Ya Gotta Have Balls

[jamesthomas]

About 15 miles or 20 miles, In a little town called Grand Bay,Al. I'm 4 miles from the Miss. State line. Also about 5 miles west of Bayou La Batre.

 

[jtmattison]

Non-caster looking for an honest answer:

You finish reading your latest hunting magazine, and decide you want to step into your garage or shop and cast a couple hundred balls.

From the time you step into the garage, til the time you turn out the lights and go back inside, how much total time gets invested in casting a couple hundred ?

Not counting waiting for the lead to initially melt a couple hundred balls is about 1 1/2 - 2 hours.
To me that's a couple hours of peace and quiet with a bonus bag full of nice shiny roundballs.

HD

 

[roundball]

Thought Mobile was right on the water...

 

[jamesthomas]

It is, sorta, Mobile,Al is at the beginning of Mobile Bay. Grand Bay,Al is south and west of Mobile on interstate 10 about 25 miles.

 

[leslie]

Been there done that,I had to let my license lapse to shut it off.No way I am doing any Engineering at 80+.

 

[newtothis]

i like casting cuz if i wanna grab my rifle and go punch holes in stuff and there are only 3 rounds left in the bag, its nice to be able to run to the shop and make a hundred more vs ordering them online and sitting by the mailbox for a few days. :grin:

 

[roundball]

I think I've only seen two kinds of molds referred to over the years...a bag mold and a double mold.

Are larger gang molds available, ie: 4-5 ball molds or even larger...or would that size really not fit in well with the whole size / scale of the other hobby molding equipment?

 

[BrownBear]

Are larger gang molds available, ie: 4-5 ball molds or even larger...or would that size really not fit in well with the whole size / scale of the other hobby molding equipment?

Yeah, they're available, but I've kind of shied away from them after experiences with "gang" molds for 38 wadcutters and .429 semis. There was enough variation in diameter between the cavities that I'd worry about it for rifle use. I sent back a LEE .530 RB double cavity mold because the two were about .003 different. The replacement cavities in the replacement are different too, but smaller than I can measure with my gear and not an issue for accuracy.

I'd have to be shooting hundreds of balls a week before I thought a gang mold would be needed. I can certainly see them for guys selling the results, but a double cavity is pretty "high speed" for personal use. If you figure a full mold cycle every 30 seconds, that's 120 cycles and hour producing 240 balls. If you get the lead temp just right, you can pretty easily go 3 casts a minute, translating into 360 balls in an hour. A 6-cavity mold at that pace would translate into a theoretical 1080 balls/hour if you really had your act together. I was never that "together" with 6-cavity pistol molds, but still fed my 2400 rounds/week practice schedule with 3-4 hours of casting per week.

 

[Rifleman1776]

:rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

 

[Rifleman1776]

Are larger gang molds available, ie: 4-5 ball molds or even larger...or would that size really not fit in well with the whole size / scale of the other hobby molding equipment?

As said, yes they are. But there are a couple considerations to keep in mind. They are heavy when cast and can be tiring to use. This is especially true with iron molds like Lyman.
And, serious target shooting competitors stay with single cavity molds because there can be minor variances in the size of the ball that comes out of different cavities. I know, I have checked. And, I used to be one of those very anal target shooters.
Since you are considering starting casting I'll add a couple thoughts.
The amount of money you invest in equipment may depend on how much shooting/casting you plan to do. If you plan to do a lot of competive shooting and fire hundreds of rounds each week, do stay with top of the line equipment, like Lyman. Their casting pots and molds are expensive but will last a lifetime and are a joy to use. Lower priced budget equipment, like Lee, will work but won't hold up to extensive use. My Lyman pot was abused in a wet storage unit and I now have a Lee pot. It is less than desirable. e.g. I dip out of a bottom pour model. The molds are OK but I prefer the more consistent heat retaining characteristics of the iron Lymans. That said, I just opened a carton that contained, among other things, a new .600 Lee mold for an anticipated fowler. Good luck. Let us know what you decide.

 

[fire-n-brimstone]

I use single cavity molds because there are minor differences in size between cavities. Why would I work a ptch load combo up if I am not sure it will be 100% repeatable everytime.

Andy