Casting question

BUFF7MM · Jun 16, 2016

For those of you that cast your BOOLITS, do you empty your pot every time?
I was casting some 124 grain .356's outside this morning and all the sudden the sky got real dark real quick and I had to glove up and shove my pot in the gas grill to keep from having a boil over. I usually drain as much as possible from it after a casting session but no luck this time. I know it won't hurt it but is it easier to get it melting quicker with a big cold block in it or to place one pound and half pound ingots in to start? Lee 4-20 bottom pour.
No real reason for asking besides I'm getting tired of browsing over all the crap with the Orlando shooting.

noahhh · Jun 16, 2016

I rarely empty my pot. But on the other hand I cast bullets, not "boolits".

Trigger Time · Jun 16, 2016

I have the same pot and I just turn it off when I'm done, the only time I drain it out into ingot molds is if I'm changing from an alloy mix to cast pure lead slugs.

BUFF7MM · Jun 16, 2016

noahhh said:
I rarely empty my pot. But on the other hand I cast bullets, not "boolits".

Congratulations on your casting bullets.

BUFF7MM · Jun 16, 2016

TriggerHappy said:
I have the same pot and I just turn it off when I'm done, the only time I drain it out into ingot molds is if I'm changing from an alloy mix to cast pure lead slugs.

Thanks, I just got caught in a quickie thunderstorm and had to cover it quickly and I had never left much more than 1/2 a pound or so in it before. :thumbsup:

byf43 · Jun 16, 2016

noahhh said:
I rarely empty my pot. But on the other hand I cast bullets, not "boolits".

You must be young.

I don't cast boolits, yet. I've acquired a couple hundred pounds of already cast boolits that somebody dropped off at my sportsman's club.

A lot of 'em are .45 acp boolits that I can use, if I get a lubricator/sizer.

BUFF7MM · Jun 16, 2016

byf43 said:
You must be young.

I don't cast boolits, yet. I've acquired a couple hundred pounds of already cast boolits that somebody dropped off at my sportsman's club.

A lot of 'em are .45 acp boolits that I can use, if I get a lubricator/sizer.

Couple hundred pounds, WOW, I'm envious. :drool:

I lube with alox, I've never had any issues with it.

campns · Jun 16, 2016

if you don't empty you pot how can you be certain that you are only taking up 3% of the volume? or the amount of antimony you have to add?

campns · Jun 16, 2016

byf43 said:
You must be young.

I don't cast boolits, yet. I've acquired a couple hundred pounds of already cast boolits that somebody dropped off at my sportsman's club.

A lot of 'em are .45 acp boolits that I can use, if I get a lubricator/sizer.

might want to check those castings, you live in SO Maryland, they could have been made by SOMSHOOTS... all bad karma :lol:

BUFF7MM · Jun 16, 2016

campns said:
might want to check those castings, you live in SO Maryland, they could have been made by SOMSHOOTS... all bad karma

Nice play. :rofl:

OEH · Jun 16, 2016

I always thought that the pot heated faster when left full or mostly full. I never really timed it but that's how it seemed. I postulated that there was more surface area of lead in contact with the pot to transfer the heat into the lead. But I was making boolits so what would I know...

BUFF7MM · Jun 16, 2016

OEH said:
I always thought that the pot heated faster when left full or mostly full. I never really timed it but that's how it seemed. I postulated that there was more surface area of lead in contact with the pot to transfer the heat into the lead. But I was making boolits so what would I know...

I thought I had heard that somewhere too, guess the next time I fire up the pot I'll have to time it.

j8064 · Jun 16, 2016

Sometimes I've left lead to cool in the pot and other times I've drained it completely. No rhyme or reason. Since I haven't fired up the pot in a couple of months it's pretty full of culled boolits, range boolit pickups and a few random wheel weights I lifted from Hooligan vehicle wheels while y'all weren't watching...

highli99 · Jun 16, 2016

campns said:
if you don't empty you pot how can you be certain that you are only taking up 3% of the volume? or the amount of antimony you have to add?

LOL

BUFF7MM · Jun 16, 2016

j8064 said:
Sometimes I've left lead to cool in the pot and other times I've drained it completely. No rhyme or reason. Since I haven't fired up the pot in a couple of months it's pretty full of culled boolits, range boolit pickups and a few random wheel weights I lifted from Hooligan vehicle wheels while y'all weren't watching...

No wonder my f*****g truck goes bouncing down the road.

POP57 · Jun 16, 2016

I was expecting to see a couch.

byf43 · Jun 17, 2016

Buff7mm said:
Couple hundred pounds, WOW, I'm envious.
I lube with alox, I've never had any issues with it.

Yup.
There's a double-width milk crate just chocked full of cast boolits.
I only got half of what was there.
The guy lost interest in casting and said that club members could help themselves.

campns said:
might want to check those castings, you live in SO Maryland, they could have been made by SOMSHOOTS... all bad karma

He wasn't a member of my sportsman's club, but, only "a certain percentage" of them would be affected, even IF they came from him.
:innocent0

Buff7mm said:
Nice play.

Doh!

Sticky · Jun 17, 2016

I leave my pot full or mostly full as long as I am not changing alloys for the next casting session. It does melt quicker that way then adding ingots to an empty pot, but it's not that much different. I also leave a layer of beeswax on the melt when it is cooling down for storage.

I use BLL, a liquid tumble lube for uncoated boolits. It's a mix of Alox and Johnsons liquid wax. It dries non tacky and works well for me. I also use HT coating and PC coating on some, mostly rifle boolits.

Never tried to cast bullets tho... :evilgrin3

BUFF7MM · Jun 17, 2016

You make that alox/Johnson's mix yourself?

Sticky · Jun 17, 2016

Buff7mm said:
You make that alox/Johnson's mix yourself?

Yes... It is a blend of 60% Alox and 40% Johnson's Liquid Wax. I add a little to a plastic container with the cast boolits and swirl it around to coat them all and then stand them up on a sheet of wax paper and let them dry overnight (or at least a few hours). The lube will dry all the way, only takes a very little and it works great for me!

You can heat the Alox in hot water to thin it out a bit to mix it up, makes it easier to pour in, then I just put the blend in a squirt bottle to dispense into the container with boolits.

Here is a link to the thread...

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?259285-NEW-!-!-T-L-Liquid-Lube

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