1. Some thing to melt lead in -electric pot/ pot and flame and pour lead into molds.
2. molds with handles.
3. hammer handle to open the molds with.
4. shoe box with towel to catch the bullets.
5. a way to size and lube the bullets.
2. molds with handles.
3. hammer handle to open the molds with.
4. shoe box with towel to catch the bullets.
5. a way to size and lube the bullets.
Simpliest way is with the Lee size and lube setup.
Doesn't take a brain surgeon to do it.
Just read the instructions that come with it.
Lube
Dry
Size
Relube.
Redry.
I have a couple of ways I do the sizing and lubing. If the bullets I cast have the tumble lube configuration rather than two or three lube grooves, I dump them in a plastic cup with Lee liquid alox in it and shake them around until they are coated. I then remove them and put them aside to dry. After they are dry, I use a lee bullet sizing die of the appropriate diameter and push the bullets through it. This makes the bullet the correct diameter for loading. Some bullet/alloy combinations come out close enough in size that they can be shot just by coating with the lube. I've found that depending on my alloy, the softer alloy bullets tend to be slightly larger from the mold after they cool than the harder alloys.
The second method I use is a Lyman 450 sizer/lubricator. This forces bullet lube under pressure into the grooves of the bullet as it is pushed down into the sizing die. For rifle bullets, I almost exclusively use the lyman method as I can use high velocity lubes for those cast bullets, making them superior to using the alox method for rifle velocities.
The Lee dies are standard 7/8 X 14 thread and will work in any standard reloading press. The Lyman system (RCBS makes an almost identical unit) uses what are referred to as G H and I dies. This is a die, the punch that goes into the die and a top punch that conforms to the shape of the bullet nose. Softer alloy bullets tend to deform under the pressure required to push them down into the Lyman type sizing press. The Lee system pushes the bullets up into the die from the base of the bullet, making it unneccessary for you to have a punch designed for the bullet nose. Hope this helps rather than confuses you. If you are only going to do pistol bullets and not in massive quantities, the Lee system is by far the most cost effective. Blitzfile
The second method I use is a Lyman 450 sizer/lubricator. This forces bullet lube under pressure into the grooves of the bullet as it is pushed down into the sizing die. For rifle bullets, I almost exclusively use the lyman method as I can use high velocity lubes for those cast bullets, making them superior to using the alox method for rifle velocities.
The Lee dies are standard 7/8 X 14 thread and will work in any standard reloading press. The Lyman system (RCBS makes an almost identical unit) uses what are referred to as G H and I dies. This is a die, the punch that goes into the die and a top punch that conforms to the shape of the bullet nose. Softer alloy bullets tend to deform under the pressure required to push them down into the Lyman type sizing press. The Lee system pushes the bullets up into the die from the base of the bullet, making it unneccessary for you to have a punch designed for the bullet nose. Hope this helps rather than confuses you. If you are only going to do pistol bullets and not in massive quantities, the Lee system is by far the most cost effective. Blitzfile
I started with a $55.00 Lee 4-20 furnace, a $20.00 Lee mold and a $15.00 sizer kit. I use the liquid alox that comes with the sizer kit. I've been casting for about 3 years now and I have learned you can keep it as simple or go as big as you like. I'm going to have to live till I'm 80 in order to benefit from the saving I'm doing by reloading and casting. It don't take long to get several hundred dollars tied up in stuff.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/
This site will have everything you want to know. Can't believe nobody posted it yet. If it's not there, you don't need it.
