Things You'll Need:
- Furnace
- Iron pot
- Firepit or substitute
- Bullet mold
- Welder's gloves
- Safety goggles
- Lead ingots
- Metal bucket
- Old rags or padding
- Bullet shaper
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Step 1
Set your iron melting pot onto your furnace, heat it up and put the lead ingots in. The melting point of lead is 622 F, so if you are converting a burner or fryer into a furnace, it needs to be able to at least meet that temperature. Also have another fire going on nearby. A firepit, portable stove or charcoal grill can provide that.
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Step 2
Run your mold through the smoke coming off the fire to coat it in carbon-rich soot. That will help lubricate the mold for casting. Then set it on the fire to keep it hot.
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Step 3
Use your iron ladle to skim impurities off the surface of the molten lead. Pour this into a metal bucket for later disposal.
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Step 4
Take the mold off the fire, hold it over the melting pot, scoop up some molten lead with the ladle and pour the lead into the mold. Fill it until it is overflowing, since the excess lead will simply flow back into the melting pot.
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Step 5
Set the mold aside for 20 to 30 minutes to allow it to cool. Then pry open the jaws of the mold over an old cloth or canvas pad. The lead will still be hot, so if you dump it onto solid wood or stone, it will flatten. If you are casting bullets for a blackpowder smoothbore gun, you are finished.
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Step 6
Take bullets for modern, rifled guns and put them in the bullet shaper with a pair of tongs. Open and close the shaper to further shape the bullet and trim off excess lead. You may need to do this as much as half a dozen times. If you are unsure of the result, compare it against a factory-made bullet of the same type.
