First And Last Equipment

[Jammer Six]

Is there an advantage to cutting sprues by hand or not, or is this just one of those "however you learned" things?

[runfiverun]

i relearned to cut them by hand.
usually a push of the thumb is enough.
i started with a ladle and two hole molds and whacked them open.

then went to a mastercaster.
figured out the bottom pour from using them.
and the glove thing come from hitting the sprue plate accidentally on the master caster.
and then i started pushing them open with the whack stick.
things just progressed from there.
there are a couple of advantages to opening by hand.
you ain't hitting the mold.
the sprue plate stays sharp.
the sprues are still hot going back into the pot.
you have a glove on and prevent burns and such.
it speeds things up you are making fewer movements.
you can use a lower alloy temp because of the shorter wait time between pours.
it eliminates the bump under a gas check.

[btroj]

I use a stick to open the sprue but cut it while it is still a bit soft, soft enough that without a sprue plate lube I would get major lead smearing on the blocks.

Much of casting is a "do what works for you" type of thing. In my opinion if you are getting good bullets then what you are doing its "right". Much comes down to personal preferences and habits.

Some methods allow a faster pace and therefore more bullets in less time. Some methods are better for really big bullets, like those 500 plus grain 45-70 bullets.

My FIL and I have different casting preferences in a few ways. He loves HP and single cavity rifle moulds. I generally dislike both. He is retired and has lots of free time, I am working and free time is more limited for me. We each do what suits our needs. He also shoots very little handgun so volume shooting isn't an issue for him.

Find a system, and equipment, that fills YOUR needs. If you are a handgun shooter and may shoot 200 or more rounds per seeing and like to shoot weekly you are going to find a 2 cav mould is slow. It can work but can also be frustrating when you feel like you can't get ahead of your shooting.

[slim400]

Most of the other replies you have received have been right on the money I would start with the low end we equipment I would stay away from the tumble lube molds the other thing that I would say to you is that I would take a look at some of the other equipment if you truly want this to be a one-time purchase I think you would be much happier with either a magma master caster or a ballistic cast machine neither one of these are an expense I think somewhere right around $1000 plus the mold plus you still have to come up with a way to size and lube if you're willing to look for a little while you can pick up the size and lube generally inexpensive and as long as you stay within the specs achieve given the 1 to 300 Bullets a week this equipment would be fine just so you know I started off with Lee equipment and used it for over 10 years and just recently decided to go with higher production equipment and have been very satisfied with if you are is mechanically inclined as you say my guess is you'll be just fine with the higher production equipment while it takes a little getting used to and I would strongly recommend picking up a book or two and reading about casting alloys and just casting in general it's not rocket science I hope this has been helpful

If I can help in any other way just PM me back

Slim 400

[David2011]

Chiming in late here. . .

If you want progressive presses, I agree that Dillon is the way to go but I would not buy the 550. I've had a 550 for about 20 years. I've had a 650 for about 6 years. Ther's also a Square Deal B on the bench but I would only recommend the SDB to people who will never reload for more than one caliber on it or want a separate press for each caliber. If it didn't cost so much to replace all of my 550 conversion kits with 650s I would have 2 650s- one each for small and large primers. The reason is that I think the primer handling system on the 650 is far superior to that of the 550. This is just my opinion, based on lots of primer handling issues. I have a lot of conversion kits for the 550 that are not used very often but they do get used once or twice a year and they're for cartridges I don't want to load on a single stage press. It's my opinion that almost everyone needs a single stage press even if just for load development. I don't like developing a new load on a progressive. A single stage press is far more time effective if you're loading 5 or 10 each of several loads.

Slim,

I've had many rocket scientist friends over the years when I lived near the Johnson Space Center. A few of them are casters and reloaders. It's amazing the way a rocket scientist deals with the simplest of acts. . .

David

[Defcon-One]

Last in. Lots of good advice in previous posts.

I'll just say this:

Dillon Precision (Progressives presses)
RCBS (Anything they make and their Rifle Molds)
SAECO (Pistol Molds)

You can't go wrong with these!

[paul h]

Other interesting points about my intentions, in case you need more information:

• I'm willing to try both ladles and bottom pour; I'm not locked into a method.
• I'll be casting for a .45 ACP and a .38 Super.
• I shoot about one to three hundred rounds a week.
• I reload all of my own ammo, on a Square Deal B.
• I'll be casting in my basement.
• I live in a city.
• I'd like to spend around a thousand, I can double that if I need to.
• I'd rather not spend more than three thousand out of the gate.
• I'll need to join a different range.
• I used to carry sacks of gravel and concrete two at a time. That was 35 years ago. Now if there's weight to be dealt with, I use my checkbook.
• I'm not interested in any unnecessary risks. (Splashes, burns, etc.) I wish, therefore, to minimize any chance of them occurring. I was an apprentice before fall protection became common place, and the days of "if you need a harness, you shouldn't be up here!" are over. And good riddance.

So, with this long post in mind, what would a starting list of equipment be, in your opinion?

I know that there are several custom mold makers here as sponsors, and I certainly mean no offense to any of them by asking for recommendations, but I would like to know if any of them would be better for a rank beginner than others, and why.

And finally, thank you for taking the time to listen to my requirements.

I'm coming to this thread a little late, but I understand where you are coming from, you value your free time and are willing to invest in quality tools to save you time and produce a top notch product. I think there is a learning curve in life where when we are young and don't have much money, we take whatever tools we can afford and make due with them, no matter inneficient they are with our time. Having personally used most of the products out there, and now being at a point in my life where I don't want to fiddle around with equipment that can be made to work vs. getting equipment that is as efficient as possible, I know exactly where you are coming from.

My personal recomendation for what you are looking to do is to get Ballisticast 4 cavity molds, a bottom pour furnace, (I'm using a pair of old saeco's, can't comment on the what's currently available) and a star lube/sizer with the bullet feeder, pneumatic lube feeder and lube heater. Order a dozen sticks of BAC lube from white label, and get ww ingots from whoever has the best prices you can find.

You'll still have to go through the learning curve of casting, but you want want to be upgrading your equipment to get better quality or save time later.

[HDS]

I would probably cheap out on the pot and upgrade that later, or try and find a good used one. The place I think the best investment can be made is in the lubrisizer. I got real tired of panlubing or using the lee push through.

Only tihng I have never cheaped out on are molds, I own only Mihec molds, nothing else, only brass except the 9mm 6-banger.

[Texantothecore]

One of the things that tickled me was that if you look at the pictures of casting benches you can see what the best deals are on stuff from the 99 Cents Store. Looks like a catalog of their goods.

Harbor Freight and the 99 Cents Store are making big bucks off the casting community.

[Texantothecore]

Is there an advantage to cutting sprues by hand or not, or is this just one of those "however you learned" things?

I started taking the sprues out early(just after they become a matte finish) with my hand and it is takes about half the time to cut a sprue as it does knocking them off with a wooden mallet. I just started doing this and it works very well.

I also have had a problem with the sprue cutter working itself loose when knocking them and this method seems to have cured it.

[RoGrrr]

If you need THAT many (don't we all?!?) then get the MAGMA Bullet Master.
That's why I got a Dillon 650 and am adding the MAGMA to my equipment line. I like automation and I also like to shoot. To be satisfied, I need one more gun.


[QUOTE=Jammer Six;1627063]

Needs?
I need boolits.

SNIP

[SIZE="4"][B]THOUSANDS OF BOOLITS! TENS OF THOUSANDS OF SHINY, SHINY, BEAUTIFUL BOOLITS!

SNIP, some more....