Say Hello To My Little Friends

[Foto Joe]

So yesterday morning I finally had the chance to test out my casting abilities, such as they presently are. It was quite the learning experience. My alloy is WW's that I smelted down into ingots. After smelting down the ingots I decided that I had to have a thermometer and boy am I glad I made that decision. My first attempts were a dismal failure until I got the temperature up to around 750 degrees (which I figured would be too hot) and managed to get the mold temp up to a workable range.

I wound up with 101 boolits before I decided that there were other things that had to be done around the house with probably at least that many going back into the pot. Fill out appears to be excellent and any that had rounded bases were culled out before lubing. I'm using Lee molds (2 cavity) and I've got to say, "I'm impressed". Drop out was a non-issue with the occasional tap on the pivot bolt or the flick of a gloved finger. The one oddity if you will was the .358 mold for my wifes gun. I couldn't get a decent fill-out on that thing to save my life!! The .452's have a nice frosty finish to them but the .358's dropped out looking almost like chrome and were all wrinkled. I have to admit that I didn't spend much time on the .358's as I've got a pretty decent stash of them still that are store bought. I'm thinking that the small cavity mold having a lot more metal in it due to the small holes takes a LOT longer to heat up and stay that way. Am I thinking correctly or is there something else I'm not seeing here?

The biggest lesson learned yesterday is that I NEED MORE MOLDS!! Yikes, this is addictive!!

[RobS]

So yesterday morning I finally had the chance to test out my casting abilities, such as they presently are. It was quite the learning experience. My alloy is WW's that I smelted down into ingots. After smelting down the ingots I decided that I had to have a thermometer and boy am I glad I made that decision. My first attempts were a dismal failure until I got the temperature up to around 750 degrees (which I figured would be too hot) and managed to get the mold temp up to a workable range.

I wound up with 101 boolits before I decided that there were other things that had to be done around the house with probably at least that many going back into the pot. Fill out appears to be excellent and any that had rounded bases were culled out before lubing. I'm using Lee molds (2 cavity) and I've got to say, "I'm impressed". Drop out was a non-issue with the occasional tap on the pivot bolt or the flick of a gloved finger. The one oddity if you will was the .358 mold for my wifes gun. I couldn't get a decent fill-out on that thing to save my life!! The .452's have a nice frosty finish to them but the .358's dropped out looking almost like chrome and were all wrinkled. I have to admit that I didn't spend much time on the .358's as I've got a pretty decent stash of them still that are store bought. I'm thinking that the small cavity mold having a lot more metal in it due to the small holes takes a LOT longer to heat up and stay that way. Am I thinking correctly or is there something else I'm not seeing here?

The biggest lesson learned yesterday is that I NEED MORE MOLDS!! Yikes, this is addictive!!


Yes you are correct. I like to use a hot plate for my molds and chart down what temp setting they like so I can start casting good boolits in a few cycles of the mold. A hot plate made my life much easier. AND YES THIS ENTIRE THING OF CASTING, RELOADING, SHOOTING CAN BE VERY ADDICTIVE!!!!

[Gliden07]

The .358 mold might have some sprue lube in the mold cavity or the mold is to far away from the spout if your using a bottom pour pot? And yeah it is addictive!! LOL!!

[Foto Joe]

I'm not inclined to think the 358 is contaminated but anything is possible, I'll hose it down with starting fluid and re-lube the sprue plate this morning if I can't get it to properly fill out. I'm suspecting mold temperature mainly because the boolits are REALLY shiny compared to the 452's. Both are dropping out dead on for size & weight though so for now I'm not going to size 'em, that may change after test firing though, ya never know until you send a few down the bore and see where they land.

I would love to find an El Paso Pete's Ultra Gamer mold for my SAA's. Dick Dasturdly's web site appears to be not liking me and the guy I used to buy them from moved on to other things.

[runfiverun]

it's actually rather simple mold temperature was the difference.
the 45 mold holds more 750-f alloy than the 38 holes do.
try dipping the corner of the mold into the alloy for 30-40 seconds until the lead quits sticking to it.
once you do that you can adjust the heat of the mold through casting speed.
go a bit faster with the 38 mold and a little slower with the 45 to maintain the molds temperature.
you just take a quick look at the boolits as they come from the mold to maintain a consistent appearance.

[mikeym1a]

You need to teach them 'rank and file' for better photos!!!

[Foto Joe]

Okay, here's "Rank and File" for ya.

I'm going to switch over to the 358's now and see if I can get them right. The mold is heating up on top of the pot now and I'm giving my legs a rest.

[mikeym1a]

Drill Sargeants wish their recruits learned so quickly, and sharply!! WELL DONE, Sir!

[captaint]

A fine looking bunch there, Joe !!! When you get that .358 mold clean and hot, those boolits will look just like the 45's. Yeah, you're hooked. It's all over...... Mike

[Foto Joe]

I just finished loading up 50 rounds to test in a 1911 tomorrow morning. I had to tweak the seating die only about .005 down to get my 1.255 COL but other than that they were dead on to where I usually load Laser Cast store boughts. I was also going to load up some 45 Colts but I don't have any empty brass, I'll have to fix that tomorrow too. All my 45 Colt is currently loaded with Black Powder Gallery Loads so I'll make a little smoke to go with the "modern" 1911.