Thanks

Steve

TXGunNut said
 Be careful around Jeremy, guns tend to follow him home. Sometimes he doesn't even have to pay for them! 
 
Mike
  

I've heard you shouldn't covet your neighbor's wife or something like that, blah blah blah....pretty sure that doesn't count for guns. At the very least, it's not cheating if I just shoot another owner's gun, right?

I may not have much pocket money to take with me and no pending raffles!

For my current needs with the commercial bullets now available I'm not sure I would go down the "pour your own" road today. Yes there are risks but I take a risk driving, walking or cooking and that doesn't stop me. I've made mistakes and experienced equipment malfunctions but the impact was mitigated by good PPE and safety procedures. One change that is a factor for aspiring bullet casters is that very few passenger vehicles use lead wheel weights today so that "nearly free lead" window of opportunity is closing. There are also several commercial casters today who produce a good product for less than I would sell them for if I thought my time was worth anything. 

The 44WCF is a cartridge best loaded by a bullet caster who can tailor bullet diameter and hardness to the varied bore diameters found in vintage and modern rifles. Commercial alloys remove the risk of melting and cleaning scrap lead so when I run out of my current supply of scrap lead I will quit using it, even though WW scrap makes a great handgun bullet. It's possibly a bit hard for the 44WCF but I've found pure lead mixed 50/50 with WW scrap gets close to the 20-1 or 16-1 the old BP cartridges were designed for. 

Mike

You Can't go wrong building a library. Having these members help to verify, what you find in Tulsa, would be a plus and a learning experience that would be second to none.

Tony

TXGunNut said
Welcome, IndianCent! You're off to a great start, the Tulsa show will give you an awesome opportunity to look at and handle hundreds of Winchesters and talk with dozens of collectors. There's no better way to learn about these wonderful old guns. Books are good, too. Be careful around Jeremy, guns tend to follow him home. Sometimes he doesn't even have to pay for them! 
 
Mike
  

Appreciate the kind words. This is my 5th year in Tulsa (display pre-73 Rugers). I shoot and load SAA's (Colt, Uberti n USFA). I want to get some long guns to go with that. I ordered the book on Mod 86 n 92 from Arthur Pirkle. I hope it's gets here before we leave for Tulsa. My main focus is on 1892's, I already have a 1892 73' in 32-20. Much more fun ahead.

Mike

Bullet casting is an activity for the competent only.  Although I see myself as generally competent, I am not familiar with all the aspects of bullet casting.  That implies a, "learning curve" is needed.  I know we can learn from our mistakes but the consequence of making a mistake can vary widely. And of course, even among the competent, accidents can happen.

I appreciate the comments from those who cast their own and report a good level of satisfied derived from the activity.  Becoming competent at something is a good path to satisfaction.

Reading the forum a bit, I hear that there are good and trustworthy collectors at the coming Tulsa show. I would love to get some PM's recommending who to see. I have a basic understanding of firearms, but I am not an expert on Winchesters...yet. Thanks

slk said
I have been casting for these old calibers for years and it is pure enjoyment. 
I too have casted straight wheel weights for the most part and have had great results. 
Now when i do mix alloys and have to use tin for some extra hardness I no longer buy tin as it has gotten way over priced. What I do is go to garage and estate sales an buy old pewter cups and such for like a buck. Tin is $30 bucks a lb and a half pound pewter cup is like 50 cents to a dollar. Just melt the pewter into your mix and you are good to go. Pewter is 98% tin. 
I agree that you can have a lot of stuff tied up in casting. Ya have the mold, sizing dies,and lubing. Top punches that fit the bullet you cast,etc. But it sure is rewarding. 
  

SLK, if you're having issues with the melt not filling out the mold fully, with crisp, sharp edges, a little tin will lower the surface tension of the melt and help provide fully formed (and bright, shiny) bullets.  Antimony is also an effective hardening agent, but wheel weights already contain about 5% antimony, which is close to ideal. I think wheel weights have essentially no tin, unless it's there as an impurity from some previous source.

I don't even remember where or how I came across a supply of linotype, but I have about 25 pounds, which serves as my source of tin when needed.

Paul

I too have casted straight wheel weights for the most part and have had great results. 

Now when i do mix alloys and have to use tin for some extra hardness I no longer buy tin as it has gotten way over priced. What I do is go to garage and estate sales an buy old pewter cups and such for like a buck. Tin is $30 bucks a lb and a half pound pewter cup is like 50 cents to a dollar. Just melt the pewter into your mix and you are good to go. Pewter is 98% tin. 

I agree that you can have a lot of stuff tied up in casting. Ya have the mold, sizing dies,and lubing. Top punches that fit the bullet you cast,etc. But it sure is rewarding. 

steve004 said
I've enjoyed the information and discussion in this thread.  It is relevant to me as I load for many .44-40's rifles (i.e Winchester 73's, 92's and "M.....n" 94's.).  All of these are vintage/antique rifles.  I also load for rifle shooting in the .45 Colt chambering.  However, again not a reproduction, but in a Whitney-Kennedy rebored to .45 Colt.
I mainly shoot cast bullets in all of the above.  I've often been on the cusp of getting set-up casting my own bullets but (to my surprise), restraint and rationality have held me back from adding what would surely turn into many hundreds of pounds of surely what would turn into an endless amount of moulds, sizing dies and on and on.  
I discovered years ago you don't have to cast your own bullets to shoot cast bullets.  There's a multitude of manufacturers who will happily provide them - for prices that are reasonable enough.  For the .44-40, I have on hand .427 (both JSP and lead), .428, .429, .430 and .431 lead bullets.  This affords much opportunity for experimentation.  As was mentioned above, bullet hardness is an important factor. Many of smaller bullet casting companies provide the buyer with varying hardness options.  Not to get bogged down here, but when it comes to experimentation the interplay between bullet hardness and type of powder and amount of powder that will lead to the optimal bumping of the bullet.  And then of course, say you find the optimal bullet for the bore, will the round fit the chamber?  Maybe a change to thinner brass will resolve that, some special dies... There's much to keep the mind active and experiences to share.
  

Many, many years ago, I sat out to obtain suitable molds for each caliber pistol cartridge I owned, and a few of the rifle. I also bought a ton, (literally 2000 pounds) of wheel weights from a Big O tire store and eventually melted them down, cleaned up all the slag and steel clips, and poured several lifetime supplies of 1 pound ingots into RCBS molds.

Along the way, I picked up a good supply of linotype and some pure tin for practicing my chemistry/metallurgy. But for 98% of my casting, it's been straight wheel weights.  I've had good success with all calibers I've tried. And casting can be a relaxing and rewarding experience. I usually do it in the winter, when I can open the garage door for ventilation and keep a reasonable temperature. I rotate molds so none overheat, but try to cast no more than 2 or 3 calibers at a time.  You can size and lube them at your leisure some time later.  I have a storage shed full of 3 pound coffee cans full of cast bullets, one size per can.

But Steve is correct, I also discovered that I can buy, at reasonable prices, cast bullets, already sized and lubed, in just about any diameter and weight I'd ever choose.  

So if I were starting out fresh, would I still go down the casting road?  Probably, because it gave me a sense of being 'self sufficient', and it provided a learning experience (what diameter bullet works best in this caliber, etc.)  If you have time, it is a very enjoyable exercise. And standing back and looking a a large pile of perfectly formed bullets, sized and lubed, that you created yourself is very rewarding.  

My home-cast bullets are certainly less costly than any you can buy. But if you factor your time into the mix, and put a dollar value on your time, it would be difficult to justify on cost alone.

Paul