Casting Machines

[hunter74]

I'm looking at different casting machines and have some questions for you people in that regard.

For about a year now I have used my NVM Mark-X manual caster. When you get to know the machine it's running great and it sure beats hand casting for both speed and ease of shoulders and neck. But after some days behind it you still know it in your neck and right shoulder.

My business is expanding and my customers are happy so to have a automated caster of some sort would be really cool but sadly a new Bullet Master from Magma or a Mark II from NVM is a bit too steep on the price. In other words I'm looking for a used machine and maybe in a couple of years invest in a new one. So.... Many questions pop into my head around this.... Please coment from experience....

I see that Northern Valley Machine offer the Mark II machine and Magma of course have the Mark 8 Bullet Master. If you should buy a new one, which one would you buy? The price is about the same. Since I already have the Mark-X i have a lot of moulds that would fit on the Mark II. But they also would fit on a magma machine with different sprue plates, would they not?

I see on the Magma web site that the Bullet Master has a floater on the pouring system so the nosle preasure is constant with dropping lead level in the pot. This is not the case on the Mark-X and it of course has an effect on the lead flow. Does the Mark II have this?

Here in Norway I have never seen other machines than the ones from Magma. I guess they have been around a longer time, much longer than the others. Are they because of this, more well proven and a more safe bet for a noob? The custom support at NVM are great! I'm not sure about Magma. I have only bought a Star from them. I'm in no way a mechanic and have to have a machine that's low maintenance and don't need a lot of skill to operate. The Mark-X and the Mark II is similar in many was so I guess I maybe understand some of the mechanical aspects a little bit better on this machine than the Magma.

Anyway. If I can get one used it most likely would be a Magma, but who knows how old it would be and what mark/model it would be. Is it any way to tell? Any model I should avoid? To pay a lot for a machine that has been in the commercial business for many years is maybe not a great plan!

Any comments?

Thanks

[pressonregardless]

I can't answer your questions, hopefully some of the guys that do know more about these
machines will chime in.

[jmorris]

What kind of production are you looking for and how much money do you have to spend?

[bstone5]

It is hard to find a machine better than the Magma and the support is very good. For large volume casting the Magma is a very good choice. I have a Master Caster that is automated with a PLC and makes about 800 cast bullets per hour, I only make bullets for myself and my family, not as a business just as a hobby.

[hunter74]

I'm not quitting my day job so in that regard I'm don't have to have a certain output. With my Mark-X today I can produce 2-5000 boolits in one sitting. But it's not easy on the right shoulder!

My plan is to earn the money before using them so I guess I should wait a year or two before buying an automated caster. The question is which one to go for. As I understand the Bullet Master uses 8 moulds. I now have 4 of each boolit I want to make. Both of the machines Mark II from NVM and Mark 8 from magma can run with fever moulds than a full set. The Magma has an option for a bullet separator. That's a must when running two different boolits at the same time. Sorting when sizing takes too much time.

Oh well..... Guess I have some time to think about all these questions.

If anyone have a used one to sell I'll be interested.

[hunter74]

Can someone educate me on the difference between the Magma Bullet Master Models? It would be good knowledge to have if I came across a old machine for sale. I see that the mark II have a small pot, 50 pounds or so. With 8 moulds running that's not much!

[ReloaderFred]

Each progressive model of the Magma Bullet Master has improvements that make the machine run better. I have a Mark 6, which requires both air pressure and 240 volts of electricity to run it. Some of the early models used electric solenoids for some of the processes my machine does with air pressure.

There are controls that regulate the time of the pour, the speed of the mold carousel, the knockers that knock the sprue off the cutters, the knockers that make the bullets fall from the molds, etc. There's a lot going on while the machine is running.

They are not "turn on and forget" machines. They take constant monitoring while casting. Every time I think my machine is running smoothly, and "what could possibly go wrong", a sprue will get caught between the mold halves and I'll break a shear pin. Or the pour valve will get stuck for some unknown reason and I'll have lead going everywhere before I can get it turned off. Sometimes the pour valve will skip a pour (still haven't figured that one out) and that messes up the sequence and the sprue knocker will stay forward and get caught under the mold, breaking another shear pin and bending the rod on the knocker, which means replacing yet another pneumatic knocker.......

