Finally joined the casting world today

[Hawg]

That's a nice looking knocker Em.

I received my shipment from Midway today. And this is the knocker I got. We'll see how it works out.

I use a plastic screwdriver handle but a broken hammer handle works too or even a good hammer handle with the hammer still on it.

[mazo kid]

Yeah, it doesn't have to be fancy, or even nice looking. I just kinda like my stuff to look half-way decent. 'Course, some of it doesn't.

[mazo kid]

Lots of people trash Lee products, but I have had good luck with them. They make some obsolete reloading dies at a reasonable price. I have molds that are over 40 years old and still work fine. You can't beat on them and expect them to hold up, just like most other molds. I have reloading equipment in most every color.....red, blue, green, orange, etc., treat it with respect and it will outlast you.

[Hawg]

Lots of people trash Lee products, but I have had good luck with them.

Me too. Most of my molds are Lee as are most of my dies. I've never had a Lee O ring die get out of whack. I still use the Lee single stage press I bought in the 80's. I used it to make rifle cartridges for 1000 yard competition back in the day.

[ShotgunDave]

So far, I've had excellent results with Lee products. All of my reloading equipment is Lee. I have a Challenger single stage press and a smaller one that I don't know the name of. I use it to crimp the completed cartridges and to size my bullets. It takes a little longer to load with a single stage, but I'm in no hurry. In fact, I'm the opposite of in a hurry. I'm very methodical when I reload. I don't want any costly mistakes. So the Challenger is perfect to me.

The old Lee mold I used to make the .45 bullets with, worked perfectly. The first two out of the mold had some wrinkles, but after that, nice shiny wrinkle free bullets came out, two by two. I see no reason why the two new molds I just got shouldn't be any different. I also ordered an Era's Gone mold for my Sharps. I believe it is also made by Lee for Mark Hubbs. It should be just as good as the others I suspect.

[AlaskanGuy]

you know guys.... Ranch Dog, the same guy that designed all them ranch dog moulds has a place just like this.... its called

  https://www.lee-loader.com/index.php

its all about reloading and the use of Lee stuff, new and old...  i am AlaskanGuy on there as well... good place, lots of rocket scientist's to walk you through stuff about reloading/casting and so forth...

AG

[mazo kid]

Thanks Mark, I have that saved now. I have the Lee "Drip-O-Matic" 20 pound pot, also an RCBS pot. Which one do I use? The Lee. I have it tweaked so it only drips once or twice a casting session, easily stopped with a couple of twists with a screwdriver. I have a mold shelf so the mold is held in the same position each cast.

[Powder Burn]

My Lee drip-o-matic has lasted me about 30 years so far. It's all I use for all my casting. Nice club you got from Midway. I found an old miniature toy baseball bat and got a piece of PVC pipe to fit tightly over it. It will last forever now and it only takes a very light tap to open the sprew plate . I do realize this is a very old post but just thought that I would participate anyhow for anybody else that maybe looking. Casting bullets is rewarding, especially now days with everything disappearing off the shelves.

[ShotgunDave]

No need to apologize. We like seeing old topics revived and new conversations started.

I never thought of using an old kiddie bat to open the sprue plate. I have mine from Dodger stadium, that I got about 1968. I will have to dig it out and use it.

[mazo kid]

This is the "knocker" I use 99% of the time, open the sprue plate or tap on the hinge pin if a bullet/ball hangs up. I made this probably 25+ years ago out of scrap and a spare handle.

The reason for the copper rings (slices of copper pipe) is to add a bit of weight. The rings would move on the mallet when tapping so I tacked them in place. I had thought of drilling the mallet head and pouring lead in the holes, but opted for the rings.

[ShotgunDave]

Somehow I missed that before Em. That's a perfect mallet with a little heft to it.

[Powder Burn]

Here is my Kiddie bat with the pvc pipe fitting tightly to it. I've done this to some wooden dowel rods too and passed them along to some of my casting friends. On the right,you can see all the tools necessary to run a drip-o-matic.

[mazo kid]

Hey! I have a couple of those pot stirring spoons too. I ground the handle of an old tablespoon(s), drilled a deep hole in a wooden dowel, and epoxied the spoons in place. They come in handy for a lot of reloading chores.