help a newb. first cast

[thursdaymike]

Do I casted my first batch of bullets and right away I knew I was doing something wrong. Tried moving mold closer and farther from the spout of my lee 4-20. That didn't help. My thermometer said 750 degrees. I'm stumped. I tried adjusting flow faster and slower. Went all the way across the spectrum.
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q239/mikestrane/Mobile%20Uploads/20151121_141604.jpg (http://s137.photobucket.com/user/mikestrane/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20151121_141604.jpg.html)

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q239/mikestrane/Mobile%20Uploads/20151121_141610.jpg (http://s137.photobucket.com/user/mikestrane/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20151121_141610.jpg.html)

[Smoke4320]

either oil in the mold or mold is too cold .. ot taking too long between cast so mold cools off

If this is your first casting and you did not clean mold I would clean well with a toothbrush and comet. then oil pins and sprew plate lightly
heat mold very good ..it may take 20 minutes or more to completely heat mold depending on your heat source
then try again

[s mac]

I agree, looks like your mould is not hot enough, cast and dump a little quicker, don't spend so much time looking at them while casting. When they are slightly frosted thing will come together.

[toallmy]

You should have sean mine at least yours look like a bullet just a wrinkley bullet

[thursdaymike]

Okay I was afraid to overheat mold. Noe said its not designed to be over 600 degrees so that had me scared.

[thursdaymike]

I did clean mold with dawn and a brush before I used it also.

[williamwaco]

Mold too cold. Cast faster.

Sprue puddle should remain liquid for two to three seconds before hardening.


750 is fine for your alloy temp. I shoot for 600 to 700.

Mold temperature is more critical.

[thursdaymike]

Good to know the spruce puddle cooled almost instantly.

[Smoke4320]

Good to know the spruce puddle cooled almost instantly.

yes theres the answer .. mold to cold

I like to run my NOE mold hot .. sprue takes 4 to 5 seconds to cool

even then it make take a few bullets before all gets evened out and you throw mostly good bullets
every mold seems to like something just a little different

[Toymaker]

At least you got whole bullets your first time. I only got halvies.

As said above. Mold is too cold. Heat it up and cast fast.

I had a mold that had a "line" on the bullet that I couldn't get rid of. I washed it several times, rinsed with alcohol and acetone only to find it still there. Someone suggested I boil the mold block, so I did. Then rinsed it with acetone. Worked like a charm.

[thursdaymike]

Third batch and wow what a difference! Heated mold a lot more. Still had about 35% culls but due to me dropping too fast and a couple had trash between molds from preheat which created lines at seam.
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q239/mikestrane/Mobile%20Uploads/20151121_184905.jpg (http://s137.photobucket.com/user/mikestrane/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20151121_184905.jpg.html)

[reddog81]

Congrats. It's kind of a "Eureka!" moment once you get some pretty looking bullets.
I was trying out a new mold today and was having problems until I bumped the temperature up and moved the mold closer to the pot's spout.

[paralaska]

I made lots of bad boolits until I finally got the hang of it. Best thing I did was to buy a hotplate to warm up the mold, and second best thing was to buy a lead thermometer so I could make adjustments and keep the alloy at the right temp. . . .

[Yodogsandman]

Some of your bases look rounded at the edge of the gas check shank. Try pouring a much larger sprue puddle which will keep the sprue plate hotter and probably prevent that.

[mongoose33]

Some of your bases look rounded at the edge of the gas check shank. Try pouring a much larger sprue puddle which will keep the sprue plate hotter and probably prevent that.

To add to that, you should see a dimple form in the center of the sprue as the boolit cools inside the mold. As it cools it shrinks and draws alloy from the molten puddle on top of the sprue plate. That's why you not only want the sprue plate up to temp so the puddle will stay molten for a few seconds before it freezes, but you want enough of a puddle to keep the whole thing hot. This will help fill out the base and give you good sharp edges on that base.

Someone here (can't remember who, I'd like to credit him) once said that you should think of the sprue puddle not as pouring alloy, but as pouring heat. I think that's a pretty apt description.

When I see that dimple form in the center of the sprue puddle (over each cavity), I know I've had a good pour.

[badbob454]

try a little tin , i agree needed the mold hotter and possibly some oil on mold surface 2% tin will make the mold fill better and give smoother boolits .

[thursdaymike]

Thanx for the tips. So now I have another problem. I'm using the Lyman 4500 lube sizer. Bullets are dropping .312 and I'm trying to size to .308 the top punch is deforming the bullets due to the force I'm having to use. Should I size a step between like say a .310 then the .308?
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q239/mikestrane/Mobile%20Uploads/20151121_231832.jpg (http://s137.photobucket.com/user/mikestrane/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20151121_231832.jpg.html)

[Silverboolit]

What are you shooting them in? If a .308, you should size to .310-.311, depending on your slug size. You did slug the barrel, right?

