What Did You Cast Today ???

[KnifeMaker]

I probably shouldn't post this, but it isn't meant to bother anyone. I cast apx. 500 last night of the NOE .25 mag. Hunters (Pellets) and I had 6 bad ones. They were from the first two pours in the preheated mold. I Am getting fantastic quality with them. No wrinkles, no lop sided skirt ends, no voids. Man they look good. And they shoot even better than they look with the new 1-18 twist barrel. Just WOW!!!


I've been having far too much fun shooting rocks on my earthen mound back stop. GRRRR!!! Far too much lead lost. LOL!


I was using 5 gal plastic buckets for bullet traps, filled with the rubber mulch. My Wife enjoyed picking thru the mulch t recover the lead for he pot. However,she is not doing well at all, and unable to do it, and I am just too darned impatient for all that sorting. 


I already had one Otters Bullet trap at 80 yards, and decided to order another one, and saw that he name has changed to Champion.


I try to empty the trap when it gets apx. 25- 30 lbs in it. Really makes recovering the scrap simple, and with the cardboard target backers, it helps flux the melt. With the Rubber mulch, there was always rubber in the melt. Can't get it all off, much less in the Hollow points. Man did it stink, and with COPD, It became an issue.


Now I will have one to move at 50 and 30 yards, which is where most of the shots are in the Pecan Grove I watch over for marauding Squirrels. 


both the NOE Pellets, and the Bullets I am casting for this Rainstorm are very accurate.  The trespassing varment I shot yesterday at apx. 65 yards was looking dead at me. I placed the first mil dot on the neck, thinking it would drop into the chest. It passed thru & thru the neck dead center and was a  quick DRT.  


Neat thing is, with the 20-1 lead/tin mix, in most lighting you can see the bullet thru the very crisp scope fly all the way to the target. In low light, or night, with the mounted light, it is almost like a tracer round. You can see the flight, anything the bullet is doing, and the impact, exactly where it hits. That can be a huge + in varminting.   


Gotta love an accurate hard hitting AG!


Knife
 

[Bob Pratl]

Michael, glad to hear that you are getting great results with you casting and 1-18 barrel. I forgot and to avoid having to back-track many pages, is that new barrel chocked or unchoked?
I also use plastic tubs with rubber mulch and I found it easy to separate the lead by using a larger barrel filled with water. The lead sinks and the rubber floats but it does take a little time for the rubber to dry out.

[Wayne52]

I just spent about an hour sorting through 2 pellet traps but I had old rags in mine but I'm not using a pcp with these traps, I need to sort through the trap I have for my Chrony that thing is really loaded.

[KnifeMaker]

Wayne, i liked the 5 gal. bucket filled with rubber mulch, but got tired of having to pick thru the the mulch to recover the lead. I ordered a second otters/Champion .22-.17hmr trap last week. I can just pour the lead out and cast with it. (have to put up with the cardboard smoking off though). So I smelt it first. 


I have them at 50 and my max yardage here at 80 yards. May eventually get another one for 30 yards. I try to have all three ranges marked on the dial. and memorize holdover in mills. Problemis, every time I improve the performance of the gun, or change bullets, it all changes. GRRRR!!! 

[KnifeMaker]

Trying to get pics to work again.


Now that I can load pics again, you can see why I was so leary of the NOE pellets. Just look at tht M II group! But with the new barrel installed in the RainStorm II, it shoots the NOE's darned near as well. Before, in the factory barrel, they looked like a buckshot pattern LOL!


There are a couple thousand .25 NOE's here.


Mike

[Back_Roads]

  I cast some more .22 BBT 30 gr. slugs in tin last night, I estimate I get 368 pellets out of a LB of Tin at 19.4 gr each. At $30.00 shipped per pound that = 0.081 cents per bullet. If I order direct from Roto Metal, with an order over $99.00 It ships free @  $20.00 a LB, that brings the cost down to 0.0543 cents per slug. Not bad for heavy duty lead free ammo.
 Though a big jump from the cost of the same BBT cast in lead at 0.009 cents each 

[triggertreat]

  I cast some more .22 BBT 30 gr. slugs in tin last night, I estimate I get 368 pellets out of a LB of Tin at 19.4 gr each. At $30.00 shipped per pound that = 0.081 cents per bullet. If I order direct from Roto Metal, with an order over $99.00 It ships free @  $20.00 a LB, that brings the cost down to 0.0543 cents per slug. Not bad for heavy duty lead free ammo.

