Newby on the block... well, to casting anyways.

[avator]

Where can I get a .22 19gr domed or diabolo mould?

[Spacebus]

Nope, all good info..
I do have a question though... how do you test/know hardness?

I personally am not that worried about it because I'm only using pure lead, recovered cast ammo, and commercial pellets, plus there's a bit of tin from experimenting. If I can scratch it with my fingernails, it's soft enough for airguns. That's my personal rule of thumb. To me testing for hardness is more important for PBs and airguns just require the fingernail scratch test.

At this point I'm trying to decide if my casting hobby is worth spending another $100-160 for a 20+ lb furnace. In which case my 4 lb furnace would be used for testing tin or other lead free metals.

[Spacebus]

Where can I get a .22 19gr domed or diabolo mould?

The NOE 22 cal hunter mold. NOE is the only company selling pellet molds.

[avator]

The jury has returned the verdict...
All 3 of my .25 guns:
The Hatsan 1000 Striker Vortex
The Xisico 705 HC Deluxe
The AV Avenger
All shoot my cast pellets as good or better than any other pellet I've shot with them.
That's with the long pin (lightest weight). I have yet to cast any of the other pins yet.
I want to build stock in each before I switch to the next.

[avator]

Well, I think our normal mail lady is on vacation or no longer there. We've had an older lady the past few days and she gets later and later each day. Today is the latest yet.
The young girl would be here right around 9am. This one is not even here yet.
Seems to always happen when I'm waiting for a delivery.
It's not so much that I am impatient.. the delivery is lead ingots and I have nearly 20# on hand.
The problem is, I've had the gate open all morning and the dogs can't go out. I'm not worried about them running off, they know who feeds them.. I just don't want anyone getting dog bit or shooting my dogs.

[Firewalker]

I've learned that if I make contact on the fill nipple with the mold I still get a great pour and very little sprue. It's almost like Wayne's pressure pour.
With smaller sprue I don't have to knock so hard to cut it.

Oh, I never mentioned what I decided to use for my knocker...
There were a couple fiber glass coated wooden dowel electrician reach poles in the barn. They were about 10' long. I cut them to make locking poles for the roll up door.
I use one of the cut offs as the knocker. It has a rubber bumper on the end so i'm not beating the snot out of the mold.
You can see it on the table to the left of the pot... it's screaming yellow... 

I do that with the .22 mold since it's so hard to fill out to the end of the skirts.

[triggertreat]

Nope, all good info..
I do have a question though... how do you test/know hardness?

I test mine with a pair of needle nose pliers.  Depending on how hard the skirts and heads are to smash lets me know the hardness.  Plus, if a significant piece can still be found below my reactive target.  When I first started casting, I could find full flattened pellets.  Today I can only find very small slivers as I kept adding more pure lead to the reclaimed lead.

[Hoosier Daddy]

OK
I got onto casting because .457 was so expensive.
Now Ya'll got me wanting a mold on .22
Wayne traded me a tin of his cast NOE 217-24-RF 23g "Magnum Hunters" and they shoot awesome!

I need to start researching "pins"

[avator]

Just listed pistol in the classifieds to fund a 22 mold

[Back_Roads]

 My findings are do not mess with any other pins for the pellets, accuracy goes away, slugs are a different story.

[Spacebus]

OK
I got onto casting because .457 was so expensive.
Now Ya'll got me wanting a mold on .22
Wayne traded me a tin of his cast NOE 217-24-RF 23g "Magnum Hunters" and they shoot awesome!

I need to start researching "pins"

The NOE pellet molds come with pins that look and function like the hollow point pins for slug/bullet molds. This is what creates the hollow skirt. There are multiple lengths for different skirt cavities. I want to say each successively shorter pin increases pellet weight by 1-2 grains each. So the 22 cal Hunter mold can drop a 19.3 grain pellet, 20.3-ish, or a 22-ish grain pellet. There used to be pins for flat base pellets, but these didn't yield accurate pellets and I do not think they are included with molds anymore.

I personally don't think that casting 22 cal pellets is very economical if your gun can shoot CPHP or similarly priced pellet accurately. However, if you normally shoot heavier or more expensive pellet the molds become more attractive. I also think the meplat on the NOE pellets is also favorable for hunting and punching neat holes in paper.

James (backroads) sent me some hand cast non-lead slugs to test in my Eagle Claw, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. So far I haven't been able to get cast anything to work for me in that gun, but I haven't given up, yet. I was close to giving up on cast 22 cal pellets, but now that I've given my mold a chance to break in I like it. Currently I haven't even shot my big bore enough to make the initial investment pay off. If I had a good mold for my Eagle Claw I think the ROI would come a lot sooner since I can shoot it more easily at home. I don't have a good backstop that can handle the 45! Once it gets warmer I think I'll be going to the range more often where I can blast steel targets to my heart's content, compared to shooting at home where I try to trap as much lead as possible. Getting into more guns (AG or PB) that can use cast ammo will also improve the ROI.

[Spacebus]

Just listed pistol in the classifieds to fund a 22 mold

For the cause I immediately went to the gate and checked the ad. It looks like a nice pistol and I hope you sell it.

[avator]

Another detail about the pins...
The shorter the pin the farther the probe pushes the pellet past the TP.

As for the economics of casting .22 in my case... I have access to free lead.... free is good.

Casting is also just another aspect of this hobby that I enjoy kinda like tinkering, and that alone has value.


As for hard and soft lead... if my gun shot dog poop accurately I would probably consider it.

[avator]

I doubt if I would consider it out of a blowgun though..... 

[Insanity]

Another detail about the pins...
The shorter the pin the farther the probe pushes the pellet past the TP.

As for the economics of casting .22 in my case... I have access to free lead.... free is good.

Casting is also just another aspect of this hobby that I enjoy kinda like tinkering, and that alone has value.


As for hard and soft lead... if my gun shot dog poop accurately I would probably consider it.

Pm or text me about 22...

[avator]

Comin' at ya..

[avator]

Yo, if you're gonna put me on hold, at least play some music... 

[Insanity]

Sorry mang I was stuffing my face hole.

[avator]

LOL... yeah. my log book is in the Red Shed.. I'll let you know about that slug in the morning.

[avator]

I don't think I want to fool with HP.. I really have no use for them Mplat and dome/diabolo is good.