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I still vividly recall getting my first bullet molds almost a ¼ century ago.  I had been buying .357 diameter jacketed pistol bullets for loading .38 Special and .357 Magnum rounds.  The cost of such bullets was getting to be a strain on what was then a somewhat slender shooting budget. 

My shooting buddy, Rick, (also a GI stationed in Germany) offered me two well-used .38 caliber bullet molds at a very good price.  I purchased both.  One mold was a 2-cavity design, the other a 1-cavity design. A casting furnace was needed.  Rick had a Lee Production Pot that worked well.  I posted an order to a catalog company, and a Lee Production Pot  (10 lb. capacity, bottom draw, electric melting furnace) of my very own  was soon in hand. 

Rick had said: “A 2-cavity mold is twice as fast to use as a 1-cavity mold, but, it seems 4 times as fast!”

I took that observation on faith.  And by gosh, Rick was right!  Producing pistol bullets with a 2-cavity mold did seem 4 times as fast as the 1-cavity mold!

Central Europe is rainy and damp most of the year.  Both of those used molds were made of ferrous metal.  Special precautions must be taken; or ferrous molds will develop copious amounts of rust in short order.  The old-time advice to coat ferrous molds with a spray lubricant like WD –40 for storage meant a very careful cleaning session before they could be used again.  Even after the mold was cleaned, there was generally a fair amount of reject bullets before the ferrous mold was re-seasoned, and once again producing good bullets. Better results were achieved by storing the molds in a waterproof, steel box with bags of desiccant.  Of course, this meant acquiring additional items.  

At that time it was nothing to be shooting 100 to 150 pistol rounds in a session.  At one point, another friend brought over a 4-cavity mold ferrous mold made by an old-line company.  Talk about production speed.  If the 2-cavity mold seemed 4 times as fast as a 1-cavity mold, the 4-cavity mold seemed to be moving at “warp speed”! 

The 4-cavity ferrous mold was quite heavy.  The wrists really got a workout using this tool.  That mold was also a bit cantankerous.  However, the amount of bullets that could be quickly mined from a pile of wheel weights made it well worth the effort.  I began to think about expanding my home-operated bullet making operation.

A bit of research disclosed multi-cavity molds were available in 3, 4, 6, 8 and even 10 cavity versions.  Only one company produced the 6,8 & 10 cavity molds.  The price (which didn’t include handles) was astronomical, and the delivery time was 10 months to a year.

In those pre-internet days, (was there ever really such a time?) I huddled down with some mail order catalogs of the day; and gauged the price of a common 4-cavity ferrous mold and mold handles. The math dictated that I would be sticking with my original molds for some time to come.  I just couldn’t justify spending that much money for the simple ability to produce lead alloy pistol bullets faster.

I thought, “Oh well, so much for the large, multi-cavity mold idea”. 

Lee 1 cavity rifle mold

Male half of vertical alignment rib on Lee 1 cavity rifle mold

Horizontal alignment bar on Lee 1 cavity rifle mold

(Notice inside of mold is smoked black)

The first thing I noticed was the aluminum mold was very light.  A full-length vertical rib and horizontal guide alignment bars assured the blocks would align evenly, and close properly.  The handles were permanently attached to the mold (Note.1).  The included instructions were very specific about how to prepare the mold prior to use (more on that process later).  Once prepared in accordance with the supplied instructions, the new Lee mold shucked perfect .30 caliber bullets. The bullet was (and still is) wonderfully accurate too.

Given equal care, a properly done up aluminum mold is every bit as durable and dependable as a ferrous metal mold. Lee aluminum molds required no special storage considerations.  Outside weather conditions don’t bother them a bit.  The handle tongs and sprue plate of 1 and 2-cavity molds are blued steel.  I’ve never had a problem with them rusting.  I think the blueing gives some protection.  If you had to store a Lee 1 or 2-cavity mold for an extended period, then a good coat of furniture polish on the handle tongs and sprue plate only should suffice.

