Lee Bullet Mold Question

[dmftoy1]

Ok, so I've done the smelting thing and I bought some Tin so I'm thinking I'm set to try my first bullets this weekend in my new Lee Pro Pot 20 and my 45-70 Hollowbase mold . . .now for the question(s)

1. In the instructions for the mold it says to "touch" bullet lube to the hinge point on the sprue plate before pouring lead into the mold. I'm trying to spread out my expenses on this new hobby so I haven't bought any lubing/sizing equipment yet. Is there anything I can use in place of the hard bullet lube to not screw up my Aluminum Lee Mold?

2. Do you think I'll be ok loading with pure WW and a little bit of Tin? I haven't gone out and sourced any pure lead yet (but I can). I"m intending to load them into a Marlin 1895 Cowboy 45-70 with Ballard Rifling and only pushing them to about 1200 fps.

Thanks again,
Dave

[MT Gianni]

Get some Bullshop mold lube for less than $5. It may take a week or so to get here but if you absoultly can't wait use a candle piece to et a small amount of lube o the molds' protruding face but none in the cavitys. Gianni

[dmftoy1]

Ok, thanks! I guess I need to do some more reading as I didn't realize I needed to lube the faces as well. :( (so much learning so little time. :) )

Have a good one,
Dave

[jonk]

It depends. I often cast with no lube on some of my 'loose' molds.... anyhow, if you have no hard lube, I agree, some candle wax would be fine.

[Ricochet]

Car wheel bearing and chassis grease works better than the recommended Lee Liquid Alox bullet lube.

[Treeman]

I put Tetra Gun grease on mine. I don'tg think it matters that much so long as it is high temperature tolerant and isn't slopped into the cavities.

[John Boy]

Is there anything I can use in place of the hard bullet lube to not screw up my Aluminum Lee Mold?
Dave, go to any automotive store and buy a 2oz tube of PermaTex Anti Sieze. Been using it for several years now. It will keeps the pins and hinge on the sprue plate lubed for a whole casting session.

[HORNET]

Dave,
I've tried the bullet lube bit and have never been able to keep that crud from migrating into the venting and blocking it or wandering into the cavities and causing lots of fillout problems. Lots of guys on here swear by Bullplate lube as the best thing (well maybe second best) ever for casting. You can also go to your local auto parts store and get a can of spray graphite or moly-disulphide spray. Get the mold clean and warmed up, apply a light coat (you can mask off the cavities if you want- save a couple of boolits to block them off if you need to re-coat) and let it dry. Very good high-temp lube that stays where it's put.

[Sundogg1911]

i bought a few cans of drop out from midway for spraying a light coat in the cavitys for easy release. it didnt work well, but it works nice for spraying the underside of the sprue plates about every 75 drops or so. i would not have bought it for that, but it does seem to work well in that application

[IcerUSA]

Inexpensive (cheap) is get some neversieze for the bolts and some soapstone for the cavities and sprue plate, just tap the mold a little with a piece of wood after you apply the soapstone to knock the loose stuff off, then cast away, well that is if you don't have to Leement your mold :) :drinks: :castmine: :Fire: :twisted:

[dmftoy1]

Thanks guys!! I really appreciate the replys. Having to maintain a fleet of vehicles between the wife and 3 kids I definately have never sieze and high temp grease on the shelves in the shop. . . looks like I can escape the house and work in the shop this weekend on some bullet casting!! (have to finish up the honeydo list tonight I guess. :) )

Thanks again,
Dave

[Timb1]

I have to add that I just tried bullplate for the first time a few days ago and it hard to believe how great it works. It makes casting so much easier that I will never use anything else.

[cbrick]

2. Do you think I'll be ok loading with pure WW and a little bit of Tin? I haven't gone out and sourced any pure lead yet (but I can). I"m intending to load them into a Marlin 1895 Cowboy 45-70 with Ballard Rifling and only pushing them to about 1200 fps.

Thanks again,
Dave

Sure, WW with no quenching or heat treating should work well. With a load that lite you could even seperate the clip-on weights from the stick-on weights and just use the stick-ons for that load. With a little tin added they should be about 6 BHN and the clip-ons with the stick-ons seperated should run from 10 to 12 BHN. Either way should work well for that load.

Rick

[KCSO]

In the Marlin...
Straight whell weights will work just fine. I use w/w and 3031 for my plinking loads and they will shoot as good as you can hold.

[OLPDon]

i bought a few cans of drop out from midway for spraying a light coat in the cavitys for easy release. it didnt work well, but it works nice for spraying the underside of the sprue plates about every 75 drops or so. i would not have bought it for that, but it does seem to work well in that application

Sundogg: What disappointed you with Drop Out? Was wondering if you burnished after spraying moulds (rubed with a small wooden dowel) that wooded thingy the ladies have for there nails works well, as well as BBQ skews.

I kidda like the spray, I'm not trying to make a believer out of you. Just looking for information.
Thanks
Don

[GW_45ACP]

I wished I had used the anti-seize or Bullshop lube instead of wax. I ended up with gauling at the sprue hinge point of my 6 cav Lee mold. Make sure that you spend a few dollars and get the right stuff.

[dmftoy1]

Alright, so I successfully cast 213 bullets from WW's on Sunday and I"m pretty tickled. They're not all as pretty as some of the pictures I've seen on here, but I have a few that are very nice and shiney and perfectly filled out and the rest are all perfectly filled out. From reading the Lyman book it appears that the reason some of mine are "frosted" is because I"m running the mold too hot. (at least that's what it says). How long do most people wait between casting bullets? I was basically following the instructions about waiting for a dimple to appear in the sprue, cutting the sprue, waiting maybe a second and then opening the mold and dumping the bullet out.

