The PIA's of casting (at least for me)

[KHornet]

I enjoy casting little 22's and 6MM''s. Mainly because a 20 lb pot full produces a whole whoop of the little projectiles. Over the years, I learned to cast them fast and hot, and have had excellent results.

The PIA for me however is sorting and weighing the little critters, and having stubby fingers (also a pain being a potter).I check (when necessary), size, and lube before I weigh and segregate (is it still legal to use that word) to a tenth of a grain, and store in compartmented plastic craft boxes. I weigh and segregate other cals as well, but never have as much of a problem.

I once accidently dumped a box of probably 6-700 22's on the floor that had been weighed. After the air turned a normal color again, I proceeded to reweigh and box. Hope never to
do that again.

However, as I enjoy shooting cast in Hornets, 222's, and 223's I guess I will always find the weighing and sorting to be a PIA, and accept the reality of the chore!

Paul

 

[RBHarter]

I recently acquired a 225-37 ........ That comes with its own set of challenges . Those are some tiny little gems but with 180+ to the lb I'm not complaining about it to loud .
For my intent .1 over/under is enough for lots . Mostly anything out side of that has a visible defect , there's not a lot of places to hide 1 in that little bugger .
I have some singles that I now can hold under .5% weight swing with good regularity , inside 1.5 gr for a 400+ 45 and to about .3 100-150 gr . I tend to find 3 piles and a few rejects with the 4-6c moulds save a 90 gr 25 cal Lyman but I'm still getting it settled in .

 

[KeithB]

Handling small objects such as bullets seems to be easier to me when I wear blue nitrile gloves. The increased tackiness seems to more than make up for the slight decrease in sensitivity.

 

[Ian]

.22s are an extra dose of PIA when powder-coated....they're slippery on top of being small.

 

[quicksylver]

Paul try smaller lots...they don't have to be weighed all at once...I do about 150 at a wack....that's about my attention span for that chore..

 

[freebullet]

I don't weight sort much. Never have done past 2/10th gr.

Brand new matchkings have more variation & still shoot great. Testing unsorted vs. .5gr vs. 2/10gr vs. 1/10gr might be interesting. How much sorting is required to maintain the same groups might be a worthwhile test.

 

[Bill]

I dropped a box of 30 and 32 cal gas checks at the same time, that was a sorting chore.

Bill

 

[Intheshop]

Can't remember the last time I weighed a cast bullet.

They get put in a tray,I grab one...give it a pretty good visual.If it's a clean,nice looking one,proceed.If there's anything suspicious,either toss it into the ....reject can or throw it to the back side of the pan.

Then,when there's nothing but "seconds" left in the pan....say the last 50?It's move onto a different calibre or,fire up the pot,or use them for offhand practice.

You think they're tuff to handle...here's one.We have a very well equipped reloading room.I take a drift punch that when it was "ground"....has a very slight raised tit dead center.Use a punch as close to bullet diameter as possible.Now,once the bullet has been GC'd,and nose bumped,no lube yet,set it on top of the punch(which is held plumb in a small bench vise).If done with practice and precise location....you'll see any remaining imbalance.My fingers are pretty big,beat up from a lifetime off physical labor but it's not that hard.YMMV.

 

[KHornet]

Dan, a wise suggestion, but I guess I am a bit anal and once I start
seems I am driven to complete.

RBHarter, have the little 37 gr mold, and love shooting the little buggers.
Love casting them as well. Weighing and sorting is a horse of a different
color however.

Paul