Reeder Custom Guns - With Jim's post "Warm Fun on a Cold Day"

it kind of reminded me that I need to replenish my supply of .45 cal. that I have been neglecting lately in favor of the 7mm. Now having a decent supply of 7's put up for the 7 GNR and spring time rock chucks, its time to build up the .45 cal. stash for the 455 GNR.

Grabbing the mould that is always on top of the pile, simply because its the mould that by far gets used the most, the Lyman 4 cavity 454424 came out. This is an older mould that Glen Fryxell let me know about that was coming up for sale several years ago and I was able to get it. This mould is one that has the radiused lube groove instead of the flat bottomed groove and cast a bullet of around 260 grs.

Another couple castings and the .45 cal. will be well stocked again.
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To finally purchase my first set of molds.

Now I need to learn about the rest of the necessary equipment.

I have a few of the old lead scuba divers weights.

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with folks just starting out. All you need is a $25 Lee push through sizer and a college dorm toaster oven. No lube sizer tool, no H&I dies, no nose punches, no lube, etc. The powder once cooked on is a plastic jacket needing no lubrication. $7 for over 2000 bullets for Harbor Freight red, but I'd spend more and use premium powder.

You can tool up and spend $1000 on sizer press and all the accessories later.

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Need to learn about the different melting pots.

Is there a beginner advantage of using a ladle vs. a bottom pour?

How do you determine what size needed, etc?

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that melts a 20# batch at a time. That is good for uniformity of alloy. 20# of bullets is a pretty good run all the same batch. It is a bottom pour and does not leak too bad. The cheap earlier LEE's poured in comparison but for the price I put up with it. I finally plugged one with a screw, gutted it, and used a ladle. A good ladle affords wonderful control.

LEE makes a better and improved 20# bottom pour pot about 1/4 the cost of a Lyman or RCBS. They are hard to find sometimes and seem to have good reviews.

I started (45 yrs. ago) with a cast iron pot and hot plate with a ladle. About $10 for all including the used LEE .44 mould. I could not find a reliable source for .44 cast bullets,.38's were all over for $5-7.50 (100). In less than an hour I had my money back and a forever supply. I no longer depended on anyone. I did have to also purchase a $10 LEE kit that used the "cake" method and push through .430" sizer. I still have it some place. It lit a big fire.

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When I picked up the lead I found it was already cast bullets in old rusty coffee cans! Much of which had dusty melted lube congealing it all together. Boiling water fixes that! A new pot is getting close to $400 these days and guys are delighted to find one for sale period. Lead is worth $1 a pound now days. I shoot into 55 gal. drums of sand as a backstop and recycle.

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have one foot on a very steep and slippery slope and the other on a banana peel and its a long way to the bottom.

My casting set up is as basic as you will find anywhere. A cast iron pot, a propane turkey fryer from Harbor Freight, and a RCBS ladle. My moulds are LBT, Accurate, NOE and Lyman with a couple of round ball Lees thrown in.

If I were going to start over today I would really look at powder coating, but being old I love the smell of bees wax and grease when you pop the top off a container of bullets, and seeing the smoke from shooting a good traditionally lubed cast bullet.

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I know just enough to understand that buying a box of pre-cast bullets was (previously) very economical in time & money.

Those boxes are not as readily available or inexpensive any longer & I should become more self reliant.

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bullets from #358156 today and will start sizing a bunch from #452460 next week. I started casting my own after a few years of reading the great information posted here by Misfits. The best piece of advice I got was "start by reading the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook. I refer to it all the time.

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With Jim's post "Warm Fun on a Cold Day"

That Post Inspired Me...

That's one reason powder coating is so popular

That IS Appealing

I lucked into a very expensive RCBS pot

I bought the used pot and #1000 lead for $350!

JM, if you have bought a mould you

Yes Indeed...

I did pretty much the same thing last Saturday. Sized 400

More bullets to load for some of Gary's custom work.