Lead ls Still KING!

[7br]

You are correct sir. The danger lies in dust particles and fumes that can be inhaled or otherwise absorbed. Never drink, eat, or smoke when casting lead. I always wear eye protection, long sleeves, heavy gloves, and I have an exhaust fan over my pot. And even though gloves are worn, always wash your hands thoroughly when you’re finished.

 

[brokeasajoke]

You are correct sir. The danger lies in dust particles and fumes that can be inhaled or otherwise absorbed. Never drink, eat, or smoke when casting lead. I always wear eye protection, long sleeves, heavy gloves, and I have an exhaust fan over my pot. And even though gloves are worn, always wash your hands thoroughly when you’re finished.

A TMJ bullet gave me a tinsel fairy visit. It must have squirted when I was stirring and broke the plating or jacket.

 

[AlNyhus]

Do the lead bullet casters ever check with the custom bullet makers? If they're making their own cores, they will have lots of lead 'squirts' from that process. And the good thing is you'll know exactly how much antimony is in it.

Just a thought...

 

[Doug Casner]

Used to cut that lead cable sheathing with a pair of limb pruners we thought we were putting in wheel weights to make it harder. Shot them in a .357, they didnt lead. They were stout loads. Doug

 

[Oldman1950]

If you have an interest in cast bullets then check out the Cast Bullet Association.

Cast Bullet Association Forum

Cast Bullet Association Forum

forum.castbulletassoc.org

Also check out this link.

Home

www.assra.com

A. J. Palik

 

[jds holler]

I hear a little bit about guys starting to use the zinc weights for HARD bullets. Kind of interested to see how that progresses.

There are quite a few of us who are dual citizens of this and the Cast Boolits Forum. Pop over there sometime if ya wanna get a little different twist and some good info about casting. jd

 

[Iowa Fox]

Cast bullets are a real favorite of mine. Good cast bullets will shoot beyond imagination but you can't buy them, you have to pour them. Davenport was home to the largest Schutzen club in the united states at one time. Paul Sass took 1st place at the Coors Shutzenfest when it was in Golden Colorado. I think that was in 1995. Paul and I were friends enjoying a lot of conversation about alloy's, casting, lube, and the rifles that shot them.

 

[Tangent]

We shoot a lot of cast bullets over here for gallery rifle, mostly Marlins. My .44 shoots very well with cast bullets and handily we have a good company that sells them. I did look at casting and the mead was easy to get hold of but the tin and antimony is much harder. No linotype or wheel weights to be found now.

 

[jds holler]

I've probably got enough lead to last me to the end of the line. Anymore, I primarily cast for pistol plinkers, gong ringers and such. and a couple of milsurp rifles.

I've prolly got around 300 lbs, and based on a 150 gr bullet, a hundred pounds would net 4600+ bullets. Casting is just another part of the hobby for me, and also knowing that I'll never be out of some kind of projectile if everything goes tits up. jd

 

[JSH]

Ken Caldwell, that started and ran Cast Boolits is who got me really started in shooting cast. Sadly I lost touch with a great long distance friend. He and I shared the same birthday but different model years. Last I talked to him his health was not good, nor his financial situation.

My whole idea was to get cast bullets to shoot as well as a jacketed for my IHMSA rigs. It took my a while, but I had a lot of people eating humble pie and some served a large cup of STFU. Yes it was some extra work but it gave me a lot of satisfaction to know I made that from “junk”.
I have tackled quite a number of calibers in the past 25+ years with cast. Three favorites come to mind 30-30, 30-40 Krag and the old 06. Just a huge amount of data out there for them.
As an over all caliber the 35 has been the easiest to get great results with. I took a long hard look at building a 35BR.
I used a TC in 35 Remington rimmed, 303 or 3040K brass trimmed back. My FA that I got from an IHMSA mentor of mine, probably has close to 100K rounds though it, still very capable of a 40x40 when an old fat man does his job. When I first got it I was tweaking sight settings for me, shot a 39x40 in half size, my eyes were better then and my belly smaller, lol.

Anyone wanting to step into this, do yourself a favor and go full custom or semi custom on molds.
It will save a HUGE amount of frustration in the long run.

