Lyman 457125 Issues

[RangerRick1955]

I just got my new mould in last night and once degreased and prepped, I set off to cast a couple of dozen boolits.

Once everything was well heated up and the wrinkles gone, I started to have sticky drop issues, but they did come loose. What I noticed is that the bottom two ridges between the grease grooves, appeared to be "tearing" off. The questions are:

1) Was the boolit sticking an indication that this was occuring and potentially the cause of the tearing?
2) Boolit metal too hot/cold?
3) Mould too hot/cold

Facts in issue, weight of them as cast is 533 grains, as cast diameter .459-.460, boolit metal is 4 lbs of pure Pb with 1 lbs of wheel weights blended in. Bases are perfect as are the noses.

I used this blend for my smooth sided PP boolits with no issues, so my best guess is that my blend is too soft for the grease grooves to handle, and I need to add a few more ounces of wheel weights to my blend to get it sufficiently hard enough.

Any thoughts and comments are greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Rick

[BABore]

Did you check for burrs on the cavities? Drag a Q-tip acrossed the edges to spot them easily and then remove, carefully, with a sharp knife.

[RangerRick1955]

No, but I'll get on it lunch and get back to you. Thanks for the help.

Rick

[montana_charlie]

my best guess is that my blend is too soft for the grease grooves to handle, and I need to add a few more ounces of wheel weights to my blend to get it sufficiently hard enough.
Exceedingly unlikely. Many cast use the softest imaginable alloy without that problem.

It's bound to be something about the mould if your alloy doesn't contain anything despicable.

What is GOOD to hear is that you bought a new Lyman mould, and found that it does NOT cast undersize bullets.

CM

[littlejack]

Sounds like the alloy may not be quite set up enough, (too hot). Try letting the boolit cool 10 more seconds before opening the mould. This will also let the boolit shrink some, and allow it to drop out easier.
Jack

[justingrosche]

I cast this Boolit with 40 to 1 alloy. I also believe your opening your mold too soon. This is a big chunk of lead and it takes a bit of time to fully solidify. Another thing that could be happening is your mold and your alloy are too close to a temperature equilibrium. (your mold is too hot) Try slowing down your cadence. Best of luck.

[RangerRick1955]

Thanks guys, I did check the mould at lunch and it is GTG all the way around. The bullet casts so large in that the Wax Meister lube cutter I just bought, will not fit over the as cast boolits.
Looks like I may have to run the cutters case over my Lyman "M" die to expand it enough to fit over the as cast boolit.

Cheers,
Rick

[montana_charlie]

Rick, try a cadence like this one and see how it works for you ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiJikigdIow
CM

[94Doug]

I am going with the too hot, and opening too early theory.


Doug

[RangerRick1955]

Thanks MC, a good vid, it is definetely slower than the caidence I am using. I am going to remelt all and give it a whirl again at.....a......much.......slower.........pace...zzz zz!

Huh, where was I? Oh ya, now I have to wait for my Shiloh Sharps #1 to show up. Then it'll be range time once the snow is gone.

Cheers and thanks guys,
Rick

[L Ross]

Rick, I've had much better luck since I started ladle pouring my important boolits and using a fan with a count of 8 after the sprue jells. Also I switched to Bullshop's NASA lube for pan lubing and can push the boolits out of the cake backwards with just finger pressure for a perfectly lubed boolit.

Duke

[stubshaft]

I had that mold and it tended to overheat quickly. I would get heavy frosting at those same lube grooves. I had to slow down my cadence, and let it sit a little longer before striking the sprue.