Lee 358-148-WC problem

[Ring3]

I'm somewhat new to casting and am having an issue with a new Lee 358-148-WC 6 cavity mold. I am using a RCBS bottom pour pot, 50%COWW/50%soft lead with 2% tin added. Tried pour temps from 650-750 degrees. Boolit weights range from 147-149g. No smoke. Only lubing the pins and sprue plate hinge bolt.

My issue is poor fill out of the leading edge of the boolits nose. About 2/3's of this edge is sharp the rest is rounded off. The rounding is located in two places in the circumference of the edge. This occurs on all 6 cavities. I've looked at the cavities under magnification and see nothing odd. I have also examined the bold vent lines and all look clear.

Throughout this trial and error I have made over 500 boolits. They all have this defect. If solved I could re-melt them but at this point I plan on shooting them up.

Usually a search here provides an answer to my questions. No luck yet on this one. Am I being too picky? I'll try to post a picture of one later. Any guidance appreciated.

Rob

Here are a couple pics. Best I can do. Hope they show the boolits leading edge defects clearly.
http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/vv259/ring33/IMG_1317_zpsy754nbwr.jpg
http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/vv259/ring33/IMG_1316_zpsbinttbtq.jpg

[ShooterAZ]

Your sizer may sharpen those edges up. Maybe an optical illusion, but are the boolits out of round also? Be sure to preheat your mold on a hot plate, and keep your hands off of the sprue plate handle when using 6 cavity molds.

[Ring3]

That's boolit has been sized and lubed. The pic does look out of round. I think that's because the leading edge is not sharp all the way around. Each mic's at .358-.360 as cast.

[runfiverun]

here is what I would do.
lube.
shoot.
lube.
shoot.
make some more.

[376Steyr]

If you don't have any other wrinkles on the rest of the bullet, oil contamination is unlikely, but I'd clean the blocks again just to be sure. If that doesn't work, I'd look at your pouring technique. Do you press the mould against the spout? Use the bombardier method of dropping the lead into the mould? Somewhere in between? I'd try varying casting technique before modifying the blocks.

[dondiego]

How do the bases look? If they are square I wouldn't worry too much. Is this a brand new mold? It might come around.

[Ring3]

I bought the RCBS pot used. Have not adjusted its height or pour settings. The mold rides about 1/4" from the spout. Lead flows quickly. Sometimes so quick that it spills over into the next empty cavity before I can move the mold under the spout. Mold is full within a few seconds.

Interesting, I hadn't considered pour rate and distance as the offending variable. I have 3 other Lee 6 cavity molds that haven't had this issue using the same pot and settings. They are Round Flat and SWC versions though so possible the full WC needs one of these two things adjusted.

[Ring3]

Bases are square and sharp. I did have to adjust and true up the sprue plate early on. It wasn't flat and didn't cut the bases cleanly. Better now.

[gwpercle]

Try a bit more heat , I get best results when the boolits are right at frosty , I jack the heat up and when frosty shows up back it down to barely frosty, The bases are most important. Flat level smooth with no holes or chunks torn out.
Those boolits look pretty good , if the base and sides decent , load them.
6 cavity Lee moulds are not the easiest to learn with, but keep casting and trying different techniques and you will get it down.
Gary

[35remington]

Check venting under the sprue plate. Gap or no gap?

[Larry Gibson]

You're not getting the alloy into the cavities quick enough. Many do not realize how quickly alloy solidifies once it's out of the pot and into cavities. I suggest running the alloy at 715 - 725 degrees. Adjust the spout control to allow a faster stream of alloy to come out.

Adjust the mould guide so the sprue plate is not more than 1/2" below the spout. I put the 6 cavity mould under the pot and fill the cavity closes to me 1st. Fill each cavity separately. Let the alloy over fill the cavity sort of boiling out and making a generous sprue....even if it runs off....then go to the next cavity.

Cast bullets.....meaning adjust your tempo between mould fills so the mould stays hot and at an even temp......cast quick enough so the bullets just don't frost. Don't delay between casts inspecting bullets or anything else as that can create an uneven tempo and result in the mould cooling too much between casts. I set the filled mould on a rest still holding the handles and put the previous fills sprue back in the pot while waiting for the sprue to solidify.