 

[JSH]

JD, I have some much alloy and so much SR4759, been looking at 45-70’s really hard. They are a hungry caliber that eats lots of both

 

[K22]

About ten years ago I’d asked my doctor at the V/A if the lab could check my routine blood tests for lead levels. When he asked why I told him that I’ve been casting my own lead bullets for decades and I’d never been tested for lead. At my next routine visit my doctor, who is also a shooter, said that my lead level was a 3. I asked if that should be a concern. He said that a level of 3 is almost nothing, but then he said that when I’d asked to be tested it made him curious about his own level as he doesn’t cast bullets but he does shoot at indoor ranges. His level was 39, borderline toxic. He was astounded that I work with lead frequently and I’m generally unaffected. I take meticulous precautions and I never shoot at indoor ranges. He thanked me for saving his life.

I knew of a fellow back in Western Pa in the late 70's to mid 80's-time frame, in fact, there was an article in the Pittsburgh News Paper, detailing the death of this fellow. He casts bullets in his basement with little to no ventilation. He became ill and the doctors finally traced his illness to toxic lead poison. Granted this is an extreme case but a cautionary tale.

On the other hand, I had a friend who cast bullet a lot, if fact, that was all he would shoot. He did it in his garage with proper ventilation and to my knowledge, never suffered any ill effects.

 

[ebb]

The toxic lead threat at indoor ranges, comes from primers mostly. The most recent compounds are Lead Azide and Lead Styphnate. This is where the small primer 45acps come from. I don't know if it is true anymore but, in the past, the only lead-free primers were small pistol. They were made for indoor shooting. Drag your DR to the outdoor range and save him from lead and from having to give up shooting.

 

[Fuj]

Yeah, need the ventilation in all aspects. Not advisable to be breathing
over a casting pot for any period of time. Here's something else to worry
about when I mentioned scrap lino. Most of those inks contained cadmium.
Cadmium can be alloyed with lead to lower it's melting temp, and increase
strength. Cadmium can be much worse to breath in........Be safe

 

[7br]

JD, I have some much alloy and so much SR4759, been looking at 45-70’s really hard. They are a hungry caliber that eats lots of both

I love the 45/70s and I shoot only cast bullets in the three that I own. A Browning 1885 High Wall, a Winchester 1886 and a Marlin 1895. The only other rifle that I cast for is my Winchester 1885 .375 H&H. Those big thumpers really gobble up the lead. On hand I have an old 8# can of SR4759 that’s still pretty full, about 10 pounds of TrailBoss, and I grabbed a good amount of 5744 a couple of years ago before the price skyrocketed. I still have at least 500 pounds of wheel weights, Linotype bars, and lead pipe. The only hunting I do anymore is popping some groundhogs with my small caliber rifles on the local farms in warm weather. The hunting in this populated area has really gone south, so, at age 73, my stash should pretty well get me to the end. I also cast for my handguns, but this is already getting too long. I will add that since the years of using Veral Smith’s LBT molds, I’ve been using the Accurate Molds out of Salt Lake City. They are real works of art and Tom is a great guy to deal with.

 

[jds holler]

I had an "on line friend" from another forum some years back whose father had stepped into the Scheutzen thing by coming into possession of a very fine rifle built by one of the big dogs of that sport. It was built on an old Savage action, and method was breech seating the bullet in front of a charged case.

They had a custom mold made by the barrel maker, but weren't casters, so he sent me the very beautiful mold to cast some bullets for him. It was kind of out of my league, but I poured a batch using a medium hard alloy, and lubed them up and sent them off to try.

He sent me pics of clover leaf groups at a hundred and inch-ish at 200. I don't think it set the world on fire among real competitors of that sport, but we were pretty happy for our first go at it. I've sent the mold back and haven't kept in touch. They probably have found a more qualified caster than me - I hope. jd

 

[JSH]

I messed around and missed an early Marlin 45-70 with cut rifling. Looking long and hard at the Browning highwall.
I have the old Lyman Goulds 330 HP mold. It cast under size a bit, imagine that. It makes an interesting 45 Colt bullet though and shoots amazingly well.