Best methods pouring round balls and/or gear recommendations

Eterry said:

Maybe I read the OP's post the wrong way... but I THINK he's saying he DOESN'T Have a Lee bottom pour pot cause it's on back order, and wanted to know what to do in the meantime to cast some round balls... am I right or wrong????

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You're wrong! Read sir read....
Best methods pouring round balls and/or gear recommendations

Hatchet-Jack said:

You're wrong! Read sir read....
Best methods pouring round balls and/or gear recommendations

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If you want to be rude then you should "read sir read" the post and not just the title.

My apologies for the rudeness @Eterry and the others are right to call me out on it. At the time I thought I was being funny but there's no excuse for bad behaviour. Again sorry.

I did read the OPs original post. I took it to mean that he wanted to know what folks thought about the Lee bottom pore pots. Maybe I misunderstood. He did mention he thought the impurities would stay on top but he heard that they are prone to leaking.

"I was drawn to the bottom pour mold based on some youtube videos. It seems the remaining impurities (after fluxing) would be on the top.

The down side (pun intended) is that it seems the valve/spout seem to be prone to dribbling.

I'm all ears."

For years, I use an inexpensive pot and head my lead on a Coleman stove. Just did this a couple of days ago while keeping an eye on a Boston butt in my smoker. Yes, once the lead had melted, add a little chip of beeswax or paraffin and it should set off a flame and after that, skim off the impurities. You may have to skim ever so often during the process. I have one of those small cast iron 3/4" round pourers with a small nipple spout. It and the mold have been heating up near the base of the pot. After a few pours, you should be able to get a clean cast. Since I have done this for years, I can cast somewhat quickly by pouring and using a wood handle to hit the sprue cutter and once open the mold, the ball may have to be knocked out. Good gripping gloves are nice to have as in the past I have had one small piece of lead jump on to the back of my hand.

My only issue with the mold blocks and the type of pourer I have is they are designed for a right handed person! I have to do everything in a contorted upside down motion because I am left handed. Yes, I could use a small ladle but I manage with what I have.

Modern, read electric, equipment is great when it comes to casting lead balls for shooting. What the electric lead melting furnace offers is the potential for greater consistency, as well as speed in casting.

HOWEVER, a person can cast nearly as quickly, and just as consistently, with a stove, a cast iron pot, and a ladle.

I know this because I started casting lead balls in 1971, at age 17, for a .45 caliber flintlock longrifle. A simple, iron, scissors mold; a pair of diagonal wire cutters for cutting the sprue off; a ladle made out of a commercial S.S. serving spoon bent into the shape of a ladle with a pour spout (pine handles sandwiched around the S.S. handle w/small bolts for insulation); a 3-qt "El Cheapo" aluminum saucepan for a lead pot, and an old bath towel to drop the hot lead balls onto out of the mold.

I used my mother's natural gas kitchen stove as a heat source. We lived in a row house, built in 1951, and the exhaust fan was a simple 6" diameter fan blade set in a round steel tube between the inner wall of the kitchen, and the outside brick wall of the row house. The stove butted right up against the inner wall of the kitchen, with the front left burner directly under the fan opening in the wall.

My lead source was two 25 pound bags of lead buckshot, approximately 0.457" diameter, that had been purchased for a replica 1860 Colt Army .44 caliber revolver.

After casting about 50 balls, I figured out how to regulate the temperature of the burner to create a nice shiny ball when cooled. No thermometer, the books of the time didn't even mention lead temperature, as I recall. Keep the pot at least half full, so the lead doesn't cool off too much while casting. Puddle a nice big sprue on top of the mold each time. Drop the cooled balls on the bath towel. When completely cool, cut off the sprues with the dikes as close to the ball as possible. Eventually, I made a second spoon for removing the dross after fluxing. Flux was paraffin wax.

Never weighed a ball. Never cut one in half to look for voids. Simply took on FAITH that what was printed in the Lyman Black Powder Handbook, Muzzleloader magazine, and Muzzle Blasts magazine was GOOD information.

And, it WAS.

Those "crudely" cast lead balls, shot out of a Douglas GAA .45 caliber barrel were capable of 50 cent piece-to-silver dollar sized 5-shot groups at 100 yards all day long.

So, don't think that the only way to make lots of balls, quickly is with an electric lead melting furnace.