When running properly, my machine will produce somewhere around 20,000 bullets in a day, but other days I'm lucky to get 8 or 9,000 before I get so frustrated I have to walk away from it..

Then there's the Lube Master and collator. The Lube Master isn't a real big problem, but it sometimes cycles without lubing the bullet. It doesn't make sense, as the lube pump is mechanically operated, and when the arm moves, it should pump lube, but for some reason it doesn't. This only happens about 5 bullets per thousand or so.

The collator almost ended up buried in a very deep hole in the ground. I even sent it back to M-A Systems, along with about 500 bullets, but all that did was cost me almost $400 and 500 bullets, and it still wouldn't drop the bullets nose first. We're talking about 125 gr. .38 bullets, which is a relatively easy bullet to work with. I spent many more days fiddling with it until I got it to be about 95% reliable dropping that bullet nose first. I cast other bullets, but I'm leery of changing the adjustments on the collator, since it took so long to get it to work for this one bullet.

I bought all my equipment used, and I know I'm the third owner. I have no idea what the previous owners did with, or to, the machines, since they're all dead and gone now.

My bottom line is, some days I love the machines and other days I don't care if I ever see them again. If I have a small run of bullets to do, I just sit down in front of my Master Caster and crank them out by hand.....

Hope this helps.

Fred

[hunter74]

Thank you Fred. Your shared experience with these machines is greatly appreciated! You say that the tappers break and share pins break. Are these expensive parts? From my Mark-x machine I have learned that boolits WILL get stuck, and problems WILL occur and swearing and frustration takes place before the problem is solved. I guess this is the case regardless of what machine you have. One thing that's sure is that the learning curve is steep and the problems get less once you get to know the machine! If expensive parts on the machine break in the process is..... well... not a good thing!

Of course the mark 8 is the best of the Magmas but I have to sell a lot of bullets to pay for that. The oldest ones I guess I have to avoid. If you can't get spear parts it's quite a gamble how long it would run.

[ReloaderFred]

hunter74,

The shear pins are a simple soft bolt, and are very inexpensive. They can be purchased at any hardware store, as I'm sure they can be in Norway, as well. The sprue tapper isn't expensive, either. I buy them from zoro.com for $21.29 each. https://www.zoro.com/speedaire-round-air-cylin-1-116inbore-1instroke-106nsr0100/i/G1990152/

There is a learning curve, but most of it is common sense, and since you're already using a manual casting machine, you already know the basics of casting on a machine. The rest is just the mechanical aspects of the machine itself.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[hunter74]

I'm now a happy owner of an old Bullet Master. It came with one set of moulds casting the Magma 150 gr SWC for 45 ACP. The machine runs ok if you watch it all the time. Some stuck boolits occurred and they often got shaken out the next pass but not all the time.

Because of heavy dripping and a lot of problems with that I took the rod out of the pot and it showed heavy wear. Cleaning the pot made the dripping less but I have a new rod on the way from Magma. Looks like dripping is a cause of severe problems.

With the mentioned boolit I ran the machine at half speed wich made about 2k boolits/hour. Faster it tended to get stuck boolits and occurring problems. I ordered a set of 105 gr swc moulds from Magma. Maybe I can run them faster? Time will show.

Since the machine is old it has the small melting pot so it enough work to fill it with alloy. It runs dry fast if all is going without problems.

I also ordered the mould release from Magma. Do you spray it into the cavities and on the sprue plate or do you recomend to use dry lube on the spruplate?

Thanks

[Tazza]

Does your machine have tappers? If not, you may want to add some to assist with dropping stubborn projectiles. Others have used an acetylene torch to smoke the molds, but you need to do it again when they start sticking again. It may last a few hundred to a few thousand rounds.

You said you have a new rod coming for the pot, what does the seat look like at the bottom of the pot? You can scrape any rubbish out of the hole and use some lapping paste and a drill to spin the rod to make sure you have a nice seat that matches the rod.

When you get the drips and the release of the projectiles, you will be able to speed things up.

I have an automated master caster, you need to tweak the settings for each mold and different days to get the most out of it. When it's running right, you sit back and just add lead.

You mention the pot drains quickly, as yours doesn't have the double pot, you will need to add ingots every so often. If you work it right, you will be able to hold the correct temperature at the base of the pot so it stays liquid and you can keep it topped up with fresh metal.

