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I've been casting 45s for cowboy shootin (as I've mentioned before no doubt). The off and on wrinkly bullets I've been producing are fine for this close range stuff, but I'll be casting for my 45-70 as soon as it gets here. I hope to be lobbing lead out to 3 or maybe 500yds with it. Is there a trick to getting perfect results or is it just a matter of getting the lead/mold at the right temp? much thanks, Ian | ||
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You forgot to mention the type of mold you were using. This limits your help to general comments. General comments: CLEAN COUNTS: Get all the residual manufacturing cutting oils out of the mold (aluminum or steel) using lots of soap and hot hot water. In my experience hot soapy water and a vigorous toothbrushing followed by really hot rinse water and towel drying and a quick trip to the already heated eye of an electric stove (low-medium heat) will dry mold cavities off before they can rust on you. GET THE METAL CLEAN: Flux it well, and if you are using a bottom pour pot use a 1/4" layer of plain jane kitty litter on top of the freshly fluxed metal to keep it clean. NEVER NEVER melt down wheel weights in your pouring pot, it can screw it up past belief. GET THE METAL AND THE MOLD VERY HOT: Preheat your mold on the electric eye of the stove at medium heat, turn your pot on up past where you are used to running it right at first. CAST HOT AND FAST: Screw all past advice and actively seek out a frosty hot cast bullet. They weigh very very consistently and always fill out well. Learn to love a frosty bullet, it will never lead you wrong. "It ain't right" until it's consistently 100% frosty. Once you get to the frosty zone you can turn down the pot to cut down on puddle time. Cut your sprue as soon as you see the puddle jell transformation take place. If you want to go still faster, get a wet rag and "do the Bruce B" to it. Now tell us what sort of mold you are using for more specific advice. Oldfeller [ 11-29-2003, 23:08: Message edited by: Oldfeller ] | |||
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12FLVSS: Old Feller has it pretty much right. I would add a few remarks as follows: When casting long,heavy bullets it is a very good idea to cast by the ladle method. This will provide much closer control over the pour. Cast with mold and alloy quite hot. Look for consistent frosting, not to excess but lightly done. To maintain rate of production while casting hot it is a good idea to pace yourself with another mold. This will slow the cycle of casting for each tool but you'll be able to get good production for the time you spend casting bullets instead of waiting around for sprues to harden enough to cut cleanly. When the rate of casting seems to suffer because of slow-cooling of sprues I sometimes take a cold ingot of alloy and place it on top of the mold right after the bullet is cast; right in the semi-liquid pool on top of the sprue plate. This will soak up heat right there where you need it absorbed, allowing clean-cutting of the sprue but not cooling the mold to excess. Good afternoon, Forrest | |||
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Ian, opening up the hole in both the mold sprue plate and the hole in a Lee production pot will help the filling out of the bullet with out wrinkles. On a botom pour pot try putting the mold tight agains the bottom pour spout. This is like pressure injection and some times works. | |||
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quote:Kitty litter, why would you put dirt in you pot?? Never heard that one before, been casting for 40 years. | |||
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i can't add a thing to what oldfeller said except that the temp is the key to smooth bullets. like he said hot an fast always got me through.. i learned from a very good teacher...... thanks harley........... THE 2ND AMENDMENT PROTECTS US ALL............ | |||
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It's been my experience that wrinkled boolits happen when the mold isn't hot enough. I get the best results when the mold is warm enough that the the sprue overfill takes several seconds to solidify. Also, with my Lee molds, I've found that opening the sprue cutter too soon will allow "smearing" of soft lead over the top of the mold, which builds up and can result in galling. Keep experimenting with what works; each of us do things a bit differently, and we all manage to get results we're satisfied with! | |||
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"Kitty litter, why would you put dirt in you pot?? Never heard that one before, been casting for 40 years" 243winxb I can understand the skepticism, that's about what I thought the first time I heard such talk-- yrs ago. But for yrs now that's all I use to cover the melt and prevent oxidation of the alloy. Just try it. You'll like the results. Course we're recommending CLEAN coumpound... ![[Smile]](images/icons/smile.gif){kind=icon} Makes a decent flux too, but my ww alloy is precleaned good anyways. | |||
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Aladin: A: But for yrs now that's all I use to cover the melt and prevent oxidation of the alloy. F: (!) How do you possibly make bullets with the alloy covered with cat litter? The stuff would certainly foul-out the ladle at the first pass! Impossible. Good evening, Forrest | |||
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quote:This is for bottom pour spout pots like the Lee production pot. I THINK? | |||
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Forest, What a great tip, using an ingot for a heat sink to speed up sprue freezing! I have a single cavity Lyman 452374 that casts excellent bullets, but I suspect the blocks are too small for the bullet, because any heat loss is fatal. I run this mould hot (800-850) and make good frosty bullets. Trouble is, I am a ladle caster and the mould cools somewhat while fluxing. The usual cycle is: flux, cast two round-base bullets, cast twenty or so perfect bullets, flux, etc. With your good idea I will be able to cast more bullets between fluxings. Thank you very much, curmudgeon | |||
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I don't use a ladle. Too slow (and unnecessary). Once I get ingots of clean metal and a clean metal-filled bottom pour pot I put 1/4" of cheap steam exploded organic clay kitty litter on top of it and then I don't have to flux again during that session, period. Ever. Add ingot, add sprues -- they melt and trickle down through the layer of kitty flux sitting on top of the melt cleaning and fluxing themselves as they go. The organic matter in the clay breaks down slowly from the heat, providing enough organic matter to snatch the oxygen atoms right out of the oxidized lead, creating oxide free (pure) lead alloy and some slightly browned kitty litter. "Flux it well, and if you are using a bottom pour pot use a 1/4" layer of plain jane kitty litter on top of the freshly fluxed metal to keep it clean." Add to that the fact the kitty litter is an insulating blanket that helps your LEE bottom pour pot keep its heat in the melt where it belongs and you will find yourself casting both faster and better with practically no interuptions for the "fluxing drill" you spend so much casting time on. Kitty litter also stops air from getting to the melt, so it stops the oxidation effects from that side of the equation as well. And if a droplet of hot summertime sweat from your brow falls into a kitty litter shielded pot -- well, nothing happens. Kitty litter is a safety sheild against sweat drops (or from those dangerous sweating beer cans as well). Oldfeller | |||
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quote:I'm going to have Mountain Molds make an aluminum blocked .458 350gr RFP gas check for the 45-70 and a .452 250gr RFP gas check for my 45 Colt carbine. I'm waiting for the rifle to arrive before I order them so I can measure throat depth. The ones I am using now are Lee. Thanks for all the fast replies guys. I've been casting at 650 or 700 and am indeed using a Lee Production Pot 4. Ian [ 11-30-2003, 08:13: Message edited by: 12FLVSS ] | |||
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Oldfeller, I basically cast as you do, without the clay. Using clay is somethink i will have to think about, before i try it. thanks for the reply. 243winxb | |||
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B'sides, what's wrong with a few wrinkles???? I've picked up more'n a few, over the years. And it hasn't hurt MY accuracy... Well, not too much, with a scope, anyway... and with a good bench ![[Razz]](images/icons/tongue.gif){kind=icon} | |||
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