Casting Boolits: How Hot's too Hot !!

[Shiloh]

I've read here and other forums that tin will start leeching out of alloy at above 800 degrees.

My Lyman 311299 cast the best bullets around 850-875 from a thermometer reading. this was last week in the garage with the temperature outside at about 52.

Do higher temps, but good fill hurt the boolits? What is a the best temp or does it vary from mold to mold? What about aluminum Lee molds?? What temp??

Shiloh :castmine:

[dubber123]

I don't know how hot a Lyman Mag 20 pot gets, but I have always left mine set on "10". I always get frosty looking bullets which I actually kind of like. I also always get really good fill out, with very sharp edges. You can usually even see the tiny lines left from boring the molds, and this is with plain WW material. Maybe my pot just won't get overly hot? I don't know, but hotter has always been better for me.

[Shuz]

Shiloh--In my experience, higher temps don't hurt the boolits. I, too, use a thermometer and find that some moulds "require" a higher temp than others. As a general "rule of thumb" I've noticed that aluminum moulds run best at 800 deg or slightly higher. My iron moulds give me good fill out at anywheres from 675 to 800 degrees. In order not to loose your tin, due to tin oxide forming on your melt, sprinkle kitty litter on the surface. This doesn't allow the air to oxidize the melt. Naturally this works best on bottom pour set ups and is prolly too cumbersome for ladle pouring, but I've not tried that either! Also, use fresh, clean kity litter, it smells much better! Hope this helps!