[hunter74]

My machine have some of the newer upgrades including pneumatics controlling the pouring. It also has the tappers for the mould carriers in the bottom of the machine who nocks most of the boolits out. It also has the pneumatic sprue plate tapper who gives the plate one nock before the release of the sprue. When I speed up the machine many of the sprues seems to get stuck a little too long so it gets into the bin with the boolits. This is irritating and the sorting takes time. Ob my Mark-X I got rid of this problem with polishing the top of the sprue cutter with a dremmel and some polishing compound. Is this recommend on the ones from Magma? They seem to be coated with something.

My pot is divided into a preheating/melting and a different compartment for delivering alloy to the moulds. It's a floating valve between the two compartments. From what I have read the two compartments on these old machines has a combined capacity of 50 lbs. I can see why that's doubled on the newer ones.

God tip about polishing the rod for the pot. I have gotten a new one from Magma so I'm changing to that one when the drippings get worse again and maybe in the meantime polishing up the old one ans keep it as a spear part.

Guess I should take a look at the moulds installed and look for stuck lead, scratches/burrs or wear in the moulds. If they have that it also could bee the cause of the stuck boolits.

I'll try my new moulds some day soon. The small 105 gr swc should run fast if everything is right. I don't know if Magma de-grease the moulds before shipping. If not I'll go over them with brake cleaner and give them a light smoking from a Bic lighter. That usually helps on new moulds.

[Tazza]

I think polishing the top of the sprue plate is a good idea, i did it to mine and they don't stick often. The coating i think is just from heat treatment, possibly even just bluing to make them pretty.

Even if you don't de-grease them, i find that it burns off pretty fast, brake cleaner works well too.

If there is lead build up, it can cause issues with sticking. I get that on mine too, it is a real pain as it doesn't cut the base off smooth which increases the projectile weight.

Do you have any pictures of your new machine? i'd be interested in seeing it. I'd love one, but sadly, the cost is out of my reach.

[Ausglock]

Trying to buy new Magma gear for Australia was a bloody Nightmare. They (Magma) stuffed me around something bad.
They just didn't want to know.
This is why I went to NVB

[Tazza]

The first time i asked them about a price for shipping on a MC to .au, it took me weeks to get a reply, the price was silly so i passed.

I then got hold of a used one and emailed them about how to set it up, i had great service from them. Even when i bought 3 extra molds just before x-mas, the service was great and a week later i had the molds in my hands.

I really can't complain about the service i have received, it's sad that you had a bad experience.

[ReloaderFred]

The mold release you bought from Magma is to be mixed with denatured alcohol and placed in the spray bottle. You spray it on the top of the sprue cutters to release the sprue. It's best to spray while there are bullets in the molds, since you're going to get wrinkled bullets if the spray gets inside the molds.

I stopped buying the mold release from Magma, and now I just buy the cheapest generic PAM cooking spray. I spray it into the mold spray bottle, mix in a little denatured alcohol, and use that. It's a fraction of the price of the Magma stuff. I pay $2.99 US a can for the cooking spray and it lasts a long, long time. Don't try to spray directly from the pressurized can, or it will get all over everything and down inside the molds. You'll have several hundred wrinkled bullets before it finally wears off.

I've found that the 105 gr. .38 caliber bullet is one of the hardest bullets to cast on my Bullet Master. I have to raise the heat and slow the pour to get them to fill out properly.

You can also place your next ingot of alloy on the edge of the melting pot to warm up prior to placing it in the premelt side of the pot. This will help to reduce temperature fluctuations when you add in more ingots.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[hunter74]

Many good tips since my last post Thanks it helps!

It's an old machine. Between 20-30 years and I'm the third owner. The first one changed out and updated it some years ago. I got it for less cost than 3 sets of moulds so I'm real happy. Because of the age the machine it has many hours on it, so I hope I don't get too much trouble with it. But I guess I can't complain either way!

I have the same experience with the 105 swc boolit as you Fred when casting on my Mark-X. But the moulds I have for that one is FB. The ones I ordered from Magma has BB so I hope this helps in releasing the boolits. To me it looks like small boolits, and especially full wadcutters, are the hardest to machine cast. I have some moulds for my Mark-X that's a copy of the H&G #50WC. That one and full wadcutters in 32 cal are a pain in the backside! It's hard to get them to fill out properly and when they do, and run the moulds hot, they stick like glue to the mould halfs. If not I often get rounded edges on the base and front band. TC and RNFP are clearly prefered designs to machine cast. Not only for the ease of casting but also for happy customers and boolits that look good and work good in many firearms both autos and revolvers.


I'll post some pictures this evening.

[ReloaderFred]

hunter74,

Adding tin to the alloy helps with the fill out on the smaller bullets, but tin is expensive. I have about 20,000 of the 105 gr. FPBB bullets that I was going to try to salvage, but I'm going to end up melting them and adding some tin to the alloy. The same alloy makes great 125 gr. .38 FP and 200 gr. RNFP bullets, but there's just something about those light .38's that makes them hard to cast. A friend owns Badman Bullets, and he says the same thing about the 105 gr. bullets.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[hunter74]

Here are pictures as promised

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160331/380780d54f60e9af7467c8e35f655bb1.jpg

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160331/964e2b5cb379ac8ca4bf4df7a33fefae.jpg
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160331/3d925e745691215321e3d895ac782a8f.jpg
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160331/b7924d21f427e2b199417af7eaa3682a.jpg
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160331/bf75824766d2b18ca07f42c796d37c67.jpg

[hunter74]

Don't look at all the messy stuff in the garage 😂

[Don Purcell]

What messy stuff? I thought all garages looked like that, mine does.

[Tazza]

Looks pretty good for the third owner!

Thanks for the pictures, now if i could only have one in my shed too :)

[hunter74]

Thanks. It works great when adjusted right but I'm having some trouble adjusting the timing of the pouring and the nockers in the bottom.

These actions take plase 12 and 6 o clock on the wheel and adjusting one affects the other. To me it seems to pour a little to early. http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160402/4d7046c331946a459c20c24bfd8a9b7d.jpg

It doesn't seem to affect the boolits to much but I'm adraid that this can degrade the quality of some of the bases. Rounded bases on one side and so on.
I've played with the adjustments of the "thing" that touches the mould carriers but can't get it just right. Can someone please tell me in plain english what the two knobs do?

I have fugured this
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160402/2ed23bf1f2ff5266c3d9c9458bff0a8f.jpg
This moves the "feeler rods" (I'm calling them that in lack of a better word) in and out. Clockwise in and counter clockwise out i think.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160402/8c4d21ab5bca7a51c5583ed8ed1bce67.jpg
This knob moves the rod sideways left and right and I think that moving it clockwise increases the travel of the wheel before stopping. Right?

What's the deal with the canted and flat sides on the moulds carrier? I see that the rod has a wheel at the end sliding on the adges on the carrier arms and the wheel gets pushed in. Is that the signal to the activation of the pour and the knockers? It seems to have to be adjusted perfect to touch the canted edge and the flat spot at the right time.

Can someone please set this straight? I've red the Magma manual and I did not get any smarter about this.... Maybe it's because I'm slow or that English language is not my native tounge.... I don't know..... What I do know is that you guys have the knowledge 😂

Thanks again!

[hunter74]

Anyone??

[AbluquerqueBullet,LLC]

I believe the 2 knobs adjust the position of the lead flow switch adjsuting the position will adjust when in drops lead. the wheel looks to be under rotated? the position of the wheel is adjusted by adjusting the arm that connects to the motor. the mold carriers have the angle cut into them so they can wedge into the opening cams on the bottom of the rotation.

[hunter74]

I'm sure you are right. Im not sure I understand what you mean about the arm that connects to the motor. Is it on the main chaft or where the shear pin breaka

Thanks

[AbluquerqueBullet,LLC]

if you are flowing lead to soon try turning to knob on the front of the machine the last picture. and read the manual
3rd page
http://www.magmaengineering.com/PDF/Bullet_Master_MK8_Instructions.pdf

[AbluquerqueBullet,LLC]

below the sheer pin the long arm that goes all of the way back to the motor. on the side below the sheer pin it can be disconnected with it should be a hitch pin and clevis pin. you can tighten or loosen the clevis on that end of the rod as one way to adjust how much stroke it applies. that is in the manual kind of hidden last thing on second page. in the lateral adjustment paragraph.