You could get an old gas stove for next to nothing. Have it converted to use propane. That way you can work at waist height. A large, flat-bottomed, cast iron dutch oven will cost new about $75.00, and depending upon what size is purchased, could hold upwards of 100 pounds of lead. A thermometer, a casting ladle, and a skimming ladle. And ball molds. A good exhaust system, or fan to blow fumes away from your face. Or, a lead rated respirator.

Yep I agree. Nothing to lose by giving it a try with simple homade tools. If at first you do not succeed then repeat and give it another go. Only way to get started is to start. Can be done very cheap. The satisfaction is in the doing. Can not succeed nor fail if you do not begin. Need is the mother of invention.

I started with a Coleman stove, a small thick pot, a Lyman ladle and 1 Lyman mold. Worked great.
I’ve since acquired 40 odd molds while going through a couple gas rigs and bottom pour electric pots until I saw the Lyman 25 digital furnace. WOW it’s awesome.
I still use the bottom pour but only for emptying it into ingot molds.
I also made an “oven” out of a 6” x 6” x 2” deep steel electrical box that I set on top of an electric hot plate. It preheats two molds so I only have to toss out the first ball/boolit, the rest are up to speed.
You’ll collect all sorts of yard sale stuff that may or may not work... I still use my muffin tins and cookie cooking racks!!

I will be casting Kerr bullets for the first time. I have a Lyman lead pot and eras gone mold, dipper and 15 lbs of lead ingots. As for fluxing, I have heard people using sawdust and beeswax. How much is needed and can anyone offer any tips? Never done this before.

posted this a while ago. just showing that where there is a will there is a way. don't recommend this to anyone.!
got my first muzzle loader 1 month after we got married 51 years ago. 25.00 for a Spanish made 9mm bored cap lock.
used a big spoon for a ladle to cast some 355 balls.
trouble was the spoon was from the set we got for our wedding.
still hear from mrs about that.

deerstalkert said:

posted this a while ago. just showing that where there is a will there is a way. don't recommend this to anyone.!
got my first muzzle loader 1 month after we got married 51 years ago. 25.00 for a Spanish made 9mm bored cap lock.
used a big spoon for a ladle to cast some 355 balls.
trouble was the spoon was from the set we got for our wedding.
still hear from mrs about that.

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I’m surprised that she didn’t cast-rate your balls. Lol! My wife caught me using her butter knife as a screwdriver once. I’ll never make THAT mistake again. By the way, be sure not to use your wife’s good muffin pans to cast ingots. Ask me how I know.

Resourceful bunch, aren't we?

wm

fake news

Woody Morgan said:

Resourceful bunch, aren't we?

wm

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Absolutely. I just can’t help but wonder how much lead could be melted in my wife’s Dutch oven every time I look at it.

Wolfman0125 said:

Absolutely. I just can’t help but wonder how much lead could be melted in my wife’s Dutch oven every time I look at it.

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DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!

Wolfman0125 said:

Absolutely. I just can’t help but wonder how much lead could be melted in my wife’s Dutch oven every time I look at it.

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approx 42 lbs.. don't ask!

deerstalkert said:

approx 42 lbs.. don't ask!

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He he he!

I have cast over 1000 balls with a plumber torch and a soup ladle……….
i did go get her a new one…..

Hatchet-Jack said:

View attachment 80255

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Honesty? There's not a single cast ball in that lot that I would keep for competition accuracy.
The mold line indicates lack of lubrication at the mold pins and/or some fouling stuck between the die halves.
Several have an under-pour void at the sprue cut and possible galling of the plate is evident ,,
Have fun plingking,, keep practicing,

Musketeer said:

Another tip: every so often you'll get a bit of something in the spout that will impede the flow, so when you lift the handle the lead will come out in a weak dribble or at an odd angle or not at all. The couple times this has happened to me, I've used a bent paperclip to push up into the spout from the bottom while lifting the handle. This has totally cleared it both times. Make sure to bend the paperclip so your hand isn't directly under the spout and wear thick leather gloves and safety glasses (I do all the time while casting anyway) when doing this.

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I use a heavy duty staple from my staple gun. I hold it in a pair of needle nose vise grips. I grip one leg of the staple with the vise grips so it looks like the letter "U". I push the other end of the staple into the hole. Then turn the tap on the melter back and forth with a screwdriver. The vise grips are long enough to keep your hand out of harms way.