New caster here - why are my bullets wrinkled?

[WildcatFan]

I'm using WW, at about 650*-700*. My first couple dozen had wrinkles in them. As I turned up the heat to about 700*, it seemed to go away for the most part. Was it simply my lead/mold being too cold?

Thx

[Smoke4320]

Most people here seem to run their COWW at least 700 with many including myself at 720-730 ..
to help mold fillout many also use a hotplate to get mold up to temp..
cleaning the mold with dawn and hot water first then preheating mold will also help with no wrinkles or at least less)
expect the first few to wrinkle before everything truly is up to temp
good casting and welcome to the herd :)

[osteodoc08]

Likely your mold is too cold and the reason they go away is that the mold finally heats up. Remember that the molten lead must remain fairly molten to get down to the bottom and fill out every crevice. Tin reduces the surface tension and allows it to do this easier. An up to temp mold allows this to happen as well.

I heat my molds on a hot plate while the lead is melting.

I keep my molten lead temp 650-700 for the most part as I use a lot of aluminum Accurate molds. The iron Lyman ones like 675-725 for me. Brass is not very picky for me.

[bhn22]

It is likely that everything was too cold to start with. Aluminum molds need more heat, and a faster casting cadence than iron, if that's what you were using. You could also have had a little bit of oil in the cavities, which also causes wrinkles. Was it a new mold?

[WildcatFan]

Thx, I'm using a mountain mold from Montana. Aluminum. Brand new, correct.

[Cmm_3940]

Try dipping the corner of the mold in the top of your melt pot to get some heat in it quick if you don't have a hot plate handy. When the lead stops sticking to the aluminum block it should be almost ready to go.

[WildcatFan]

Ok, I'll try that. Great info.

[btroj]

Get it clean. Really clean. I use hot water, a toothbrush, and comet.

Get the mould hot. Keep it hot. No stopping to gawk at freshly cast bullets. Fill, dump, repeat.

[newmexicocrawler]

Molds were to cold.......set mold on single burner electric hot plate. I bought mine from garage sale for one dollar. Anytime I'm not pouring lead I set my mold on it.