BULLET CASTING SAFETY

There are three dangers in bullet casting.

Lead is HOT!!

     Lead alloys generally require more than 600 degrees F to melt, which can result in serious burns. While common sense will go a long way (don’t’ stick your finger in the melt to judge the temperature, etc), proper gear and clothing can provide much protection. Wear a long sleeved shirt, long pants, shoes, gloves and safety glasses to protect yourself from the inevitable minor spills. For maximum protection, all clothing should be of natural, not man-made materials. Manmade fabrics will melt at these temperatures, and the molten fabric will stick to your skin, greatly increasing the severity of any injury.

     The casting workplace should be free of all flammable materials: A lead spill into your gunpowder or primer supply could make casting a much more intense experience than it needs to be. Provide a heat resistant surface on which to lay molds, spoons and the like when not in immediate use. The lead pot should be clamped to the table so that it cannot tip over.

Lead is POISONOUS

>>> LEAD POISONING IS CUMULATIVE! <<<

     The body cannot eliminate lead at any significant rate. It simply accumulates lead until the total dosage becomes a problem. Contrary to the fears of many novices, lead simply doesn’t evaporate, even from casting melt temperatures. Current thinking is that ingestion of microscopic lead particles is the primary route to lead poisoning.

     The trick is to avoid ingesting lead in the first place. Smoke from fluxing indoors should be fan-ventilated to the outside, or better still, do all fluxing outdoors. Otherwise, you can inhale microscopic particles of the lead alloy and/or oxides that are in the smoke. And wash your hands before you eat, drink or smoke while taking a break, or after casting. The process of handling ingots and castings will rub some of the alloy onto your skin, which will transfer it to other articles you handle.

     I cast bullets in the cellar without ventilation for well over twenty years, and no lead problems. I didn't flux in the cellar; got the slushy stuff off the top of the melt and put it in a tin can. Later, outside, every time I melted wheel weights down and cleaned them, I put the can in the pot and melted and fluxed the slushy stuff into clean wheel weights again. Now I cast outside, on the porch, but still don't flux much.

     Other suggestions include:

• Never hold a bullet in your mouth for a moment while your hands are busy elsewhere! (This applies to airgun pellets too!)

• Clean and vacuum the surfaces that lead touches during casting, including the floor.

• Store all alloys and casting equipment where children and pets cannot gain access.

• Do not try to use the lead from any batteries, as they contain poisons.

     Thousands of shooters cast billions of bullets a year without getting lead poisoning. Taking the basic precautions should keep us safe, I've been casting for well over forty years without a problem.

Molten Lead and Water DON'T MIX.

     Accidental introduction of water into a pot of molten lead will result in a reaction that can vary from disconcerting bubbling and popping of lead spatters to a LOUD AND VIOLENT steam explosion. And water can intrude in an incredible number of ways. Wouldn’t a nice cold glass of your favorite beverage sound good after a long time bent over a pot of molten lead? Especially when the condensation on the glass hits your hand and goes on the next ingot you pick up. If it’s a hot day, drops of perspiration can run down your hand as you reach for the ingot. That’s how it happened to me, (Ken Mollohan, editing), and the resulting explosion emptied the pot and sprayed lead all the way across the house. If you store ingots in an unheated area, water can condense on them when they are brought in for a casting session. Take particular care to keep liquids like coffee, tea, cokes and other beverages out of the area. The practice of quench hardening from the mold is effective, but has also been known to result in water on ingots or in mold cavities. And there are almost more ways to mess this up than there are casters. Problems arise when the ingot carries liquid below the surface of the melt: The water turns to steam with a very large volume and can blow the lead out of the pot.

     Don’t let it happen to you.

     One simple technique can completely eliminate this hazard.

     Don’t put an ingot that isn’t warm to the touch into a molten pot. And when you DO add it, let it down gradually instead of just dropping it suddenly into the pot. It’s easy enough: Just lay an ingot on the top of your pot for a few minutes before adding it to the melt. When it’s uncomfortable to touch, it’ll be quite safe to add. And using a set of tongs to add the hot ingots slowly will prevent any accidental contamination by moisture from your hands, etc. If you follow these simple precautions, you can cast bullets safely for years.

