Elric
Well-Known Member
AMERICAN BLACKSMITH and MOTOR SHOP
Vol 23, no. 6, June 1924, pages 67-69
Bullet Moulds and Moulding
Otto A. Wagner
Probably the readers of our Journal will recall my query for a better flux for lead which appeared in the Queries, Answers and Notes department some time ago. To date none of the boys have bobbed up with anything better than those I mentioned and probably there is nothing better, at least I haven't discovered anything better yet. But I have been experimenting in bullet moulding and believe I have learned some things which I am going to pass along for the benefit of those few who make up their own ammunition. Some of the principles involved in the casting of bullets may also apply to the casting of other small objects cast of soft metals.
To begin with, bullets are lead or alloy castings and very particular castings at that. Small defects that would be allowable in many other kinds of castings are not allowable in bullets.
The lead is the first thing to be considered, this I find must be the purest to be had. One should have bar lead as the block or pig lead used by plumbers and other trades is not pure enough and will give no end of trouble, with flaws, folds, etc. For bullets for the breech-loading rifles lead alone is not used but is always alloyed with tin, antimony and other metals, different hardnesses for the different kinds of loads. I have found an alloy of tin, lead and antimony in a proportion of one to twenty-five to be about right for my use. To make this alloy take twenty-five parts of bar lead, one-half part of tin and one-half part of antimony. Melt the lead in a ladle or melting pot then cover it with powdered charcoal, bring it up to nearly a red heat then add the antimony, and stir in well. The antimony does not melt fast. When it is down again well below the red, skim off the fire and add the tin. It melts quickly. Stir well and when the alloy has cooled down again well below the red, skim off the charcoal and flux well with tallow or resin. The metal is then ready to use. Other degrees of hardness can be produced in the same manner.
The best fire for bullet making is the old kitchen stove with wood or coal. One should have a small melting pot and an adapter to hold it. This is a disc of iron or steel the size of the stove lid with a hole in the center the right size for the melting pot to hang through. The pot should hang well down into the fire. A piece of asbestos stove board with a hole cut in it the size of top of the melting-pot is almost necessary to lay on the stove to protect the hands from the heat, so placed that the lead can be dipped from the pot through the hole in the asbestos board.
Next is a lead dipper of the Ideal pattern, this is a necessary tool as good bullets for modern rifles can hardly be made without it. Then you must have a good mold. I will not go into the details of mold making only to say that the seam of the mold must not be too light as this is the only vent a mold has and the air must escape through it. If any air stays in the mold you will have a depression in the bullet. Proper venting is one of the great problems that confronts the maker of hand cast bullets and I am coming to that.
A bullet mould is a very delicate as well as an accurately made tool and should not be used for a pliers, tongs or plaything for the children if you expect to have any satisfaction out of it as a mould. Unless you are mechanic and used to making bullet moulds you had better go slow about making any alterations.
The mould should be kept hot enough so that the lead will not set instantly when poured into it. The bare top on the stove is a good place to lay the mould on to get it hot. The lead should also be kept as hot as possible without causing it to oxidize, and the dipper should be kept as hot as the lead, or it is better if it is hotter, it is usually kept immersed in the lead when not in use. I think better results would be procured if one had two dippers and used them turn about like a tinner does his coppers having one in the fire while the other is in use. I find that one of the surest ways to get good lead delivered to the mould without burning it is to have the dipper on the verge of red hot.
The method of holding the mould and dipper in pouring is of great importance, however the lead is not poured in like we pour babbitt, etc., from a ladle. The method is to dip the Ideal dipper full of lead and hold the mould with the handles horizontal turning the pouring hole over to the side and joining the nozzle of the dipper to the pouring hole then rolling dipper and mould over together till the central axis of the bullet chamber of the mould is vertical. This works fairly well, it secures a good full base if everything is hot enough, but by using this method air is often trapped causing a blemish, this is especially true when casting round balls as they are much harder to cast without flaws than the conical ones are.
In my recent experiments I have developed a method of holding and pouring, which I think is much better than the one just mentioned. I will describe it. I hold the handles of the mould at an angle of about forty- five degrees from the horizontal as is shown in Fig. 1 of the accompanying sketches. You will notice this sets the central axis H-B of the bullet cavity of the mould at an angle of forty five degrees instead of vertical Fig. 2 shows how the seam of the mould is kept in the vertical plane. This is so that any air that rises on top of the lead in the mould, (and rise it will) will come over the seam and pass out between the halves of the mould. This is why the mould should not be fitted too closely. I hold the mould stationary in this position, I then dip up the lead with the dipper, place the nozzle of the dipper in the countersink of the pouring hole and roll the dipper up as near as possible to a vertical position causing the nozzle of the dipper to rotate in the pouring hole like a ball and socket joint. If the dipper does not work well this way you might have to round the nozzle up into a spherical form. With this method I get a much higher percentage of good bullets than with the other. The only reason is that the air escapes more readily as I have explained.
Not many moulds will drop their bullets by merely opening the mould so we have to rap the mould with a small mallet or billet of hard wood. Experience will teach just where and how hard to rap each individual mould to jar the bullet out.
Never strike a mould with a hammer or any object of metal. Never try to pry a bullet out of a mould with any kind of sharp instrument. If you do you will be sure to "jim" the mould and then trouble starts and lasts as long as the mould. However no one should expect to make one hundred percent runs. With bullets as with all other kinds of casting there will always be some faulty ones that must be cast back.
