Help Casting Bullets...!!!!

[sargeny1]

HI ALL...I have noticed that my Lee Production Pot 4 needs a rather HIGH temperature to cast good bullets... LYMAN # 2 ALLOY...I am casting Keith Bullets in 357 41 and 44 Magnum...molds by Lyman...H&G...and Mountain Molds... I find that the temp. needs to be at least 800 degrees minimum and 850 degrees works best to get well filled out bullets no matter what mold I am using..also..I use a RCBS lead temp gauge...I flux using Marvelux and again when the pot gets to about haflway full...the higher the temp..the more grayish the alloy gets...and usually The weight variance is no more than 2 grains for any of the bullets...some of course, are WAY off in weight...AND..the front driving bands anre undersize a little....355-6 in 357.....409 in 41 Mag and .429 in 44 Mag
Am I on the right track..??? Seems to me that I am casting at too high a temperature..???
WHAT SAY YE LEARNED GENTLEMEN..???
THANKS...
PETE

[44man]

Not to worry, every alloy and mold is different. Most of my casting is around 800 degrees. If boolits are perfect, keep it up.

[Bass Ackward]

In my opinion, the search for "truth" should be predicated on why EVERY mold has problems.

How do you know if your thermometer is calibrated? My Lyman came with instructions how to do that in an oven. Can't find it now but that is nothing new around here.

How wide is the temperature swings in the mix between heating cycles of the pot? Should only be about 25 degrees and less is better. You can always add Kitty Litter on top for insulation to slow the swings.

Another thing and most likely is a slow pouring spout. The slower the fill, the hotter the mix needs to be. That's why most ladling can be done at 650 while you need another 100 on top of that for a bottom pour.

My guess is the third one but could be a combination of all three.

[**oneshot**]

I am relatively new to casting but I found that my alloy/mold combination casts "best" at 775 degrees. I have also found that the pace that I cast is very important to good consistant boolits.

[leftiye]

Time for my scratched recording (plays over & over).

Sargeny, One way you can cast at a lower alloy temp if you are losing tin from your alloy, or etc. is to heat your mold a little so the alloy doesn't solidify too fast when the melt is cooler and it will still fill out well. I use a mold heater while casting to keep my mold temp constant, and warmer. As you know too hot will cause frosting. I can cast right down to where the bottom pour spout freezes up.

[Marlin Junky]

Pour with a big ladle and you'll eliminate the varying head pressure variable. I just don't like bottom pouring furnaces.

Also, I use an oxygen barrier on top of my melt and I don't flux. The only way someone can prove to me I'm loosing tin is with a chemical analysis of my oxidized metal and my casting metal.

MJ

[sargeny1]

Thanks to AlL for your replies...I'm thinking that the Lee Pot does NOT fill the molds fast enough...the spout hole is too small..?? I hold the mold tight against the spout....no distance between the mold and the spout.....like you would do with a ladle.... Also the bullets could be a little more well filled out...II am NOT getting sharp well defined edges ....and corners...so far I have NOT been able to get that Lee Pot hot enough to get frosted bullets...and I am casting
fast enough to get the molds hot..also..I do heat them first befor casting ..by SLOLWY heating them on the kitchen stove over a LOW..LOW flame....
Thank You all gentle men for your help..
Pete

[Pilgrim]

It's possible that the dimensions of the front driving bands is proper. I don't recall offhand the dimensions of any of my moulds, but have read that the first band is often the smallest in diameter with the other(s) larger. The mould was designed that way. I suspect to better guide the boolit into the lands, but...

