.44 bullets from RCBS Sil mold

[odette]

The .357 bullets from my new N.O.E. .358 Sil mold were so nice that I decided to cast some 44 Sil bullets from an old RCBS 240 gr mold. This mold casts 2 at a time and is steel, my new .357 N.O.E. mold is a 4 bullet aluminum mold. Needless to say, I am having bad luck with the RCBS mold. Bullet weights are all over the place, 244 gr to 255 gr., lots of frosted, mainly in the base and to the crimp groove. Out of 310 bullets I will found 54 that are within +1 to -1 from 252 gr. I have a new lead tester and according to chart that came with it, it is a BHN of 9. I will use the best of the rejects, PC them without gaschecks and size them, then load them in 44 Special for close range.
I found some ingots that are marked linotype, but they seem soft, according to the lead test they are 11 -13 BHN. I think I will try to melt down all the various ingots I have, test them and order some linotype nuggets from Rotometal and see If I can get the 16 - 18 BHN that I want.
I also think that the 44 Sil RCBS might be a bad mold, it had rust on the exterior and is on rusty handles.
Is it better to have aluminum molds and molds with more than 2 bullets to get a better casting. What are the better 44 cal bullet molds around 240 to 250 gr for silhouette

[Grmps]

You don't need over 13 BHN for 357 or 44

Don't give up too quickly on a mold. I have an RCBS 44-240-SIL and love it. RCBS has been one of the best mold manufacturers like forever.

If you're using a Lee hardness tester you need to make a stand of some sort for it and make sure the lead is filed smooth before you test it. I like to file down the nose of the boolit , stick the boolit to a piece of? with clay/gum/? and move it under my stand to center it, or http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?114002-Lee-lead-hardness-tester&p=4024130&viewfull=1#post4024130 and notch out the side of the 2 liter bottle for better light. this is cool but more work http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?114002-Lee-lead-hardness-tester&p=1244754&viewfull=1#post1244754 easy -- http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?169268-Lee-hardness-tester-stand&p=1894714&viewfull=1#post1894714 http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?85157-Improved-the-Lee-hardness-tester&p=908292&viewfull=1#post908292


did you preheat the mold? If so how? sounds like you got the mold tooooooo hot
Are the boolits the same diameter? If you don't get the mold closed all the way every time your weights will fluctuate.

It sounds like your using "mystery alloy" :)

How hot is the lead you are casting with?
Are you dipping or using a bottom pour pot?

[robg]

My rcbs 180sil. Boolit 357 mold likes the lead to swirl into the mold to cast good boolits ,might be worth a try.

[Nobade]

My 44-240-sil makes beautiful bullets but they're .427". Not all is lost though, they're perfect to patch up to .433" for my 1894 Marlin. Pretty useless otherwise.

[Tripplebeards]

After I bought a Lee 4-20 bottom pour pot with heat settings my consistently in boolit weight stays close. I casted up 10 lbs the other day and about 90% of them were within one grain of each other. Out of the other 10 % it was about a 50/50 split of 1 grain above or below the fist 90%'s weight. I had about 7 total that were either above or below the 3 grain variance. I think that pot has really helped me. Don't get me wrong I have my good and bad days as well. I either let my mold sit on top of the pot to heat or put it on my camp stove to heat up. I stopped worrying about frosted boolits a long time ago and worry more about consistent boolit weights. I PC all mine anyway so I couldn't care less if they're shiny or frosted. I've also noticed the closer to pure lead the shinier. If I use at least half coww or more my boolits will look frosted even when my mix is under heated and boolits do not fill out in my molds. I'm no pro by any means and just started casting last year but in the short time I went from thinking I needed a BH of what you want or more in my 44 mags and have been softening the alloy every time I cast wanting a softer boolit for hunting so it expands. I've been finding out that softer alloy in my 44 mags with the same loads PC and GC are more accurate than harder alloys.

[winelover]

I cut my casting teeth on RCBS iron moulds. Prefer iron over any other mould material. The only complaints are that they only come in two cavities and sometimes tend to cast undersize bullets. In their defense, RCBS moulds are calibrated for Lyman #2 Alloy which is harder, thus drops larger bullets.

I suspect, those of you that are getting excessive weight variations, are bottom pouring. Try using a ladle, and you will see a vast improvement on your castings.

Winelover

[odette]

the tester that I have is Cabin Tree, LLC from Buffalo Arms, I also have one from Lee and a stand that is meant to be used with it from ebay. I like the simplicity of the Cabin Tree and the easy to read big dial. I will compare the Lee and the Cabin Tree with bullets from the same melt.
Yes this is a mystery alloy, ingots unmarked, some with O, some with 2 punch marks, and some with l. I and just guessing the O stands for wheel weight, and the l for linotype, the unmarked could be pipe lead, not sure of the 2 punch ingots.
The handles will have to be soaked in a rust remover, same with the mold. The handles are stubborn to open freely and the mold does not swivel like it should. I have to really squeeze the handles to close the mold completely, so that could be the reason for wide range of bullet weight.
The bullet from this mold was my grandpas favorite, he has a target marked Redhawk 50 yds 6 shots from Ransom Rest 4227, 5 shots are in the same slightly oval hole and 1 almost touching high to the right.
Yes I preheat the mold on a hotplate just above the low setting while lead is melting. Pot is a Lyman that is at least 30 yrs old and I try to keep temp at 650 according to lead thermometer. Pot is a bottom pour, I am a left handed person and have not found a dipper that I like for a lefty. Trying to do it right handed would be a disaster.
If the mold is to hot, wouldn't the nose end be frosted? The nose end of the mold is sitting on the hotplate yet it is the base that gets the worst frosted. When starting to cast I have to toss the first 3 castings for slight wrinkles or slightly rounded edges on grease grooves.
Does RCBS make this bullet mold in aluminum and a 4 bullet. N.O.E. did a beautiful job making the 4 bullet .357 Sil 180 gr copy of the RCBS Sil mold in aluminum

[winelover]

Just so happens I'm a southpaw. Ladle casting isn't a problem. Purchase a #2 Rowell and shorten the handle, for better balance. Hold mold in left hand and ladle in right.

Winelover

[DocSavage]

If the mold is in really bad shape RCBS will replace it. I had a .454 250 gr RNFP that rusted up on me,boxed it and returned asking if 4CBS could clean it up. A few weeks later package from RCBS arrives with a brand new mold.

[trapper9260]

I found out each mold is different of how to cast with it. After you get the feel of it then you will find it easy. I have all makes of metals and they are the 3 that we mainly use. Iron ,brass and aluminum .

[Grmps]

You should have a notebook and jot down the idiosyncrasies of each mold.

favorite casting temperature
amt of tin it prefers
smoke or no smoke
preheat temperature
......

[odette]

contacted RCBS and they will not replace or refurbish the mold. I will soak them in rust remover and hope for the best. Will heating the mold help keeping it from rusting or do I need to try to put bluing on it to slow down rust?