Heaven??

[Gussy]

Last night I decided to cast a few 335 gr 38 cal bullets for my roller. I had "fixed" a Lyman mould enough times that it didn't throw good bullets (work on something long enough and it won't work at all). I bought 2 new moulds (same mould) as they shoot really well out to 1000 yds.

I cleaned both new moulds with brake cleaner. Started casting. Aw sh*t. Couldn't get a fill on either and the lead mix was very hot (near 800). Loosened the sprue plates as they were tight. Better but not good enough. OK, vent problem, touched each with a file on the upper vent lines, WOW!! One mould went to perfection and dropped the well filled out bullets as fast as I could open it. The other dropped it with a minor tap, BUT the damn sprue had to be pushed out of the plate. Enough, went to the drill press and touched the plate with a counter sink. No more hang ups.

Now one mould, the perfect one, just kept making perfect bullets and dropping them before I even had the mould fully opened. The other require a slight tap??? Gave the sticky one a double hit to raise the temp and WOW, double WOW!!

I now had 2 Lyman moulds dropping perfect bullets and with out any tapping. Pour, drop, pour I thought I went to heaven. Never had 2 moulds work that perfectly.

Side note, I do not like the new heavier sprue plates. I am going to get/make some like GMW used to make with full 1/4" steel and a long handle.
Gus

[Blammer]

You can cast bullets without having to tap the handles to get them to fall out?

How do you do that?

[Gussy]

Most of my moulds DO require a light tap. I have 3-4 that just fall out on opening. I give every mould a light smoking with a pine stick before casting. Sometimes that has to be repeated until the desired results appear. Usually with a light brushing with a soft brass brush between applications of smoke. That being done mostly to keep the vent lines open.

Temp also affects the drop out. Last session I went up until I was getting frosted bullets and at that point, boths mould worked perfectly. I'm not usually that lucky. I do run 2-3 moulds at a time to speed up production (all single cavity) and prevent overheating. I use a locking handle so I can pour and set the mould down right away and move on to the next.
Gus

[leftiye]

I get nervous when boolits just fall out! Don't know why, maybe I think they're not filling the mold? Light taps every time for me.

[Rooster]

Yup, I'm a light tappity tappity too. I don't fuss with them until it gets to be annoying or I think they need to be tinkered with (uh-oh!), that usually ends it one way or another. But it's my hobby and I'll do as I please, and molds aren't V-8's (at least replacement cost wise)! I use my carbide sight smoker on mine.