Oh so close to getting it right

[BCall]

I was casting on a new to me 6mm Lyman mold yesterday, and was getting frustrated with wrinkled, not filled out, and rounded boolits. This is my first Lyman mold, all of my others are Lee's(I'm cheap, I admit it). The Lyman mold sure produces a nicer finish on the boolits, but I was sure struggling. I cast about 100, with no keepers at all. I thought maybe my mold wasn't hot enough, but I went by the 6 second deal, and when it took longer than 6 seconds to cool the sprue, I let the mold cool. I guess it is my casting inexperience, but I had about had it. I am ladle pouring as I do not have a bottom pour yet. I finally tried to pressure pour(I think that is the proper term), and got oh so close to being right. Maybe a bottom pour will work better with this small mold, I'm not that consistent of a pourer, so I don't think it could hurt. Here's some pics-please tell me what you think. I'm beginning to realize casting is alot less science and alot more art. Any tips would be helpful.
Oh, and the melt is WW with about 1/2 pound of 40/60 bar solder added per 10 lbs, fluxed with 50/50 and a stick to stir. Melt looks good, and while I do not have a thermometer, I tried to keep the temp of my ladle around 700 by checking it with an infrared thermometer.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh259/blcall/SN850346.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh259/blcall/SN850351.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh259/blcall/SN850349.jpg
These look at least usable, hopefully I can improve next time. Thanks, Billy

[44mag1]

Im real curios for the experts from this sites opinion. Ive had times where nothing seemed to work. I hope its not zinc

[docone31]

They look good to me. Are they for a .243 by any chance? I have considered paper patching for my .243. Jacketeds are getting pricey.

[IcerUSA]

I'm going to make a guess here and say you might be just a tad cool on the melt , not by much but.
I would up the temp a little and pour a full ladle into each cavity and see if that helps , let the over flow go back into the pot .

Keith

[BCall]

Yes they are for 243- it is a Lyman 245496 mold I got from a fellow member in trade. Probably won't get to shoot them for a while, but I am looking forward to it. Jacketed prices for anything above .224 bullets is what is driving me to cast. Thanks, Billy

[xr650]

I would turn the heat up a little and cast faster. Get that shine off them boolits. :)
When they start filling out good, back off the heat or tempo.

They look pretty good for a first attempt. Don't give up it does get easier. :drinks:

[HeavyMetal]

Increase temp just a touch and then dip a corner of the mold in the melt just before pouring.

Boolits should look a bit frosted and what is this 6 second deal?? My experience is every mold needs something just a little different and that just seems a bit arbitrary as a rule.

I have always preffered my sprue to be runny until after I set the mold down and pick up my second mold to open and refill. With the sprue done like that all the vibration of handling settles the alloy into all the nooks and crannies of the cavity!

Depending on the size of the mold this could be anywhere from 4 to 10 seconds.

Suggest a bit more patience and a tad more heat and those almost's will turn into perfects!

[Timberland]

I would turn the heat up a little and cast faster. Get that shine off them boolits. :)
When they start filling out good, back off the heat or tempo.

They look pretty good for a first attempt. Don't give up it does get easier. :drinks:

Im still learning so, does shinny = bad?

[xr650]

Im still learning so, does shinny = bad?

I like the looks of shiney boolits. There is nothing wrong with them.
It is easier to get good fill out with hotter mould and alloy. Meaning you get frosted boolits.

[Timberland]

I like the looks of shiney boolits. There is nothing wrong with them.
It is easier to get good fill out with hotter mould and alloy. Meaning you get frosted boolits.

Thanks mine look like the above ones, I love that look to, but the casting pot also has a lava lamp effect on me as well

[runfiverun]

if you want shiny use a tad more tin a hot mold and cool melt.
i prefer the grey color, the others might be shiney and distract dogs,children and the blonde.
but i will take the good groups and the consistent grey boolits.
i would bump up your temp a tad open the sprue sooner and keep going.

[BCall]

OK, thanks guys, I will turn it up a bit more next time. Never thought about the lead settling down like that, I'll try to keep it hotter. Thanks again, Billy

[Bret4207]

Yup, the mould needs to be hotter. 2 ways to do that- turn up the melt temp or cast faster. Sometimes you can only cast so fast before waiting for the sprue to cool limits you. That's when the BruceB method comes into play, a wet rag to cool the sprue on. A very handy trick to learn. The 6mm boolit leaves a lot of iron to heat so you have to use a hotter melt or faster rhythm. Frosty looking boolits are generally as well filled out as they will get. If the "grey" look bothers you just swipe the loaded round with a 4/0 steel wool and the exposed portion will be shiny.

