2020 NES Bullet Casting Seminar Feeler

Which month would work best for a seminar?


  • Total voters
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38ExtraSpecial

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Alright guys and gals.
I think the time is right for another seminar. Components are hard to find. Seems to me a lot more shooters have recently jumped into reloading lately too.


Below is just a little tweaked clip from the 2019 feeler thread.

For those that have not read about this or may be new here.

We basically spend a day going from scrap lead to ingot to as cast bullets to finished sized/coated/lubed bullets ready to load.
Explanations of how to and why to. All of the tools and accessories on premises for hands on learning.

Cast lead is cheap. It’s accurate. It can do a lot more than what most people think. Great for hunting. Can be pushed to rifle velocities with accuracy. Can be wrapped in a paper jacket and pushed 3000 FPS without leading. Can be shot in polygonal rifling with no issues.
Can be coated with the same coating(hi tek) that the big commercial guys use (bayou, SNS, gateway) and be treated like a plated bullet at that point.

Once you start asking around for scrap lead it starts appearing at your door. Basically free.
Take the most expensive component out of reloading.
1000 45 acp cartridges

1000 primers $ 32
$25/pound of powder at 5 grains each is $17 worth of powder
Free lead
Smidgen of electric
Tiny bit of propane
Little bit of bullet lube

Say $55 for 1000 cartridges.
Say you had to pay a dollar a pound for lead. That’s only another $29 for 1000 each 200 grain bullets.
So $84 for 1000 cartridges. Then you save on that tiny bit of propane for not smelting.

This seminar will be a little different. I'm thinking of dropping the cost a bit an excluding the bulk lead take home. This should free up some time smelting. We will have lead on hand in the melting pots to cast with. Everyone will go home with bullets they cast themselves.
We will focus more on sizing/lubing/coating/loading/paper patching tips an techniques. Odd ball loads and novelty type loads.

There are usually some door prizes depending on who is donating. Sometimes we have samples of lube and or bullet coating Breakfast and Lunch is included in the price.

So let’s get the feelers out there and see who wants to take the next step in reloading.

If anyone has a question as to what cast lead bullets can or cannot do. What styles of bullets can be made. What cartridges they play well with or the ever popular health concerns please ask away.

Over the years I’ve learned so much about lead and cast bullets and learned that what most shooters know about lead is a bunch of hogwash and myths. What most casual jacketed/plated reloaders know about lead is just barely above that level.
This is not meant to be insulting but it’s meant to show that lead has been given a bad name over the years which has made people shy away from using it at all never mind casting their own.
So reach out here and hopefully some of the awesome presenters we have had over the years and some of the last students can post a word or two about the seminar and what it has done for them.

Please ask questions, make comments, bring on the nay sayers. Let’s air out some myths and lay down some knowledge to see if we can get some anti cast bullet guys interested and give a little nudge to those on the fence.

I always say that getting into bullet casting will change your life. 🙂

In the meantime I’ll post some sexy cast bullet pics with a note or two below them
 
45/70 paper patched bullets. Paper patching is the predecessor to copper jackets. Velocity is not an issue when paper patching. No leading. Higher accuracy. Improved performance for the price of a scrap of paper
08A4889D-E2DA-4438-890E-88667D3550FF.jpeg

Supersonic and subsonic 300 blackout. Coated with the same coating that commercial casters use. Runs great in an AR with no lube to gum up your fancy AR.

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Full house 44 magnum loads for about 6 cents a pop. Same coating means shoot all night long until your wrists hurt with zero leading

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Make your own 00 buckshot for practically no cost. Who wants to pay $1 a pop for some low end buckshot when you can make your own for next to nothing? 18.5” CYL bore with this load put every ball on a silhouette at 30 yards.


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Fill your moulds with hot glue to make round balls and glue bullets. Propel them with primers only to make indoor plinking bullets


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Cast Lee slugs for cheap accurate slug loads. Once again a huge savings
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Cast buckshot or round balls and size down for plinking “

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Here is one of those balls seated over 5 grains of bullseye in a 30/30. Great for introducing kids to shooting or turning your deer rifle into a squirrel rifle.

A396F892-62E2-4A68-9B47-7360DA09D211.jpeg

Smooth sided 9mm coated with Hi-Tek. These load and shoot like plated. No leading.
Totally fine for comps. No build up of lead or mess to clean.

913C667E-8A63-4C30-9AE9-C1DF9F49C5D8.jpeg

Bullets 4,5,6 are all the same. Inverted wadcutter. Coated. Soft alloy. Shot into ballistics gel from a 1 7/8” barrel a 4” barrel and a 18” barrel respectively. Awesome performance. Match your alloy to your velocity for great performance on game.

