Gonna Cast

[Cal4D4]

Going to start casting again - after many years - and would like listers advice on what preferred equipment and style to pursue. Biggest questions are:

Whether to ladle or bottom pour - 20# melt Lyman or RCBS
Lyman or RCBS lubrisizer
Who makes the Veral Smith type molds - .44. .357 and a decent 10mm/.40

And biggest of all, a list of informative websites. Any help at all is greatly appreciated; I know some of you have poured literally tons of alloy.

 

[Intel6]

I just started casting a few months ago and I did a lot of research before diving in. By doing a lot of reading and lurking on a Cast bullet mail list I can answer your questions with the info I have.

Bottom pour or ladle?

There are some who swear by ladle casting but they were mostly casting rifle bullets where they have found using a ladle to give them more consistent bullets. And then there are others who say they have discoverd no difference between the two. I use the bottom pour method and have found it to work fine. I cast mostly pitol bullets and I would never get any bullets made if I couldn't use gang moulds and a bottom pour pot. As it looks like you are going to do pistol bullets I reccomend a bottom pour. If you get a bottom pour you can still use a ladle with it so you can choose what you like best.

Lyman or RCBS lubesizer?

This was recently discussed on the CB-L list and while there were amny who liked and used the Lyman, there were some experienced people who would choose the RCBS over the Lyman. Mainly they felt the RCBS was a little bit better designed/built even though they are alike. I have the Lyman and it has been great so far.

Moulds?

The Veral Smith type moulds, commonly refeered to as "LBT style" are very hard to find. There are some makers who make them since Veral is in jail but they have a long waiting list and they are expensive. Lee makes a heavy Gas Checked (310 gr.) .44 mag mould that is LBT style. I have been using that and have found it to be very accurate in my Ruger Redhawk. I have been using the Lyman 200 gr flat point mould for my 10mm's and a SWC design for my .357's. No real option for LBT style bullets in those calibers.

 

[Steve Smith]

I have not poured tons, but some. So far I've been very happy with the #20 bottom pour from Lee. Most of Lee's stuff is crap, and this looks like crap, but it works well. Many had suggested that I get it. I use WW (wheel weight) material for my bullets, and it works very well. I first "reduce" it using an old pot, a large camp ladle, and a coleman stove. I pour the cleaned up WW into a muffin pan to form ingots. The muffin sized ingots are easy to handle, and they're clean. Avoid reducing in your casting pot, because you'll work too hard getting the steel clips and crap out, and your temp will fluctuate too much. I do not use a Veral Smith lube, and don't know where to get it, but the cast bullet forum at www.shooterstalk.com is one of the best bullet casting resources out there, period. Those guys can point you toward Veral lube. I use a homemade concoction called FWFL, and you'll find a link to it if you search here. It came from that forum on Shooterstalk. Those guys are great.

Oops, you asked about moulds, not lube. Veral's moulds were called "LBT" or Lead Bullet Technology. Ballisticast now makes those moulds. You can order whatever you want form them..they're BEAUTIFUL. www.castperformance.com I just bought one of their .452 325gr. LBT-LFN GC moulds...reports will follow.

I went with a Star lubrisizer. Its more expensive than the others, but its built for a high output of one caliber. Multiple calibers would be a little slower unless you did a couple thousand at a time. It is a push through that the bullets face the floor, so you just put the GC on and run the ram down, put on the next bullet and GC, run the ram down. The Saeco gets good reviews, though.

Websites:

The www.shooterstalk.com cast bullet forum is best (already mentioned)
www.sixguns.com "Campfire" isn't bad...not a lot of cast info, but good revo info (personalities like John Taffin and Paco Kelley are active participants)
www.beartoothbullets.com has a ton of good info.

A book EVERY caster should have: Lyman's Bullet Casting Handbook.

 

[Cal4D4]

Many Thanks

This is exactly what I'm looking for. If anyone new or old has anything more to add, please chime in. I gotta make $$$ decisions soon, and all input is valued.