I'd say you're doing well. Skinny boolits are a bear to cast IMO. I have a little 25 cal Loverin that can be a pain to get good results with. Make sure you flux often, keep the mould clean as a whistle and write down what the mould wants when you're done so you don't go through this again.

I see no reason to go to a bottom pour pot. I know some guys love them and they sure look cooler than an old beat up ladle, but the ladle is a far more versatile tool to my way of thinking. I'd stick with what you've got and learn HOW to cast great boolits rather than thinking a new tool will fix all the problems. Remember- it's the indian, not the arrow.

[1Shirt]

Will find a bit of disagreement from some I know, but I like my rifle blts a bit on the frosty side. Tend to agree with Paco Kelly, that they hold lube better than the shiny ones. So my advise is to go hotter. Also suggest you might want to google Paco Kelly and read some of his stuff.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[Wayne Smith]

If these are the last that you cast I might suggest that you may have had a little oil on the mold as well. It's your first iron mold, it is a small boolit, and the iron does not heat up as fast as the Lee molds. You have a huge heat sink in all that iron around the small cavity. I'd guess your problem may not be cool lead so much as a cool mold. Pre-heat your mold by dipping it in the melt until the lead doesn't stick - it will take a while if you dip a corner. I'm guessing you will have good boolits right quick as the mold gets up to heat.

The ones you have don't look bad, they are sure shootable. Make lots more like them!

[Calamity Jake]

OK you said you had to pressure cast to get some good boolets, if you look at the top photo, the left boolet, bottom drive band has a void, THAT is a venting problem, using a sharp pointed XActo knife or the corner of a razor blade and good liting LIGHTLY scribe the vent lines in the mold starting at the cavity and working out(remove the handles and spru plate first) don't worry about the lines below the boolet nose, now using a fine sharpening stone, stone the surfaces of the mold to remove any small burrs raised by the XActo. Now use the stone to make a VERY small bevel on top cavity side of the blocks, clean and reassemble leaving the spru plate loose enough to just swing of it's own weight.

The bottom photo, leaning boolet on the right, the bottom is not square, that one and any more like it needs to be recast.

I have this same mold along with a Saeco 6MM, 2 25"s and 2 22"s all require high alloy temp(775-825°) and a fast casting pace to make a well filled out boolet. Like some of the other casters on this board, I have been casting handloading for 30+ years, I CANNOT get these ettybitty boolets to completely frost, just the GC shank and a little of the bottom drive band is all I can get to frost. The mass of the mold blocks draws the heat away to fast so I go for fillout over frost with anything under 7MM in size, over 7MM, I want them lightly frosted.

Now if you want good accuracy from shot to shot you will need to inspect all boolts for fillout, a flat square base and then weigh sort them(I will get some rebuttle for this one) but that's OK, that's part of why we are here.
If you weigh sort, you should get two groups with a 2 cav mold, keep boolets in groups of ± .2 grain of average for each cavity.

The center photo shows some with slightly rounded bases and one sharp/square, you eather want then all slighty rounded or THE BEST is sharp/square.

IF you want boolets just for plinking and playing then all boolets in the photos will work ok.

Ain't this fun!!!

[ghh3rd]

I've heard that pouring directly into the hole can cause some uneven spots due to 'turbulence', and that pouring just off to the side a little and letting it pour in that way helps. Just a thought.

Randy

[AZ-Stew]

You might also want to experiment with the valve on your bottom pour pot to vary the flow speed. Some boolits want a fast pour, others will fill out fine with a slower pour.

Other than the one small void in the left boolit in the top photo and the rounded bases on some of the boolits, I think you did pretty well. If you ever decide you don't want that mould, contact me.

Regards,

Stew

[HORNET]

I pretty much agree with Calamity Jake. Chase the venting and loosen the sprue plate then turn the heat up a little. If its a 2 cavity, it sometimes helps to cut a vent relief between the cavities so that filling the first cavity doesn't block half the vents on the second cavity. Try it out and let us know how its working out.

[superior]

This may not be the case here but when I modified my ladle to pour a thinner stream of lead, my boolits improved dramatically. I recommend a higher temperature and a slightly different pouring technique as a good place to start. When I did those 2 things my reject count went way down. The last time I cast 100 boolits, I only had 1 reject. Before that I was at 10 percent failure rate.

[Lead melter]

Check 'em, lube 'em, size 'em, and shoot 'em. Uglier boolits than those have been tackdrivers. Try them out, they might be great from the business end.