I recently began shooting and loading for a Smith & Wesson 1917 Mil-Surp revolver in  .45 caliber. 

See articles: http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting2006/swwheelgun/index.asp & article

Initial loading was with jacketed bullets.  The gun held them all in the black, but I felt the gun was capable of much, much more.  There is no real need to use expensive jacketed bullets.  Cast bullets are easier on the pocketbook, and much easier on the barrel of a fine old gun. The hardest cast bullet is only 1/3 as hard as any jacketed bullet. WW (wheel weight) alloy is a fine bullet material, and used wheel weights can often be had simply for the asking at friendly tire stores.

Lee 6-cavity pistol bullet mold with cam-operated sprue cutter

It was time to acquire a .45 caliber pistol mold.  I once gain revisited the idea of a multi cavity (more then 2) pistol bullet mold.  Checking the latest offerings of our friends at Lee Precision Inc. www.leeprecision.com, disclosed just what the doctor ordered, and at a price anyone can live with!  Lee produces 6 cavity pistol bullet molds. A Lee 6-cavity mold and handles can be acquired from such retailers as Graf & Sons www.grafs.com or MidwayUSA www.midwayusa.com for about $37.00 for the mold, and about $14.00 for the handles + a shipping or handling fee. 

The Lee 6-cavity mold is designed a bit differently then the 1 and 2 cavity designs.  The comparatively short mold blocks of the Lee 1 and 2 cavity designs do just fine with the rib and alignment bar system.  However, the 6-cavity blocks are necessarily much longer. 

Lee 6-cavity pistol bullet molds have steel alignment pins and…

Matching steel bushing lined alignment holes

The longer 6-cavity blocks use steel alignment pins in one block, and matching alignment holes in the other block.  The alignment holes are lined with steel bushings.  This combination allows for positive alignment once the blocks are mated together. 

Sprue plate is thick, and hard anodized; cam-operated lever has plenty of leverage to cut all 6 sprues

The sprue plate is a thick piece of hard-anodized aluminum.  Hard-anodized aluminum could take the pounding of a non-marring hammer (either plastic, rawhide or wood) to open it.  Hammer blows on a traditional sprue plate may cut a sprue unevenly.  The more skilled bullet casters can usually get a fairly smooth bullet base even when they have to hammer a sprue plate aside. 

However, it’s not required to hammer the sprue plate open on a Lee 6-cavity mold.  Lee included a cam-operated lever to open the sprue plate. Simply pushing the lever cuts the sprues cleanly.  The cam geometry makes it easy to open the sprue plate despite having to cut 6 sprues.  Cam-operated sprue levers aren’t a new concept.  Over 100 years ago, Harry M. Pope made molds with a cam-operated sprue lever.  A cam-operated sprue lever has a fluid motion, and tends to leave bullet bases in very good condition. 

Lee 6-cavity pistol bullet molds have ample venting pattern

Cavities are lathe bored, bullets hardly show any part lines

Lee 6-cavity molds don’t have traditional “vent lines”.  They have a crosshatch pattern to vent out air.  It looks like the venting system is pressed into the mold blocks with a type of knurling tool prior to the cavities being cut.  The system is simple, and effective.

A process called “lathe boring” is used in the production of Lee molds.  The blocks are clamped together tightly in a rotating chuck.  The various drills, cutters and boring bars move in quick succession to produce a very concentric, precise mold.  Since the blocks are clamped together as the cavities are made, there is hardly any part line on bullets cast from this type mold.

Lee 6-cavity pistol bullet mold handles are thick steel, wood grips are long

Screws to retain mold handles are cross tip style

Lee 6-cavity molds use separate handles.  The handles are thick steel, and have ample, hardwood grips.  Unfortunately, Lee doesn’t blue the handles.  Of course, that’s not required.  It would make them look classy though. A cross-tip screwdriver attaches the handles to the mold blocks.

Recall we said earlier that Lee’s instructions are very specific as to preparing their molds prior to use?  Now would be a good time to cover those instructions. However, first just a word about the production process.

