New to HP

[280Ackley]

I recently got a HP mold 358315. Today I decided to try it out. The rejection rate turned out to be about 75%:sad: I was casting straight WW and I cast continiously for about an hour and a half. The lead was at 700 degrees according to the themometer in the pot. I have been reading various post about HP casting on this forum for about 6 months and I know that you have to get the pin hot and keep it that way. Most of the rejects were due to incomplete fill out at the very tip of the boolit, with a slight sag on one side of the hole, otherwise the boolits looked good. But without trying them, I can't believe that a boolit with an imperfect nose is going to fly straight. My question is more heat or a different alloy?

[Larry Gibson]

Add 2% tin to the WWs and cast at 725+ degrees. If using a bottom pour furnace open the adjustment to let the alloy flow quicker out of the spout. You want to get the molten alloy into the mould as quick as possible. Also make sure the HP stem is kept hot while you are removing the bullet from the mould. I use a simple fixture on a propane torch as shown. Adjust the flame as needed. Using such techniques my rejection rate is not more than 10% and most often much less.

Larry Gibson

[snaggdit]

Nice idea for keeping the pin hot! Thanks for sharing.

[fredj338]

WW alloy will need more tin IMO for good nose fill-out. I use 25-1 lead/tin mix for my HP to 1100fps & 20-1 for 1200fps. The tin is more ductile than any alloy w/ antimony. I would cut my ww 50/50 w/ lead then add 1%+/- of tin.
I cast some very thin nosed HP this way & my rejection rate is less than 10% once the mold is upto temp.

[geargnasher]

+1 on have at least 1.5-2% tin added to your ww mix for good nose fill out. 700* is way too cold, try closer to 800 or until they frost badly and then back off some. You will know you are hot enough when you have to count to 5 before the sprue freezes.

Larry, I could have sworn you snuck into my garage and took a pic of my pin holder! Thought I had a great idea, guess you thought so too!

Gear

[Dennis Eugene]

Casting HP's is the only time I ever add tin to my pistol boolits. Otherwise it's straight ww's water dropped just 'cause it's easier, I think. Also I agree the hollow point pin holder idea pictured above is a great Idea and you can win money betting the next time I cast HP's that's where my pin will be hangin'. Dennis

[Slow Elk 45/70]

Yup, I like to add 2% tin to my mix for HP's , I use 50/50 ww/pure for low velocity and WW for the Mags...WFM... and Larry has it right on for the pin and heat....your too cool me thinks.
good luck:coffee:

[WHITETAIL]

Yes, Hot and fast for hollow points.:cbpour:

[cajun shooter]

I just had to add my 2cents on the pin holder. If it's not the best idea I've seen, it will do untill a better one comes along. Pure Genius Larry.

[Leadforbrains]

I have two of the lyman hollowpoint molds. I add tin in the form of lead free solder and crank up the heat. I also dip the pin in the melt every time before I replace it back in the mold.
I have also opened the sprue hole just a tad to get more lead in the mold faster. I get good hollowpoints with very few rejects. Just as with any mold you will have to experiment a little to find what it will take to get good boolits out of that particular mold.

[Down South]

I have to comment on the pin holder to Larry. That is a great idea.

[geargnasher]

One other thing you my try, 280Ackley, is to hold your sprue plate against the spout (assuming you have a bottom pour) like you would a casting ladle and pressurize the mould cavity, maybe even count to 3 after you're sure it's full and let it freeze under pressure, then drop the mould slightly and put a dollop of lead on top of the sprue cavity so it bonds with the frozen boolit base, then strike the sprue (if you don't do this the sprue won't be big or heavy enough to pop out of the plate reliably). I do this with one of my moulds which has a delicate, thin nose that is a pain to get to fill out around the mouth, I get fins from the airways but beautiful noses!

Some folks hold their moulds at an angle and let the stream kind of spiral into the cavity, it just depends on the circumstances.

I have done some testing with not-so-good hollow points as have others here and the general conclusion was that in pistols out to 25 yards one can't really tell the difference in accuracy between a poorly filled-out hp and a perfect one, especially in a an automatic that deforms the nose when feeding a round into the chamber.

Gear

[Larry Gibson]

Thanks for the compliments guys but the idea is not mine. I believe there is a similar picture in one of the NRA Cast Bullet booklets. That's where I got the idea and made one many years ago. It does work great.

Larry Gibson

[jameslovesjammie]

Get the heat up and cast fast! Don't be afraid of frosting...it's only cosmetic.

[358wcf]

Frosting on the surface is an indicator of too much heat-- I've used it as an benchmark for years, heating alloy til you get consistant frosting, then back off just a bit- casting hot and fast is the way to go.
When the molds get too hot, I often use two molds and alternate, which allows me to keep the alloy up to high temp while letting the mold have an extra moment to cool between castings.

358wcf

[mroliver77]

I drilled a hole in the flat metal that holds the handle and valve rod on my Lee pro 20 pot. The nose of the HP rod is stuck into the hole and this holds rod while I release boolit. This piece is very hot and keeps the rod the perfect temp. I just got my first ever HP mold and the tips I have gleaned here over the years made it an almost painless trial run. I am going to modify my other pots similarly.
Jay

[snaggdit]

I drilled a hole in the flat metal that holds the handle and valve rod on my Lee pro 20 pot. The nose of the HP rod is stuck into the hole and this holds rod while I release boolit. This piece is very hot and keeps the rod the perfect temp. I just got my first ever HP mold and the tips I have gleaned here over the years made it an almost painless trial run. I am going to modify my other pots similarly.
Jay

I can see that working well, too, for those who have a Lee pot like me. I almost like that idea better, since I wouldn't be going through propane. God, they think it's gasoline or something lately. Glad I started heating with wood this last winter. Instead of 700 gallons of propane I only used 200 (too lazy to get up in the middle of the night sometimes). Never had to use my pre-buy which around here was $2.22.

[jhalcott]

Just HAVE to chip my $.02 in here! While it IS true a hotter melt and a bit of tin WILL help in fill out, HAVE you even tried any of those "rejects"? It is surpring how accurate a bullet can be with a BAD nose. Take a file to some bullets and damage the nose of some , the BASES of the rest. Load them with an accurate load, keeping them in separate groups. Shoot the groups and compare them. The damaged base group will be larger than the bad nose group!

[Dennis Eugene]

yep bad nose very forgiving bad base unforgiving. Dennis