Bullet casting help please.

[legs748]

Thanks for the ideas gents. Tallow is just rendered animal fat isn't it?

[dromia]

Yes but watch out for any salt content if using lard.

I get beef tallow from ships chandlers its cheap and doesn't go off.

There is seemingly someone on a well know internet auction robbery site selling lamb tallow, a friend of mine bought some and gave me a lb or two, it is good kit and is in my current lube mix.

Other people use all sorts of oils vegetable, olive, nuts, seeds etc. They all seem to make their users happy so go with what you have just keep away from petroleum based oils and lubes.

[channel12]

A bit off topic - but what's the difference between a Minie and a Pritchett?

The Minie was a French design (Captain Claude Minie') with an iron cup inside the hollow base, the Pritchett followed the same principle but used a boxwood plug. This plug also prevented the base deforming during cartridge transportation.

The modern bullet such as the Lee above is more correctly a Burton ball, designed by James Burton working at Harpers Ferry during the ACW. He dispensed with the base plug but used a deeper cavity in a more cylindrical bullet.

Because of the popularity of ACW reenactment in America and the mould makers are American the Burton in .58 or .577 is the most common mould.

[legs748]

Yes but watch out for any salt content if using lard.

I get beef tallow from ships chandlers its cheap and doesn't go off.

There is seemingly someone on a well know internet auction robbery site selling lamb tallow, a friend of mine bought some and gave me a lb or two, it is good kit and is in my current lube mix.

Other people use all sorts of oils vegetable, olive, nuts, seeds etc. They all seem to make their users happy so go with what you have just keep away from petroleum based oils and lubes.

Is there anything to stop me roasting a nice beef joint and skimming the fat off the dripping?

[channel12]

Yes but watch out for any salt content if using lard.

There's anti oxidants in lard, it was my job as chemist at Kraft to weigh it out so production could add it to the batch. But no added salt.

There are commercial lubes available, basically animal fats with a bit of dye and oil of wintergreen to mask the smell if it goes rancid.

[dromia]

Nothing to stop you doing that, personally I'd sooner spread it a slice of white bread for eating and use something else for lube.

[dromia]

So is it the anti oxidants that make it taste salty?

I have also seen salt on the contents label of some lard packets.

[greenshoots]

tescos lard has no salt

greenshoots

[legs748]

Nothing to stop you doing that, personally I'd sooner spread it a slice of white bread for eating and use something else for lube.

White bread is the devils beer mat! aaarggh A nice whole grain nutty loaf is the way forward. But on the subject of dripping it has to be 50/50 fat and brown, I was merely planning to skim the rest of the fat to get to this ratio, therefore it's technically waste that goes to the bullets!

[Ian]

And what is flavour of the month for use as a flux for the molten metal?

I still use Borax powder in a pepper pot.