As shipped, the molds will have traces of cutting fluids used in the production process. In a previous life, I worked as a machinist for a major producer of construction equipment.  Quite often, while a work piece was in a CNC machine being produced, you could not even see the piece because cutting fluid was being shot at it from up to 4 different angles! The cutting fluid keep the work piece and machine tools cool, the tools stay sharper longer, chips are flushed away, and specified production tolerances stay tight. So, we need to clean any remains of cutting fluids from the mold.

Can contains cat litter to catch spray disk brake cleaner

The instructions call for the complete cleaning of the mold & sprue plate prior to use.  I use spray disk brake cleaner.  Because it’s designed to clean and degrease brake pads & shoes; it dries quickly, without leaving any film behind.  The spray disk brake cleaner will evaporate rather fast, however if you wish to speed the process, use an electric hair drier to speed the drying time. With the mold clean, there are two more steps in the mold preparation process. 

Beginning to smoke mold…

Getting there…

Nirvana!

(Top & bottom of sprue plate are also smoked)

First, the mold cavities must be smoked to produce a well filled out bullet. The reason for this is aluminum has an amazingly fast heat transfer rate.  It both heats up, and cools down quickly.  When hot lead alloy hits a cavity, the mold quickly pulls the heat from the alloy, so fast in fact; that the bullet will start to solidify before the cavity has filled out correctly.  A coating of soot from either a butane lighter or a match (not from a candle though) acts as an insulator.  The soot allows the molten lead alloy to retain its heat just a second longer.  Long enough for the bullet cavity to fill completely.  While the instructions don’t specify this, I find coating the top and bottom of the sprue plate with smoke is also helpful.  While a several matches are fine to coat a one-cavity mold, I found matches were too slow with the 6-cavity mold.  Here’s what I did.  I took a long piece of ½ X ½ inch scrap pine and set the end on fire.  It became a giant matchstick!  That burning piece of wood smoked the 6-cavity mold in short order.  One last step in the mold prep process must be accomplished before we can begin casting.

A tiny bit of bullet lube to lube the…

Sprue plate pivot & mold hinge

(Plain beeswax would be fine too)

The pivot points of the mold need a bit of lube.  Just the tiniest bit of lube works!  Put a sliver of beeswax on a toothpick or edge of a small knife and touch it to the sprue plate hinge point, block alignment pins and hinge bolt of the handles of a warm mold.  Remember, just a tiny bit, now.  If too much lube gets on the mold, it will migrate into the cavities and have to be cleaned off. OK, the mold is prepped; let’s turn out attention to the Lee Production Pot IV.

That first Lee Production Pot 10 lb. capacity, bottom draw, electric melting furnace made many, (many) thousands of bullets.  Just like Rick’s Lee furnace; the spout would dribble a bit. That was no real problem.  I just kept a small pan underneath to catch any dribbled alloy, and returned the tiny bits of solidified alloy to the furnace along with the sprues.  There was nothing even remotely close to the Lee furnace’s quality and utility back then (nor is there today) at that price.  You could buy 3 Lee 10 lb. capacity furnaces for what the nearest competitor’s bottom draw, electric melting furnace would cost you. 

Once filled with wheel weights, the pot would melt them in about 20 to 30 minutes, if turned up to max temperature.  If the pot had been filled with melted alloy prior to being shut off during the last casting session, warm up time would be about 20 minutes.  After the wheel weights were melted, the steel clips and road dirt would have to be removed from the mix before casting could start. The clips could be picked out with a pair of long-nosed pliers, or a ladle, but the dirt would need help to separate it from the mix, and insure all the alloy constituents were well blended.  For that we need a fluxing agent. 

Originally, I used a tiny ball of beeswax, about the size of a large pea as a fluxing agent.  Simply drop it in the pot; and carefully stir it into the mix.  Flux causes the alloy to homogenize, and the dirt to float to the top.  The dirt can be skimmed off and placed into a metal (the skimmed dirt & clips will be incredibly hot) waste receptacle.  I used the Lee pot and beeswax flux for many years.  The only down side to beeswax is it gives off quite a bit of smoke.  Then one day I saw an ad for a fluxing agent that promised, “virtually smoke free fluxing”. It was from a company called “Blue & Grey” products. 

