First Boolits Cast

[sapper_eng]

Well, I finally did it. I popped my casting cherry tonight.

My Lee mould came in the mil yesterday, and today I fired up the burner and cast my first boolits. I prepped the mold by cleaning it and lubing it up with anti seizing lube, and began to pour. My first two boolits were an abomination and I'm embarrassed to even show. The next two got better and it was all uphill from there. I did a batch of around 100, and they all came in at 184 grains or 186 grains. Funny how that worked. None of them I weighed came in at 185 (no big deal as far as I'm concerned).

So a few questions to the more experienced here.

1) The mould is a Lee C312-185-1R, being used to cast for a Lee Enfield. I've slugged the barrel and it came out at .3125. The boolits coming out of the mould are .3135 - .314. If need be, can I size them all to .314 with a sizer?

2) While casting, I never could get rid of the film on top of the lead in the pot. Is this normal? I'd scrape it all away but it would return. I smelted it into ingots last weekend, fluxed three times on each pot and cleaned it up until I thought it was good to go. But when re melting it tonight, it seemed to always be covered in an extremely thin film.

3) Not only is this my first time casting, but it will be my first time reloading as well. I noticed after re-sizing my .303 brass (neck sizing only in the Lee .303 Collet, the boolits don't fit when I they and push them in by hand. I'm assuming them will under the pressure of the reloading press?

Here's some pics of the final result. The two horrible looking boolits were my first ever and as horrible as they are, I think I'll keep'em.

http://i.imgur.com/iomdhzB.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/DRIJKuU.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/9fmQsVT.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/dFliIzt.jpg

[sigep1764]

My boolits range from .3575 to .359. I size/lube them all in a 358 die in a Lyman 4500. Some of the smaller ones get a little coating of lube on the driving bands. They still shoot fine. As far as fitting the bullet to the case, one of the steps is to flare the case mouth. Then insert the boolit, seat it with the press, then crimp the case mouth around the boolit. These are all steps found in the instructions of your press or in a reloading manual. If you do not have a reloading manual, it is a must. Get the Lyman 49th edition and a couple others for a wide range of data to reference.

[35 shooter]

Did you flux again after melting the ingots to start casting? I always get a bit more grit or dirt or whatever out that way. I would run them through the sizer to get everything as close as possible. Don't forget to flare the cases before seating boolits or you'll be shaving lead off the sides of your boolits while seating. Looks like you did a good casting job once the mould was hot enough. Looked like one or two bases weren't filled out all the way around in the pics but that might be just camera angle?

Welcome to the madness!

[44man]

Very good start but I do see some bases not filled. Pre-heat the mold and things go better. I use a little oven on a hot plate with a BBQ thermometer in the top, heat to 500* and get perfect first boolits.
Paid $8 for a Wall Mart plate but the thermal fuse will blow so it will need bridged if the plate quits.

[GhostHawk]

I use the same mold, and things are really starting to cook for me.

A use a good lube (I'm using a combination of homemade and white label Carnuba red)
B That is unless I miss my guess a gas check design. So order yourself a bunch of pretty copper bases for those bullets.

My 2 Mosin's and my Yugo SKS all slugged at .312 So far I've had very good luck in the SKS as long as I set the bullet fairly long. Its a deep throated russian girl, and she seems to like it set long.

With .312 bullets I don't know if you will get the gas checks crimped on with a .314 sizer. Nothing to do buy try it and hope.


The neck expander balls in the depriving die really don't expand the neck enough to take big cast rounds. I forsee much cursing and swearing in your future.

I cheat, I give each of my necks a tap with a center punch that flares the neck out just a touch. Not a hard tap, just a tap.

Should be enough to let the bullet drop into the neck and mostly hide the copper gas check.

Then the setting die can smoothly shove them in to depth.

If I remember correctly for my 7.62x54r it comes with a .310 expander, you run the case through the neck snaps back a little. Bullets are .311 or .312 you put them on top and they don't go in.

You can probably buy a larger expander for your die.

I decided it was cheaper and faster to give each empty a little tap.