Vol 23, no. 6, June 1924, pages 67-69
Bullet Moulds and Moulding
Otto A. Wagner
Probably the readers of our Journal will recall my query for a better flux for lead which appeared in the Queries, Answers and Notes department some time ago. To date none of the boys have bobbed up with anything better than those I mentioned and probably there is nothing better, at least I haven't discovered anything better yet. But I have been experimenting in bullet moulding and believe I have learned some things which I am going to pass along for the benefit of those few who make up their own ammunition. Some of the principles involved in the casting of bullets may also apply to the casting of other small objects cast of soft metals.
To begin with, bullets are lead or alloy castings and very particular castings at that. Small defects that would be allowable in many other kinds of castings are not allowable in bullets.
The lead is the first thing to be considered, this I find must be the purest to be had. One should have bar lead as the block or pig lead used by plumbers and other trades is not pure enough and will give no end of trouble, with flaws, folds, etc. For bullets for the breech-loading rifles lead alone is not used but is always alloyed with tin, antimony and other metals, different hardnesses for the different kinds of loads. I have found an alloy of tin, lead and antimony in a proportion of one to twenty-five to be about right for my use. To make this alloy take twenty-five parts of bar lead, one-half part of tin and one-half part of antimony. Melt the lead in a ladle or melting pot then cover it with powdered charcoal, bring it up to nearly a red heat then add the antimony, and stir in well. The antimony does not melt fast. When it is down again well below the red, skim off the fire and add the tin. It melts quickly. Stir well and when the alloy has cooled down again well below the red, skim off the charcoal and flux well with tallow or resin. The metal is then ready to use. Other degrees of hardness can be produced in the same manner.
The best fire for bullet making is the old kitchen stove with wood or coal. One should have a small melting pot and an adapter to hold it. This is a disc of iron or steel the size of the stove lid with a hole in the center the right size for the melting pot to hang through. The pot should hang well down into the fire. A piece of asbestos stove board with a hole cut in it the size of top of the melting-pot is almost necessary to lay on the stove to protect the hands from the heat, so placed that the lead can be dipped from the pot through the hole in the asbestos board.
Next is a lead dipper of the Ideal pattern, this is a necessary tool as good bullets for modern rifles can hardly be made without it. Then you must have a good mold. I will not go into the details of mold making only to say that the seam of the mold must not be too light as this is the only vent a mold has and the air must escape through it. If any air stays in the mold you will have a depression in the bullet. Proper venting is one of the great problems that confronts the maker of hand cast bullets and I am coming to that.
A bullet mould is a very delicate as well as an accurately made tool and should not be used for a pliers, tongs or plaything for the children if you expect to have any satisfaction out of it as a mould. Unless you are mechanic and used to making bullet moulds you had better go slow about making any alterations.
The mould should be kept hot enough so that the lead will not set instantly when poured into it. The bare top on the stove is a good place to lay the mould on to get it hot. The lead should also be kept as hot as possible without causing it to oxidize, and the dipper should be kept as hot as the lead, or it is better if it is hotter, it is usually kept immersed in the lead when not in use. I think better results would be procured if one had two dippers and used them turn about like a tinner does his coppers having one in the fire while the other is in use. I find that one of the surest ways to get good lead delivered to the mould without burning it is to have the dipper on the verge of red hot.
The method of holding the mould and dipper in pouring is of great importance, however the lead is not poured in like we pour babbitt, etc., from a ladle. The method is to dip the Ideal dipper full of lead and hold the mould with the handles horizontal turning the pouring hole over to the side and joining the nozzle of the dipper to the pouring hole then rolling dipper and mould over together till the central axis of the bullet chamber of the mould is vertical. This works fairly well, it secures a good full base if everything is hot enough, but by using this method air is often trapped causing a blemish, this is especially true when casting round balls as they are much harder to cast without flaws than the conical ones are.
In my recent experiments I have developed a method of holding and pouring, which I think is much better than the one just mentioned. I will describe it. I hold the handles of the mould at an angle of about forty- five degrees from the horizontal as is shown in Fig. 1 of the accompanying sketches. You will notice this sets the central axis H-B of the bullet cavity of the mould at an angle of forty five degrees instead of vertical Fig. 2 shows how the seam of the mould is kept in the vertical plane. This is so that any air that rises on top of the lead in the mould, (and rise it will) will come over the seam and pass out between the halves of the mould. This is why the mould should not be fitted too closely. I hold the mould stationary in this position, I then dip up the lead with the dipper, place the nozzle of the dipper in the countersink of the pouring hole and roll the dipper up as near as possible to a vertical position causing the nozzle of the dipper to rotate in the pouring hole like a ball and socket joint. If the dipper does not work well this way you might have to round the nozzle up into a spherical form. With this method I get a much higher percentage of good bullets than with the other. The only reason is that the air escapes more readily as I have explained.
Not many moulds will drop their bullets by merely opening the mould so we have to rap the mould with a small mallet or billet of hard wood. Experience will teach just where and how hard to rap each individual mould to jar the bullet out.
Never strike a mould with a hammer or any object of metal. Never try to pry a bullet out of a mould with any kind of sharp instrument. If you do you will be sure to "jim" the mould and then trouble starts and lasts as long as the mould. However no one should expect to make one hundred percent runs. With bullets as with all other kinds of casting there will always be some faulty ones that must be cast back.
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