22 bator casting...

[mike in co]

guys i bought this 22 bator mold with lots of worries.
a lee mold, a 22 cal mold....all i hear form casters is how tuff it is to keep a mold hot, little boolits...big blocks.

i cleanded the mold, three times, then smoked it with a kitchen match, put it on top of the pot and fired it up.

when all was up to temp, i cast a set, then filled it a second time and gave the mold a bull plate lube job.

i had the pot hot...full tilt

mold is hot from sitting on top.
just started pouring and dumping.....i went as fast as i could pour and dump them in to my bucket of water.
in less than 50 mins i cast right at 300 with most boolits wieghing around 50.9 plus or minus.2..........

so much for 22's being hard to cast.....

i like casting hot and water dropping.......and it worked with the bator mold...no sticking, no burrs hanging stuff up, nice flat bases.

will probably be spring before i get to shoot them unless we have a mild winter.

(by the way...sized, gas check and lubed...they weigh a tad over 52)

[1Shirt]

Have one of the bater molds as well as one of the 170 gr. 6.5 molds on back order through Midsouth as well as the latest copy of Cartridges of the World. Am really looking forward to getting the molds and sitting down for a casting session.
I am kinda like a kid in a candy shop with a new mold. I will find a way to get to the range to try them both befor spring, even if it is for only a very cold and very short shooting session in a Nebraska winter. Those are the sessions where you set up on the bench and post targets, get back in the truck for 5 min to warm up, back to the bench, shoot 5-10 rounds, back to the truck. I am usually good for about 6-8 trips back to the truck in freezing temps to have had all of that joy that I can stand. I'm retired, and a day at the range even under very cold and mizerable weather conditions beats 8 hours plus a day working for somebody else. By the way, I have been casting three 22cal Lyman molds for a number of years, and one of them is a HP. Just gotta be hot enough and have a fast process! They can be fun but frustrating. Highly recommend you weigh them to as close to exact as possible. Have found that what you can get away with as far as weight variance and accuracy in the 30's and above taint true with the little ones from 22 through 6mm.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[MT Gianni]

One shirt, I have a 225465? 55 gr rn that I am considering HP'ing. How wide of a Hollow Point and how deepis it? I was considering about.080 and approximatly 1/3-1/4 deep. Gianni.

[1Shirt]

MT, Will measure and get back to you. 1Shirt!:coffee:

[1Shirt]

MT My 225415 HP weighs 46.5 gr. as cast with my alloy, the HP Cav. is .10 deep, and .11 wide. If memory serves me right, when I got it the depth was about twice as deep, I didn't like it, and ground the pin down to present depth. That was about 40 years ago. Shoots well is hornet, 222, and 223, and one of these days if I get around to it, will try it in 22-250. Hope this helps.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[hydraulic]

1 shirt: Did you get up to the Fremont show last week? Hydaulic in Niobrara.

[1Shirt]

Hydraulic, negative. Was out around Brown County deer hunting. How goes it in Niobrara? 1Shirt!

[leftiye]

1shirt, You need a trailer set up with a window that opens or removes, and a shooting bench inside! Drag it out in the desert, and put out a target!

[HORNET]

MT Gianni,
I checked the core pin on my #225462 and it checks as follows:
Pin diameter at top 0.078"
Pin diameter at end 0.042"
Pin depth in cavity about 5/16" ( about halfway down length of the boolit)

Not exactly the best choice for high volume but not really that bad. I usually cast up about 6 pounds at a session.:bigsmyl2:

[scrapcan]

I did not have as good of luck with my new mold that arrive dlast week. I got it out htis evening cleaned it and decided to try it out. Had a heck of a time until I decided to let it cool and do some leementing (glad that this site is here and that I became a member, I would have chucked the mold if there were not instructions on how to clean it up).

I got about 200 cast. all are 49.8 to 50.3 as cast. I think I will lube and check them and see if they will make a couple of afternoons of fun.

[leftiye]

It's been said elsewhere on Castboolits that I have seen, and I KNOW that many of you know this already, but it bears saying again. A good graphite mold coating (reads mold prep) works wonders for getting thos 90 degreeinside corners, bases, and points to fill out at a much lower PB temp. Also, a mold heater will help to keep the mold at the best temp for nice shiny boolits. NEI used to make a prep that I found to be great, and I understand that Midway is now marketing one.