Rounded bands ok?

[saalfelder]

I just cast my first non black powder boolits and I have some with rounded corners on the lower band on half the boolit.

I was using the NOE 360-180 mold.

I'm figuring the problem was to tight of a sprue plate. You learn a lot when you start casting.

The boolits measure .360 and the bases are square and I'll be using gas checks.

Do I start over? Or should they shoot fine?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rancher1913]

if you have to ask, pitch em. I am not that picky, but then again mine are just plinking loads.

[Finster101]

Rounded bands sounds like the temp is a little too cool.

[Grmps]

how may boolits did you cast?
did you preheat the mold? pour fill-out could be from a cold mold
You need to either add some tin/pewter to help the lead flow better or turn up the pot temperature.
they will shot safely but may not be quite as accurate as they could be

[DerekP Houston]

if you have to ask, pitch em. I am not that picky, but then again mine are just plinking loads.

that would be my opinion. If i see any visible flaws they just get dumped right back in the pot. Doesn't matter if I catch it when casting or after they've been coated and sized. Sometimes a goober slips through and I catch it when loading them up.

[Blackwater]

If you're talking about rounded bases, they may shoot OK, but it's an indication that your metal or mold wasn't hot enough. I always put these back in and remelt them, and try again. I like good, crisply sharp bases on my bullets, but my standards for what makes a "good bullet" are a bit critical. Can't shoot really well with mediocre bullets!

[saalfelder]

That's a bummer. They all look great except for some rounding on half the lower band on a few and the diameter is correct, just wondered if the gas check would make it inconsequential.

I'm running about 4% tin and some of the boolits were a little frosty so I figured the issue had to be the tight sprue plate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ShooterAZ]

To me they are rejects, and I throw them in my sprue bucket and remelt them for the next batch. The gas check may make it inconsequential, but I still wouldn't waste a gas check on a boolit that wasn't properly filled out.

[dragon813gt]

Are you going to size them? If so the rounded bands may disappear when you do so. While I prefer to cast perfect bullets. Some are used strictly for range use so I'm not real particular. As long as the base is sharp and there are no visible voids I load them up and shoot them. This isn't optimal by any stretch. But when shooting at 7-10 yards I've found no discernible difference on target.

[lightman]

I'm pretty picky about my bullets and strive for perfection. Some of my friends say I'm too picky. I would remelt them. I expect my cast to shoot as well as factory, and they do. It sounds like your temp is too low, either the alloy or mold temp.

[blue32]

The last imperfection to disappear on my boolits when starting a casting session are rounded bands. They're usually remelted but Ive sized a bunch and they shoot fine.

[John Boy]

Do I start over? Or should they shoot fine?
Set them aside for comparison...
Your next casting session: heat the pot met and the mold up to a temperature so with a 5 second pour ... the sprue puddle FROSTS in 5-8 seconds. Then compare the 1st batch round bands and 2nd batch for bell curve weight variance and base diameters.
Believe you'll put the 1st batch back in the pot

[Smoke4320]

FOR ME ..you may choose differently

In a rifle for any target or hunting rounds these will be rejects
in a pistol for carry or defense ...rejects .. plinking rounds they may be fine Just don't expect great accuracy

[white eagle]

you boolits your call
like the others have said it depends on their intended use
I wouldn't worry to much about them for cuttin paper

[nvbirdman]

Shoot a few, melt the rest, try again.

[gwpercle]

If you are going to cast and have spent money on a good mould you might as well do it right.
Moulds usually take two or three casting sessions to get broken in and seasoned, consider this a break in . I like them near perfect , well filled out sharp edges .
Heat the mould well , I start at with the alloy at 750 , pour a good sized sprue and let it harden before cutting. If they start getting frosty, turn the heat down a little, I get my best right at the frosty temperature.
You will learn , it just takes a little doing and practice.
Gary

[pjames32]

My experience with NOE molds-it takes 2-3 heat cycles before they work great for me, you need to use a hot plate to get the molds hot enough, once you start casting set a fast pace-don't stop to look at your product!
YMMV
I'd shoot them!

