Hi Gary:

Thanks for showing the process of casting slugs. You can learn/teach a lot thru videos. I love to see the new shiny slugs. They are easier to track while flying.

Julio

Lost another post.

Try it again ...

Julio,

I just made friends with another movie program. Learned how to cut out the origonal sound track, and narrate in another one, while watching the movie.

Gary

Enjoyed watching how you do that. It's always great to see how others do things slightly different from the way you do but come up with same results. I have to say that my way of casting bullets seems to be a little more labor intensive than your way Gary. I need me one of those bottom pour casting pots for sure.

Hi Joe,

Yeah ... that's the ticket.

Now ... when I grow up .... I want to get one of those Cadillac bottom pour casting pots like Timmy has. Nuclear powered ... has a nice leather seat ... big ole sound system. That's the life!

Gary

Where to start? Timmy DOES have the Cadillac of casting pots, a great RCBS unit that has so far outlasted the previous 3 Lee pots by about a factor of 4 in slug count. The Lee pots are fine for light duty work but once you put some miles on them you have to deal with the shortcomings. As Gary knows, after not so long, the Lee pots start to leak, that means drips (that splash and hurt) and constant fiddling with the valve stem to stop the drip as opposed to casting. The Lee pot also has a very crude temperature control and a very basic valve control. That means that finding a repeatable (or a couple repeatable) settings for certain molds is pretty much hit and miss, you have to make the adjustments everytime you cast. With the RCBS, you plug it in and set the temperature and it goes to where it was the last time you set that temp. With the Lee pot, the adjustment for flow is very crude, impossible to see, and related to "drip control." With the RCBS, you can see what your valve opening is going to be and it has no bearing on how the valve will close. All in all, the huge cost of the RCBS pot is worth it in not having Timmy splashed with molten lead and spending more time protecting himself and calling for help than casting!

Since Calvert Cliffs is just up the road...it may very well be Nuclear powered! Nice of them to convert to 120volts though! The seat is sadly not leather but it IS a seat! Being able to sit seems like a good call for those long sessions (Timmy shipped 1000 slugs last week). And yes, there is a sound system! I knew that radio that came with the Makita tools would be useful one day!

Agree with Jerry about the casting pot. I also use an RCBS pot, having started with Lee pots, which are simple, work reasonably well, but are fiddly, especially with regard to temperature setting. The RCBS will never cook up hotter than 850 deg and thus will not produce lead vapors. The RCBS has a marvelous valve that stays clean and will not leak. Gary is exactly right regarding the rhythm of casting. You have to get in the groove and allow sufficient time for cooling to prevent having the slugs stick in the mold. Too cold and the mould will not fill. Too hot and the slugs can be brittle. It's kind of like knitting. Repetitive and productive. Very relaxing, actually.
When casting volume handgun bullets for 38, 45 acp or 44 spl, I will actually use two moulds, which allows you to move much more quickly and still allow for mould cooling as you cast. You can cast up a weekend's worth of ammo in twenty minutes, pump them through the Star lube sizer and away you go.
Gary. Does your sizer attach to any of the available devices or is it a stand alone?

Hello Hugh,

My sizing dies are made to the standard 7/8 - 14 TPI. You can thread them into presses ... and use a containment can on top to collect them.

I've found that, for these biggest slugs ... you CAN size them once ... to .465" .... and size again to .463" without damage. I honestly haven't determined which Ilike best for all purposes and distance. That will be one thing you can work out.

The gun is an absolute beast. Beat me up tonight. Because of the raw power potential (and the fiddling around I couldn't restrain myself from, while I had the darned thing all apart again) ... .... I racked up the power ... and thus: I retrofitted a "Bull Clamp" into the design of the gun. This is a refinement I've come to like, on the really strongest of actions. I know you will use it. I want it to hold up. I also did this on the Dragon 87 ... really locks things down.



Part of tomorrow's story. But ... here's a sneak.

Gary

Your system sounds just like the Lee system for sizing their Alox lubed cast bullets. Push the rounds up from below. Lube with 3 in 1 or similar?

Hello Hugh,

Guess it is similar. Actually, I don't apply lube though. All that is required for airguns is just a wash of light weight oil. Works well ... less messy. I started life ... as a little airgunsmith ... lubing with a greasy paste. You want a good laugh ... I was recommended to use "utter balm" ... a salve used for cows. Correct consistency. Worked. Still would, I guess. Hummmmmm ...

I just rigged a big tuna tin to thread on top of the die. I'm usually not doing hundreds at a time.

Let me know what works for you.

Gary

A tuna can?!? How did that happen? I fully expected to hear that you'd ginned up a cast assembly in bronze, hand tooled it with a decorative motif with a chisel you made yourself, laboriously applied an aged patina look with a secret combination of toxic chemicals, and then buffed it to an antique shine with custom tooling for your polishing rig.

Oh wait, this is for YOUR shop? Well that's OK then. A tuna can is probably overkill, can't you gin something up out of cardboard?

Hello Sean,

ya know ... I DID make something ... exactly as you described!! And, one night, Indiana Jones came in and stole the thing! Imagine!!! haha.

And, look under the finished pic of the Nitro ... and you will see my "Cardboard creation" to hold recycled paper towels for secondary grease work.

haha.

Gary