Yesterday's Weapons Forums

lee production pot (bottom pour ) for casting

Plumbers lead pot with blowtorch burner for slag pot.

GG

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A dart or a sledgehammer What do you prefer?

Old Thor ain't got nothing on me.



Gungrubber

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Like TenBore, I use the Coleman stove for the preliminary work, then switch to a Lee bottom pour electric lead pot for the actual casting.

For years, I used just the Coleman stove and a dipper for casting bullets, so yours should get hot enough. Maybe the generator in yours is old and not allowing the unit to get enough fuel.

The Coleman stove I have I bought when I was a kid in high school around 1967. I replaced the generator in it for the first time a few years ago, and I what prompted me to do so was a drop off in performance. \

When operating properly, the Coleman stove will get your lead overly hot and you have to throttle back on the fuel.

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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin historical review of Pennsylvania [1759]

I always used an old hotplate that was good for nothing else. Not safe for use in the home anymore.
I cast outside.

The last time I cast any bullets a friend and I just built a small campfire and set the cast iron pot we were using on a couple of logs with the fire burning between them. It doesn't take much heat to melt lead or most bullet casting alloys.

I've been meaning to try one of the Zinc based casting alloys. I forget the name, Kensite or something like that. It weighs 60% as much as the same volume of lead so a mold that throws a 200 grain lead bullet throws a 120 grain alloy bullet. No lube is required and zinc bullets actually scrub away fouling left from previous bullets of other types.
They used zinc bullets during the civil war for this purpose. Every so often a trooper would fire off a zinc bullet to clear the lead from his musket bore.

It would be a good way to make up some high velocity light bullet loads using the same mold you use for heavier slugs.
The zinc alloys can be driven to the same velocities as jacketed bullets, usually with less pressure.

I'll dig through my old American Rifleman magazines and see what I can find on this alloy. I know I don't have the name right, googling has proven fruitless.

I just remembered another use of zinc bullets, some gallery practice loads used them. This allowed a very light bullet of .30 or larger dia to have enough bearing surface to get a good grasp on the rifling.

PS
I think I found the name of the alloy, "Kirksite" originally for mold making and related to the Zamak alloy used to cast cheapo pistol frames.

The civil war bullets were actually lead bullets with zinc washers.

They were known as williams bullets and had a convex zinc washer attached to scrape out the fouling.

GG

_________________
A dart or a sledgehammer What do you prefer?

Old Thor ain't got nothing on me.



Gungrubber

_________________
Ten Bears: "You are the Grey Rider. You would not make peace with the bluecoats. You may go in peace."
Josey Wales: "I reccon not."