Nitrohuck's first cast!

[nitrohuck]

Well, finally got to casting up my first batch of boolits today, huge thanks to everyone here on this forum who has helped me out thus far!

I lost count, but have something to the tune of about 150 NOE K-31's, and probably close to 175 Lee Makarov's.

I do not have a thermometer, but found the right temperature soon enough, first few batches were wrinkled but once the mold heated up all seemed to be fine and well. The k-31 mold is tough in my lyman 10lb pot, it is a little too small for the large 5-cavity mold, not to mention I had to fill the cavities singularly or two at a time, as I have a really small ladle at the moment (member here is helping me to get a larger ladle).

For fluxing I just cheese grated paraffin and put it in, seemed to do the trick pretty well.

One common problem I would run into was the mold not filling out the entire base, leaving a slightly rounded base to the boolits... this happened with the Makarov's more than the K-31's but prevalent in both to say the least. The k-31's will be gas checked, so I probably have nothing to worry about in that regard, no? But what about the makarovs? Those will be shot plain based as cast for plinkers, should I have any issue with a slightly rounded off base? you will be able to see what I mean in the images below, the camera flash really exaggerates the imperfections.

Anyhow, here are some photos, was stoked that my first casting session turned out so well, these CB's will be great for the falling plate event at my range tomorrow!

Now that I mention shooting them tomorrow, it brings up another question: Will it matter so much about not letting the makarovs sit for 2 weeks to age harden? For the k-31's they will be able to sit for 2 weeks if I want, but the makarovs will be shot tomorrow... unless that is a bad idea?

cheers!
~Nitro

6346063459

[Michael J. Spangler]

Awesome! Welcome to the addiction

[Wayne Smith]

Rounded bases like that get tossed back in and re-made. Not only is the base the steering end of the boolit, with that much rounded you will be a grain or so lighter most likely.

[nitrohuck]

Rounded bases like that get tossed back in and re-made. Not only is the base the steering end of the boolit, with that much rounded you will be a grain or so lighter most likely.

Roger that... I think that I may just cast those ones up as plinkers then, I found that rocking the mold side to side while pouring would sometimes help with keeping the bases all the way filled out and sharp on the edges, are there any other little tricks out there that fix this issue?

[runfiverun]

heat,get the sprue plate hotter.
just pour a bigger puddle it will heat up.

[Wayne Smith]

Or pressure cast. I have an oooold 312008 mold, so old that it is made on the handles, that is not vented. I have to put the nose of the ladle on the sprue plate and pressure cast to get fully filled out bases on that mold.

[Bigslug]

Your sprue plate hinge and lock screws may be a bit too tight. Keep in mind that for lead to get in, air must get out, and it has to get out through a pathway besides the sprue plate hole. Note that the vent lines in your mold blocks probably don't go all the way to the top - the only way for that last little bit of air to escape is from between the mold block and sprue plate.

[PS Paul]

Cool, huh? Good work. Sounds like the guys have some good tips above. I concur with runfive that you just need to make a bigger puddle for those rounded bases. I wouldn't sweat the Makarov boolits, but definitely re-melt those K-31 boolits. You won't be satisfied with the accuracy, most likely.

As far as shootin' the Makarov right away? well, at the speeds you'll shoot those, if they are the right size, you should be just fine shootin' 'em right away. I do it all the time with pistol/revolver boolits that I shoot SLOWER than 1,200. That's one of those age-old discussions about boolit hardness, but I've found that aging slow pistol boolits is not an absolute necessity. Rifle boolits is another story. You're puttin' a gas check on 'em, but lettin' 'em "season" and age-harden is normally a pretty good idea.

Now I'm no "Boolit Savant", like a few of the guys here, I just share what works for me. Your results and the results of others may differ, BUT the 1,000 mile journey begins with the first step and you've made the most important one of all: just gettin' started!!

Good show, Nitro!

Paul

[nitrohuck]

Thanks Paul!

I took those Makarovs out today and put em out of my cz82 in my first ever shooting contest today, and I won! couldn't believe that with newbie cast rounds and a police service pistol I was able to beat out those guys with teched out competition 45s and such, but the CZ 82 held its own!

I posted a video of my second best run over in the pistol forum (link - http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?189826-Shot-my-first-ever-cast-boolits-in-Falling-Plates-today! )