Best of luck to you.

PS first 2-3 pours are never good, but they do start warming the mold up. Just drop them back in the pot and keep casting. Don't rush, but fast and smooth lets your mold heat up so they all come out nice. Or most anyway.

Have fun!

[vernb]

Lee makes a universal flare die that'll help for bullet seating. If you are using a bottom pour pot flux with saw dust. Stir it in good and leave the burnt dust on the top. It creates an oxidation barrier which is probably the film you see. I normally toss the first 10 casts into the sprue pile with out even looking at them. If there is one thing I learned it's casting isn't rocket science. People make it sound real complicated but it only is when you try to master it. Practice makes perfect and most lessons are self taught. Good luck

[sapper_eng]

Thanks guys.

Looking at them closely, yes there are a few that have bases that aren't completely formed. IS this because I'm opening the sprue too early? I'm waiting until the lead frosts before cracking it open. Perhaps I should give it an extra few seconds to ensure its fully hardened. I'll go through them closely and remove those that aren't fully formed.

for a burner I'm using a portable electric stove, so I dont have a fancy casting pot that throws directly to the mould. That would be nice though! down the road I'll pick one up.

As for gas checks, I have a box of Hornady 30 cal checks on its way to me right now.

I have a reloading guide by Lyman for historical military rifles but I'm thinking I'll pick up another that is a little more in dept. I was unaware there was a neck expander die, which I'm going to pick up today for sure. The recipe I'll be using consists of Winchester Large Rifle Primers and 21 grains of IMR-4227, with a max load of 28 grains. I'll be starting off with 21 grains and work my way up. 21 grains with the 185 grain cast boolit is supposed to provide 1603 fps, with 28 grains pushing 2098 fps. I don't really want to go too hot until I'm a bit more comfortable with this whole thing so here's to hoping all goes well.

[GhostHawk]

Sapper as long as you have good lube that should be ok.

The neck expander is in the depriming die, sorry for my typo. It is also the depriming pin.

As to casting, how soon to open depends on how hot the pot is and mold temp.

Watch your sprue, once its set I count to 3 and tap the sprue cutter.
If the lead on the sprue is solid it is NOT going to suck in anymore to fill any crannys.
So you might as well knock it open and try again :)

When you get everything working right your "in the zone" it can be almost a zen like experience. Time passes, bullets accumulate, your beyond thinking your just doing.

[David2011]

Sapper,

You're off to a good start. Make sure your mold stays plenty hot by keeping a quick, even pace. Heat is your friend for good fillout as is enough tin. Make sure you pile up a good sprue plate puddle and watch the depressions develop as the melt cools. Once the puddles suck down the cavities are as filled as they will get.

Bullshop's sprue plate lube will prevent molten alloy from sticking to the mold and sprue plate. It's magic stuff and allows the sprue plate to be pushed open with a leather gloved hand instead of beating it open with a hardwood stick and helps keep the pace of casting up.

Nomenclature: The "expander ball" is in the decapping and sizing die. It restored the sized down neck to the proper ID to old a bullet tightly enough. It does not make the neck ready to insert a cast boolit; only a jacketed bullet can go into that opening. The Lee "Universal Flare Die" will flare the neck so it doesn't shave lead and damage the boolit just as a pistol expander plug will prepare a handgun cartridge to receive a boolit.

David

[Cherokee]

All good comments so I'll just say welcome to the casting world.

[500MAG]

I still love that feeling when a new mould comes in the mail and I cast it for the first time. Welcome to the addiction.

[sapper_eng]

I cast my second batch tonight. They seemed to come out much better this time.

For lube, I've been using Permatex as directed in the lee mould instructions. I did notice while re lubing before casting tonight that one of the alignment pins has receded into the mould a bit, so it was only sticking out 1/2 as far as it should. Has anyone come across this before?

I picked up a Lee Neck Expander today. It flares the brass just enough to seat the boolit in the brass to be pushed in by the die.

Now I'm stuck playing the waiting game for my gas checks to show up.