Also make sure that the arm the long part that goes back to the motor is straight if it is bent then this is the cause of the sudden difference in stroke. if it is bent make sure it is running the right sheer pin.

[ReloaderFred]

Prior to making adjustments, clean the pour spout, as it appears one hole in the spout may be plugged with debris. I sent you a PM on how to do that, and a picture of the tool I made for clearing the holes in the pour spout (spigot).

In case the picture didn't come through on the PM, here it is again:

http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/m606/ReloaderFred/Master%20Caster%20002.jpg (http://s1134.photobucket.com/user/ReloaderFred/media/Master%20Caster%20002.jpg.html)

Hope this helps.

Fred

[ReloaderFred]

The picture is the one I use on my Master Caster, but I also made one that I use on my Bullet Master. This picture was handy, so I used it.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[hunter74]

It turned out that the previous owner had installed a smaller diameter share pin. This allowed too much play in the joint. Bacause of this the wheel stopped a tad too son and the described problems occurred.

I got some share pins that had the correct diameter and the problem solved! A easy solution to the problem once identified!

[ReloaderFred]

Glad you were able to figure it out. That shear pin is pretty important, and it's also important that it's not too hard. It has to shear when something gets caught in the mechanism. I've gone through dozens of them.......

Fred

[hunter74]

I replaced it with a similar machine screw of the same diameter. The guy at the harware store said it would brake at the same resistance so I hope thats the case. Guess I'll watch the machine closely until I know for sure! My experience is that it's not a good idea to leave it unattended for a long time 😁

I'm having problems with lead sticking to my mould halfs. Any good advice here? My plan for the day is to remove alle the moulds and go over them with a razor blade and smoke them. I casted som 105 swc last evening and ran it about 60% speed without the fans on. The machine ran great but I struggled with stuck boolits.

[Tazza]

I find that when my molds are too hot they can stick. Smoking the molds will help release them too. It could also be the tappers not hitting hard enough?

You may want to buy a few shear pins then copy them. I have seen other people that got new bolts and used a lathe to cut a groove into them to weaken them the same amount as the factory bolts. This is only of the setup you have uses weakened bolts that have a groove cut into them to allow them to shear off with less tension.

I wonder if you can even install a circuit breaker on the motor so if it was to stall, it would trip and not require a shear pin?

[ReloaderFred]

I always run the fans when I'm casting, as they cool the sprue faster and keep the molds from overheating. I've never smoked any of my molds on either the Master Caster or Bullet Master, but I do spray the sprue cutters and tops of the molds with the PAM/denatured alcohol mix about every thousand bullets or so. I spray when the sprues start sticking.

You also might try spraying the inside of the molds with the mold release you bought from Magma. You'll just have to remelt the next 500 or so bullets, as they'll be wrinkled from the lube, but enough residue will remain in the mold cavities to help with the bullets falling out.

My Mark 6 Bullet Master already has a circuit breaker on the motor circuit in case the shear pin doesn't break in a timely fashion. The shear pins are simply soft bolts, so there shouldn't be any need to machine grooves in them.

Hope this helps.

[hunter74]

I was trying to get a feel for it when running the small 105 gr 38s. The moulds seems a bit cold when running the fans ans 60% speed but I'll try that next time when my moulds are cleaned up. They sure got too hot without the fans so....... I'll also try to spray with mould release and see if I get better results. I pour a generous sprue so the sprue plates get worm. I have no smeared lead so I guess they are not too hot.



Sent fra min SM-G900F via Tapatalk

[angus6]

My 2400 MK5 doesn't have the pneumatic knockers underneath and it really hasn't been a problem I do use a mold release and sprue lube. I'm finally getting close to needing to fire it back up as I made a enough bullets a couple years back that it's just been sitting.

Was really hoping to see Joshua get his act together and start making molds again as I was wanting a set for 300blk subs

[AbluquerqueBullet,LLC]

What temperatures are you running? running it to hot will make lead smear under the sprue plate which causes the sprues to stick really bad. the sprue basically welds to the under smear forming a rivet. and it will build lead around the profile of the cavity causing the bullet to stick. I clean them with a good new razor and some times 1500gt sandpaper to remove any lead coloration the re-coat with the spray.

I use lyman dry moly spray on my molds and bottom of sprue plates never the top never. as mold release it works really well goes on super fine and lasts a very long time i run 12-22k bullets per run so for me it has to work.

