Bullet Casting & Coating MegaThread

Demoman said:
How low is good without causing issues
Click to expand...
IIRC 385 was the lowest. @pastera any suggestions for working with blue?

I would venture to guess that the big issue is that the little ovens kick on and off and overshoot their setpoint by enough to cause color darkening.

PID would solve the issue. Also a large chunk of steel or similar in the oven will retain heat and keep it from cycling on every other minute.
 
38ExtraSpecial said:
IIRC 385 was the lowest. @pastera any suggestions for working with blue?

I would venture to guess that the big issue is that the little ovens kick on and off and overshoot their setpoint by enough to cause color darkening.

PID would solve the issue. Also a large chunk of steel or similar in the oven will retain heat and keep it from cycling on every other minute.
Click to expand...
I brought it down to 365. It does cool when open door but holds steady after. Doing 10 min cycles. 10min air 10 preheat on top 10 min in. Good stuff though might grab another oven to shorten times
 
Demoman said:
I brought it down to 365. It does cool when open door but holds steady after. Doing 10 min cycles. 10min air 10 preheat on top 10 min in. Good stuff though might grab another oven to shorten times
Click to expand...
Pid is on the list dam list only gets longer. Could use with pot as well. Was going to buy a lyman 25 but has to wait
 
ddeck said:
PID is the bomb for this setup. I built a second one recently for my second pot. Couple it with a Pastera cover and probe holder and you’re in business. Keeps my lead at 680 which works very well.
Click to expand...
What size case are you using ill probably make one out of aluminum have a 1/8" sheet in shop probably not worth doing but havent used it besides under smelting pot
 
So i was going thru my lead log i used to shot and write values down. But I forgot i had 700lbs of antimonial for some reason was thinking pure. It is 3.51 sb 95.70 to 3.22 to 96.13. I was going to start mixing lino with pure but ill say that and use this first. Will need to look at lead calculations but 100 lb anti 4 lb 50/50 and 30lb pure would be 2.99 sb 1.49 sn 95.52 from one calculator which is close to clip ww but couldn't adjust values.
Question is do i melt down only what I need 100 lbs at a time and blend. And melt rest into ingots with know value and save for later use. Using the calculator
 
I would definitely only go about 100 pounds at a time. You never know what type of changes you’re going to run into in the future.

I wouldn’t bother melting everything else into known and gets if you already have it separated out properly. Just make sure that whatever container it in is labeled. That saves your time and effort.

Unless you want it all in pretty uniform and gets then I say go for it. Smelting is fun.
 
38ExtraSpecial said:
I would definitely only go about 100 pounds at a time. You never know what type of changes you’re going to run into in the future.

I wouldn’t bother melting everything else into known and gets if you already have it separated out properly. Just make sure that whatever container it in is labeled. That saves your time and effort.

Unless you want it all in pretty uniform and gets then I say go for it. Smelting is fun.
Click to expand...
It's sitting on a pallet in a field there the last bit about thousand lbs on 2 pallets if I get time on a cool day. Then I can stack it s conex box with the rest I stamp the ingots so I don't forget. Should of bought so of those red reck gold ones but wasn't sure on ingots size in small pot. Thanks for the insight
 
Demoman said:
It's sitting on a pallet in a field there the last bit about thousand lbs on 2 pallets if I get time on a cool day. Then I can stack it s conex box with the rest I stamp the ingots so I don't forget. Should have bought so of those red reck gold ones but wasn't sure on ingots size in small pot. Thanks for the insight
Click to expand...
The redneck ingots are perfect for small pots. I just have Lee 20# pots and you can slide a few side by side. They’re maybe 50% longer than the depth of the pot so they hang out but not enough to worry about them falling out.
 
38ExtraSpecial said:
The redneck ingots are perfect for small pots. I just have Lee 20# pots and you can slide a few side by side. They’re maybe 50% longer than the depth of the pot so they hang out but not enough to worry about them falling out.
Click to expand...
I have pair of 10# i bought for sinkers been waiting to upgrade but they do the job takes a lot longer to cast a lot but been preheating on hot plate that's on for molds just have to watch temp or you will have a puddle on your bench
 
Demoman said:
I have pair of 10# i bought for sinkers been waiting to upgrade but they do the job takes a lot longer to cast a lot but been preheating on hot plate that's on for molds just have to watch temp or you will have a puddle on your bench
Click to expand...
Yeah might be a bit big for those but not bad really. You can probably prop one end up and let it just melt down and kid of self feed
 
38ExtraSpecial said:
IIRC 385 was the lowest. @pastera any suggestions for working with blue?

I would venture to guess that the big issue is that the little ovens kick on and off and overshoot their setpoint by enough to cause color darkening.

PID would solve the issue. Also a large chunk of steel or similar in the oven will retain heat and keep it from cycling on every other minute.
Click to expand...
183° C (361° F) for 3 minutes bullet surface temp
The closer you can get to the 183, the less of an issue you have with baking more than needed to cure the coating
 
Grabbed one of these (no I didn't pay that price) in order to mod for bullet coating - need to step up the effort.
Does a good job of heating up 20 lbs of bullets but the current software for PCB reflow isn't the greatest for our uses

Going to add a thermocouple for measuring bullet temp directly and change the software so it is dedicated to bullet coatings - if I get it right then I'll put the effort up on the wiki and report back here.
 
Demoman said:
When back and shot 15 more of lee 1oz 5 cb wad 5 aa wad un cut and aa cut pedals at 25 yards. Same gun all foot high all about the same i aimed bottom frame
Click to expand...
Is this a single bead slug barrel, raised rib?
I have a jig that centers a drill guide to drill bead sight holes. If tour thinking of a 2nd bead
Old shotguns single bead your eye is the rear sight.
So if its a single bead the drop at the comb is not enough for you
 
mac1911 said:
Is this a single bead slug barrel, raised rib?
I have a jig that centers a drill guide to drill bead sight holes. If tour thinking of a 2nd bead
Old shotguns single bead your eye is the rear sight.
So if its a single bead the drop at the comb is not enough for you
Click to expand...
Single bead smooth barrel smooth receiver. I'll try adjusting my self
 
Demoman said:
When back and shot 15 more of lee 1oz 5 cb wad 5 aa wad un cut and aa cut pedals at 25 yards. Same gun all foot high all about the same i aimed bottom frame
Click to expand...
My shotgun experience is based on SE MA woods hunting
1650 fps Remington slugsters
Out of smooth bore slug barrels
50 yards point of aim = to Point of impact 3”ish group.
On the single bead guns , we would sometime change out front bead hight.
More often you just made a hold to compensate.
1’ high at 25 yards is a tad much you would be holding the belly line….

I broke down at 17 and just bought a 18” slug barrel with adjustable rear sight.

Now with my lee slugs , im only running them at 1250 fps and use a red dot or scope. Only used them at club fun shoots
Paper and milk jug targets.
 
mac1911 said:
My shotgun experience is based on SE MA woods hunting
1650 fps Remington slugsters
Out of smooth bore slug barrels
50 yards point of aim = to Point of impact 3”ish group.
On the single bead guns , we would sometime change out front bead hight.
More often you just made a hold to compensate.
1’ high at 25 yards is a tad much you would be holding the belly line….

I broke down at 17 and just bought a 18” slug barrel with adjustable rear sight.

Now with my lee slugs , im only running them at 1250 fps and use a red dot or scope. Only used them at club fun shoots
Paper and milk jug targets.
Click to expand...
I'm in the market for a different slug gun. But other stuff always gets in the way. For now just fun at the range. Would like one for deer shoulders are getting old. But we will see
 

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