Basic Bullet Casting

[Christian for Israel]

use the wheel weights. batteries only use a thin coat of lead oxide on the plates...not enough in one to make even one bullet. most of the lead recovered from batteries is in the terminals. also, wheel weights are an alloy that includes other metals that give a harder bullet. this reduces leading in your gun.

as for casting speed that someone asked about, i can do 3-4 pours a minute. with a 2 cavity mold that means several hours to cast 1000 bullets (you have to add the time to melt additional metal every so often). that said, i usually use 6 cavity molds for large runs which speeds things up considerably.

[610Alpha]

@ Christian For Israel - that was me asking about the speed of casting. I asked because the pics you showed were 2 cavity molds. Its nice to know that they make molds with more caivites, otherwise it would just take a person forever with a 2 cavity mold.

[Klayton]

nobody answered my question :(

is it possible for the average joe to make jacketed bullets?

[610Alpha]

Yes. Here is one site I found describing the process: http://camdenrgc.com/bulletmaking/ma...r_jacketed.htm

Here is what I did: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=how+to+make+jacketed+bullets

[Klayton]

"Sunnen honing machine which costs upwards or 50,000 dollars or so. "

So I am guessing that is a NO?

Cute how to use google link btw... :(

[Christian for Israel]

swaging equipment (using great pressure to force the metals into the shape you want) is available and can be used to make jacketed, HP, unusual shapes, etc. but it is fairly expensive. die sets can be hundreds of dollars and presses (hydraulic) thousands. if economy is your basis then stick with casting. if money isn't that big a deal then check out the equipment here: http://www.corbins.com/

[Christian for Israel]

@ Christian For Israel - that was me asking about the speed of casting. I asked because the pics you showed were 2 cavity molds. Its nice to know that they make molds with more caivites, otherwise it would just take a person forever with a 2 cavity mold.

i've turned out many hundreds of bullets with single cavity molds also. it just takes a little patience.

[610Alpha]

@klayton - no it doesn't cost that much to get a swaging kit. http://www.corbins.com/kits.htm This site seemed to have it all, the cost ranges from $600 - $8000 for a press, either hydraulic or hand powered.

Couldn't resist the lmgtfy site, had it done to me by a Server Admin once....lol. Just a little fun.

[Christian for Israel]

the press isn't the big cost in swaging...dies can run you a small fortune.