been coolecting wheelweights for a couple weeks now, also my fiance is a hygenist, she bagged me about 50+ pounds of the xray lead foils. i prbably have about 120 pounds of lead to cast. i am a cast virgin, i am doing 9mm and possibly .310(but that will be later). please direct me to the cheapest but decent quality 4 cavity or more mould for 9mm, i would like to do hollow point. i dont really wanna drop a bunch of dough on it, cuz i'm not sure if this will be something i stick with. i buy good lead locally for 60$ per thousand, so if this ends up being more work than its worth, i'll probably not always do it unless supply is dried up or something. so i need a mold, i have the bottom pour coming, and any other advice that i will wish i had in hindsight. thanks guys......and possibly gals.
cheapo 9mm mould HP
- Thread starter skizzums
- Start date
Search through the post here and on Castboolits for tips on pouring those 9's.
Your probably going to want to find you some clip on wheel weights to use for alloy on the 9mm's as they tend to run at a bit higher pressure and will lead up using the softer lead.
Also read through this one as plenty was added into ti as well,
New To Casting
Make you up a list of stuff and shop it out at garage sales and such for pans and spoons and such.
Get you a lead thermometer, and hot plate, they will become your friends.
If you are just getting into it like you say, the Lee 2 cavity molds are hard to beat for price. Plenty easy to beat on quality, but they still pour good bullets. The key is temp control, and running a clean mold. There is plenty on them over on Castboolits to get you pouring good bullet quickly. They don't necessarily need to be smoked as they say in the instructions, they simply need to be cleaned well using something like Comet or similar cleaner and a tooth brush with plenty of hot water. It also might take you several times of heating them up and allowing them to cool to get the oil out of the pores of the metal. Once done though they will drop clean nice bullets as long as they are up to temp when you start.
Hope this helps.
Your probably going to want to find you some clip on wheel weights to use for alloy on the 9mm's as they tend to run at a bit higher pressure and will lead up using the softer lead.
Also read through this one as plenty was added into ti as well,
New To Casting
Make you up a list of stuff and shop it out at garage sales and such for pans and spoons and such.
Get you a lead thermometer, and hot plate, they will become your friends.
If you are just getting into it like you say, the Lee 2 cavity molds are hard to beat for price. Plenty easy to beat on quality, but they still pour good bullets. The key is temp control, and running a clean mold. There is plenty on them over on Castboolits to get you pouring good bullet quickly. They don't necessarily need to be smoked as they say in the instructions, they simply need to be cleaned well using something like Comet or similar cleaner and a tooth brush with plenty of hot water. It also might take you several times of heating them up and allowing them to cool to get the oil out of the pores of the metal. Once done though they will drop clean nice bullets as long as they are up to temp when you start.
Hope this helps.
Take an hour or maybe two to read the following thread;
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=346199
Then when you get your equipment, come back here to ask the inevitable questions.
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=346199
Then when you get your equipment, come back here to ask the inevitable questions.
When it come to moulds Lee has the best value. I have heard the 6 cavity moulds are good. I have several of the 2 cavity moulds and for the price am very pleased with them. I don't think they have a 4 cavity mould, what I do is cast with two 2-cavity moulds , filling one while the other cools enough to open. I use this method and cast with a dipper that has a little side spout. I get the best bullets like this. I tried my bottom pour pot , again , last weekend and still keep getting bullets that are not 100% filled out. Can cast more with bottom pour but get better bullets with ladle.
Gary
Gary
armoredman
New member
Cheap and hollowpoint are two words that don't go together in any sentence about molds. Lee makes great inexpensive molds - I use several, but good HP molds start about $100 a up new, from what I've seen.
Sure Shot Mc Gee
New member
You could water drop pure W/W to get its hardness up a little. Or use a quick burn powder like (bullseye) which would help hold your pistol's bore leading to a minimum. A really good bullet lube is a necessity when it comes to these high velocity bullets also.
Casting isn't all that hard to accomplish. Like anything else it takes patience. And some experimenting too. If you use aluminum molds. Don't forget to candle smoke the lower side of your cutter plate before using. (wax smoking helps to not let its sprue cutter plate gall the aluminum it slides back & forth over.) So skizzums here's a few tips/tricks to keep in mind that may come in handy.
S/S
Casting isn't all that hard to accomplish. Like anything else it takes patience. And some experimenting too. If you use aluminum molds. Don't forget to candle smoke the lower side of your cutter plate before using. (wax smoking helps to not let its sprue cutter plate gall the aluminum it slides back & forth over.) So skizzums here's a few tips/tricks to keep in mind that may come in handy.
S/S
Here's an example of what to expect to pay for a mold that casts a HP 9mm boolit.
http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=34&products_id=377
N.O.E. stands for Night Owl Enterprises. That mold is made from aluminum, he makes others in brass, not sure if he uses iron or not.
My question is why you feel it must be a hollow point?
http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=34&products_id=377
N.O.E. stands for Night Owl Enterprises. That mold is made from aluminum, he makes others in brass, not sure if he uses iron or not.
My question is why you feel it must be a hollow point?
thanks for the input. i guess i'll expect to pay around a hundred bucks.
p.s. i spent all day making lead soup and poured of about 50 pounds of ignots, i did a crimp test on all the weights before they went in, my ignots poured well, but are a little sparkley, is the sparkle normal? i remember working with zinc when i did construction and it just kinda looks like that. out of 120 pounds of wheel weights i only found maybe 15 zincs and a couple hundred irons.
p.s. i spent all day making lead soup and poured of about 50 pounds of ignots, i did a crimp test on all the weights before they went in, my ignots poured well, but are a little sparkley, is the sparkle normal? i remember working with zinc when i did construction and it just kinda looks like that. out of 120 pounds of wheel weights i only found maybe 15 zincs and a couple hundred irons.
Just keep your eyes open... this one went for $105 while ago and he had barely got the thing warm! http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?207759-NOE-358-135grBB-RG4-9mm
Rangefinder
New member
MAN, Beagle, what did you have to go and post that for... I wanted that for my .357 in the WORST way---and saw it just a touch too late. I'm still pouting... 
Try these two site, it open up a whole new world
http://www.accuratemolds.com
http://www.mountainmolds.com/
http://www.accuratemolds.com
http://www.mountainmolds.com/
Take a look at this guy really good guy about 100 dollars brand new uses lee molds I got one in 40 S&W a couple of months ago and I love it no pins to mess with it cast a really nice bullet don't think you could go wrong with one of these
http://www.hollowpointmold.com/
http://www.hollowpointmold.com/