[thursdaymike]

300 black out. I slugged barrel it measured .306

[Yodogsandman]

Thanx for the tips. So now I have another problem. I'm using the Lyman 4500 lube sizer. Bullets are dropping .312 and I'm trying to size to .308 the top punch is deforming the bullets due to the force I'm having to use. Should I size a step between like say a .310 then the .308?
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q239/mikestrane/Mobile%20Uploads/20151121_231832.jpg (http://s137.photobucket.com/user/mikestrane/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20151121_231832.jpg.html)

That looks like you hit the edge of the top punch when the bullet nose was entering it. Do you have that specific bullets top punch?

[s mac]

It would help to size in steps to reduce them .004 I like to use a Lee sizer for the first go round, nose first with the check installed, then the Lyman and lube at that time.

[Hickok]

300 black out. I slugged barrel it measured .306You might want to try slugging the barrel again. That is far too small. Just asking, what did you measure your slug with?

[thursdaymike]

I will retry slugging again today

[s mac]

You might check out the thread on making a pound cast, good stuff.

[williamwaco]

That looks like you hit the edge of the top punch when the bullet nose was entering it. Do you have that specific bullets top punch?

DITTO!

Get it started carefully.

[Hickok]

Mike since you say you just started, you did one very important thing correct. You came here to this site for guidance and information. The good people here are the best there is at cast boolit knowledge.

Those loooong, skinny boolits can be a bit difficult to get a good fill-out at times. Like BadBob said, put some tin in your alloy, you will be amazed at how much it helps.

You can go to hardware store and buy a roll of solder if nothing else and add it to you melt. Read the label and buy the kind with the highest tin percentage. It can be a little pricey for the amount you get, but it will really help your boolits come out nice.

You will need a good micrometer to get a good reading on your bore slugging. Calipers wont be precise enough.

All the info the fella's have given is good. Run your melt and molds on the hot side, add some tin, and leave a big sprue puddle on a pre heated mold. Cast the boolits at a fast pace and then slow down and as you start getting good bollits and frosty appearance. You will then get into a good rhythm and a "feel" for what method drops good boolits.


If you boolits are dropping at .312", that is great for sizing at .310" or .311".

[Blackwater]

Hickock hit the nail squarely on the head! You have no idea how much some of us old timers would have LOVED to have had this place as a resource. And that you're turning out very good bullets so quickly speaks very well of you and your ability and willingness to learn, and put said learning to actual use. Kudos to you for being teachable. Some already have their minds made up when they post questions here, about what they want to accept as an answer. You asked real, open ended questions, thought about the answers, and executed the info very competently. I suspect it'll be no time at all before you may become one of the pickiest and most exacting casters here, and THAT is always welcome here! You need a real pat on the back, and I'm just posting to point that out, and give you a rather etherous one via this misty realm. Ya' done good, sir! REAL good!

[thursdaymike]

I slugged again. Calipers read the same. I will look into the micrometer. Top punch pushed down into the bullet causing it to look like that. I had to put all of my weight on it to get it through the sized then beat it back up with a dead blow. I only did three like this the whole time telling myself something is seriously wrong.

[thursdaymike]

By the way my alloy is wheel weights

[Yodogsandman]

If you water dropped your bullets to cool them, they hardened up on you too. Water dropped WW alloy could be as high as about 24 BHN. Try to size right away or within the first day after casting and the sizing will be much easier.

[thursdaymike]

I did water drop them. I though you had to to get the hardness right.

[Hickok]

I slugged again. Calipers read the same. I will look into the micrometer. Top punch pushed down into the bullet causing it to look like that. I had to put all of my weight on it to get it through the sized then beat it back up with a dead blow. I only did three like this the whole time telling myself something is seriously wrong.Yea Mike, get a good 1 inch micrometer. About the only thing calipers are good for is measuring case length before/after trimming and over all cartridge length.

[Yodogsandman]

thursdaymike, Did you use a pure lead slug for your measurements? Using WW alloy will not give correct or accurate measurements even using a micrometer. You probably have a normal SAAMI spec 300 BO chamber and bore which would need a .308" or .309" sized bullet. Another quick way (to approximate size) to check to see what size bullet you need is to measure the inside diameter of a case neck from a case fired in your rifle.

http://www.saami.org/PubResources/CC_Drawings/Rifle/300%20AAC%20Blackout.pdf

[thursdaymike]

I used a lead fishing weight to slug the barrel.

[Harter66]

Goodsteel gets the credit for "think of it as pouring heat" .

I have the 311-230 NOE also I have found that I have to return it to the hot plate every 12-15 pours rarely over 20 pours to keep it hot enough to keep getting good bullets .

[Victor N TN]

When I started casting, there was one older man I worked with that had cast before. I pestered him every break and lunch time I could. He is the reason I kept casting all those years. He even loaned me some of his mold blocks to cast with. If I remember correctly, he had 15 or 20 sets of mold blocks and 2 sets of Lyman handles. 1 for single or 2 cavity and 1 set for 4 cavity molds.

The payment for borrowing his molds was to cast 5 or 10 pounds for him.

When I asked him where to find tin, he brought me some medicine tubes from the 40s & 50s. They looked like smaller versions of toothpaste tubes. Some of them had a fierce odor. But they worked.