Once you are getting good bullets slowly back the temps down and see when they bullets start to lose fill. then speed the machine up a little to run the molds a little hotter. you want to run it cold and fast while maintaining proper fillout.

[hunter74]

I casted some boolits this evening and I got som stuck as before but the mould release worked great. First I sprayed the top of the sprue plate and into the empty moulds. Then I sprayed the moulds and the underside of the sprue plate after it was knocked over, with the boolits still in the moulds. That seemed like a good idea. I also sprayed into the cavities at one time but I got som wrinkles after that but not too long. After that I sprayed the top of those moulds with the stuck boolit in place. It fell out on the next pass and it took some time before it stuck again. I ran it from 65-90 % of full speed with both fans on all the time. At 90% it seemed to get little too hot. My guess is that it could work at about 75-80% of full throttle.


I run my pot at 760 F and my alloy are 70-30 range scrap - pure +2% tin. I'm thinking about using a bit harder alloy since I get a lot of pinch marks on one side of the boolits. But that gets ironed out during sizing so it does not bother me too much.

I have not tried to run the melt at a lower temp. I get great fill out with my existing setup and these boolits are not the easiest to get to fill out properly.

Thanks for good advices! I'm learning every day and I feel that I know my machine better and better. Today it ran about 3 hours without stopping or breaking a shear pin 😅

[Ausglock]

I use HITEK 500 Plus Mold release/ Sprue Plate lube.
Mix it an a trigger spray bottle and give the sprueplate a squirt every now and then.

[AbluquerqueBullet,LLC]

what is the lowest temp you have tried and why did you decide on 760 that is very high.

[hunter74]

I've tried 720 and that seemed to go ok. I cranked up the temp to get fillout on these small 38s. The previous owners stated that he used 750 for all his casting but as I could see from his blocks he also got some sticking.

The fillout didn't seem to be a problem with the amount of tin I have. I guess I'll try your tip about lowering the temp and speed up. If you can get good boolits faster thats a win-win 😉

[ReloaderFred]

I normally cast at 700 degrees F. for most all my bullets. The lighter .38's do fill out better at a slightly higher temperature, though.

I had a weird thing happen with my Mark 6 machine yesterday. I had cast just over 21,000 bullets when the pour valve froze in the open position. The air piston stopped in the open position and the lead flowed everywhere until I could pull the pin connecting the lever to the air piston and get it closed. After I got all the lead out of everything, and I mean everything, I reconnected the lever to the air piston and the machine ran normally again. I can't figure out why it froze in the open position, but it sure made a mess of things. I called it quits for the day after that.

My machine also skips a pour every once in awhile, with no particular pattern. It might go a couple hundred pours and then skip one, or it might skip a couple in a row, but it's random in nature. I've got three pour timers (thanks Angus6 for one of them) and it does it with all three of them, so I've eliminated that as the cause.

It may be one of the micro switches at the top of the carousel, but I haven't tried adjusting them, yet. It's disconcerting, because when it skips a pour, the air piston for the sprue knocker stays extended and the next mold catches on it and bends the shaft, meaning yet another replacement sprue knocker piston. I went through all four of my spare knocker pistons yesterday and have to order some more from Zero.com to replace them.

Like Rosanna Rosannadana used to say, "it's always something"..........

Fred

[AbluquerqueBullet,LLC]

the magma pots run hot i like the ballisti-cast pots with the heated valves it can maintain good bullets at 615F using hardball alloy. I run my 300gr at 595 the other day.

[Don Fischer]

WOW! How many bullet's would it take to justify the cost of one of those? I can't imagine having one unless your into cast bullet's for a living. After you get the machine, what do you do for lead, Roto Metal? Can you actually make that business pay? I could just see myself scrounging wheel weight's to run one of those. I think at 2,500 per hour you'd need about 45 pounds of lead for that many 124gr bullet's! This is mind boggling!

[dverna]

Don

A commercial caster runs foundry lead. Salvaged lead has too many unknowns and sourcing is problematic.

I knew one guy many years ago who tried salvaged lead in one of the Magma commercial casting machines and he had horrible quality. He went out of business in less than 6 months.

