Bullet mold's

[Tenbender]

Does anyone make a mold that cast boolits that are not out of round ? Or, do we rely on the sizer to make them round ? I have 11 molds and none of them cast round boolits !

[unique]

Funny you should post this. I just got done casting with my new lyman 429215 and was thinking that making a elliptical hole surely has to be harder than making a round hole. I guess not. I do have some older lyman round ball moulds which are pretty round

[blikseme300]

I have noticed, especially in .44 and larger molds, that the mold and alloy temperatures play a noticeable role in the out of round castings. An example is casting using a Lee C430-310-RF mold that at alloy temp of 710* the cooled CB's were more out of round than if I had the alloy at 680*. The weird way in which molds expand and change shape when heated affects the outcome. The holes in the mold blocks do not expand uniformly larger as would a solid piece of metal with a hole in it. Somewhere on this forum there is an explanation of this with pics.

[mozeppa]

i cast at 595 degrees...what is this out of round phenomenom?:holysheep

[RED333]

A round rod will grow in length and shrink in thickness with heat applied.
A block 2" square will expand evenly if heat is applied evenly.
A block with a hole in it, the hole will get bigger with heat applied evenly to the block.
Now cut that block in half, apply more heat to the matting faces, the faces will expand more than the outside face.
So a mold is a block cut in half with 1/2 hole on each side, so the "seam" might be bigger that the "mold" side of the boolit.
As the outside of the mold as more air flow and be a bit cooler.
Alu will expand more than brass, brass more than steel.

[toallmy]

Ok I don't feel so bad now. I thought it was just me casting out of round .I have been casting fat and then size em , but I noticed Hotter fills out better .

[44man]

I am glad to see many have have listened.
I get round boolits as close as can be made by getting my molds up to temp and dropping my cherry back in to cut more by hand. Maybe I will temper my cherry some but one good mold is worth it. Even then my boolits can still be .0005" larger at the parting line.
There is no way to keep a round cavity unless molds are cut with blocks HOT but that will ruin cutting tools and nobody will invest in carbide cutters. Cavities are only round when the mold is cold.
I started to make my own cherries when I seen a bought one can be $275 and that was years ago.
A custom would be more. Then I got warped cherries when hardening until I figured out how to quench them. I use the kitchen oven to temper them.
The experience of making my own molds showed me so much that I can't blame mold makers for much of anything. They have a tough job. They can't fix an out of round mold so you will get a replacement that might not be better.
You can lap a mold but can make it worse.

[OnHoPr]

May I ask, what real difference does it make when a boolit is .001 or so out of round and basically on the part line? When I first started reading this cast boolit shooting from Lyman, Lee, Castboolits, LASC, etc. there was much guidance for the obturation. Then I seen where shooters were casting their boolits .001 - .003 over bore. Well, there isn't any obturation if the boolit is getting extruded down the barrel. So, what ever the out of round the boolit is before it gets to the lead it is just as round as the barrel when it gets pass the lead. Now, if that slight out of round enhances some form of boolit yaw, slump, distortion of whatever flavor to cause inaccuracy I am not sure, but the boolit should be as round as the barrel upon exit.

[.22-10-45]

Yes,but the lube grooves will still be out of round. This is the one weak point of swaging a lubed bullet to bring it to a precise dia. and roundness. The outside dia. & base/gas-check will be dead square to one another but those darn grooves will still be out of round and possibly out of ballance..though a very accurate rifle and good bench rest practice would probably be needed to tell any difference. I can tell you that by swaging a lubed as cast Eagan MX .22 bullet in Corbin reloading press type swaging dies (.226 dia.) I have been able to equal best jacketed match bullet accuracy out of a Ruger No.1 .222 Rem. ( 7/16" groups at 100yds.). Here's something interesting...for years I have been trying to find an Ideal/Lyman 225415 mould..the "old" style 48-49gr. early version that would drop from mould without being undersized and egg-shaped. Gathered about 1/2 dozen until I finally found two in Swappin & Sellin. These are early Ideal & lyman. The Ideal is a very early attempt at venting using a rapid cutter feed and face mill..first I have ever seen. The Lyman has the std, vent lines. Using an alloy of diluted Steriotype & pure lead..about like the old No.2, the Ideal drops a tapered bullet..bands measure from base: .226, .225, & .224" dia. and bullet is perfectly round. The Lyman drops a bullet with all bands .225 dia. and also perfectly round. Finally after 20 some years I have found two perfect specimens...now to see if they shoot!