Perfect Casting Session

[Tar Heel]

I had one of those very rare and very rewarding casting sessions today where everything went exceptionally well and smooth. My favorite mold, the RCBS 45-250-KT dual cavity mold, started casting perfect bullets in only 3 pours. Bullets released well with only a few taps needed for a few stubborn ones. The alloy remained consistent and did not frost today for some reason even though I used the same temperature setting. My cadence was a little slower but that should not have affected that.
There was very little smoke from the pot, the alloy stayed bright and shiny, the sprues all cut cleanly with no streaking, the spout kept pouring cleanly, bullets were perfectly formed, and the pot was filled twice and drained into the molds. WOW. I even switched molds to a Lee 309-170 to drop some bullets for a 30-30 rifle. That Lee mold cast perfect bullets on the second pour. The casting gods (Leadicus and Moldysios) looked upon me with favor today.
I then lubed up some bullets and loaded up 150 45 Colt loads. The loading process was flawless too. Apparently my mojo was right on track today. It is very nice to have such a great day casting and loading with absolutely no issues or annoying little situations to contend with. It was truly - a perfect session.

[noisewaterphd]

It's a good feeling.

[Springfield]

Nice day for casting. But your slower cadence will certainly affect the frosting, as the mould would probably be running cooler.

[shoot-n-lead]

Well, obviously, you were doing something wrong.

But, good for you, as it is truly great to have a day like that...kind of makes eager to do it again.

[guicksylver]

Great feeling isn't it!
BTW candence is everything (almost),
especially with big boolits like that.
The frosting happens either because
The alloy is on the hot side or the mold is..
Since these bolits did not frost, I would have to say that your alloy was the right temp as well as your mold.
Casting faster will heat your mold up faster.
A great little device to assure you get the right mold temp each time is a mold thermometer.
Check out the Web for their use.
Happy casying!

[ubetcha]

And then you woke up from a pleasant dream.:kidding:

[Walter Laich]

I have now and then; mostly then.

I do enjoy casting even with the occasional bump and pitfall.

Cast 51 lbs in three days then got them PC and sized this past weekend.

My only 'challenge' was keeping the pot filled and up to temp--6 230gr .45 TC eat up a lot of lead.

Here's hoping you have many more of these types of sessions

[Shiloh]

When I have those days a lot of bullets get cast. The planets are all in proper alignment, tides are right, all is well with the universe. Dropping six boolits at a time, perfect boolits, is a thing of beauty.

Shiloh

[hickfu]

I had that same experience once... 5 cavity 430gr gas checked 45-70 mold from Accurate. Had the mold heating on a hot plate while the lead was melting. from the 1st to the last cast they were perfectly filled out and not frosty. I went through 150lbs of lead that day, casting 2500 45-70 boolits.

To this day I have not been able to repeat it :-(

[Mitch]

Got to love it when a plan comes together.It is good to see I am not the only one with poor planet alinement.Did you get a lottery ticket yesterday lol.

[Tar Heel]

Got to love it when a plan comes together.It is good to see I am not the only one with poor planet alinement.Did you get a lottery ticket yesterday lol.

No lotto ticket. That's math for dummies.....

[Victor N TN]

Years ago when I would cast 3 or 4 days a week during the cooler weather, I might have had a couple of days like that. But I promise it was when I was here alone and listening to my favorite football team on the radio. That day MUST have been a Saturday.

I really hope everyone can have a few days like that. Things just mesh together like a new transmission.

Congratulations.

[Lagamor]

So jealous. Couldn't get he boolits to stop sticking tonight. Just gave up in frustration. Will try again tomorrow.

[Big Dangle]

Funny something happened to be this last weekend, first time it's done that since I started casting, it was wonderful.

[rsrocket1]

Did that a couple of weekends ago with a new (replacement) 356-120-TC mold which can be temperamenal. Hit the perfect temperature where the boolits fell like rain when I opened the mold with no wrinkles, no frost. Went through 20 pounds of lead in the blink of an eye and had over 1000 bullets in the bucket. When you get in that zone, you want to cast all day long.

[Ron in PA]

I hade a good day to. cast some 45 ACP Lyman 452374, about 200 boolits

[rintinglen]

I'm envious, the last couple of casting sessions I've had some minor difficulties with one thing or another. I have been running some soft alloy for hollowpoints and it is just not as easy to get good boolits without reaching for some tin, which would harden the mix more than I would care (trying to keep the lead under a BHN of 8). When I get done with this stuff, I will get back to just making boolits. There is a pride of accomplishment in looking at a healthy pile of good boolits.

Entirely separate, I have to marvel at how well MP Cramer style molds work. Yeah, they're expensive, but boy oh boy, once to temperature, you can cast hollow points nearly as fast as regular boolits.

[jimb16]

I just finished casting a couple hundred for my 8mm Mauser. I only had 3 rejects! And all were due to short pours. (Round bases) Its a strange feeling to have everything go that right!

[Tar Heel]

So jealous. Couldn't get he boolits to stop sticking tonight. Just gave up in frustration. Will try again tomorrow.

I have had those days too. Just turned off the pot and walked away. When I came back to it the next day, things were normal with run-of-the-mill little things.

[Tar Heel]

Did that a couple of weekends ago with a new (replacement) 356-120-TC mold which can be temperamenal. Hit the perfect temperature where the boolits fell like rain when I opened the mold with no wrinkles, no frost. Went through 20 pounds of lead in the blink of an eye and had over 1000 bullets in the bucket. When you get in that zone, you want to cast all day long.

It's a good feeling isn't it?

[Wayne Smith]

Was it, by chance, raining? It has been said, and my experience confirms, that casting is easier/better in low pressure than in high.

[quack1]

Wayne- I've noticed that too. So much so, that now that I'm retired, I purposely wait for rainy days to cast. I always thought it was just me, never saw it mentioned anywhere before.

[Bruntson]

Are you suggesting that high humidity keeps boolits from sticking to molds???? Interesting....

[zubrato]

I thought I was crazy.. I have no explanation for it but yeah most of my best casting days were rainy days.
I love those days where boolits don't stick, the pot doesn't smoke, everything comes up to temp quickly and evenly, and you can relax without worrying about speed casting.
Especially when you break out your favorite mold and it thanks you for taking great care of it and breaking it in so well.

[Tar Heel]

Was it, by chance, raining? It has been said, and my experience confirms, that casting is easier/better in low pressure than in high.

Yes it was....drizzle, overcast, 3 days under a stalled low pressure system.

[Tenbender]

I had one of those very rare and very rewarding casting sessions today where everything went exceptionally well and smooth. My favorite mold, the RCBS 45-250-KT dual cavity mold, started casting perfect bullets in only 3 pours. Bullets released well with only a few taps needed for a few stubborn ones. The alloy remained consistent and did not frost today for some reason even though I used the same temperature setting. My cadence was a little slower but that should not have affected that.
There was very little smoke from the pot, the alloy stayed bright and shiny, the sprues all cut cleanly with no streaking, the spout kept pouring cleanly, bullets were perfectly formed, and the pot was filled twice and drained into the molds. WOW. I even switched molds to a Lee 309-170 to drop some bullets for a 30-30 rifle. That Lee mold cast perfect bullets on the second pour. The casting gods (Leadicus and Moldysios) looked upon me with favor today.
I then lubed up some bullets and loaded up 150 45 Colt loads. The loading process was flawless too. Apparently my mojo was right on track today. It is very nice to have such a great day casting and loading with absolutely no issues or annoying little situations to contend with. It was truly - a perfect session.

Are you sure your name is not Cruz ?:kidding: