Second Time Casting - This Time 9MM - .358-105

[kenn]

A couple of days ago, I cast .452-200 SWC with some success using my Lee mold. The mold wasn't hot enough, though, and I had a lot of boolits not form. I also broke my sprue handle with almost no pressure on it whatsoever. Today I decided to give my .358-105 Lee mold a try. I bought a cheap hot plate beforehand to get the mold quote hot before casting.

Things I noticed right away: The holes are much smaller and are much more picky about lead and mold temp than the .45 ACP. The mold was also very sensitive to speed of pour. Again much more so than the 200SWC. I struggled to keep the mold at a hot enough temp but eventually had it to the point it was taking 8-10 seconds before "frosting" over which is certainly PLENTY hot enough. Even then, 4 out of 6 or so would form and a couple would not fill out the base or a driving band. Couldn't keep it consistent. Just as I was approaching a point where I was getting 5 out of 6 on just about every pour, my sprue handle broke! Second mold in two days -- both brand new and BOTH happened when I was at the point of having a very hot mold. I was very, very careful this time to use the cam action on the sprue handle and not "pull it". I also made sure to cut the sprue very quickly. I was doing it so fast, in fact, that I smeared a few. The handle broke this time under VERY light pressure closing the mold rather than opening it. I have to figure Lee had a bad batch of handles as there is no way I pulled hard on this one and no way was the sprue too cold when it let go.

I got about 50% good boolits out of a total of 300 before the sprue handle broke. The other half had bases that aren't sharp, a fold or two in the cone or base, a band not fully formed, etc. Here are the pics. They are pile of bad, pile of good, and close up of good.
The Bad:
106968
The Good:
106969
The Not Ugly: (see what I did there?)
106970

I just weighed a bunch that formed out properly - They're coming in at .460ish and 107-108 grains cast from pure clip on wheel weights. I'm now doubting if I should have gone with this mold and stuck with the .356-120TC. I am going to slug my barrel and find out how far down I have to go but .360 to .357 might be interesting.

[petroid]

A lot of people advocate starting to cast only with the cavity closest to the sprue plate hinge until the mold warms up, then add a cavity or two until the entire mold is hot. This will reduce the strain on the sprue plate and handle having to cut six cold, hard sprues immediately. 360 is pretty big for a 9mm but if a dummy will chamber you may try and shoot some.

[kenn]

A lot of people advocate starting to cast only with the cavity closest to the sprue plate hinge until the mold warms up, then add a cavity or two until the entire mold is hot. This will reduce the strain on the sprue plate and handle having to cut six cold, hard sprues immediately. 360 is pretty big for a 9mm but if a dummy will chamber you may try and shoot some.

I just made a couple of dummy rounds. With the brass casing, the best I can get is an OD of .380 and it won't chamber so I'm going to have to size down. I had planned on it, anyways, so no biggie. I want to be able to shoot some .38 special as I have dies for that, too, and at least this way I KNOW it will work. As I stated above, though, I going to have to slug it to figure out the best sizer die to buy as I don't want to do that twice.

Funny thing is, I was well into the "hot zone" on the mold when it gave way. I was at 300 or so cast at that point. It broke when closing it against the little bolt that holds the sprue down. I wasn't even into the little notch all the way and "crack" it fell off in my hand. I'll call Lee and get another handle but I'm going to have to order them from Kal to end that problem.

I'm also going to clean this mold again. It was much more inconsistent even when up to temp than the .452-200. Once I finally got that one up to temp I was getting 6 good boolits. (though it broke shortly thereafter).

[tazman]

My Lee 105 boolits drop about the same as yours in size and weight. I find I need to size them soon after casting(within 24 hours or less) before they start to harden. If I wait the boolits get difficult to size. I size to .357 for my 9mm with a Lee push through sizer.

[petroid]

sounds like the handle was about to go and just took a little bit more to end it. slug your bores and you'll have a better idea of what size you need. OD of .380 is SAAMI spec so I dont know why it wont chamber...

[kenn]

sounds like the handle was about to go and just took a little bit more to end it. slug your bores and you'll have a better idea of what size you need. OD of .380 is SAAMI spec so I dont know why it wont chamber...

Blame Walther. .379? Great! .380? Not happening. Talk about tight specs.

[petroid]

Wow! That is tight. How do they expect factory ammo to chamber especially once a little carbon builds up in there. I'm not a Glock guy, per se, but at least you know it's going to fit!

[bangerjim]

A lot of people advocate starting to cast only with the cavity closest to the sprue plate hinge until the mold warms up, then add a cavity or two until the entire mold is hot. This will reduce the strain on the sprue plate and handle having to cut six cold, hard sprues immediately. 360 is pretty big for a 9mm but if a dummy will chamber you may try and shoot some.

Just heat the mold up on a hotplate to the actual casting temp (not just warm!) and forget about worrying about which cavity to fill first. Fill 'em all!!!!!!!!! Right from the start.......perfect drops. My sprues cut perfectly the first time.

Everybody should use a hotplate to eliminate the problems with cold molds! They are very inexpensive. Works for me and a whole bunch of others on here.

bangerjim

[kenn]

I used a hot plate this time. Very hot mold... Still broke with less force than that which would snap a pencil.

[A pause for the COZ]

If your bustin the Sprue plate lever. The Sprue plate is not hot enough. Or you are waiting too long to pop the sprue and it has hardened.
I know this because I have broke one.
The 105gr is my most finicky mold also. Here is what I do.

