Hollowpoints off center

[crabo]

I just got a new MiHec (Crammer style) and a NOE (RG2) hollowpoint mold. I am getting my hollowpoints off center. What's the trick to keeping the hollowpoints centered?

Thanks,

[Changeling]

Do you mean the mold is dropping the bullets off center?

[Shooter6br]

i drill my hollow points and do get off center but a mold should be as a machinist told me "Dead nuts"centered

[cricco]

Are you sure that they are off center? I have a MiHec mold, and I had some issues with the hollow point pins not getting hot enough for a good fill out. I discovered that using a bit of Bull plate lube on the pins, and lots of heat, solved the problem.

[Shiloh]

Off center means what it says, but is this measurement off-center or noticeably off center??

Shiloh

[fredj338]

Unless they are machined off center, the only way to cast them off center is not completely close the mold.

[WHITETAIL]

The HP should be on center in the mould.
If it is not then you must send it back.:killingpc

[crabo]

When you look down on them, from above, the hole is off center, or the wall is thicker on one side than the other...

I wonder if I am moving the mold too quickly and need to let it stand upright for a few more seconds before I turn it over to cut the sprue? It doesn't happen to every one cast, but it happend too often.

[OBXPilgrim]

When you look into the hollowpoint, look at the parting line of the mold on the outside of the boolit. Is it always the same orientation?

The reason I ask, is because I thought I had a bad HP mold once, when in reality, it was not hot enough & the parting line had a different orientation from one boolit to the other.

If it never changes, yep, sounds like you have a pin off center.

[Wayne Smith]

If it's only happening some of the time it has to be something you are doing rather than the mold. Since it apparantly is happening with both a MeHec and an NOE I would guess it absolutely is something you are doing. I have the MiHec 44/444 and have not done this yet!

[anachronism]

Don't look at the bullets, look at the mould. If the hollowpoint channel in the mould is off center, then it's a mould problem. If the channel is centered, then it's a technique issue.

[Blammer]

I'd suggest you do some pressure pouring or get it hotter, sounds like the nose is not filling out properly.

OR you are opening the mould too soon and the nose has not cooled enough and is elongating the HP and making it look off center.

[Edubya]

I'd suggest you do some pressure pouring or get it hotter, sounds like the nose is not filling out properly.

OR you are opening the mould too soon and the nose has not cooled enough and is elongating the HP and making it look off center.

I'll give a "plus-1" on Blammer's diagnoses.
EW

[gefiltephish]

Could it be that the boolit is not filling out completely and just appearing to be off center? Maybe you need to add some tin to your alloy. That's what I had to do.

[MtGun44]

Likely opening too quickly, but as someone else said take a look at the mold
with a bright light.

Bill

[Lloyd Smale]

could be to if your casting real hot the nose is distorting when it is comming off of the hp pins when you drop them.

[GLL]

I am a fan of the old single cavity wooden handle HP pin style moulds ! To me casting nice hollow pointed bullets does not lend itself to high-speed mass production very well. It requires a little patience to allow the bullet to "stiffen up" a bit before the pin is twisted and removed. The bullet is held captive while the pin is pulled straight out.

I really like the Cramer-style moulds but they lend themselves to getting in too a big hurry to open the mould. This leads to soft bullets sitting unsupported on top of the pins. The result is distortion in the HP hole if you are not careful ! The potential problem is solved by slowing down the pace. I find one way to do that is to cast with two of the multi-pin moulds at the same time.

Jerry

http://www.fototime.com/55F07C1E821F1A5/standard.jpg

[Changeling]

I just got a new MiHec (Crammer style) and a NOE (RG2) hollowpoint mold. I am getting my hollowpoints off center. What's the trick to keeping the hollowpoints centered?

Thanks,

Hi Crabo, I know very little on the subject but I'm sure it would do wonders if you explained step by step exactly how you do it, leave out nothing and give time estimates for each step, and the alloy you are using. This way I will learn something and maybe you will find a cure for the problem.
Good luck.

