The Shootin Iron

Dec. 01, 2005 By Duane Otis

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Casting Bullets

Written By: Duane Otis

In the past few issues we have touched on the reasons to start reloading your own ammunition for our CAS events. In the last issue I described the various tools that are needed to get you into the reloading game. By now you have probably made up your minds, as to whether or not you will be reloading. The CAS game is perfect for reloaders. We require a great amount of ammunition in a few calibers. A high degree of accuracy is not called for. When one starts shooting in the Black Powder category, there is only one choice. There are few custom loaders of Black Powder cartridges. The major factories do not make any! If you have found reloading to be for you, the next serious consideration is whether or not you will start casting your own bullets. It is a big step. A very big step, in that there are serious safety considerations. I want you to know that casting bullets is very labor and time intensive. We are dealing with very hot molten metal. That hot lead can burn you. Very seriously!. If that is enough to say you want no part of it; you not need read much further. You will still be able to do your reloading, as there are many makers of cast bullets in just about every style, size and weight that are needed for our applications. Those who may be shooting in the Black Powder category have different needs. They may have to look a bit harder to find a supply of the bullets that they need. They will usually be needing bullets of a softer alloy and that have a type of lubrication designed for black powder. As I have been casting and loading from the very day I started, it is quite easy for me to say it is really not difficult. I just took a tour through my loading area in the garage and noted that I have three different electric furnaces and seven lubricator-sizers. I have about 70 bullet moulds, some single cavity, double and multiple cavity. This is a collection of tools gathered over the last 35 years! Because I load so many different calibers it was easy to justify all this equipment. Basically you can get started with a heat source, a container in which to melt the lead and a mould. Many folks have started out on the kitchen stove! Please don't try it. Beside messing up the kitchen with strange aromas, smoke and such; the inherent dangers to others, including children are just too great to do it. Get out in the garage, out of doors, etc. Less distractions equal more attention to what you are doing. Just in passing, our ancestors have been making projectiles of lead since the days of the Roman Empire. It has the unique quality of the highest specific gravity of any common metal. Projectiles made of lead retain their velocity longer than those made with other materials. It is common and plentiful. It can be mixed with other elements to change its qualities for our own specific purposes. It is normally soft. A very big consideration. It is easy on the steel of your barrel. I personally own and shoot several handguns that have each had over 100,000 bullets fired in them. The barrels just seem to get better. The real barrel wear is caused by higher temperature as a result of much higher velocities than the cartridges we need for our game. Remember our guidelines? 1000 fps (feet per second) with our handguns and 1500 fps for our rifles. Easily met with lead. Remember also, our rules call for lead only. So besides being practical and cheap, they meet the rules. Advantages: 1.You will be able to have a better choice of the particular bullet in style, shape,size and weight to suit your particular firearm. 2.You will have the satisfaction of making your own. 3.You will save money. Which means you can jump back on the loop of buying another firearm because you are saving so much money! 4.You will be doing something as it was done in the past. Nope, the usual person on the frontier did not cast their own. They went down to the general store just as we do and bought a few boxes at a time. If you were drifting about the frontier on "old paint" you sure did not want to be carrying too many extra pounds in your saddlebags. I'd venture to say that even most of the buffalo hunters, bought their bullets already cast. 5.Once, you gain experience and are comfortable with doing it, you will learn more and learn to refine your casting, sizing and lubricating techniques to the point where you will notice measurable differences in the functioning and accuracy of your firearms. Sooner or later, most of us will find a bullet and load combination that does all we want it to do. Problem is that just about that time, we acquire and firearm and start the process over again! Disadvantages 1.Safety considerations: Burns. Really terrible burns. Ingestion of lead. Nasty. If you are already casting, please provide adequate ventilation, consider a fan. Wear long heavy gloves, long sleeve heavy shirt, safety goggles, and as Charly Gullett the author of "Cowboy Action Shooting" reminds us, cover your feet! 2.Cost: Add the tools; a heat source, as simple as a single burner Coleman type camping stove, perhaps a propane burner and supply, the moulds. Figure about $125 for an electric casting pot, moulds are in an endless variety, a single or double cavity with handles perhaps between $45-65. Custom moulds about $85-110. Multiple cavity "gang" moulds from 4-10 cavities can start at about $75-300. You will see that the cost advantage would have to be justified by casting a great amount of bullets. 3.Time: The lead pot takes about 20-30 minutes to get the alloy up to the casting temperature (about 750-800 degrees). Casting bullets requires a great amount of concentration. Oh sure, you will be impressed with the fact that you made those bullets on your own. You still have to lubricate them! It can be done by hand, by dipping in a pan of lube. Way to slow. You will want to have a lubricator-sizing tool. There is another $100 plus the dies and top punch to fit the particular bullet. 4.Space: Most of us don't have enough. Remember you have just filled up that fancy loading bench with all the super tools. Where is all this stuff going to be? If you are still interested, see if you can find the loading wizard of your local club. Might he be willing to have you come over and get out of "mowing the lawn", to watch the process. Just ask. Most folks are kind of proud of all their "trick" things. Ask that person, if it would be OK, for you to put on the gloves, the goggles, and try casting a few. The first dozen or so, may even tell the tale. You will get a big kick, when those slugs start dropping out. In your mind they have "Mr. Bullseye" written all over them. Hope so. Fact is, I have never seen a shooter with decent eyesight that did not improve after shooting more rounds. All very simple, to shoot better; shoot more. But, pay attention to each and every shot, learn to "call the shot". This means that at the instant the primer kicks things into high gear, the shooter should be aware of where the sights were in relation to the target. It can be done. It is done every single day by experienced shooters firing all types of firearms at distances you would not believe. It is quite common for a shooter in a 600-1000 yards match, to fire the shot, and casually tell the spotter, " that's a 7 at 8 o'clock". The shooter knows before the spotter, because he was watching. You will be able to do the same. When that front sight begins to dip on the target, hold on, get it back up there! You, the shooter are in charge, hold and shoot that firearm, you are the boss, you direct the shot. A wise man, a shooter, once said that accurate firearms are always more interesting. So Right. The firearms you have right now will probably shoot much better than you can ever hold them. Next month: I will explain some of the tools that you will need and a reference material listing. In the mean time, order some of those free catalogs! Head over to the USENET group of rec.guns! Visit more web sites on shooting! Good Shootin! "Tioga"
Duane Otis
Walnut Creek, CA