Anybody molding their own pellets?

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BigTinBoat

BigTinBoat

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May 19, 2015
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Maryland, United States
I have been considering getting a pellet mold. For years I molded all sorts of jigs for fishing. I did it both because of cost and because what I wanted wasn't readily available.

I still have a HotPot as well as a bottom pour pot and 100's of lbs of lead so I'm good there. My apprehension is the fact that I still have to layout like another $150+ for mold and handles and then what if my gun doesn't like the pellets? Seems to be few molds in .22 available.

I'm looking at the NOE 217-20 as that's seems to be the only one under 20g. Anything else in .22 that is lighter weight available? I'd do slugs, but noting lightweight there either that I've found.

So the guys who are molding, how are the results? Do your guns like them?
 
here are the weight sizes that this mould will drop:

22 cal Hunter - 19.7 & 21.3 gr. shot almost as good as the 1" group shot by the 18.1 gr. JSB Heavies and better than the 25.4 gr. Redesigned Monsters at 1.4".... The 22.6 gr. Hunters were worse (over 2" group), and the 25.3 gr. Hunters with the flat base were useless, only 3 hit the target.... Barrel is a LW....

I just ordered a .25 mould. so i will be casting my own shortly. but a guy named Wayne on GTA forums has this mould and his pours are a sight to behold and his consistency rate is unreal.
 
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You really need to check out Wayne's post's on casting the hunters. He knows the ins and outs of casting them. The question I have is the lead you have pure lead? If it has any antimony I've been told it won't work for pellets.
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If his posts are on GTA that would be a negative, I won't go there.

I have all sorts of lead. Some unknown, some pure lead sheets, some recycled pellets. Pretty sure majority of it is real low in antimony.
 
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i know the lead should be either pure or 40:1 (lead : tin) no antimony allowed. With pure lead they will have a dull gray color. with just a touch of tin they come out shiny and the tin helps with flow from all i have read as i'm about to dive into this side of things this weekend with any luck. Just got notified that my mould should be here friday, with the rest coming saturday. so I'll start my mould prep and heat cycling once i get it.
 
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Here's a link to purchase a pellet mold for casting them: https://noebulletmolds.com/site/product-category/224/217-24-rf-cc2-magnum-pellet

There aren't many pellet swagging kits available in the US (which is a HUGE mystery to me). If a domestic manufacturer made a pellet swagging kit, I think I'd be all over it. Currently, the ones available from China or other countries cost over $400. Swagged pellets will have more consistency in shape and weight. But don't underestimate the cast pellets. The shape of the pellet in and of itself lends itself to stability, so within 60 yards, I doubt you'll have accuracy issues. But beyond that, ALL PELLETS can potentially go wonky on you. 

But if you do buy the NOE mold, I agree to use pure lead. If you're not sure if your lead is pure, buy it from rotometals on Amazon. 99.9% pure lead. I cast my own slugs, and I've cast pure lead. It's VERY temperamental to temperature. When I cast lead alloy (mix w/tin and antimony) I can turn the heat on the bottom pour lead pot up to 7 or 8. But if you try that with pure lead, the surface of the lead gets this weird flashy rainbow colored appearance and it starts flaking and crystallizing. It's a very strange occurrence. So clean out your lead pot from all the other lead that has been in it. Turn your lead pot to 2 on the temperature dial, and let the lead ingots melt. I turn the lead up to about 3.5-3.75 on the dial for perfect pouring. Any hotter and it starts that weird flaking and crystallizing. 

When you heat your mold, stick it on top of the lead pot as it heats up. Let the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics take over as the temperature of the mold equalizes with the temperature of the pot. Don't be in a hurry. Just start the lead pot at 2, stick in your pure lead ingots, put the mold on top, and take a 45-60 minute break. I also recommend the brass mold over the aluminum mold. The brass is 5x's more durable, and less likely to warp. 

When you're done casting your pellets, turn off the Lee pot, put the mold back on top, and let it slowly cool off. This prevents warping from cooling too fast. 

Hope all of that helps. 
 
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Nation, 

I've been working on swaging slugs for a while now, have gotten OK results from 12 ft.lb guns, in .1775, which is my quest. I still have more testing to do, but with everything closed everywhere, kinda puts a squash on my research and development of my slugs. 

That being said, the bottom line in getting set up for a Corbin swaging rig, is a little less than $2000. The only projectiles that you will be able to make with a Corbin press is a typical slug shape, and a slug in a semi wadcutter style. A traditional skirted pellet cannot be made, at least not without great expense ($10,000+) for die research and development, and multiple dies for the unique process of true skirted pellets. I inquired about this, and the cost is prohibitive. 

There are individuals who make 2 piece swaging dies for traditional diabolo pellets, and despite what you hear about stuff being made in China, the dies that I have seen are of top quality, and second to none. These dies alone are $800+, depending upon where you get them.

If anyone is interested on how the swaging process works, visit my website at

Fieldtargettech.com,

and you can check out my video on the swaging process with Corbin equipment. 

Tom Holland 

Field Target Tech 
 
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Nation, 

I've been working on swaging slugs for a while now, have gotten OK results from 12 ft.lb guns, in .1775, which is my quest. I still have more testing to do, but with everything closed everywhere, kinda puts a squash on my research and development of my slugs. 

