first cast. lots of fun & a few questions

[mebe007]

Ok so it rained for quite a while today so I couldn't Ho to the rifle range. I figured I would setup my casting equip and give it a go.

I used an old riddle to preheat my molds and keep some ingots warmed up. I scrubbed my.molds in hot water and dawn. Then cleaned with brakleen. The molds I used were a lyman 452374 single cavity, a lee tl452-230-2r and the 356-102 for .380

Ok so I haven't gotten around to ordering any bullplate sprue lube yet do I dabbed some art on the pivot point with a cotton swab and wiped off the excess. Then I cleaned the cavities again with brakleen just to be safe. Now the lyman mold took a tad still to get up to good temp and give good fill out. But it seemed to start working well and I hot a good them down. It was rather interesting. It seemed as if I never had to stop as the mold didn't seem over heated.

Now the lee 6 cav got to full temp quick and I had few rejects initially. Man that thing can really pump out some serious boolits. That pot was emptying like crazy. It really was a lot of fun.

Now for what made me mad or at least frustrated. The 2 cav lee mold for the .380 was preheat and cleaned etc just like the others. I played with the flow etc but couldn't seem to win with it. After about 30 min I gave up on it. I could not get 1 unwrinkled bullet to drop. Lube groove and base seemed to have decent fill but the ogive and nose were wrinkled all to hell. So I put it up and started back for the .45.

Now some key notes. The lyman single cav is an excellent quality mold. It's an older version. The lee 6 cav rocked. I didn't smoke it or anything. Just cleaned and went to town. Boolits dropped right out. Checked the dia and it dropped a hair over .452 with my ww alloy. Now on the other hand the 2 cav seemed cheap. I had to take my time closing to get it to line up properly.

Then I put some bac in a pan and melted it in my toaster oven and dropped in my lyman boolits. I then used the wax meister to cut them out. It worked great. The lee boolits I tumbled in lla. I loaded up 100 of the lyman boolits over 5.3 grain of 231 to 1.65 col and headed to my indoor pistol range. I scrubbed the bore of any copper fooling before hand. I must say I have never had groups so nice out of my 1911 ever.100 rounds down range w/ 0 ftf, no misfires nothing. It was great. A Lil smokey but tolerable. This was my time shooting cast. After the first 50 I broke her down and checked for leading and found none. So I finished off the other 50. So with the exception of the .380 mold everything seemed to go well and I couldn't be happier. It was a blast.

Anywho here are some pics I snapped. Unfortunately I didn't think to snap photos of the boolits the .380 mold dropped.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0558.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0559.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0560.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0561.jpg


Tumble lubed in lla I think I got it right. Not too much lube
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0566.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0567.jpg

One of the lyman 452374 loaded up
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0564.jpg

First mag at 12 yards, so far so good
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0568.jpg

What I was feeding them through, 70 series colt commander lightweight, work done by Mario Ruffino. He's a great gunsmith
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/0403011648-1.jpg

Any opinions, tips and comments welcome. Thanks guys. I think I been bit by the bug I'm hooked

[stubshaft]

I think that you 380 mold is too cold or you are casting too slow. Everyting else looks great including you TL boolits.

[462]

Boolits look good. Tears in the 452374 bases are due to opening the sprue cutter too soon, but Bull Plate will cure that and even allow you to open it sooner.

As to the malcasting mould, some moulds will require a few casting sessions before all the cutting oils have been cleaned or burned off. Don't give up on it, give it time and it'll be good.

Don't discount a single cavity mould. I have an ancient 308291 Ideal single cavity that is a real pleasure to cast with.

[mebe007]

All in all I felt like I did well. I really enjoyed the single cav lyman mold the best. I only used a gloved and to open the sprue. All the boolits seemed to drop so nicely. I think I did well with the lla. True not to use too much as I have read of many who have. Going to pick up some Johnson paste wax this week sometime

As far as the .380 mold too cold. I was casting fast. And I mean fast. It preheat over an hour while I cast for the .45. No matter what I did, the were all wrinkled. I cleaned it 3-4 times as well. Hopefully it breaks in soon

[1Shirt]

Trial and error will produce satisfaction if you work long enough at it.
For what ever it is worth, I have never cleaned a new Lee mold. Just heated it in the melt for about 30 seconds and started casting. After about half a dozen openings applied bull plate and pressed on. Usually had very good blts within a dozen openings of the mold, sometimes less. Just did that with my new 6 cav. RD plain base 165 30 cal, and had no problems within 10 mold openings. Know this will go against the grain of a lot here who go thru cleaning girations. However, I cast as hot as I can get the melt and mold, and like at least some frosting. It has been working for me for a number of years, and when it works, I don't fix it!
1Shirt!:coffeecom