water in the mold

[Forrest r]

Was casting some 32cal wc's and water dropping them. I quit using a towel years ago when water dropping. The bases would still get dinged up on the edges when the bullets hit each other as they fell into the towel. The towel would stop water from splashing up. That never bothered me, every now and then a drop of water would get on the mold and sizzle/evaporate in seconds.

Today I casting at a pretty fast pace and closed the mold as soon as the bullets left the mold. Swung over and started pouring in the 1st cavity. The 1st cavity filled with lead and the spru started to puddle. Then there was a small pop sound and the spru puddle moved. Odd??? I quit pouring and cut the spru off and looked at the base. The bullet on the left is what the wc bases look like. The bullet on the right was from the cavity that had water in it.
https://i.imgur.com/HC0XSLh.jpg

A small hole started in the side of the nose of the button nosed wc and went out the bottom of the bullet.
https://i.imgur.com/jQ9kHIa.jpg

I haven't been casting bullets that long (1986), but I've never seen anything like this happen before. Just a small popping sound and the spru moving up and settling back down while still in a semi-liquid state. By the time it set back down it started to harden but didn't have the typical sink hole.

[Grmps]

I'm glad you didn't get led on you.
actually, that is pretty cool looking
You must have been moving, water wouldn't take that long to flash off a 400 + ° mold

[ShooterAZ]

I'll bet that got your attention, I don't like hissing or popping sounds when I'm casting. I once had a big moth do a belly flop in my RCBS pot. He sizzled and popped and the smoke smelled something awful. I got away from there quickly, as I had no idea what was gonna happen.

[Joby]

Maybe you found a new way to make hollow points or hollow bases. Now you just have to train your water.

[whtsmoke]

Don't ever smoke while casting and accidentally drop your butane lighter in your pot. if you dont smoke no big deal and no i dont anymore lol.

[tazman]

Usually a mold that is good and hot will boil any water droplets out in just a couple of seconds. Larger drops take a bit longer but will still boil out quickly. Usually you can hear the sizzle while it is boiling.
I had one do what you describe a few months ago.

[bangerjim]

Water droplets on a surface as hot as casting temp will actually hang around much longer than you would expect! The water turns to steam under the droplet and rides around on that steam blanket, insulating the water from the very hot surface!. Try it sometime on a very hot surface. Water droplets will ride around for quite a long time and not immediately flash to steam like on a much cooler hot surface.

Anyway, water has no place in your hot casting mold!

[GhostHawk]

A lower water level in container. 3 inches of water in a 10 inch tall container will help a bunch.

B Hold mold a bit higher above container.

C Your dang lucky imo. Although how you got a water drop to stay in a hot mold and not sizzle or warn you seems a little strange.

Still anything that does not kill you can be a learning experience. Always good to pass it on.

[Drew P]

A bullet worth of Lead popping out of a mold isn’t going to make you late for dinner. Wear your glasses. No problem.

[Tom W.]

A bullet worth of Lead popping out of a mold isn’t going to make you late for dinner. Wear your glasses. No problem.


That depends upon where it hits you.........indeed, wear your glasses or a face shield...

[D Crockett]

I use a master caster when I want to water drop I put a 5 gal. bucket under my casting table I have a 5x5 square cut in my casting table that the bullets drop threw and into about 6 inches of water they fall about 30 inches when I do that but I do not water drop that often and water never get to the mold D Crockett

[Bama]

That depends upon where it hits you.........indeed, wear your glasses or a face shield...

An old undershirt streached over a five gallon can with about half full of water. Push down in center then cut slit in shirt. Bullets land on shirt roll down through slit and into water--no splashes no banging and they will be cold when you pour into your drying trays.

[lightman]

Glad you were not hurt, You could have been! Be careful with the water! I gave up water dropping several years ago and never looked back.

[second chance]

Years ago, I was melting gold with a gas and oxygen torch in a crucible and about to pour it into a steel enclosed ingot mold, when it exploded and blew gold all over me and the floor around me. I'd done this dozens of times in the past, and never had this happen. No I wasn't wearing glasses, and yes, molten gold blew into my eye. I was very lucky not to have been blinded permanently, but suffered terribly for a couple of weeks, and it was a full year before my vision came back to a single image site picture. Needless to say, I don't do much of anything without glasses anymore. The only thing that could have caused this, was that I hadn't preheated the ingot mold enough to evaporate all the condensation from inside. Granted, gold melts at around 1400 degrees, and lead at 700, the dangers, and possible results are the same. Wear Glasses, and remove all water from the mold!

[44MAG#1]

When one get into a fast pace(hurry)one doesn't use good judgement at time. I have done the same thing as you describe. Don't get into a pace where you cannot maintain good judgement and exercise reasonable care.
Some can do a given thing at a more rapid pace than others and maintain control. You may be one of the others. I am and as I get older the more I become the other.

[JBinMN]

An old undershirt streached over a five gallon can with about half full of water. Push down in center then cut slit in shirt. Bullets land on shirt roll down through slit and into water--no splashes no banging and they will be cold when you pour into your drying trays.

Ditto ^That is what I have been doing also when water dropping boolits, to avoid what happened to the OP, or something worse. I wet the old shirt though, so they get started cooling before hitting the water in the bucket. I think it also helps to slow their fall as well to prevent any "dings", or the like...

[Walter Laich]

An old undershirt streached over a five gallon can with about half full of water. Push down in center then cut slit in shirt. Bullets land on shirt roll down through slit and into water--no splashes no banging and they will be cold when you pour into your drying trays.

great idea here!

If I ever go back to water dropping I'll sure do this

[swheeler]

Buy a couple 5 packs of the small 3"x4" sponges at the dollar store, throw them in the water bucket and voila, no more splashes or dented bullets.

[stubshaft]

Buy a couple 5 packs of the small 3"x4" sponges at the dollar store, throw them in the water bucket and voila, no more splashes or dented bullets.

I do basically the same thing but cut the sponges into 1/2" cubes. Immerse them in the water and leave them on the surface. The problem I had with larger pieces was that sometimes the boolit would land on the sponge and stick to it.

[poppy42]

Water on top of molten lead, not really to big a deal. Water that breaks surface tension of molten lead! Say hello to the tinsel fairy !!!! Not someone I care to meet!