Help On Casting For .45 Springfield Compact

[CES]

I am new to reloading for auto hand guns, and need some help and advice with several questions. I have just purchased

a Springfield .45 auto and would like to cast my own bullets. I have spent a lot of time reading about and looking at

different moulds, some have large lube grooves and some have multiple micro grooves, I am more confused now than ever.

I need to know if the LEE four or six cavity mould will do what I need. BTW I have never cast bullets before either but have

cast lots of sinkers & weights. I also want to ask about the LEE Precision lube and sizing kit and what type of lubricant to

use. I need to know what size sizer to get (.451 or .452 or what). Please, any info at all would be greatly appreciated. This

gun will only be used for plinking, punching paper, or targets in general.

Thanks in advance

CHARLES

[JFD]

The Lee 6 cavity moulds are fine, they don't make 4 cavity moulds. Don't waste your money on their single and double cavity moulds. Pure crap.

Lee sells tumble lube moulds and standard moulds. The standard moulds are best sized/lubed in a standard lubrisizer, such as you can get from Lyman , RCBS, Star. It's a fair amount of work, at least the same amount of time as it takes to cast the bullets.

Size to .452.

The tumble lube moulds can be used with standard lubrisizers, but they are designed for Lee's liquid alox lube. Basically you cast the bullets, coat them with liquid lube (Rooster makes a better liquid lube), let them dry, then run them through the very inexpensive Lee lube die. After sizing it usually is a good idea to recoat the bullets with lube again. Your final product will end up being a sticky mess of bullets, although the Rooster lube will lessen that problem quite a bit. Still smokes like crazy though.

The advantage of liquid lube is it's fast and easy. The disadvantage is the liquid lube smokes so much you may as well be using black powder (OK, maybe not THAT bad - but BAD). It's also cheap. Last time I bought a Lee die, I think it was $15 or so. Combine that with a single stage press and you're good to go. With standard bullet moulds you need a lubrisizer, die, and top punch to match the bullet profile. If you don't like messy, sticky bullets, you'll also need a heater so you can use hard lubes such as Rooster Red Zambini, Blue Angel, or Jakes Purple or Red lube (almost always found on e-bay).

If you don't care about smoke, and want to cast as cheaply/quickly as possible, OR just aren't sure if casting is for you, then the tumble lube and associated cheap equipment is worth a try. Prepare for twice the smoke you'd get from commercial bullets lubed with hard lube. If you shoot outdoors, then this is a viable option.

[DougCarden]

1st off, welcome to the fold! I applaud you for diving in. I would find someone at your club or in your area that casts bullets. I would then either shoot their loads or buy some of their bullets to see what type of accuracy they have, if their lead is alloyed right, etc. Then start asking questions and learn from them if they are competent. Just because people have a lot of equipment doesnt make them competent in what they are doing.

There are some really important things to know about casting and melting lead that could hurt you, so I would along with soliciting advice here find someone in your area that has been through the learning curve and can be your go to guy there.

Oh, another thing. Dont be cheap when it comes to lube. Buy the rooster or the other blue lube. Alox works, but there are other lubes that smoke less.......Good luck, DougC

[epj]

I am new to reloading for auto hand guns, and need some help and advice with several questions. I have just purchased

a Springfield .45 auto and would like to cast my own bullets. I have spent a lot of time reading about and looking at

different moulds, some have large lube grooves and some have multiple micro grooves, I am more confused now than ever.

I need to know if the LEE four or six cavity mould will do what I need. BTW I have never cast bullets before either but have

cast lots of sinkers & weights. I also want to ask about the LEE Precision lube and sizing kit and what type of lubricant to

use. I need to know what size sizer to get (.451 or .452 or what). Please, any info at all would be greatly appreciated. This

gun will only be used for plinking, punching paper, or targets in general.

Thanks in advance

CHARLES

Years ago, I used to cast bullets for several pistol and rifle calibers. Usually used straight linotype for metal. So far as I know, linotype is no longer readily available.

The process requires a very well ventilated area, a heat source, molds, and sizing press, etc. If you are using a 4 or 6 cavity mold, you would probably have to use one of the melt pots with a spout in order to fill the mold rapidly enogh.

These days, I can buy cast bullets for 4.8 cents ea. If I were having to buy lead, lube, etc. I suspect I would save very little off this cost. Did I mention that bullet molding can be a health hazard?

Lyman has always been at the forefront of the bullet casting game. I suggest you check out their catalog and loading manual. They used to contain a lot of good info on casting, though I haven't looked at it in 30 years.

Good luck and i'm sure someone who currently casts will chime in.

[CES]

Thanks for the prompt response, I will have to look into the lubrisizers

and hard lubricants as I did not know about the smoke, as far as hard

lubes is one better than another (blue angel vs red lube vs Jakes purple). As far as the melting pot with bottom spout I already have one.

also already ordered a couple of books on casting bullets but they have not come in as of yet.

Many thanks for all the info & responses

CHARLES

[CES]

I just thought of another question. If I order a mold size .452 aside from the lubricating would you still need to put the bullets through the .452 resizer?

Thanks again,

CHARLES

Edited February 12, 2006 by CES

[JFD]

If you use liquid lube you may not have to size....Maybe....

If you want to use a hard lube, then you will have to get a lubrisizer just to apply the lube. I prefer the RCBS to the Lyman, but those two are all I've used. The bullet won't drop to the exact mould size. This is kind of good because it's kind of messy lubing bullets that don't need to be sized (the bullet's extra diameter provides a "seal" to keep lube from oozing out of the die and all over the bullet).

There are also soft lubes available that don't require the extra heater for the lubrisizer. I don't care for them at all due to extra smoke and the mess (not as bad as liquid lube). Anything from Lyman can be considered soft, even Orange Magic.

I honestly can't tell a difference between the 3 lubes I mentioned, but I don't have as much experience with Jakes. Jakes is much cheaper than the Blue Angel or Rooster, but I'd recommend starting with Blue Angel or Rooster first, then giving Jakes a try.

If you really want to spit out bullets when casting, then get a pair of 6 cavity moulds (these require the handles to be purchased separately). However you'll need a 20 lb pot to have chance of keeping up with the moulds. It's a good problem to have.

You don't HAVE to have a bottom pour spout to use the 6 cavity moulds. I have hand poured 200 SWCs with 6 cavity moulds before with great success. By the time you have the 6th cavity filled, the mould is ready to drop the bullets. Relaxing, but not overly speedy.

The liquid lube is certainly cheap enough to try, used to be less than $20. I would recommend not using the Lee lube, instead using the Rooster liquid from Midway. It dries harder and not very sticky at all. Still smokes though, but you may not care because it IS REALLY EASY