Boolet left in mould?

[Cleve Branch]

My son picked up a Lee six cavity at a gun show,the seller said to leave the last cast in mould. What is the reason and how important?
Love the way it drops boolets.
Thanks
Cleve

[Boolit_Head]

Maybe to protect the cavities?

[Old Scribe]

I have left the boolits in the mould and left the mould empty with no problems either way.

[Calamity Jake]

What is the reason and how important?
Love the way it drops boolets.
Thanks
Cleve

"Old wifes tails" is the reason!!! I never leave the last boolits in the mold, there's no need to.
Cavities in aluminum molds don't need protection from anything if stored closed and in a
container.
Steel molds need some kind of rust protection, I store steel molds dry and in a military ammo can
that has a good seal along with a descant pack.

[fryboy]

It's not valid with aluminum and questionable with iron/steel ones ,I have to agree old wives tale that will never die ( at least until all the old wife's do and umm they'll out live us [doh] )

[LUCKYDAWG13]

Just BS no need to

[Cleve Branch]

Thanks. It is really hard with my mentality to pour them full and leave them. Took me an hour to stop, once they were full I had to empty them.

[FredBuddy]

Just finished a session myself - kept saying "self, your back hurts, so quit." Then self would say "just another------------"

[country gent]

On steel cast iron moulds was to leave last fill in and when cooled light oil and the capilliary action with the bullets in place would hold the oil in place offering rust protection. Also a filled cavity dosnt pick up dirt or other crud setting. On aluminum molds it is somewhat questionable practice. But on the other hand It still his mould so you should honor his request.

[bangerjim]

Total BS. I never leave any lead in my many molds....no matter what they are made out of.

[Cleve Branch]

On steel cast iron moulds was to leave last fill in and when cooled light oil and the capilliary action with the bullets in place would hold the oil in place offering rust protection. Also a filled cavity dosnt pick up dirt or other crud setting. On aluminum molds it is somewhat questionable practice. But on the other hand It still his mould so you should honor his request.
Yes I will honor his request till I talk to him. He hasn't cast a single boolet yet and is relying on what little I know and what others tell him. I am soaking up all I can here. I think he is relying on me to make all the boolets for him. I'm ok with that since weather has me out of work at this time.

[Char-Gar]

I have bought several used iron molds where some previous owner had left cast bullets in the cavities. About half of them were rusted in the cavity. So is just old nonsense.

[gwpercle]

"Old wifes tails" is the reason!!! I never leave the last boolits in the mold, there's no need to.
Cavities in aluminum molds don't need protection from anything if stored closed and in a
container.
Steel molds need some kind of rust protection, I store steel molds dry and in a military ammo can
that has a good seal along with a descant pack.

Correct....and an old wives tale that doesn't keep iron/steel moulds from rusting at that , I tried it several times , Lyman moulds + Louisiana heat / humidity...they would rust. I stopped that foolishness after having a couple rust.
The big thing I loved about Lee moulds was the fact they didn't rust ! You can leave a bullet in them, but I wouldn't do it with iron or steel.
Gary

[jsizemore]

On steel cast iron moulds was to leave last fill in and when cooled light oil and the capilliary action with the bullets in place would hold the oil in place offering rust protection. Also a filled cavity dosnt pick up dirt or other crud setting. On aluminum molds it is somewhat questionable practice. But on the other hand It still his mould so you should honor his request.


Do you cut the sprue before or after you let it completely cool.

[SSGOldfart]

It's not valid with aluminum and questionable with iron/steel ones ,I have to agree old wives tale that will never die ( at least until all the old wife's do and umm they'll out live us [doh] )
+ another,with Lee molds you better oil the spruce plate,I know how the instructions say you can use wax or bullet lube,but if you don't oil the surface of spruce plate your going to be removing rust in short order. I've left the last cast in the mold too,but I forget:-( more often or not.it was to fight rust so the cavity don't get any rust in them.

[country gent]

Personally I dont leave a bullet in my moulds, I lightly wax them while warm and clean them the night before casting. On my brass moulds only the sprue plates, pins and bushing get waxed lightly while warm. On the few I did leave bullets in I waxed while warm leaving the sprues in place. I stopped because when cooled the wax was close to 100% bond and moulds were to hard to open with out heat. My iron moulds are left empty a light coating of wax while still hot closed and rubber band on the handles to hold shut.

[longbow]

+1 for what country gent said in post #9.

I always leave boolits in cavities out of habit from using iron moulds. Say what you will but when boolits are left in cavities and the mould is oiled while still warm the oil is pulled into the cavities by capillary action and I have never had a mould cavity rust doing this.

I do the same with aluminum and brass moulds because they have steel sprue plates that can rust and again, leaving a boolit in the cavities then oiling (I open the mould to ensure there is oil on boolits and on mould faces) I am sure there is oil on every surface and no chance for rust.

Yes, I have seen aluminum moulds with rusty sprue plates and I have seen iron moulds rusted inside and out... just not mine.

I would agree that just leaving a boolit in the cavity will not prevent rust but add some oil and things are different.

Different strokes and this works for me.

Longbow

[tazman]

I hope the sprue was cut on that Lee 6 cavity when the boolits were left in it. If not, you will have a bit of trouble getting the sprue plate to open without breaking the handle off.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

I use iron molds so can't recommend what should or shouldn't be done with aluminum molds although if the sprue cutter is iron there should be some provision to protect it from rusting especially in a high humidity environment. In my experience with iron moulds, leaving a bullet cast in the cavity or bullets in the cavities...without any type of protection such as oil will result in rust in the cavity. The old idea of leaving a bullet in the cavity was founded on the belief that two things could not occupy the same space at one time....and a lot of folks found out that it doesn't work. You can find writing on the subject in Phil Sharpe's book and also in The Art of Bullet Casting which is still in print from Wolfe Publishing. If the blocks fit together correctly and are held closed by a rubber band or other holding device then keeping a bullet in the cavity(ies) does not seem to serve any purpose. If however doing this makes you feel better about storing the mold then by all means do it, but coat the cavity with something to protect it first. LLS

[Harter66]

If it is BS it goes back at least to the Lyman reloading handbook #3 . That would make it a BS manufacturers suggestion for iron moulds .

I've seen no reference to it for Lee,NOE or LBT aluminum moulds .

I've not seen any rust in my Lyman or RCBS moulds as a result of leaving or not but I have the luxury of living in a land of annual humidity averages of 24% so rust is really a non-issue .

If it does anything, leaving the last pour it is likely to promote uniform cooling and reduce moisture condensation. This is much less a worry with aluminum or brass moulds than iron.

[Cleve Branch]

Thanks for all replies and info, most of it is what I suspected, but needed confirmation? Leaving boolets in didn't make sense to me, it would make a small space for condensation to lay, and the boolet would help to hold it in. Not that it makes a difference with aluminum.
Now it will be easier to stop casting when the time comes,it was difficult to pour the mould full cut the Sprue and not dump them out.

[dudel]

That sprue is going to be awfully hard!

[bangerjim]

I have seen a few molds at gun shows with missing/broken plates AND boolits in the cavities!!!! I wonder how that happened?!?!?!? Go figure.

When you are trying to sell a mold, people want to see the cavities! The old geezer did not sell his molds to anyone.


banger