Love Lino...

[GRid.1569]

Have some ingots of linotype from a specialist printing supplies company here in the UK... tried melting some down tonight... really nice, bright & clean (compared to melting down old commercial cast bullets) I like it !

But here's a question...

The Lyman thermo shows temp ranges on the face for different alloys, Lino being the coolest... so should I aim for these temps or... ???

I'm going to cast the lino in a lee 6 cavity mold (358-158 RN) for use in my Marlin 1894... First tries weren't so good (Lino @ 750) Melt stream seems very fluid, good fill but "bounces" out of the sprue plate holes easily... takes a while to cool & to drop from the cavities - I'm assuming a slow shrinkage (release) rate because of the temps (?)

Any thoughts gang...

[rob45]

750 seems awfully high to be pouring lino. Might want to turn it down. Just my experience.

[bobthenailer]

your lee 6 cavity should work well at about 700 degrees , cast iron moulds will work at a lower temp between 600 to 650 degrees

[fredj338]

When I did cast using lino, 650deg was certainly hot enough for good fillout. A waste though for most handgun bullets.

[JeffinNZ]

I can't imagine your Marlin will need pure lino to work well. Such a precious resource now you could lean it back with pure Pb and really stretch it. And yes, 750F is way to hot.

[GRid.1569]

Thanks to all for your replies...

I've been looking through my old copy of RCBS cast bullet manual (No1) they reckon temps of around 775 degrees for most alloys... Given they don't use alu. for molds (like Lee) I'm now really confused...