It did flux well, with little smoke. Too bad they neglected to mention it was also highly hydroscopic!  The top of the pot, which is drawn carbon steel; started to rust badly.  No matter how much I tried cleaning it; the top rim of the pot rusted, and continued to rust, until the top rim of the pot actually rusted through.  Even then, the pot continued to work, although, working the handle and getting the flow of molten ally to start & stop was a bit dodgy! So much for Blue & Grey products, avoid them.  While the lump of beeswax still works, there are other fluxes that work very well, give off little smoke, and are totally safe to your tools.

GAR Flux, simply the best!

What I now use exclusively is a product from GAR. Their phone number is 1-973-754-1114 (no website).  Their flux is a mixture of vegetable shortening and beeswax.  It gives of very little smoke and does a really excellent job.  In addition, GAR’s flux only cost $6.00 for an 8 oz tub, or 3 tubs for $15.00 + shipping. Very little is required to flux a pot of alloy.  The pictured tub of flux, as you can see is quite old, it lasts a long time  and doesn’t go bad. 

Lee Production Pot IV

Pot holds 10lb of alloy

Counterweight keeps valve closed

Thermostat control

My original Lee furnace has been replaced with a Lee Production Pot IV.  It too is a 10 lb. capacity, bottom draw, electric melting furnace.  There are a couple of differences between that first Lee furnace and the Production Pot IV.  The Production Pot IV is higher then the first one with a 4 inch clearance.  While this isn’t important with bullet molds, it allows other type casting molds, like sinker molds to be used. The housing that contains the thermostat is now sealed.  This keeps dust out, and allows the thermostat to have a finer adjustment.  Most importantly, the spout and flow valve have been redesigned.  It’s reported that this dramatically cuts down on spout dribbling.  We shall see.

Wheel weights, bullet casters gold!

These will melt down in 25-30 minutes

Steel clips can be picked out with long-nose pliers

Steel clips will be disposed of later, after they cool

Steel clips can also be scooped out with a Lee ladle

With clips removed, a bit of GAR flux is added to the alloy

GAR flux is stirred into the alloy with Lee ladle

Lee ladle scoops out dirt

10lbs of alloy; fluxed & clean

Warming Lee mold on top of casting furnace

We now have a properly prepped mold.  The furnace was plugged in, turned up to max, and filled with wheel weights.  After melting, and having been fluxed and skimmed, we have a casting furnace full of melted, cleaned metal.  Sit the mold on top of the furnace for a few minutes to preheat it (Note.2).  Let’s turn that alloy into bullets (Note.3)!

3 pieces of wood place mold @ proper height to cast bullets,

2 wood screws hold all 3 pieces of wood together

(Wood spacer assembly just slides in place)

The first thing I noticed when I began casting with the Lee Production Pot IV was the distance from the top of the mold to the bottom of the spout was a l-o-n-g way!  I simply made a platform from a couple of pieces of scrap wood and a piece of 2X4.  Two wood screws hold the wood platform together.  The mold was at the proper height for casting. Again, this isn’t a big deal. Actually, having the wood there is a good thing.  Heat won’t be pulled from the mold as would happen when sitting the mold on the metal base plate of the furnace.  Having the mold at a higher elevation also puts it more in line with the operator’s line of vision.  This decreased fatigue during the casting session. 

The first few fillings from the mold weren’t filled out properly.  That’s normal.  The soot coating has to settle into the cavities; and that takes a few fillings. As the mold broke in, the castings kept getting better & better.  After about the 5^th filling of all the cavities, the Lee 6-cavity mold was shucking great bullets!  It is amazing how fast the alloy is turned into a large group of good bullets.