Another problem with your "alloy" may be dirt, or entrained Marvellux. A few on this board love the stuff (Marvellux), but those of us that have used it more often (by far) dislike it. Some (like me) dislike the stuff intensely. I gave two "nearly full" cans to a casting friend of mine. I think I even paid the shipping to get the stuff out of my reloading area. He loves it. The reason I had two cans was because the first can gave me so much "gunk" I figured it had to ba a bad batch of Marvellux, or me. The second can acted just like the firsat can. The stuff is also hygroscopic, so make sure you keep it sealed or it will absorb moisture and that will also give you grief when you use it. The weight variation is most likely dirt. At least if you are weighing visually perfect boolits and still finding that kind of variation. If my alloy is clean, my variation on visually perfect boolits runs around +/- 0.5 gr. on boolits of ~ 300 gr weight. Visually perfect means you can't see anything out of spec on the boolit. More than that and I suspect dirt or voids.

FWIW...Pilgrim

[sargeny1]

HI YA Pilgrim....YES...that marvelux does seem to generate a LOT of black dirt.....AND...I notice that when my pot cools down from casting there is a lot of rust in it.....I am going to flux using some bullet lube...50/50 alox - beeswax....I am using Lyman #2 Alloy from Buffalo Arms...the alloy seems clean enough...am not really getting any dirt out of it...and am leaning towards the fact that the Lee Production Pot 4 bottom pout spout hole is not wide enough causing the mold to fill too slowly...a 1/16" drill will enter the hole.... next size I have is 5/64"...that won't I am going to enlarge that hole to 5/64"....
Thank You for your help..
Pete

[garandsrus]

Pete,

I use the same Lee pot and some of the same/similar molds. I usually cast around 650 to 700 degrees according to my Lyman thermometer. I normally have the lead drop about 1/2 inch before going into the mold. I have had some molds that liked to be held tight to the spout, but most don't care.

Unless your spout is clogged, it should be plenty big enough for the molds you mentioned.

John

[buck1]

It kinda sounds like the alloy to me. Did you make the #2 your self? Any salvage stuff in it??...........................Buck

[9.3X62AL]

Try the drop-pour method mentioned by Garands. Your mold may not have sufficient air venting with the sprue hole filled with lead stream and spout, and sprue plate hard against the top of the block. Most of my molds do fine work with 92/6/2 at 675* with 1/2" drop pour and sprue plates almost loose enough to swing free under their own weight. That air in the cavity has to go somewhere.

[454PB]

A common occurance with the Lee bottom draw pots is gradual restriction of the spout. I keep a dental pick handy to ream it out every few hundred pours. Also, I keep the sprue plate about 1/2" from the spout.

I'm one of those guys that likes Marvelux, and have used it for 20 years with success. Anybody reading this.....I'll pay the shipping if you want to get rid of the nasty stuff.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I have had the same little container of this stuff for 3years. I use it only when I am smelting ww's and range brass. After I scoop out all the dross I drop in small amount of MVLX and stir up the alloy. It does seem to generate a very large amount of black crap which I also remove. Then I ladle out the remainder into my ingot molds and put away the MVLX. When I melt the ingots in my Lee 4-20 pot I do not flux at all. I add an ingot when the level drops enough to accomodate it and thereby I keep the pot full, maintain a good silver flow and I do not allow the temp to drop too much. I keep a close eye on the temp with a thermometer and generally keep it at 725 to 750 for best results. I think that the wax that preserves my Cabot Cheddar Cheese is a great flux. When I am outside I use that in the Lee pot but only when outside as it produces a objectionable odor. It also will ignite easily and scares the poop out of me when it goes up so I use small amounts of it. It does a good job and does not produce all the black crap that MRVLEx does. Using 6 banger Lee molds and preparing them by using the LEEMENTING techniques (see sticky) I get complete fill outs and very little problems with Lee molds. The other brands cost so much more and are usually only easily used when two cavities as the bigger ones are much heavier and I do not enjoy using them because of the weight. They do however produce beautiful boolits with little trouble and they are a joy to use and do not require the babying that Lee molds require. However if I am requiring a large amount of boolits I use the Lee. If I have the time I go with RCBS or Lyman as they are a joy to use but the production rate is low.
Dan[smilie=1: