I have been given 56 more pounds of sheet lead from a xray room window cutout(80 + lbs total).What do I need to make it cast well for muzzlleloader bullets?as you know,they should be pure soft lead,which I think it is,but I see some recommend adding tin or antimony to facilitate casting.

if you are gonna patch them and push them down the bbl pure is what you want.
if you are gonna load them in cases you need to find an appropriate amount of tin to mix in the lead usually 30 lbs lead or 20 lbs lead to one lb of tin.
called 30-1 or 20-1.

no patches-I have a t/c mold for making 370 gr maxi-ball conicals for deer hunting.I cast some last year and they were rather wrinkled,I thought perhaps I needed to add something.

No tin needed but you need more heat.

To expound a bit on that, you need to get your mold hotter. The first several casts from the mold will be wrinkled and badly filled out. That's normal. Just keep casting more and drop the wrinkled ones into a discard pile to be put back into the pot. At first, when you're trying to heat the mold up, cast at a fairly quick pace, to keep hot lead in the mold and thereby increase the mold blocks temperature. You may also need to increase your pot/furnace temperature to increase the molten lead temperature. Heating the lead to higher temperature will help it flow into the mold better and give you better fill out, especially with pure lead.

I would not put tin or antimony into muzzleloader conical bullets (or round balls for that matter).

quote:

Originally posted by Slowpoke Slim:
To expound a bit on that, you need to get your mold hotter. The first several casts from the mold will be wrinkled and badly filled out. That's normal. Just keep casting more and drop the wrinkled ones into a discard pile to be put back into the pot. At first, when you're trying to heat the mold up, cast at a fairly quick pace, to keep hot lead in the mold and thereby increase the mold blocks temperature. You may also need to increase your pot/furnace temperature to increase the molten lead temperature. Heating the lead to higher temperature will help it flow into the mold better and give you better fill out, especially with pure lead.

I would not put tin or antimony into muzzleloader conical bullets (or round balls for that matter).

I dont think my problem was temp-I cast well over 100 bullets that day,and the problem didnt go away.I thought the mold may have wax or grease and smoked it with kitchen matches ,but no avail.I have a lead thermometer and we had plenty of heat.I dont remember the exact temp,but remember it should have been hot enough.I thought I remember reading either tin or antimony helps fill out the mold.
Perhaps the lead I have isnt pure,although it is very soft and doesnt "ring"when dropped,and the bullets were within a few grains of the molds stated bullet weight and diameter.I will soon be trying again,and can use all the advise I can get,although my friend and I have cast many thousands of pistol bullets and fishing jigs,and had great results.

Hmmm,

Dunno now, how clean is the mold? Is this a "new" mold to you, or have you had good casting out of it before? I wonder if the blocks need a good cleaning, or if they're not "venting" properly? I had a Lee mold that gave me hell until I cleaned it up really well (excessively)? You might try looking at the mold internals with a magnifying glass and see if there's anything irregular?

Tin will definitely help fill the mold out, but it's gonna harden the bullet too much, unless maybe you try a weak alloy like a 40:1 lead:tin mix. I cast some 30:1 alloy for my sharps bullets, and I just think they'd be too hard for muzzleloader bullets (no, I haven't tried them). I do have to run those 30:1 bullets hotter than my 20:1 or WW bullets to get them to fill. I have also had a heck of a time with pure lead filling out for me in a "good" mold. I've usually been able to fix that with more heat. Maybe your problem is different?

I bought the mold new in the box,unused off ebay last year or the one before,for like $15 dollars.no one bid against me for it.The handles,were another story.I think they cost over $30,maybe $40.Thats why I wondered if it had grease in it,I did clean it with some solvent before using.What would you recommend to clean with?
Before adding anything I will try raising the temp and see if it helps.It costs nothing,and I have 80 lbs of ingots to make before making bullets. I have been told or read that I need pure lead or the conicals are a real bitch to load.They can be difficult even store bought.

Temp progression goes like this:

Wrinkled=too low temp

Smooth and shiny=correct temp

Frosted=too high temp

Depending on what kind of "solvent" you used, that could be the problem. A lot of solvents leave a residue behind. I "scrub" mine with a couple of Q-tips and some rubbing alcohol, then I smoke them with a wooden match really well the first time I cast with them. I usually (knock on wood) don't have any problems after that.

I used lacquer thinner to clean the mold,then smoked it with the match.I have had a few other molds,and this produced good results.
I have had a lot of frosted bullets in the past,but we didnt have the thermometer then and it was wheel weights and not pure lead,either.Can you tell me the temp you use for pure lead,if you know?

Use hot water and dish soap. Thinners can leave residue behind. An old teethbrush is good or as we say here in WV, a tooth brush!
Use a ladle to pour and hold the ladle tight to the sprue plate long enough for the boolit to take all the lead it needs FROM THE LADLE, not a sprue puddle.
If you are trying to bottom pour, give it up.
I have cast hundreds of thousands of pure lead balls, boolits and Maxi balls without a problem.
Pure casts just fine, change your technique.

By the way, lead will NOT frost unless it has antimony in it.

Finally got around to making ingots.We used a different heat source for melting,didnt make any bullets yet,but made quite a few ingots,had to stop for darkness.This furnace has way more heat,easily get 800+ degrees or more.The ingots we made are bright blue in color.Im guessing because of the high heat.The lee ingot mold needed to sit for about 5 minutes to cool off enough to be solid,so we started using a 8 lb. downrigger ball jig for ingots.
Next time out we will start making bullets!

Blue is a good indication the lead is nice and pure. I set my Lee furnace on 8 for soft lead, sometimes a little higher for larger boolits.

adding 1% tin could also make things go better for you,without adding any real hardness.
i get my molds hot then use break cleaner spray it well then wipe it down with a clean rag followed by another go with the brake cleaner.
then cast some up with good heat 750 or so.

Swab the cavities with Kroil and leave overnight. Clean them with rubbing alcohol the next day and start casting. There are other things you can use, but neither of these will kill you with one whiff. I have been doing mine this way for about thirty years.

Rich

heck rich i'd leave the kroil in them....
best release agent ever made..

I had problems with the bottom pour lee pot not pouring fast enough. When I went to the laddle I started to get great bullets. Ron

that's true Ron, sometimes I do and use the Bullshop stuff.
Nobody I talk with much bottom pours where conistency and accuracy is the goal. I always say: "better a dipper than a dropper...".

Rich
Master Dipper

quote:

Originally posted by jb:
no patches-I have a t/c mold for making 370 gr maxi-ball conicals for deer hunting.I cast some last year and they were rather wrinkled,I thought perhaps I needed to add something.

The advise so far is good;

Clean the mould and use a dipper. You want to get the alloy into the mould as quick as possible and many bottom pours do not allow that with bullets over 300 gr. Also pure lead works quite well with MaxiBalls up to a point. If you've a standard ML and intend to approach only 1000 -1100 fps or so then the pure lead is fine or even a 40-1 lead-tin alloy (the tin does help with fillout). However if you've a ML made for the "magnum" type 150 gr loads and intend to push the MaxiBall to the max then plain lead or 40-1 alloy isn't the best in the shallow rifling of those rifles. I shoot the 370 gr MaxiBall cast of 16-1 lead - tin alloy at 1525 fps out of my TC Black Mountain Magnum. I went to that alloy after dismal results with 40-1 alloy and pure lead. I figured if that alloy was found best for the M1881 bullet in the 45-70 by Frabkford Arsenal over 120 years ago then perhaps it ought to hold up in the ML. It sure enough did and accuracy is 5 shots into 2" at 100 yards without cleaning (I use FFG 777). Expansion on deer/elk are all that could be desired and they drop coyotes like there is no tomorrow.

Larry Gibson