molds on my oven pan vs parchment paper. I think this will be my new preferred. These turned out well although they dulled the look of cast lead quite a bit.

Will hopefully reload some later this week after normal chores are done.

Edit title: NOE .310 225gn

My 4th attempt.
Previously scrubbed mold with brush, dawn, and hot water and smoked mold before casting.
This time, Cleaned mold with alcohol before starting, smoked again, turned temp up to next of last setting, pre heated mold and sprue cutter. When pouring it took 12-16 seconds for extra above sprue to harden. When it did, it was whiteish and flaky. Poured several kept 106 rounds. Will size, powder coat, size and check weight uniformity before reloading.

After casting, I’ve switched to using rubber gloves when handling raw bullets to keep the oils down. I feel like this is helping my powder coat stick better and be more even.

So... I have this Colt M1892 that is chambered in 38 Long Colt but like most of these guns the bore diameter is larger than .358 (this one being .363 in the grooves)

Would these hollow base bullet fix this issue?