Bullet Release From Iron Molds?

[DonMountain]

Last night I was casting up some 300 grain bullets from an RCBS iron mold to use in my 45-70 for deer hunting this year. But I had a lot of trouble getting the castings to release from the mold and had to end up using a sharp tipped small screwdriver to push them out after I laid the mold down on an old towel on my bench top for support. Is there some sort of mold release agent that I can use to aid in removing bullets from an iron mold?

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Is this the first time you used this mold?

Or have you successfully cast with it in the past, and this is a new condition?

[John Boy]

* Season the mold at 400 F for 3 times
* Check the molds handles being tight so when you hold the closed mold halve to a strong light - there is no light seen
* Clean the mold Absolutely
* Take a Q Tip and run along the edges of the cavities - if fibers on the Q Tip hang up - remove the rough edges with a razor blade
* Heat the mold up so the melt & sprue puddle frosts in 5 - 8 seconds
That's It

[ShooterAZ]

Sometimes it's a narrow temp range for the "sweet spot" of the boolits dropping freely. If I start getting sticky boolits, this is the first signs of getting out of that range. In really "sticky situations" I use a hammer handle to lightly tap the hinge bolt just as I am opening the mold.

[country gent]

If this is a new mould a few sessions with it will help it a lot, it may need to develop the patina that aids casting and release. While a lot say no to this on a new mould I will coat with synthetic 2 cycle motor oil very lightly bottom of sprue plate, tops of blocks, alighnment pins, and faces of blocks, sometimes even the cavities. This is a very light coat, dosnt look oily just a "sheen" to the surfaces.

Using a q tip on edges of cavites will tell if there are burrs when fibers are pulled free. Use a sharp exacto blade to lightly crape edge to remove them. A magnifying glass may show rough areas in the cavity itself here a light lap with tooth paste. simichrome or flitz will help. Use a bullet to do this to maintain sharp crisp edges.

To apply the oil, with a clean q-tip just a drop of oil on it and rub over mould areas this will leave a to heavy coat. With a second clean and dry q-tip rub down again this removes excess leaving a very fine even coat. The mould shouldnt look oily but just a sheen to it now. I coat like this when seasoning a mould even. light coat of oil heat to 400 degrees for 20 min slow cool 3 times.

For the lap / polish if needed drill a bullets base with a 1/8"-3/16" hole and glue a stem in it, a piece of round stock is fine about 1 1/2" long. Lightly coat bullet with compound and insert into blocks. By hand using the same back and forth motion as tapping a hole work 1/4 turn back and forth 4 times rotate 1/4 turn and repeat repeat thru 2-3 rotations with the tooth paste, simichrome, or flitz. this smooths the cavities and removes any burrs in them.

Last is to play with heat of both the melt and mould blocks some to find the sweet spot. Sometimes a small adjustment in temp makes a big difference in release. Also the cooling time allowed will affect release.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Rub the inside of each mold side cavity with a lead pencil.Robert

[Grmps]

Check the cavity faces for burs. A carpenter pencil can be rubbed on the edges of the cavities to remove the burs.
like country gent said, a light polishing never hurts. [I do it a little differently than he does] Cast a couple boolits with the hardest alloy you have, leave the last boolit in the mold and drill a 3/8 in deep hole to thread a screw in. (if your worried about driling and using a screw you can open the sprue, center a nut over the hole and fill the cavity and nut.) You can use Toothpaste, Fitz or any FINE polish. I lightly coat the boolit then set it in the cavity. using a drill on low I will slowly spin the boolit for 10 seconds, wipe the mold face and spin for 20 more seconds. this should solve any sticking problem. IF it persists try a little smoke or repeat the polishing process

[lightman]

What alloy are you using? Linotype or other type metals fill out better and shrink less, thus being harder to release from the mold.

[Bird]

I use only rcbs molds, and never had problems with any of them.
I can get bullets to stick, if I get the molds too hot. If you get to the point of making frosty bullets, you can usually get a couple of more pours without cooling the molds until they start to stick. I cool the base of the mold after each pour for a second or 2. I don't want frosty bullets as they will end up smaller diameter than those poured into a cooler mold.

[gwpercle]

A good mould release is Liquid Wrench Dry Lubricant. Spray on or liquid. I use the liquid and coat the cavity with a Q-Tip soaked in it.
Dry lubes are basically micro Teflon particles in an alcohol carrier base, the alcohol evaporates and leaves a micro thin layer of Teflon....the boolits seem to jump out of a treated cavity.
I usually coat the cool mould after casting, next session its rust free and already treated.
Or just coat the mould before heating. One treatment will usually last an entire casting session.

I am sure any Spray on or liquid Dry Lube will work , another member reported using Liquid Wrench Dry Lube in the bottle , I spotted some in Pep Boys , bought the little bottle and love the way it works. Get done casting and coat/spray the mould and it doesn't rust...important in Louisiana's heat and humidity.
I know it's hard to believe ....but try it just once !
Gary

[DonMountain]

Is this the first time you used this mold?

Or have you successfully cast with it in the past, and this is a new condition?

This is an old mold that I bought new probably 20 years ago or more. I have so many other molds that I don't use this one very often, keeping it stored in my reloading room that is air conditioned and heated, so it is humidity controlled. I don't apply anything to the mold between casting sessions. But before last season's deer season a friend and I used up my entire supply of these 300 grain flat nosed, gas checked bullets in his new 45-70 that he bought for the new Iowa rifle deer season. And I used a couple myself to kill deer with here in Missouri. So, to get ready for this season I brought out the mold and cast 400 or 500 bullets with it, and ran into the release problem about half way through the casting session. I got very good cast bullets from the mold all the way through except for the few breaks I took to reload the lead pot where I put the mold back on top of the heat tray on the top of the Lyman Mag 20 pot.