Slug Casting Results 1oz Lee Slug Mold with Wheel Weight Lead

[Zombieoutfitters]

So about a month ago I started collecting wheel weights, which was damn near impossible but I got lucky. I think it was probably a one time deal so may have to buy lead in the future. However, I have enough to get me going. I picked up a Lee slug mold in 1oz. Have the Load All 2 in the wings awaiting assembly, primers and wads counting the minutes until I get up the courage to do some casting for the first time.

Having already made 1.5lb cakes from a bunch of wheel weights in late fall on my camp stove with $24 worth of Target pots and muffin tins all I needed to do was cast. So I setup the camp stove in the bulkhead with an aluminum melting pot (thanks Demoulas Goya aisle) and a gravy ladle bent beyond recognition into a slug pouring ladle which worked great scraping all but the last 5 ounces of lead from the pot...which is awesome!

As the lead heated up, took about 12 minutes, I prepped the mold and waited oh so patiently. Start to finish, one hour later...this is the results! The first 5 slugs were mal-formed...but once I really heated up the mold they were picture perfect. I was stunned how easy it was.

Lee slug mold and fluxed wheel weight lead...you are my bestest friend!

If anyone has any questions on the process - I'll be happy to share my experience.

 

[DukeInFlorida]

I don't like the idea of the aluminum melting pot.
It's way too easy for aluminum oxides, which are very hard (sandpaper grit hard) to form, and get mixed in with the lead.

You're much better off using a cast iron pot (camping supplies) for the smelting.

Temperature control is also an important issue. Too cool, and you have problems filling the mold completely. Raising the temp enough to take care of that could cause the metal mixture to go "out of solution"... The tin and antimony separating from the lead.... If you see a GOLD colored shimmering color on the surface of the lead, you got it too hot, and that's the tin that is floating on the top of the lead.

I suggest that you attend the Cast Lead Workshop that Bob_J will be hosting in the Spring.

Until then, you might want to head over to http://castboolits.gunloads.com where there's ton of smelting knowledge.

 

[Zombieoutfitters]

Thanks again Duke for your guidance. I have my eyes on the Lee Magnum melting pot which will handle all my casting needs professionally. In the meanwhile I'll tweak my procedure to avoid any unwanted side effects!

Thanks!

 

[DukeInFlorida]

In my opinion, don't waste your money on that pot.

Something like this makes more sense:

Use one of these for the rough ingot castings:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44705

I sit that on top of a stand that I use for beer brewing, with a big burner. It's similar to this:

That set up will do 50 to 100 pounds of lead in no time at all, and give you plenty of room for fluxing (which you don't have in the small pot you mentioned). The small pot you mentioned requires HAND DIPPING the lead, a real pain, when compared to the botton dispensing production pot, for virtually the same $$$.

If you are anywhere near Bob_J, you should bribe him to allow you to come by and see how he does it. I understand he likes beer, good beer.

 

[Gammon]

I cast a bunch of Lee 1 oz slugs using pure lead with pretty good results (2.75 three inch groups at 25 yds using a smooth bore barrel). The actual composition of the slug isn't all that important as the wad cup insulates the slug from the bore.

 

[WILDCATT]

I used WW and could not get the slug out lee said use pure lead
get the 20 lb pot from lee.1 oz is 16 to lb x 20lb in pot.

 

[Zombieoutfitters]

I used WW and could not get the slug out lee said use pure lead
get the 20 lb pot from lee.1 oz is 16 to lb x 20lb in pot.

I saw that warning but risked it based on the fact that Midway reviews showed a few folks using WW and having no issues.

I sprung for the "Carbon in a Can" and painted that sucker up before casting. I also cleaned it in acetone before I did that. It says to clean with acetone and re-carbon before every casting...which I will do. Did you do those things and still have problems getting slugs out? Mine dropped right out.