     Enjoy casting, it is fun, relaxing and interesting and allows you to experiment and shoot at lower cost per shot. Pouring lead into a mold can be as simple as pouring water into a glass. Or it can be just as technical as you want it to be.

RELOADING SAFETY

     Unless you want a finger like mine, be very careful while reloading. Don't reload when you're tired, or angry or distracted. Don't talk to anybody while you're reloading. If someone interrupts, either stop reloading or make them go away. If you don't want to reload, if you're sick of it, then quit.

     Don't reload in a hurry. If you have to leave for the match in twenty minutes and you haven't reloaded yet, then either put off the match or reload at the range. Don't hurry. Look at the finger of a hurrier.

Double charging/overcharging a case

     Many if not most cast bullet loads call for small charges of fast burning powder. It is possible to put two charges-to double charge- a case with these loads. Shooting a double charged cartridge could easily blow up the gun and injure the shooter.

     Here are three ways to keep from double charging a case, I use all three.

• First, always start powder charging with the cases upside-down (primer up) in the loading tray. If every case is upside-down before you throw the powder charge, it is impossible to double charge a case.

• Second, after you pick up each case, give it a throwing motion as if you were trying to throw powder out of the case. You are trying to throw powder out of the case. If you make this motion of throwing powder out of each case before charging it with powder, then it is impossible to double charge a case.

• Third, after charging a set of cases, look in each case with a flashlight to make sure that there is one and only one charge of powder in each case. Again, if you check each case with a flashlight, it is impossible to double charge a case.

     I use all three techniques, and last week found that I had double charged a 7MM TCU case with Unique. The flashlight saved my bacon. I started with all cases upside-down; I always do. I made a throwing motion with each case as if to throw powder out of the case; I always do. When I looked in the cases with the flashlight, one was obviously double charged. This is the first time that I can remember finding a double charged case. I don't know what happened, but whatever happened; I did it. Some kind of brain wriggle made me do something wrong.

     Use these three techniques to be safe.

Ken Mollohan

"I use a similar process: I invert all the cases (primer up) in a reloading block and set the reloading block on the left of my measure. I set an empty reloading block on the right. Cases are pulled from the left-hand block, inverted (neck up), charged, and set into the right-hand block. When all of the cases have been charged, they are visually inspected under a good light for any case that seems to have more or less powder than the others. If a case like this is found, that case is emptied and recharged. If the powder charge still seems abnormal, the powder measure is checked for the proper setting. If the measure is correct, and the weight of the powder is correct, that case is removed and scrapped or marked for plinking loads only.)"

Bridging

     Some powders in some measures "bridge", means that you're throwing charges and one has LESS than the desired charge and another has MORE, because the powder got hung up in the nozzle of the powder measure. I've had this happen with SR4759, others report bridging with several other powders. Another reason to inspect the powder level in each case with a flashlight.

Neck constriction

     The chamber in a gun barrel is cut such that at the end of the mouth of the cartridge the chamber has a step where it becomes smaller. A cartridge that is too long for the chamber may be forced into the barrel, and at this forward step the cartridge case and bullet will be constricted, mashed into a space that is too small for them. Firing the cartridge will cause high pressure and may damage the gun and the shooter.

     This situation doesn't happen very often, and is easily avoided by checking case length and trimming cases when needed.

Headspace changes

     Cartridges that headspace on the shoulder may set back the shoulder of the case and increase headspace if they are fired with light charges. Many cast bullet loads contain light charges. I have had cartridge cases (30/06 and others) develop excess headspace after firing many light loads with cast bullets. Shooting a full power cartridge that has excess headspace can damage the gun and the shooter. Checking cartridge cases with a headspace gauge will identify the problem cases.

     To avoid this problem, I segregate and mark cartridge cases used for light loads, and use them only for light loads.

     Note that cartridges that headspace on the rim (45/70, 25/20) or the belt (300 H&H, 7MM Rem. Mag.) will not develop excess headspace.

Excess pressure loads

     There are numerous ways to cause excess pressure and perhaps damage the gun and / or shooter. Almost all of them can be overcome by the simple process of avoiding maximum charges, especially when you are first developing a load. ALWAYS start with the minimum suggested powder charge. This will give you a safety margin in case one of the following factors could be in play to cause you problems.