Cam operated sprue lever cut all 6 sprues smoothly

Having all 6 sprues connected makes it easy to return the sprues to the pot for re-melting

Old GI mess tin collects sprues & first few reject bullets

(These will be put back into furnace for re-melting)

Lee ingot mold makes 1 & 2 lb ingots

Lee bullet # 90310 is a copy of the H&G # 68

(Arguably the best .45 ACP SWC bullet mold ever designed)

Casting with two molds.  Fill mold A, set it aside to cool, fill mold B, set it aside to cool, cut sprue on mold A, empty mold A, refill mold A, set it aside to cool, cut sprue on mold B, empty mold B, refill mold B set it aside to cool, etc, etc.  Advantage to this system is overall better quality bullets.

Bullets were dropped from the mold onto a couple of old, folded towels.  They could have been left there to cool, however, these bullets are to be shot in a Smith & Wesson 1917, and shallow rifling is a characteristic of 1917’s.  To grip and maintain proper rotation in shallow rifling, a bullet must be very hard and properly fitted. 

Wheel weights keep padding in bottom of tub of water

Wearing a wool, GI glove liner, I picked up, and quickly dropped the bullets into a plastic tub of water (with padding) to quench and harden them.  At first the bullets simply slipped into the water quietly.  Soon, as the mold was up to proper temperature, the bullets made a hissing sound as they hit the water.  Only those bullets that made a hissing sound would be retained for loading.  This insures that all the bullets would be of the same hardness.

Should a bullet or two stick in mold, tap hinge bolt gently with…

Either a plastic or rawhide hammer

(NEVER use a metal hammer)

Pan is there in case of dribbling.  New valve & spout design virtually eliminates dribbling  : - )

Let’s revisit the new Lee Production Pot IV. It’s reported the spout and flow valve had been redesigned to cut down on spout dribbling, which was a characteristic of the older furnaces.  I’m happy to report there is hardly any dribble with this new unit! Every now  & then a tiny bit of alloy would dribble.  Even the most expensive melting furnaces, those costing 3 ½ times as much as a Lee furnace costs, dribble a tiny bit.  The furnace heated up quickly with loose wheel weights and ingots (less then 30 minutes) with the thermostat turned up all the way.  After the bullets were sizzling as they hit the water in the quenching container, I turned the thermostat down to about 7.  The thermostat works smoothly.

Let’s discuss safety for a moment.  Lee casting furnaces are not insulated.  Touching the outside of the furnace will blister your finger.  Be very careful.  Most importantly, we wary of children or pets that might be near the area, never leave a hot casting furnace unattended!  Wear shooting glasses and gloves while casting bullets.  Lead fumes are toxic, either cast outside, or if indoors, have a positive ventilation system.

The new Lee Production Pot IV casting furnace is a best quality product.  It melts alloy quickly, and filling bullet or any other type of molds with the 4-inch clearance is fast and convenient.  I really like the new valve design; it simply eliminates 98% of dribbling alloy from the spout. 

The Lee Production Pot IV can be had from such vendors as Midway www.midwayusa.com or Graf & Sons www.grafs.com for about $ 47.00 + a shipping or handling fee.  If you don’t want the 4-inch height of the Production Pot IV, the Lee Production Pot (2 inch height) is a few dollars cheaper.

I’m extremely pleased with the Lee 6-cavity pistol bullet mold.  It produces heaps & heaps top quality bullets; and does it at “warp speed”.  Aluminum is light, doesn’t have issues with rusting and the cam-operated sprue cutter works perfect and leaves bullet bases smooth.

Once again, Lee produces tools that really perform! The man looking to start casting bullets can get molds and electric furnaces other then Lee; and pay a lot more money in the process, (a whole lot more money) however, I challenge anyone to produce bullets of better quality than the bullets I made with the Lee Production Pot IV casting furnace and Lee 6-cavity pistol bullet mold.

Now, bullets right from the mold are not ready to be loaded.  There is the matter of lubing and sizing prior to being loaded.  After lubing, sizing and loading, we need to head to the range and find out just how well the 1917 shoots cast bullets.  Patience dear reader!  Those priorities will be addressed in the next article.

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