When I turn on my pot, I also turn on my hot plate and sit the molds I will be using that day onto it.
Temp set about 1/2 way on mine seems to work.

When my pot is ready, my molds are ready.
Except..... for the 1st couple of pours I completely cover the Sprue plate. The steel heats slower than aluminum.Pop them fast though, As soon as you see a dimple form in the center of the sprue. As the bullet hardens it draws more lead from the sprue. Once the sprue has changed hue and the dimple has formed. Pop it.
If the Srue plate gets too hot or you are popping them too early, you will see that. You will get a streak of lead on the top of the mold where the sprue plate and drug it along.
If it too hot I put the mold back on the hot plate and cast with another for a while. The mold will stay hot and the sprue plate will cool off enough to be useful again.

Here are spare Sprue levers. Get a couple extra. If you have at least one extra. Your guaranteed never to break another. Thats just how it works.
http://www.titanreloading.com/service-parts/mold-and-melter-parts/lee-sc1156-sprue-lever

[kenn]

The 105gr is my most finicky mold also. Here is what I do.

When I turn on my pot, I also turn on my hot plate and sit the molds I will be using that day onto it.
Temp set about 1/2 way on mine seems to work.

When my pot is ready, my molds are ready.
Except..... for the 1st couple of pours I completely cover the Sprue plate. The steel heats slower than aluminum.Pop them fast though, As soon as you see a dimple form in the center of the sprue. As the bullet hardens it draws more lead from the sprue. Once the sprue has changed hue and the dimple has formed. Pop it.
If the Srue plate gets too hot or you are popping them too early, you will see that. You will get a streak of lead on the top of the mold where the sprue plate and drug it along.


Thanks! Just out of curiosity, do you get 6/6 good boolits pretty much every cast once up to temp or do you get the occasional one that doesn't form right? I.e. if you cast 100 boolits, do you get a 100 good ones or more like 90 or so with a few imperfections?

I'm going to clean the mold again to be certain I don't have any oils. I used comet first followed by brake cleaner, but I still got some "folds" even when the mold was obviously very hot.

On the handles, I have a couple of solid metal ones coming from 338RemUltraMag. I can't wait to get those on and I won't worry about another breakage. Nice guy he is.

One more question for you: What OAL are you using? This one's going to be short it seems. What powder and charge(s) are you using as well? Just curious. I'm thinking I'm going to start at 1.03 OAL which puts the top band right at the top edge of the brass and bullseye with a starting charge around 3.5. I highly doubt that's going to be enough powder for the gun to cycle properly, but it's on the very low end of the various loads I could find for somewhat similar bullets.

[petroid]

One more question for you: What OAL are you using? This one's going to be short it seems. What powder and charge(s) are you using as well? Just curious. I'm thinking I'm going to start at 1.03 OAL which puts the top band right at the top edge of the brass and bullseye with a starting charge around 3.5. I highly doubt that's going to be enough powder for the gun to cycle properly, but it's on the very low end of the various loads I could find for somewhat similar bullets.

OAL is very gun specific with SWC boolits. Seat some dummies to the max length that will fit in the mag and see if you can cycle them. If no joy, seat deeper until they cycle. I don't know of any other way.

[jris211]

A couple of days ago, I cast .452-200 SWC with some success using my Lee mold. The mold wasn't hot enough, though, and I had a lot of boolits not form. I also broke my sprue handle with almost no pressure on it whatsoever. Today I decided to give my .358-105 Lee mold a try. I bought a cheap hot plate beforehand to get the mold quote hot before casting.

Things I noticed right away: The holes are much smaller and are much more picky about lead and mold temp than the .45 ACP. The mold was also very sensitive to speed of pour. Again much more so than the 200SWC. I struggled to keep the mold at a hot enough temp but eventually had it to the point it was taking 8-10 seconds before "frosting" over which is certainly PLENTY hot enough. Even then, 4 out of 6 or so would form and a couple would not fill out the base or a driving band. Couldn't keep it consistent. Just as I was approaching a point where I was getting 5 out of 6 on just about every pour, my sprue handle broke! Second mold in two days -- both brand new and BOTH happened when I was at the point of having a very hot mold. I was very, very careful this time to use the cam action on the sprue handle and not "pull it". I also made sure to cut the sprue very quickly. I was doing it so fast, in fact, that I smeared a few. The handle broke this time under VERY light pressure closing the mold rather than opening it. I have to figure Lee had a bad batch of handles as there is no way I pulled hard on this one and no way was the sprue too cold when it let go.

I got about 50% good boolits out of a total of 300 before the sprue handle broke. The other half had bases that aren't sharp, a fold or two in the cone or base, a band not fully formed, etc. Here are the pics. They are pile of bad, pile of good, and close up of good.
The Bad:
106968
The Good:
106969
The Not Ugly: (see what I did there?)
106970

I just weighed a bunch that formed out properly - They're coming in at .460ish and 107-108 grains cast from pure clip on wheel weights. I'm now doubting if I should have gone with this mold and stuck with the .356-120TC. I am going to slug my barrel and find out how far down I have to go but .360 to .357 might be interesting.

You didn't do anything wrong. I broke my 45 acp 6 cav last week and my 9mm 6 cav this week. Talked to lee and the lady said they had a bad batch. There's nothing wrong with your technique or anything. Call lee and they'll replace the sprue hinge piece. Don't toss out the wood sprue handle. Keep that part.