10 replies to this topic

[Hunter69]

I bought this mould from the following link - http://www.jt-bullet-moulds.co.uk/

It was £20 and is solid brass but with handles to go with it and hold and work the mould also £20 so £40 all in and im ready to mould, but pretty cheap compared to some I seen online, ok yes its single mould but once I had a system going today I knocked out 1 every 8 to 10 seconds or faster and made 105 before I knew it in less than half an hour but I will only get faster as I had slight problem today with my gas stove

I used a portable camping stove I bought last year in millets outdoors store for £15 which came with 4 gas canisters which last hours on continuous, however they dont like extreme cold and today I still had a garden full of snow so after about 10 mins the flame got lower causing temp of lead to be no good as gas canister is full of ice cold gas so if outside temp gets to certain ammount it dont work properly ........and I was on a roll

Anyway I melted lead in old stainless steel saucepan and the lead was from my father-in-laws old lean to roof so no cost there.

Jeff at ball moulds where I bought it from made me also a lead dipper made from an old compressed gas bulb the type used in precharged air rifles and pistols and you dip this in lead as he cut out the back and it pours beautifully into the mould each time saving time and eliminating the need for metal ladel to pour out the moulten lead.

I know some have 10 to 12 ports for making that many each time but you still have to fill each individual port wait for it to set then turn over and repeat but with this single mould you will get down to a ball every 5 seconds with practice as this was my first real go at it and I am very impressed and am facinated at making my own ammo, and as you can see by my mini digital scales the lead ball weighs 83.6 grains or 5.41 grams and the steel ball weighs 54.6 grains or 3.53 grams so a fair difference in weight and the lead ones do pack a punch a lot more so than the lighter steel.

SAFETY.......I had on thick jacket a hat goggles thick gloves and basic dust mask not that it would stop any major fumes but to be honest if done outside there is very little fumes to breath in unless your over the saucepan with a towel over your head like you would with steam if you had a cold but always with moulten lead you should wear saftey equipment.
Thanks for viewing, Deano

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[Sean]

Nice setup! Something I might look at getting into down the road.

sean

[Charles]

Good account! Glad you have something that is working well for you. Once you start shooting lead and see the punch it provides, you will find it hard to go back to lighter ammo. And good on you for emphasizing the safety aspects.

Cheers ....... Charles

[Hunter69]

Charles, on 07 February 2012 - 10:29 AM, said:

Good account! Glad you have something that is working well for you. Once you start shooting lead and see the punch it provides, you will find it hard to go back to lighter ammo. And good on you for emphasizing the safety aspects.

Cheers ....... Charles

Thats right charles, its something I tried and thought oh my god what a difference in punching power.....

As for the safety aspect its basic common sense, you would'nt do it in the kitchen on the stove unless you are completely mad and also even doing outdoors I leveled and made the base for the camping stove solid as you dont want a hot pot of moulten lead sliding off, its pretty safe as long as you do the basic things first correctly or get all proper info from an experienced person beforehand and always keep well away from water especially drips from roofs etc as a drip or 2 into moulten lead can cause it to spit or worse fly out in all directions and no clothing will withstand this unless you're in a metal diving suit and never try to melt it in anything other than a solid bottomed stainless pot or saucepan and definately not old baked bean tins like I did in the past whilst making fishing weights you do learn quickly from past mistakes.

One occasion years ago I did exactly this but this time holding a lead filled bullet with pliers whilst heating with a blow torch, I had found on the shore whilst fishing when all of a sudden an almighty bang me my dad and brother on our backs lead raining down on us and the whistling of a bullet whiz up the garden pierce a metal dustbin then bounce off wall whizz back down between us all and then fly out around garages hitting every wall in its path before finally coming to a rest in a splayed edged jagged lump of metal when we finally retrieved and saw it and suddenly realised it was infact a live exploding probably armour piercing bullet from a plane maybe ?

Well I learnt a big lesson that day as did my dad and brother, its not a game or something anyone should do unless you have correct info and clothing to start with....Deano

[Henry in Panama]

Hunter69, on 07 February 2012 - 11:02 AM, said:

always keep well away from water especially drips from roofs etc as a drip or 2 into moulten lead can cause it to spit or worse fly out in all directions

I've seen this warning many times, but have serious doubts that water falling into molten lead will do anything more than create steam. The danger comes when pouring into a mold. Molds should always be pre-heated before pouring, not only to bring the mold up to temperature, but also to be sure it's dry. The next time I fire up my melter, I'll drop a bit of water in it and see what happens.

[ebooks886]

There is a danger of water dripping into molten lead - as the water hits the liquid metal it can sink below the surface before it evaporates into steam as it will cool the liquid metal on contact. If this happens then the steam generated will be under pressure and this will cause molten lead to spit out.

[Jim Williams]

Very interesting! I imagine 9.5 mil lead would be good for birds.

[August West]

Great looking kit there, that mould looks like a piece of jewelry, very nice and that dipper is a great idea I am going to have to try to make me one of those. I use a lee mould it is a double mould but not nearly as well made as yours. Actually all your kit looks a lot better than mine, looks like I am going to have to get the scouring pad out. LOL Chris

Edited by August West, 07 February 2012 - 04:25 PM.

[Jim Williams]

Is that a .44 cal mould August West? I use a Lee mould too

[August West]

No it is a .350, 64 grain balls, I think that is about 9mm. Casting will save you a boat load of money over the long haul if you can find a supply of suitable lead. I use about everything I can lay hands on, these were cast with recovered shot from a skeet range. No good for reloading shotshells so I got it really cheap. Chris

[Charles]

Henry in Panama, on 07 February 2012 - 11:28 AM, said:

Hunter69, on 07 February 2012 - 11:02 AM, said:

always keep well away from water especially drips from roofs etc as a drip or 2 into moulten lead can cause it to spit or worse fly out in all directions

I've seen this warning many times, but have serious doubts that water falling into molten lead will do anything more than create steam. The danger comes when pouring into a mold. Molds should always be pre-heated before pouring, not only to bring the mold up to temperature, but also to be sure it's dry. The next time I fire up my melter, I'll drop a bit of water in it and see what happens.

Recently I was melting down some old skin diving weight belt weights. They had been sitting indoors for months. I had about half a pot of lead melted, and a big chunk was standing in the melted stuff. All of a sudden there was a bit of a bang and molten lead went flying about ... thank goodness for my protective clothing!!! I surmise there was some water captured in that weight ... can't be sure, but there was something there. So now I put a lid on the pot while it is melting, just in case ...

Cheers .... Charles