Maintaining even mould block temperatures and getting the alloy into the mould as quick as possible is the key.

Larry Gibson

[mdi]

If you can't get good boolits after all the suggestions here, something is very wrong ;). Basically I'm with R-5-R on this, with one thought; are you leaving a good puddle on the sprue plate?

[Echo]

My guess, FWIW, is a venting problem, since it occurs at several positions. The above suggestions make sense, but my vote is still for venting...

[Engineer1911]

I have the same pot and mold, but not your problem. The flow rate is adjustable (try faster and slower), set the mold support so there is 1/2" between bottom of spout and top of sprue plate, try to have a sprue that is 1/8" to 3/16" thick on the overflow away from the sprue hole, and finally increase the temperature of your pot.

The first 2 things I'd do is set the mold support to 1/2" gap and increase pot temperature. For your finished bullets, I believe I would size/lube and load 25 or 50 to what the accuracy is when fired at 25 yards. Group size is more importance than visual appearance.

I currently have several boxes of loaded, beautiful 44 mag bullets that quickly change 2 of my S&W revolvers from 0.429" rifled bore to 0.42 smooth bore in as little as 25 rounds. The groups size for the first 3 rounds is good.

[Ring3]

Thank you for all the help and suggestions. Last night I worked with mold height and pore rate. Still having the same issue. My cadence is significantly hampered due to sticking bullets. I have to tap the hinge bolt smartly and many times to get all to drop. Thought this issue would resolve itself with use but it remains.

I read about "Leementing" and am working on that now. Brought the blocks to work with me and on breaks I'm scribbing each vent line (just the heavy ones). If I'm home in time I plan on polishing each cavity. If it's a vent or cadence problem I hope this will help.

This weekend ill try try some of the bullets already made. Got everything ready to load them, just lack the time.

One other note, there is a gap between the sprue plate and mold when closed. I tried adjusting the pivot bolt tighter and looser thinking more or less gap might help. No luck there. The bolt stops at tight. If backed out even a little it self loosens with every pour.

I got got a lot to learn. Not giving up on this mold or casting. Next mold might be from another maker though. Not talking Lee down, just curious how another brand might preform for me.

Thanks again.
Rob

[Shiloh]

I used to fret over un perfect boolits. The 50' and 25 yard targets don't show a problem for me.

SHiloh

[JeffG]

I experience the same thing with that mold, but it is random and inconsistent. I use an old Lee bottom pour. If I pressure pour, no issue, so I know it has something to do with how I'm pouring. I run my melt at 715 typically for this bullet and they are just frosty but not too much. I think the last time I cast a batch of these, i got closer to the sprue plate and tried to run the stream into the middle of the hole, making sure the gases had an escape as pouring. The bullets were better but still had a random one with rounded leading edge in a place or 2. Bottom line is I loaded them up and shot them at steel targets and they all do just fine. It's a cosmetic thing, but I'm picky about it. The bases have never been an issue.

[GooseGestapo]

Add some 95/5 (tin-antimony) lead-free solder to your alloy mix. The tin will improve the fill. Also, bullets will shoot better.
I too see it frequently with my 5 dozen+ Lee molds.

[JeffG]

I cast about 300 of these yesterday. I had the melt at the usual 715 degrees. I had the spout less than 1/4 inch from the sprue plate and made sure I poured into the center of the hole, and not too slow. Each cavity was filled separately, not in a single stream through all cavities. It made a difference in the quality. I just noted Larry G also mentions filling individually too.

[seaboltm]

Look fine to me. It's not a 100m boolit.

[Boolseye]

I think mold heat may be the deciding variable. It almost always is for me.
Hotplate and/or dip a corner in the melt. The mold has to be very hot to cast perfect bolts.
That said, your bullets look pretty good, definitely shoot 'em up.

[Tonto]

Suggest trying a light coat of mould release. Also as suggested, let the alloy drop an inch or more into to fill hole, keep everything hot and I've always had better luck with a continuous pour from front to back.