buckshot casting...

[par0thead151]

I just got a sharpshooter factory seconds(cosmetic blemish) mould for 00 buckshot. man did that sucker take forever to preheat the mould till it casts well and has proper fill out. as a general rule, does casting buckshot require a hotter melt temp than say a 9mm or 45 boolit?i had to crank it up to 750 to get proper fill out.
is this normal? or do i need to let the mould heat up even more before i can expect to get quality shot castings? on a side note, how do the 2 cluster shot castings compare to the ones that someone sells on here that is 20 shot balls cast attached to the same "stick" that it is filled from?
thanks

[webby4x4]

My Lyman manual states that ~750 degrees is the preferred temp for casting WWs or #2.

Are you casting with this, or with regular lead?

Rick

[par0thead151]

sorry, should have mentioned the alloy im using.. i am using wheel weights with a very sparce amount of stick on's melted in with them(melting in done when smelting in a harbor freight dutch oven)

[par0thead151]

I have one last question. i noticed that towards the end of my testing the mould, the shot would break off of the sprue(spelling?) when i pulled it off by hand. is this a sign i am heating the mould up or lead up to temps that are too warm?
also, looking closer at one of my dropped pellets, i notice that it looks to be off center, as if half the mould does not line up with the other half. this could be entirely user error as this is the first time i have cast buckshot. however i can see daylight through the 2 halves of the mould when they are pressed together. i have yet to get any lead filling in these voids creating fins, but i will try a few hundred more casts with it tonight and see what comes of it.

thanks

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

if you can see daylight you may wanna check to see if a stray splash of lead somehow worked its way in between the mold halves or on the alignmnet pins, not allowing the mold to fully close and/or become misaligned.

[Nate1778]

Where are you guys finding these molds, I have checked ebay several times to no avail. Is there a web site for ordering.

[jdgabbard]

Their on ebay. I though about ordering one. But I want one in the .360" area. For loading in .357mag cases...

[Nate1778]

What name does he go under, every time I do a search for user sharpshooter I get nada. Anyone have a link to one of the actions, even if it expired?

[keeber]

his ebay user name is "skiesunlimited"... and he posts about 6 molds at a time, and they are gone within 2 days of posting them.

[Trader Vic]

I got a 00 buck from skiesunlimited on ebay about 6 weeks ago. Mine works fine, I run temp a little hot, the mold heats up real fast. I'm casting good balls on the 2nd fill up. I've been using straight WW, you can really go to town when you get rolling. The best sprue cutter is the fashion tool cutter in the hobby craft dept at walmart, $5.00. I may try some other sizes, you have to watch for his auctions, these molds don't last long. The best way is to use the ,buy it now, option, $35.00. NRA PATRON LIFE MEMBER

[Nate1778]

Thanks for the heads up. Let me ask this for future reference, I know why pure lead is not good for bullets, but can pure lead be used for buck shot, or should it still be hardened?

[Nazgul]

Pure lead is fine. Hardened patterns better.

My Sharpshooter mold works very well. I run the pot hot, let the mold get really hot during casting, wear heavy gloves, knock them into a bucket of water. It seems the hotter the mold is, the easier the balls fall out. They are not perfect spheres, but I think they are acceptable for the cost/effort to produce them. After clipping them from the sprue, I run them in a tumbler for 2-3 hours. Over about two weeks working nights after I get home, I cast enough for probably all year. Feed three 12 gauge and a 10 gauge with buckshot. Mostly for having fun and making noise.

Don

[par0thead151]

thanks for the info. i cast a huge pile last night and the alignment problem went away, casting acceptable balls. the one problemi still have is that when i get rolling and churning out the shot, the balls fall out easily, as does the sprue, however the balls do not stay attached to the sprue. this is fine and all but it makes cutting them harder as i now have to pick up a small ball to cut the tiny piece of sprue off of it now.
what can i do to stop this from happening
thanks

[Storydude]

Throw them in a rock tumbler for 30 min.

[par0thead151]

Throw them in a rock tumbler for 30 min.

im leery of tumbling lead as that would cause lead dust...

[testhop]

Their on ebay. I though about ordering one. But I want one in the .360" area. For loading in .357mag cases...

how about using the 36 cal blackpowder mould. i have one it comes out at 350
witch is close to 36

[Shooter6br]

I bought a blemised one for $24 . It has to be hot to cast. I wear welding gloves to cast( gets real hot) You do have a lot of waste casting. But I can cast enought to make 20 loads per cast 20oz of lead. Nicely made molds and will not break the banks Oh yes Mine pattern good at 25 yrs. I get 12 pellets per 1 1/8 loads. They weigh 40 grains per pellet. Lyman #1 alloy...........Rick:castmine:

[Storydude]

im leery of tumbling lead as that would cause lead dust...

Then don't breathe it........[smilie=1:

[par0thead151]

Then don't breathe it........[smilie=1:

i wear a respirator while emptying my brass tumbler, but really dont want to add more lead to the bowl...
maybe i will gave to get a separate tumbler for just lead, and run it outside, not in my garage.
will tumbling it remove the couple millimeter of material that is not round on the shot?

[Storydude]

i wear a respirator while emptying my brass tumbler, but really dont want to add more lead to the bowl...
maybe i will gave to get a separate tumbler for just lead, and run it outside, not in my garage.
will tumbling it remove the couple millimeter of material that is not round on the shot?

Yes, if you use a rotary tumbler. not a Vibratory tumbler. Vibratory tumbler makes noise, beats up the tumbler and leaves the shot with tiny flat-spots from the bouncing.

I'd throw them into a rotary tumbler ALA ball-mill and let them run against each other for an hour or so. You are not trying to "remove" the flashing, just peen it back into the ball.

[par0thead151]

wow, those jewelery cutter work amazing. i just cut apart a large pile last night.
the spring in the handle broke though, so i will need to keep the receipt for when it happens again.
just a FYI on the clippers... made in china so what can we expect...
but it gets the job done.

[Philngruvy]

I also got one of the sharpshooter 00 buck "blemished" molds for $24. I cast 20 lbs of buckshot yesterday. It does take several pours before it drops good shot but once it does, thats 20 pellets at a time!!!!! I also use welding gloves but the handles still get pretty hot, I guess because they are cheapo HF gloves. Now I am off to HF to buy one of the rock tumblers.