Sounds like a really good deal!


I just purchased 35lbs from RotoMetals for $100.03 shipped (1:40).  If my math is correct, I should be able to cast ~1,612 152gr boolits at $.06 each.  I see even better prices on eBay for pure or almost pure lead??

[dyotat100]

Buffalo Arms is a good place to get lead also. I live in  Ca so I order out of state. They want $2.09 for 40:1. Shipping is flat rate box.

I usually pay around $220 for a 100 lbs pure lead shipped.

[triggertreat]

Buffalo Arms is a good place to get lead also. I live in  Ca so I order out of state. They want $2.09 for 40:1. Shipping is flat rate box.

I usually pay around $220 for a 100 lbs pure lead shipped.

Not for me.  With lowest shipping cost selected, they want $280.56 for 100lbs and $114.33 for 35lbs shipped to TN.

[Wayne52]

 I fluxed some recovered pellets outside today and the pot is full now, I find that casting up stairs isn't bad when I have pre cleaned lead in my pot, then I just skim the oxide when needed, it's a lot colder up there (not heated up there) but it's a heck of a lot warmer than casting in below freezing temps.

[KnifeMaker]

I fluxed some recovered pellets outside today and the pot is full now, I find that casting up stairs isn't bad when I have pre cleaned lead in my pot, then I just skim the oxide when needed, it's a lot colder up there (not heated up there) but it's a heck of a lot warmer than casting in below freezing temps.

Kinda hard to cast good pellets when your shaking like a dog trying to pass a peach seed!

[Wayne52]

Today I cast 495 good 217-20-RF pellets @ 19.6gr from the lead that I fluxed yesterday, I had 33 rejects I suspect were from the beginning of the casting session.
Time for some more shooting

[triggertreat]

I received my NOE shipment today (boy they have fast shipping...only took 2 days).  It won't be long now.  I've got a mold, lead and a melting pot .  I just ordered a replacement Lee sizing cup/box for the NOE sizing die body. $8.24 shipped isn't bad, and beats me trying to rig something.

[Wayne52]

I cast up 415 of the from my 217-20-RF mold with the long pins, they average 19.6 grains.  I had 13 rejects.

[KnifeMaker]

I cast up 415 of the from my 217-20-RF mold with the long pins, they average 19.6 grains.  I had 13 rejects.

Wayne, I think NOE's future is bright with the pellet and ag bullet molds.


Thank you NOE!

[triggertreat]

I cleaned and then heated up my new NOE mould 4 times with cool downs between to room temperature.  This mould is a beautiful work of art.  It looks really good on the quality NOE handle too.  Hate to even get it dirty lol.

[Wayne52]

I cast up 415 of the from my 217-20-RF mold with the long pins, they average 19.6 grains.  I had 13 rejects.

Wayne, I think NOE's future is bright with the pellet and ag bullet molds.


Thank you NOE!

I have to agree with you wholeheartedly on that Michael !!! The do seem to be making about the only real good pellet molds out there.

I cleaned and then heated up my new NOE mould 4 times with cool downs between to room temperature.  This mould is a beautiful work of art.  It looks really good on the quality NOE handle too.  Hate to even get it dirty lol.

The brass molds really look almost too good to use and the pellets from them are just as beautiful.
 

[triggertreat]

I have been taking a closer look at my new (first) four cavity NOE HP mold.  I noticed one pin bracket didn't get bent at the scribed creased line like the other three are.  It is still straight.  I don't know if this is intended to be that way or not.  I would expect all four brackets to be bent exactly the same.

Also, when I hold the mold upside down, shake the pins into place and close the mold, some pins fall freely the distance of the pin grove and some don't when turned back upright.  In other words some move freely up/down and some don't within the pin groove.   I know this can't be good as the weights would not be equal.  I have already went through the heat cycles as instructed to "set the pins".

Maybe all of this is normal, but would appreciate some input.  I am a little bit concerned with my findings.  I'll do some casting and see if that's all that is needed to free the pins up.

[Wayne52]

I haven't noticed any of the pin brackets on any of my molds not being bent on the crease   If the pin doesn't flop down into the pin groove good then it's adjusted too tight.  If that's the case then you need to loosen it up or you could cause damage to the mold cavity.  I've had to bend brackets in order to get the pins tight enough before.  The last mold I got I didn't need to do that, the pins adjust really nice on it.

[Back_Roads]

Sometimes that bar needs adjusting "bent" to fine tune the pins.