Casting 50cal lead bullets for the Hawken rifle - Lee Mold

[jrubin]

Id documented the casting of some ammunition for my Tradition Hawken rifle where I go over the basic procedures and techniques using a lee mold for doing so. Note that I had Issues with the sprue cutter that were since corrected in this video.

[Standing Bear]

 Some suggestions, JR.

Use a saws all to cut lead into sizes to fit the fuwrnace.

Lay the mold over the furnace when you plug it in to heat it.

Don’t whack the sprue plate on anything or with a mallet/hammer handle like I did for years, wear a welding glove or similar and move the plate.  Whacking cannot be at a consistent angle. Aluminum molds will last longer that way.

An old iced tea spoon bent into a Z works well to remove the dross.

I have a 1,000* thermometer with a 6” probe In my furnace. Small balls like .36, .40 and .45. Pour well at 800*. Larger get a little more heat. Conicals like  500 gr minie I use 950*.

Eye protection is a must.  A full face shield isn’t over doing it. Even a drop of sweat falling into the furnace causes a violent reaction.

TC

[Daryl]

Some suggestions, JR.

Use a saws all to cut lead into sizes to fit the fuwrnace.

Lay the mold over the furnace when you plug it in to heat it.

Don’t whack the sprue plate on anything or with a mallet/hammer handle like I did for years, wear a welding glove or similar and move the plate.  Whacking cannot be at a consistent angle. Aluminum molds will last longer that way.

An old iced tea spoon bent into a Z works well to remove the dross.

I have a 1,000* thermometer with a 6” probe In my furnace. Small balls like .36, .40 and .45. Pour well at 800*. Larger get a little more heat. Conicals like  500 gr minie I use 950*.

Eye protection is a must.  A full face shield isn’t over doing it. Even a drop of sweat falling into the furnace causes a violent reaction.

TC

Good stuff, TC. I also wear lined, heavy leather work gloves when casting. I do use a hammer handle for tapping the mould hing screw if the balls or bullets fail to fall from the mould.  I turn the sprue cutter to the side, with a gloved hand. 

Also my fairly loose spruce plates can be held down against the top of the blocks, for perfect cuts and there is no galling or turning of the screw holding the sprue plate.

[jrubin]

I find the press and wedge is much cleaner than a aw, ive tried saws in the past.
I do need a thermometer however and will pick one up next time im in the black powder supply shop
The temps you have specified have been noted. Thanks

[Gun_Nut_73]

Do you use one of the IR "no contact" pyrometers, or the probe type?

[jrubin]

I have IR, but I imagine thats no good as it only measures the lead temp at the very top of the pot

[Standing Bear]

Sorry, I said 6” probe above but it’s closer to 10”.  My IR won’t read that high.
TC

[Daryl]

I noticed clip-on brackets from WW's in your skimmed 'dross'.  Skimming off what comes to the top of a WW mix after melting will still leave you with alloyed lead, somewhat harder than pure lead.  It would most certainly be nice if simply skimming WW alloy would leave you with pure lead.  Not going to happen.

I've tested this myself, back in the 70's & 80's when I had difficulty getting pure lead, but buckets of WW were simply available for the asking at tire shops.

  Melting, skimming- let it harden, melting, skimming, let it harden, melting skimming - even 3 times still left me with alloyed lead suitable for my .44 mag. That is, lead that was alloyed and not dead soft. It was softer than before I started, but still considerably harder than pure, dead-soft lead.  Yes I know, what I am calling pure lead is likely only 98.6%(Plumbers lead = PB) or 99.0% pure.  That is still not 'perfectly' pure, but certainly softer than the result of attempting to soften WW alloy by skimming.

Of course, this harder lead is still usable, but normally with smaller sized balls and patch that will still go to the bottom of the grooves to seal.

Getting a good seal at higher pressure is likely impossible due to the harder lead not forming into the lands as well as necessary.

Using a wad can help in this instance. Be sure to check for accuracy changes.

[Daryl]

BTW- beware of moths flying around when casting out of doors.

I had a brown moth fly into my 20 pound pot while I was casting. It emptied itself all over my hat, safety glasses and sweater, along with the
steel door beside me. It is still speckled with lead- these 6 or 7 years later.

The glasses and sweater had to be thrown out.

[jrubin]

I watch for liquid, never considered a moth or small bug blowing up the pot!!