Casting

[RDub]

Hello
Well I got a bug to start casting again after many years.. Dusted off my old Lyman equipment and gave it a go..
I tried casting some bullets from my Lyman 429215 double cavity mould and when it came to sizing/lubing in the 450 sizer, I found the bullets too small. The sizer barely touched the bullets.
The mix I used was 15 ingots (Lyman ingot mould) of wheelweights and 5 ingots of lynotype. Casting temp was about 700 degF (Lyman casting thermometer).
I can't recall how this works, if the temp of the metal is too hot does that tend to shrink the bullets? Or do I need to use a different ratio in the alloy?
Thanks for your advice..

[Buckshot]

...............RDub, Welcome to the board. What did the boolits look like? Had you sprayed anything into the cavities like a release agent?

Re: your mix. Assume 11 BHN for the WW and say 20 for the lino. Unless foundry fresh, lino bought/given away used isn't usually what it should be, and is normally missing a portion of it's tin. Anyway your 15-5 mix would yield a 13 BHN mix. You should see a slight weight reduction and diameter increase over straight WW @ 11 BHN.

..............Buckshot

[David R]

I don't want to sound silly, but did you did you measure your boolit diamater and sizing die?

Welcome back to the casting comunity. I took a 5 year leave my self. Its nice for me to be back, bigger and better than ever.

David

[Cherokee]

RDub - What size is your sizing die ? My Lyman 429421 casts right at .429 and a .430 die just lubes the bullet. Maybe thats all you need. :lovebooli

[RDub]

Hi Y'all..
Ok, well the bullets came out looking a bit on the frosty side.. Too hot maybe..
I haven't ever found the need for any kind of release agent. If the bullets don't drop out of the mould like they should it has always been a bad mould and I just got another one... course that was back in the day when this stuff was relatively cheap...
My H&I die is .429... In the past this mould would produce bullets that you could tell was 'sized' all around. In this batch the bullets are mostly just 'lubed' as you said..
I did try casting with 100% linotype once just to see what happend.. I was amazed at how accurate they were.. and they didn't seem to shrink at all judging by how they looked after sizing..
I didn't measure anything this time because I have in the past and after sizing the bullets were .429

Thanks..

[Buckshot]

............Ther eason I asked about appearance and a release agent was two fold. If the slugs weren't sharply filled out you could easily have a reduced OD. The spray on type release agents will routinely cause a reduction in a boolit's as cast diameter.

If the boolits were sharply cast with crisp edges and details and STILL cast smaller then usual, the problem is with the alloy and/or temp. I've found elevated alloy temp in hot blocks will cast a bit small. You mentioned frosty and if frosty all over should have been of a consistant size. Localized frosted spots are usually sunken there.

..............Buckshot

[RDub]

Hi Buckshot...
Ok, understood. Yes the bullets were sharply filled out and 'look' rather perfect.. Except they didn't have that shinny silver appearance that I remember. Still, I was surprised to find them a bit small.. So I will try again with cooler metal and maybe add some tin.
Thanks much.

[jpb]

RDub

I sure don't have the experience that many here do, but I've found frosty bullets to be good shooting bullets!

The shiney ones are nice, but I've had better luck with high temps and frosty bullets!

jpb

[David R]

Rdub,

I find the frosty or just galvanized looking boolits have a lower ES for weight. I can't tell you why, but it works for me.

David