[Labanaktis]

Foundry lead will yield proper bullet weight as well as running clean and fill the molds out nicely. For personal use I mix foundry lead with very well cleaned wheel weights. The results are great. We shoot Boolit hose machine guns.

Matt

[AbluquerqueBullet,LLC]

I am a gearhead so i buy none working machines that owners thought they beat beyond use. and I make them right again. just bought a old working bulletmaster for 1400 and am doing a digital temp and variable speed conversion. i will have less than 3000 into it and it will be like a brand new mark 7. I have to get some parts from magma before i know exactly how much.

I use mostly recycled lead. old sheet, pipe, coww, linotype, pewter, and large counter weights from boats forklifts elevators. i never use range scrap it is gun vomit.

[ReloaderFred]

What you guys are calling "foundry lead" is known as certified alloy, which simply means the foundry that alloyed it certifies the percentage of lead, tin, antimony, arsenic and impurities. You get what you pay for, as you don't get certified alloy for a dollar a pound......

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Ausglock]

Run my Ballisti Mark X machines at 760 to 780F for perfect fill out on 9mm bullets.
2,6,92 Hardall alloy.

[Tazza]

Wow, that seems hot.

I run my MC at 340c (644f) i used to run 320c (608f) but i had a few times that i got spout freeze so i bumped it up.

[hunter74]

An update and other questions......

The machine works great and I got the pinching problem sorted out thanks ti to Fred and AlbuquerqueBulletsco. Sheath metal chims behind the right braking choe took care of the problem. So thanks again....

So another tasks are at hand.... The Magma mould sets run great ans the boolits turns out great, but I have a lot of moulds sets for my Mark-X. I have changed the sprue plates and installed 4 of them in the Bullet Master and the plan is to run with a half set. Magma told me that it could not pour lead on empty mould carriers.

Before I try it.....the arm closest to the pot, the one on top is the pouring sensor, right. And the one with the wheel on the edge hitting the carrier about 2 inches lower on the arm is the sensor for the nockers, right?

The pour sensor is pushed in on empty carriers but not so far in as with moulds installed..... I don't understand how this works to control the pour by looking at it. Can someone please explain it to me before trying to run it?

Thankshttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160606/0bc52a2482b24c49fb49f232439cf096.jpg

[hunter74]

The knob you seen on the picture above adjusts the switch for the knocker arm in/ out. The other knob on this picture below adjusts the knocker switch to the sides.

I don't see any adjustments for the pour switch on top. I'm I right or does I have all of this backwards? http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160606/d8c1b4e887470d6e8657dffd173ce9ba.jpg

[AbluquerqueBullet,LLC]

to run a set of 4 you need to remove the empty carrier arms and springs . i have a video of it some where will dig it out for you.

[hunter74]

I removed the right carrier arms on the empty places. The others I attached a plastic retainer clip so they got held in place. It works!

Sent fra min SM-G900F via Tapatalk

[hunter74]

Another challenge has turned up, but I bet some of you have knowledge about this, so her it goes…

Lately I have been struggling with dripping from the right orfice of my Bullet Master. I thought the pouring rod was the problem so I changed it out with a brand new one from Magma. I have tried all kinds of adjustments on the pouring rod itself and on the adjustment stem between the air cylinder that controls the pouring, and the arm connected to the pouring rod. If the rod seals the hole it should stop dripping, right? It does not. It continues with a steady interval no matter what I do. I've tried tapping the rod on top and no result. I've tried to screw the rod left and right with pliers. No result. It continues with about one big drop from the right orfice with approximately a second between drops. Yesterday when I stopped casting I turned the machine off and filled it up again with cold lead to cool the melt down. That was the only way to stop the drip. If the shear pin brakes and the machine stops I have to stick something under the pot real quick so it doesn’t clog up the machine. If a mould is directly under the drip, and it stops we all knows that the world becomes a bad place to be in for a machine caster J The machine runs OK but the drippings cause a lot of debris in the bullet tray, and it’s not optimal to say the least.

Does anyone have anything to suggest that I can try besides heavy fluxing in the pouring pot? I could use a bit more candle wax to try it before giving up and screw out the orfice plate! This is a task I don’t look forward to since I don’t have the two special tools that makes it a bit easier. I guess I should call Magma and order the lengthened wrench and swivel tool. Can anyone share their experience with these tools?
Anyone….?