First cast didn't work so well.

[Jimlakeside]

I purchased 33lbs of range lead for $.55/lb. I took it home, melted it, cast it with a Lee 6-cavity mold in 9MM. (Took me a while, but I really got the hang of casting.) Water quinched the bullets, lubed them with Glenn,s carnauba red, sized then in my Lyman 450, loaded up three different loads, all using Winchester once-fired brass, Wolf primers. The loads are as follows:

1. Vihtavuori N340 4.8 grains 1050 to 1120 fps

2. Vihtavuori N340 4.4 grains 1021 to 1057

2 Vihtavuori N320 3.6 grains 950 to 985

All loads shot great, very accurate, a few keyholes which I attributted to my poor casting abilities.

I got home, my Lone Wolf barrel was leaded from head to toe.

From reading on this forum I am assuming that either the lead was too soft, or I didn't get enough lube on the bullets. The lee mold produces four tiny rings for the lub to fill. It doesn't look like much lube is on the bullet, but agin I have never cast before, so I don't really know.

I have two questions, 1. any ideas that you can give me about my current set-up will be greatly appreciated and 2. who makes a multi-cast mold in 125 grain 9MM. My wife and I have been shooting 2,000 rounds per month so I would like a high capacity mold.

Thanks for your help.

Jim

[Tom Herman]

Hi Jim,

Sorry to hear you're having problems. I suspect it's an issue of running pure lead too fast, possibly with a lube problem.
I have a .455 Webley mould that throws bullets with two small grease grooves, but I literally have zero leading with it.
My alloy is 50/50 lead and wheel weights, with 2% Tin added for flowability for a hardness somewhere around 40:1... This gives me minimal or no leading in .44 Special, .45 LC, and the .455 Webley.
I use SPG, not sure that will be suitable for your higher speeds & semiautos.
Try using a harder alloy, don't give up!

Happy Shootin'! -Tom

[Bass Ackward]

I have a question. How did you decide what diameter to size your bullet to?

My point is that no matter how good your lube is, no matter how hard your bullet is, if the lube is blown off before the bullet seals, you essentially are shooting bullets WITHOUT lube. And you are going to lead as a result.

The first step is to always slug your throat and bore. What size did your slug come out when you slugged the barrel?

[45 2.1]

Range lead will more than likely heat treat thru water dropping, PROVIDED you give it about a couple of weeks minimum for the boolits to harden up. They are too soft for the first 4 to 5 days for the pressure levels your shooting at. If you cast sized and loaded in first few days, that is where your leading is coming from.

[jhalcott]

Jim ,welcome,I've not seen you here before. Is your mold the 90402, 124 grain one?. Also. have you considered Lee liquid Alox lube? I have used air cooled wheel weight alloy to shoot up to 2000 fps in several guns. YOUR bullets may be too HARD ro expand and fill the bore. I said MAY BE! That and sizing to a smaller than needed diameter is probably what caused the leading. I read an article where a guy claimed to have shot a .357 mag to 1600 fps WITH OUT any lube. He got NO leading his secret was correct sizing. He went back to lube after this test though.

[Cherokee]

Reads like you were using conventionsl lube on a Lee tumble lube bullet "four tiny rings for the lub to fill". Also reads like your bullets were harder than I use in my 9mm. I suspect the bullet size is not equal to or larger than your barrel bore. If fit is OK, then lube may be inadequate for those little Lee rings don't hold much. If its a Lee tumble lube bullet, then use their tumble lube.

[runfiverun]

if you are using the lee method go with their lube a lot of guys double lube them.
they thin out the first coat. let dry and apply a second.
if you got bad leading and tumbled [key holes] boolits they were too small..
j.m.o.

[Jimlakeside]

Bass Ackward

I have shot several thousand commercially produced lead bullets at .356 diameter without any problem. I sized the bullets to that diameter. I have never slugged a barrel.

[Jimlakeside]

jhalcott,

Yes the mold is the 90402 124 grain Lee mold. I have a bottle of Lee Alox which I was going to try next. Unfortunately I sized and lubed all othe bullets I cast, so if the bullets are undersized (like some suggest) then the lube won't do any good.

I have an ample supply of wheel weights (bought at teh recycle shop for $.50/lb) so I will start using them. This was a good learning experience. I have never cast bullets before, so I have a lot to learn.

[leftiye]

Lar's C-red is a super good lube. No advantage to Lee mule snot there. Slug-a you barrel! Size at least .001" over groove diameter (fit the boolit). Those (virtually all) Lee molds have too small of lube grooves IMHO. If you can shoot those tumble lube boolits as cast (as they were designed to be shot) - reads if the loaded rounds will chamber without sizing, try that, it should tell you if your boolits were undersized. Maybe slow down the velocity some, eh? Or maybe go to a slower powder.

[Bass Ackward]

jhalcott,

Yes the mold is the 90402 124 grain Lee mold. I have a bottle of Lee Alox which I was going to try next. Unfortunately I sized and lubed all othe bullets I cast, so if the bullets are undersized (like some suggest) then the lube won't do any good.


No quite the opposite. LLA is the bullet diameter increaser. It also can't be burned from a lead slug. So if you are going to shoot lead too hard for any pressure or undersized bullets, then LLA is going to stand a better chance of bailing you out than a conventional lube that will blow off.

[Jimlakeside]

Thanks for all of your help. From what you told me I finally figured out what I did wrong. I purchased the TL356-124-TC 6-cavity mold. I didn't know it, but the TL means that the mold was designed to produce bullets for Tumble Lubing with Lee Liquid Alox. When I sent them through the Lyman sizer, it made them too small, hence leading the barrel. I should have ordered another type Lee mold if I wanted to run them through a sizer. I think I will give Lee another try and get a six capicity mold not designed for tumble lubing.

Thanks for all of your help.

Jim