That being said, the bottom line in getting set up for a Corbin swaging rig, is a little less than $2000. The only projectiles that you will be able to make with a Corbin press is a typical slug shape, and a slug in a semi wadcutter style. A traditional skirted pellet cannot be made, at least not without great expense ($10,000+) for die research and development, and multiple dies for the unique process of true skirted pellets. I inquired about this, and the cost is prohibitive. 

There are individuals who make 2 piece swaging dies for traditional diabolo pellets, and despite what you hear about stuff being made in China, the dies that I have seen are of top quality, and second to none. These dies alone are $800+, depending upon where you get them.

If anyone is interested on how the swaging process works, visit my website at

Fieldtargettech.com,

and you can check out my video on the swaging process with Corbin equipment. 

Tom Holland 

Field Target Tech
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H and HEM custom makes swage pellet die kits for around $1000 from China essentially it's perfect match grade JSB clones. I have a set and the finished "make your own" pellets are easily capable of sub moa at 100 yards in ideal conditions all day long and single hole groups out to 80 yards just like the Chinese FX Crown shooter produced who used the H and HEM dies. Equivalent to the most luckiest lot of JSB with no damages or flaws if this makes any sense. Don't ask me about where to get the dies. There's a high risk of paying and not receiving it due to Chinese laws with international shipping of contraband items with no recourse if you pay the maker then it's confiscated after he already did his job for you. It's out of his hands after its shipped and the time required to make the dies would be past the charge back protection window anyway FYI... Hopefully an AMERICAN can step up and open up a new level of accuracy for us domestically that wouldn't cost $10k. Yo!
 
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I haven't bought any pellets or slugs for over two years now because casting them is much cheaper, it don't take long for the molds to pay for themselves.



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OK, guessing you're the Wayne the 2 guys above are talking about. If so, do you use the 217-20 mold? That's the one I was thinking about as it should be close in ballistics to the 18.1JSB.

Also wondering how tedious it is getting pellets without defects. You ever mold jigs? The 19 grain is just a bit smaller then a 1/32oz jig and I did plenty of those. And that's with pouring around a hook.
 
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Nation, 

I've been working on swaging slugs for a while now, have gotten OK results from 12 ft.lb guns, in .1775, which is my quest. I still have more testing to do, but with everything closed everywhere, kinda puts a squash on my research and development of my slugs. 

That being said, the bottom line in getting set up for a Corbin swaging rig, is a little less than $2000. The only projectiles that you will be able to make with a Corbin press is a typical slug shape, and a slug in a semi wadcutter style. A traditional skirted pellet cannot be made, at least not without great expense ($10,000+) for die research and development, and multiple dies for the unique process of true skirted pellets. I inquired about this, and the cost is prohibitive. 

There are individuals who make 2 piece swaging dies for traditional diabolo pellets, and despite what you hear about stuff being made in China, the dies that I have seen are of top quality, and second to none. These dies alone are $800+, depending upon where you get them.

If anyone is interested on how the swaging process works, visit my website at

Fieldtargettech.com,

and you can check out my video on the swaging process with Corbin equipment. 

Tom Holland 

Field Target Tech
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Tom, when I mentioned they were made in China, it wasn't to insinuate that they were cheap. It was to insinuate that they weren't made domestically, and that they were expensive to import. I agree with you 100%. Of the videos I've seen, the swagging kits are VERY high quality, and the end product is absolute perfection. I reached out to a manufacturer once and asked why the kits are $800. He insinuated that it's because of the risk involved in exporting it, not because of the cost of manufacturing. Apparently he has to skirt-ail around some legalities regarding the nature of the product he's exporting, so the cost needs to be worth the risk for him. But I also think he knows that he has a little monopoly within that industry, and that too drives up the cost. But the kits are made from machined steel, with countersunk bolt to hold the two pieces together, and hardened steel drive pins that form the dimple in the skirt and maintain consistency.

Again, I don't know why a machinist or manufacturer won't make a pellet swagging kit domestically. I think they would sell thousands of them. And this could be one of the rare occasions where something made domestically could undercut the cost of something made in China. It's a win-win to me. 
 
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I cast in .25 , 30 , and .35 cal diabalo pellets alonf with .172, .223, .257, 308, & 40 cal bullets. It makes shooting so much lower in cost and adds another dimension to the shooting hobby that I really enjoy. Like Wayne I haven't bought pellets in a few years, yet have a stock pile of cast projectiles and more raw material.

I'm so deep into making my own that I look at molds before buying a gun.....lol
 
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I cast in .25 , 30 , and .35 cal diabalo pellets alonf with .172, .223, .257, 308, & 40 cal bullets. It makes shooting so much lower in cost and adds another dimension to the shooting hobby that I really enjoy. Like Wayne I haven't bought pellets in a few years, yet have a stock pile of cast projectiles and more raw material.

I'm so deep into making my own that I look at molds before buying a gun.....lol
Click to expand...

Why can’t you take the Chinese product to a CNBC shop and get some made in the good old USA



that is what the Chinese do for almost all other products
 
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