QUIGLEY SHOOTING ASSOCIATION NEWS
Quigley Shooting
Association by Ken Hall
Cast Black-powder Cartridge- rifle Bullets – bottom-pour or Ladle? I am often asked by relative newcomers to bullet casting “Which produces the best bullets, bottom-pour or ladle pouring?”
The answer, to my thinking, is that when casting large bullets of 400 grains or more, the ladle gives better results every time. This does not mean that using a bottom-pour melter is detrimental to good casting - most pistol-calibre bullets weighing less than 200 grains can be cast with that method and behave quite well.
However, large and heavy BPCR bullets have deep grease-grooves to hold as much lube as possible in order to keep the fouling soft and prevent barrel- fouling build up. It is in regard to these grooves that I prefer using a well designed lead dipper, which will force the molten lead deep into the grooves and produce sharp edges rather than rounded edges as often occurs with bottom-pour systems.
A common drawback with bottom-pour melters is that often, during a casting session, the pouring spout can get restricted by impurities etc and the flow of lead then becomes inconsistent, leading to a variation in bullet weight and a rounding of the sharp corners. This is almost impossible with the lead dipper.
At this stage I would like to stress that I refer to one of the excellent dippers supplied by RCBS, Midway and Lyman. Whilst I am partial to Lee products and often recommend their dies etc, their lead ladle is not to be recommended for casting large bullets as it just cannot produce an adequate flow rate due to its open top, spoon-type design.
The RCBS-type casting dipper can be submerged in the molten lead and, when removed, will safely contain a large quantity of lead, enough for the largest BPCR bullet. The design then allows for the dipper spout to be held horizontal against the sprue-plate of the mould and both the mould and the dipper rotated together so that the mould is now upright. This uses gravity to force the lead quickly into the mould ensuring that the grooves are fully filled.
Whilst in this position, the dipper can be safely rotated away from the mould without spilling the remaining lead and any impurities or dross is retained in the bowl allowing only the clean mix to enter the mould. With practice this operation becomes very slick and many fine bullets can be produced in a short time.
The illustrations overleaf hopefully show the difference between bottom-pour and the lead dipper when casting large bullets. You should notice an improvement even when casting small pistol bullets.
If you intend to try ladle casting and you need more room on your melting pot, it is quite a simple task to block off the pouring spout with a suitable self-tapping screw, then you can remove the valve mechanism and retain it so you can later return to bottom-pour if you choose. Alternatively, if you have not yet purchased a melting pot and wish to cast only with the dipper, then plain melting pots without pouring mechanisms are available.
Comments and questions please to;
khall6548@aol.com
86
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118