[saalfelder]

Thanks for all the help. I'm gonna go through what I have and do a do over after keeping only the near perfect ones.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[murf205]

saalfelder, save about 10 of those with rounded bands and load them in your next session. Shoot them for accuracy against some of your best boolits and see if there is any difference. From my experience, I have shot some from my most accurate revolver(scoped) and was surprised to find that they shot as well as the best ones. Worth a try, if just to satisfy the question, if nothing else. If you do shoot them, let us know the results. Pics are always welcome here.

[lightman]

saalfelder, save about 10 of those with rounded bands and load them in your next session. Shoot them for accuracy against some of your best boolits and see if there is any difference. From my experience, I have shot some from my most accurate revolver(scoped) and was surprised to find that they shot as well as the best ones. Worth a try, if just to satisfy the question, if nothing else. If you do shoot them, let us know the results. Pics are always welcome here.

I need to do this myself. I saved a Ziplock bag of selected rejects from a recent casting session for this purpose. Maybe I can get around to it when it starts cooling off. I can cast a near perfect bullet and I struggle with the idea of accepting less.

[Char-Gar]

Rounded bands not OK. Rounded bands bad. Mold or metal to cold. Try again.

[KVO]

200082

Most of my new NOE molds have the same problem with rounded bands and poor fill out for the first few sessions as described above. Curiosity got the better of me, I tried some with rounded bands but with well filled out bases as you describe. NOE 432432, deep hollow point, powder coated, 6.0gr Unique. Shot at 25yd from sitting with a sandbag rest. Not going to take home any trophies, but better accuracy than I would have thought. My loading and shooting time is so limited I prefer to only use perfect boolits, but the rejects work fine for close range plinking and function testing in self loading pistols.

[KVO]

A thought about the above, the rounded bands may not be as detrimental to accuracy with a full wadcutter as I used due to the greater length of bearing surface. I'd emphasize that six shots does NOT constitute sufficient evidence to prove much beyond that it might not be an absolute failure. Tiny sample size and very low velocity load!

Point being, they'll work for non-critical applications, but we should strive for perfection.

[williamwaco]

I agree with "re-melt" them. The problem is probably that the mold is too cold. A sprue puddle the size of a nickle should take three seconds to cool enough to look frosty. If it cools faster the mold is too cold.

To remedy this, pour a larger sprue puddle, or cast faster ( but not faster than 4 pours per minute). With a Lee two cavity mold, it takes 8 to 10 pours to get the mold hot.

Note. This precludes inspecting the bullets as you cast. If you pick them up to inspect them, you will not be able to cast fast enough to keep the mold hot.

CAUTION. Never cast so fast you might make a mistake.

[gwpercle]

Thanks for all the help. I'm gonna go through what I have and do a do over after keeping only the near perfect ones.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Two or three short casting sessions will get the mould seasoned and broken in , it's to be expected. Cast again , get it hot , you will get more keepers....the third session they will be even more keepers and once the metal and mould are hot there will be few rejects. At this point my rejects happen when I don't pour enough sprue puddle ....but that's my fault .
I heat my NOE moulds by laying them on top of the pot as it heats. For break ins I let the mould cool while lying on top of the pot...slow cooling seems to help the break in/ seasoning.
Gary

[saalfelder]

Put all the boolits back in the pot and started over. I cleaned the mold again, backed off the sprue plate screw about 1/8 turn and got the same rejects.

Bumped up the pot temp a hair and they all came out beautiful.

Also paid more attention to my pours.

So I've learned a lot already.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[lightman]

Good Deal! Every mold has a "personality". Sometimes its easy to get one up and running while other times you have to juggle temp and casting speed. Its a challenge for even an experienced caster sometimes. Once you cast a perfect bullet you're ruined!

[pjames32]

Glad your next casting session went better! Sometimes you just need to walk away for a day, then hit it again. Welcome to the addiction.