[BABore]

Think about it guys.:shock: We're talking about a fixed cavity and a sliding or tip out HP pin. Not one that you twist and pull out the bottom like GLL just pictured. If either the cavity or pin were off center more than a couple thousandths, one or the other would die-lock and not come out. You ever have a mold cavity that was off center to any extent? You have to pound the boolit out. The same thing would happen to the pin.

The off center appearance is most likely from the mold/pin not being hot enough or it has some contaminate still present. Lack of fill where the ogive meets the meplat will make it look off center. The same thing happens when the alloy doesn't fill out against a cold pin. Opening the mold too soon will elongate the hole and can even fracture the boolit's nose.

[Slow Elk 45/70]

Agree with Babore, we need more info form the poster to help figure out what is going on, with these new molds, and I have several of them...I have not found a problem... like this in any of them....if Crabo is looking down on the molds from above and they seem to be off center, has he moved the sprue plate to the side first before making this observation?? Have you measured the cavities in relation to the side of the block??? I have a hard time thinking you can be having this problem with an NOE & a Mihec mold... I would take some of the advise above and look to my technique first.....good luck

[OLPDon]

I would think it has to do with the pouring. After the cast boolit has cooled place the HP pin back into the COOLED Boolit and roll it across a flat surface while holding the pin.. Dead center is Dead center you should idealy feel no movement (wobble) or very little in the pin handle. If it is a problem with the mould you will feel the same wobble with all your casts. If it varies it's how you cast.
Don

[Cord]

Let’s say you are using a MiHec Cramer, and you’re casting very hot and fast,
cutting the sprue by hand, go any faster and you need the wet rag to cool the sprue.

Then you crack the mould, and then flip it over to drop the boolits – and the
boolits stay in the side with the Cramer pins in it……

If you are using your thumb to “push” on the four pins sticking out of the back side
of the mould, then you are dragging a very soft, very hot boolit out of the cavity
by the pin, which might stretch the hole out of shape, from the inside of the hole,
before the boolit pops free of the cavity, leaving an out-of-round hole.

If you happen to slow down just a little, even a second or two, with the mould open,
some of the boolits can harden enough to come out without being stretched very much.

When you get rolling and everything heats up, the boolits are softer and the hole stretches.

That may be why some HPs look that way and some do not.

Have I described it well enough to make any sense?

For a test of this theory, look at the weird looking holes, and see if
they are off at a 90 degree angle to the parting line of the mould halves....

Cord

.

[longbow]

Crabo:

I have one of the Mihec H&G #503 Cramer moulds too and read your post so took a good look at mine. At first the pentagonal holes in the boolit noses did appear to be a little off center but maybe not all or not as much.

The mould blocks were perfectly clean so were closed and I couldn't see anything I might have done other than as Cord describes above (good description Cord). I hadn't actually thought about the lead being soft and possibly stretching when the pins were pushed or boolits hanging on pins. Since I cast hot I will keep an eye out for that. Dale53 mentioned it too (see what experience can do for you).

Since the holes did look off center I got a big magnifying glass and took a closer look. I could see that the edges of the nose on the flats of the pin were not quite filled out all the way ~ very slightly rounded. So it made the hole look off center.

Still not absolutely sure, I chucked a bullet in my lathe and machined the end of the nose off to get rid of any round edges, then cleaned the little burrs off the edges. After that, when spun slowly that hole looks centered to me. I also put a drill bit in the tail stock chuck and just touched it to the hole and it cut evenly.

I am happy with the results and I love my mould!

Take a close look with a magnifying glass and I bet you see some round edges. If not then follow Cord's advice when casting as stretching is the next likely cause of off center holes. If you are still not sure then take the pin out and chuck it in a drill or better, lathe, to see if it wobbles when rotated. There should be enough to chuck without removing the horizontal slider bars (Mihec Cramer mould).

The stretching comment may also apply to the NOE RG moulds too as the boolit could still stretch if soft when the mould is opened.

Mine seem to shoot well but it will take a session at the bench to see what they will do. I just managed to take a few shots offhand the other day.

I haven't checked the round pins yet but I doubt there is a problem. I will shoot all three hollow points and solid for comparison.

I love my mould!

Longbow

[crabo]

I usually son't cast with two molds, but as soon as I get a chance, I am going to try it with two molds and see if that makes a difference, because I like to cast hot.