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Triple round balls in a 45/70. Loaded with a little unique the move about 900 FPS and shot through 32” of ballistic gel. These are super fun to shoot and sound awesome when they hit steel.

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A stack of 535 grain .458” bullets that would cost an arm and leg. The lead was free. Add a 3cent primer and maybe 12 cents of powder.

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This illustrates how you can use any mould and a gas check to make custom length wadcutters. I’ve done this in a .458” mould and stacked a few in a 45/70




F9B07020-94AD-49F7-8221-D25A2F42E7E0.jpeg

45-200 grain Modern 4 cavity hollow point moulds drop a lot of bullets fast


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215 grain 357 bullets that are hard to find and only a couple companies offer. Great for pin matches and serious penetration on game

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45 Colt with a modified round ball mould that cast an awesome lightweight “collar button” for light plinking loads


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The bullet for the above load. Cheap to shoot and low recoil


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These are some of the cool things you can do. Out of the ordinary or specialty bullets that can be had for next to nothing.
Not to mention all of the cool obsolete cartridges and firearms you can bring back to life.
Does your mil surp bore suck? Try paper patching up or sizing your lead larger to make it group again. Need a heeled bullet for an old cartridge, there are plenty of moulds available to make awesome ammo for something that’s been hanging around for the last 100 years.
 
Voted September to get past this crazy but any time is fine

I can bring a Walmart $12 hotplate and show how to mod it to melt lead - karma it off after.
Put together a list for a casting kit that will get you casting and coating for around $120.

Hot plate
2qt cast iron pot with lid
Toaster oven
Lee 2 cavity mold
Lee ladle
Lee bullet sizing kit
 
I'm traveling Sept 17 - 21. But I should be in any other time. Going to hang out. I have some scrap lead I will bring.
 
Wish I knew when I was going to be around. The casting seminar last year was literally the last thing I did before I left New England and I haven't really hung out with any groups of like minded people since. Kinda tough making friends when as soon as you're done unpacking/settling in, a global pandemic scare forces everyone to stop socializing :(

At least I have my guns to keep me company [rofl]

Seriously though...to any who haven't been, it's a great day even if you come out of it not wanting to cast! The donuts alone are worth the gas/class fee...everything else is just icing on the cake. Each instructor has their own wealth of knowledge and they're all more than happy to share what they know.

Bring along an antique/oddball rifle and get the bore slugged so you can be absolutely certain you're putting the right size projectiles through it to maximize its potential accuracy! Mr Spangler and crew can help you cook something up for god damn near ANYTHING!
 
12 ordered and on the way
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6 of 12 are accounted for so far. 1 of those 6 will be donated as a door prize for the seminar alone with a lead donation if someone can pick it up

Pick up in hanover area , If your interested and the drive is to much heres the link
!

ordering 12 at a time brings them to $21 each shipped
 
Last edited:
Welp, I'm interested in some first hand experience going down this rabbit hole. Picked up a used 2 cavity Lee 356-125-2R mold at a LGS for short money. I don't have any other casting specific equipment yet set aside. I don't see myself casting in the near future, but that's what I said before I started reloading too.

August or October seem to work best for me so far.
 
Welp, I'm interested in some first hand experience going down this rabbit hole. Picked up a used 2 cavity Lee 356-125-2R mold at a LGS for short money. I don't have any other casting specific equipment yet set aside. I don't see myself casting in the near future, but that's what I said before I started reloading too.

August or October seem to work best for me so far.
Lee molds are short money NEW so be careful.
 
up date to post #13
I have 5 additional REDNECK GOLD ignot molds available for $21 each. They will be delvered to me in a few weeks. $21 each will have to meet up in hanover ma area or when/If someone picks up my lead donation for the seminar I can send the molds along with the lead.
 
That's true. I've spent $10 on worse.

Everything seems to be okay, "locks up" smooth and the sprue plate seems to be decent. In dire need of a degreasing, there's some sort of black grease in a few places.
yeah $10 is max for me unless its new in the box
 
Not yet. At this rate I’m thinking September. That way I can do it a vacation that week so I won’t have to work Sunday.
 
I'd have to ask the boss (wife) depending on the date, but I might be in if it's a go for September.

Subbing to this thread to get updates.
 
I've been doing a lot more shooting this year now that life is settled. I'd love to attend this seminar and start casting especially for my .44 MAG.

Do you have a cost?
 
I've been doing a lot more shooting this year now that life is settled. I'd love to attend this seminar and start casting especially for my .44 MAG.

Do you have a cost?


We’re going to keep it at $20 I think.

I’ll check with @1919FAN and see what week works best for him. I’m down with the third week.
 
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