1st Results - Comments Welcome

[DHC]

Attached are some photos of my first results casting. These are cast using an RCBS Pro-Melt into the Lyman 2-cavity 452664 mold with straight wheel weights (no tin or other additions to the alloy). The weight on these is 250gr +/- 1.0gr and all measure just a smidgen more than .454. These are mostly intended as a trial to establish/refine the alloy and method for casting. One thing that perplexes me is the dark specks in the finished bullets - most easily seen in the ones in the red bin. Any ideas on what caused that - and how to correct it (assuming it is a problem)? Any other comments or criticisms?

8499184992849938499484995

Thanks,

- Dan

[454PB]

Some look like they need a little tin.....the mould isn't filling out well. Temperature looks about right, I like a light frosting on mine.

[Smoke4320]

Black specks should be eliminated by fluxing with sawdust in the casting pot.. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the pot right after burning off the sawdust
a little tin (1 to 2 %) will help with the fillout
other than that I say they look good for a first try.. sure wish my first ones looked that good

[novalty]

It does appear that the bases are pretty rounded, where they should have a pronounced shoulder.

[Walter Laich]

I believe these are BB and that's why the bases appear rounded.

They look great and I won't hesitate to shoot them.

walt

[avogunner]

Yeah, maybe a smidgen of tin for fillout but really, they look perfectly shootable to me.

[Garyshome]

Keep at it soon you will be an expert.

[littlejack]

Dan, Welcome to the CastBoolits.
Those look like good boolits to me. They ARE bevel base boolits. I would shoot them, without worries.
Regards
Jack

[novalty]

I sit corrected. Where they are beveled based, I would agree with others that you are good to go. :guntootsmiley:

[gwpercle]

You are doing good work there...a little more flux, stirring and skimming will get the black flecks out. But they are shootable, don't hurt nothing.
Welcome to the addiction.
After casting my firt batch, transforming a pile of discarded ,dirty old WW's into a box of beautiful boolits, that I couldn't afford to buy at the gunshop, I was hooked for life.
Gary

[Beagle333]

They should definitely be recast..... after you shoot em and dig em outta the berm. Good work! ;)

[Kull]

Nicely done. They look good. Nothing really to add that hasn't been covered.

[FredBuddy]

Look great !

Just like you, I posted pictures of my first try a few days ago.

[jonk]

Those look fine to me. The black flakes aren't pronounced enough to hurt fillout, so they aren't a problem, but I agree; a little more fluxing will cure them.

[JohnFreeman]

Me three!

It's a fun part of a fun part of a fun hobby!

Congrats!
John

[Dale53]

DHC;
Now, you are hooked for life. Those are right decent bullets. I have that mould and found that it works well with both smokeless and black powder in my Bisley Vaquero. For smokeless, I use an alloy of WW's+2% tin. For black powder, I use 30/1 lead/tin. My particular revolver shoots well when sized at .452" (my cylinder throats are .4525" in both my Bisley Vaquero and my SS Bisley convertible).

You have picked an excellent mould for the .45 Colt.

I hope you hang around this site for many years...

Dale53

[DHC]

Thanks for all the comments and encouragement folks. I was originally going to add those to the melt pile, but with the comments here decided to lube 'em up and see how they shoot. Latest photo shows a few of them sized and lubed and ready to load.

85041

[runfiverun]

the 452664 is definitely one of my favorite boolits.
it shoots well in revolvers and works perfectly in my 45 colt lever guns.
I use it for everything a 45 colt needs to be doing, hunting, plinking, cowboy shooting, whatever.

[MtGun44]

They look good to me. Mr. Target will tell you the real answer.

Bill

[johnc486]

Looks good to me, i've shot worse that I cast. I to, like a little frost on mine, seems to tumble lube better. Load em, shoot em and repeat.