Do people wait alot longer than that to allow the mold to cool more or ??

Have a good one,
Dave

[OLPDon]

I have been using Drop Out on all my moulds like it well I have just ordered Bull Shop Lube Plate. If you use the drop out method burnish after it dry's
Don

[hornetguy]

timing wise, it sounds like you're doing it just right. You might be getting frosted boolits because the pot is slightly too hot. I think, though, that you'd rather have it slightly hot, than slightly cool... you can always pause a few seconds somewhere in your sequence... drop the boolit, then inspect it before closing the mold and casting the next one. Or, just let it sit in the mold a couple seconds longer before striking the sprue plate.... any slight lengthening of your cycle..

[454PB]

The frosted appearance hurts nothing, it only means the mould and melt is slightly hotter than required. I strive to cast at a temperature that produces frosting.

[AZ-Stew]

I'm going to agree and disagree with 454PB. While a dull-surfaced bullet may be perfectly acceptable, depending on the alloy used, casting at excessively hot temperatures can cause problems.

A bullet cast too hot, especially one that exhibits uneven frosting, frequently is not round. If there is an area along the side of the bullet that is heavily frosted, there is a likelyhood that the bullet will have a depression in its surface at the place where the heaviest frosting occurs. It can often be seen during naked eyeball inspection, but will definitely show if the frosting and depression is across the driving bands of the bullet and you pass it through a lubricator-sizer. The frosted area will not be touched (rubbed shiny) by the sizer die and there will be bullet lube across the driving bands.

A bullet cast at the correct temperature from straight wheel weights will not have a mirror finish. It will be slightly dull, but smooth. Adding tin will increase the surface shine. Straight Linotype will produce very shiny bullets. The bullets in this photo were cast from a pot with 20 pounds of wheel weights with 2.5 ounces of tin added.

Note that the noses of these bullets are not really "shiny", they're just a bit smoother than "dull gray". Adding more tin would make them shinier, and if they'd been cast of Linotype, they'd be almost as shiny as the driving bands where the bullets passed through my lube-sizer die.

There's a fine line between "alloy dull" and "too hot frost". Personally, I reject any bullets that have frosted areas anywhere other than around the meplat area. I don't trust them for roundness. A very light, even frost all over the bullet probably doesn't hurt anything, as long as all the bullets have the same appearance.

If you're getting wrinkles in the bullet surfaces, either speed up your casting rythm or turn up the pot heat. Likewise, if you're starting to get heavy frosting in some spots on the bullets, either slow your rythm or turn down the pot. A mould that's too hot can be cooled pretty quickly by simply leaving it open for a minute or so after dropping bullets from it. Bullet casting can be an exact science, but it's more of an art, as most of us here practice it. Some parts of the craft have to be learned through experience.

Regards,

Stew

[44woody]

the best way to keep your mould cool is to have a heat sink which is nothing more than a block of aul. mine is 8x8x2 and keeps my hand moulds nice and cool I got mine at a scrap yard just looked around and found 2 pices of it :castmine: 44Woody

[dmftoy1]

Do most people cast with a single mold or duplicates? I've only got one mold right now so i'm figuring I need to add some way to 'cool' it a bit. I've read BruceB's speed casting article so I figured that would be the next thing I tried. I'm striving for bullets like those in that picture. Mine are nowhere near that pretty. (yet. :) )

I'll probably runout of lead before I get it all figured out but I'm definately having fun.

Have a good one,
Dave

[Newtire]

i bought a few cans of drop out from midway for spraying

Hi Sundogg. The Sundog with 1-"G" in his handle left this tip about the dropout. Don't spray it into the cavities; use a q-tip & rub in a small amount. That's the way to make it work!

Then there is the dry spray graphite lube from NAPA auto parts so no need to get the Midway stuff anymore. Either one will work.

[HORNET]

dmftoy1,
I usually only run one mold at a time. It seems to allow me to keep a more consistant casting rythym(sp?)for more consistant boolits. Different molds can require different timing.
Just remember, like all the better vices it gets better with practice. Just watch out for the group buy section unless you really like ramen noodles.
Have fun

[drinks]

dmftoy1;
Do you want to look at them or shoot them?
If they shoot fine, don't worry about how they look, you seem to be doing fine, just go shoot some and see how they do.
I have that mold and it is very accurate in my Handi if I keep it below 1300fps. Use a good bullet lube, if you need some quick, mix 50-50 Bee's wax and peanut oil, add a small amount of Ivory soap, let it cool and just rub it on the bullet.

[Newtire]

Alright, so I successfully cast 213 bullets from WW's on Sunday and I"m pretty tickled. They're not all as pretty as some of the pictures I've seen on here, but I have a few that are very nice and shiney and perfectly filled out and the rest are all perfectly filled out. From reading the Lyman book it appears that the reason some of mine are "frosted" is because I"m running the mold too hot. (at least that's what it says). How long do most people wait between casting bullets? I was basically following the instructions about waiting for a dimple to appear in the sprue, cutting the sprue, waiting maybe a second and then opening the mold and dumping the bullet out.

Do people wait alot longer than that to allow the mold to cool more or ??

Have a good one,
Dave
Hey Dave,
If you are getting frosty boolits, then that's good. If you get too hot, then they start sticking and you can turn it down a bit. Most times I just turn the Lee pot up to maximum and cast away using the Bruce B method to cool the sprueplate for the nicest sprues you have ever seen. I sometimes cast with 2 moulds and sometimes just with one. Depends on how I feel. It is MY hobby and I can do what I want! hah hah...It's pretty addicting and really, just stay away from the group buys. They are nothing but trouble. Where I live, they put out food at one place in case you don't have enough for groceries.