     High pressure loads are a snare and a delusion. They produce very little more velocity, and they stress your gun badly while reducing your safety margin to a razor’s edge. If you really need more power than your rifle will provide with moderate loads, the answer is not more powder in the case. The answer is a new rifle chambered for a bigger case that will burn more powder safely.

     The first way to produce excessive pressures is to use more powder than is safe for your cartridge and bullet. To avoid this, use good reloading handbooks, start with the minimum recommended loads and never exceed the maximum charges listed. ALWAYS weigh charges, at least initially to be sure your volumetric measure is set right, and afterwards to be sure it didn’t change somewhere along the way.

     Second is to accidentally use the wrong powder. To avoid this, never load when you're tired or upset. Never load when you're in a hurry, never load without checking in a written reference. Never load if something ‘feels wrong’. Check your personal logbook or a reloading manual. Nobody has a perfectly reliable memory, and I've blown up one gun in over forty years of shooting; because I was in a hurry, because I didn't check a written reference, and most sadly, because I didn't stop even when I became suspicious of the load. I don't ever want to do it again. (Ken Mollohan, editor: ME TOO! And I have the scars to prove it.)

     Third is to use the wrong bullet. It’s possible to load, chamber and fire charges with a 200g bullet that were maximum for a 100g bullet. It’s also possible - at least with some guns - to load an oversized bullet. Examples might be 0.312" or 0.323" bullets in a .308" bore rifle that happens to have a larger than usual chamber neck. Oversized or overweight bullets will cause serious pressure escalations. Even changing the TYPE of bullet in a load can result in sharp changes in the pressures developed. Hard, heavy copper jackets will produce higher pressures than thinner, softer jackets. And the jacketless cast bullet will produce the lowest pressures of all, all else being equal.

     Fourth is to leave your loads in the hot sun for a while. This can easily elevate pressures into the proof load range. In fact, British proof houses used to - and may still - use standard factory rounds that have been heated before loading to proof foreign arms for which they have no conventional proof load.

     Fifth is to change the type of primer in a load that is already close to maximum. A hotter primer will make the powder burn faster, and develop higher pressures. . If ANY component of a max or near max load is changed, the prudent loader will back off the powder charge at least 10% and work back up slowly.

     Sixth is to change the seating depth of your bullet so that it is jammed into the rifling. While sometimes useful, this practice should not be added to a hot load without changes to reduce the pressures until the effect can be determined. The added resistance to getting the bullet moving can result in higher pressures.

     There are also variations associated with different lots of what should be (nominally) the same components. These can affect pressures, but seldom by great margins. 

SHOOTING SAFETY

Hearing protection 

     Most shooters over 50 years old are somewhat deaf. That's because we didn't wear hearing protection at the range when we were younger. When I started shooting, virtually nobody wore earplugs or earmuffs. If you want to avoid an old age where you always look puzzled during a conversation, then wear hearing protection while shooting.

Eye protection

     There are any number of ways to have a gun squirt gas and brass particles toward your eyes when you set it off. I've seen it happen twice, and had it happen to me once. To avoid losing your sight, get a good pair of glasses and wear them every time you shoot any gun, even that BB gun. Your mother was right.

 Bore obstructions

     It is just amazing the things that show up in the bore of a gun. Bullets, wasp nests, brushes, patches and dirt have been reported. Shooting a gun with a bore obstruction can damage the gun and you.

     Before shooting a gun for the first time on any day, look through the bore to make sure there's nothing in it.

     After shooting, if you don't see a hole in the target, look through the bore to make sure the bullet got out. Be particularly wary after any shot that sounds odd or doesn’t have the same feel with its recoil. Stop shooting, open the gun and inspect it to be sure it is still mechanically sound and that the bore is clear before the next shot.

     “If anything can go wrong, it will.” It’s important to realize that it’s simply not possible to foresee each and every possible mistake that can be made. The best we can do is to point out the most common or most likely mistakes, and suggest some ways to avoid them. If you encounter something not covered in this overview, ASK SOMEONE. It is so much easier to not assemble or shoot a dangerous load than it is to un-shoot it after someone has been hurt. Be sure you’re safe.