Frosty boolits

[twally]

I think I know what I have done wrong after searching this forum for the answers, But now I have a few questions on how to fix the problem.

For my melt I am using WW with a little solier added.


1. Can I get rid of the frosty look by just turning the heat down?


2. Do the frosty boolits shoot any differet than the nice looking ones, or are they softer or more brittle??


3. If I remelt the frosty lead will is always be frosty or will it go back to normal?
What I mean is did I change the metal aloy or anything, or ruin the melt?


4.What solider and how much per pound of lead should I use to get some tin in the alloy for good fill out.

Thank you for any help Wally.

[HammerMTB]

I think I know what I have done wrong after searching this forum for the answers, But now I have a few questions on how to fix the problem.

For my melt I am using WW with a little solier added.


1. Can I get rid of the frosty look by just turning the heat down?


2. Do the frosty boolits shoot any differet than the nice looking ones, or are they softer or more brittle??


3. If I remelt the frosty lead will is always be frosty or will it go back to normal?
What I mean is did I change the metal aloy or anything, or ruin the melt?


4.What solider and how much per pound of lead should I use to get some tin in the alloy for good fill out.

Thank you for any help Wally.

There's nothing necessarily wrong with frosty boolits.
Yes, if you turn down the heat they will not be frosty.
They won't shoot any different, but they "may" carry lube a bit better, if you are using LLA or some similar tumble lube.
The frosty boos will return to the mix just fine, and wouldn't ruin the melt, but it's not at all necessary.
You are trying to add tin. 2% is the generally considered amount to add, so some math will give you the amount, depending on the solder mix. I have bought 95/5 and just counted it as pure tin. Now I have pure tin from Rotometals. Look at the top of the page for their banner.
Good hot frosty boolits usually don't need tin unless you have some reason other than mold fillout to use it.

[twally]

Thank's Hammer

Do you mean that I don' really need to add any tin to my melt of WW ?
That would be a good thing, I just heard a lot of guys doing it so I thought it was nessary.

Wally

[largom]

Looks is the only downside to frosty boolits and if you wipe the nose with a shop rag it won't be frosty anymore.

Larry

[RobS]

Thank's Hammer

Do you mean that I don' really need to add any tin to my melt of WW ?
That would be a good thing, I just heard a lot of guys doing it so I thought it was nessary.

Wally

Wally:
You don't have to use tin with WW alloy, but you will more than likely have to use more heat to attain mold fill out then. I use WW and do not use tin just more heat. I do end up with a bit of a frosty look on the bullets at times, but not too bad and never have any problems with them performance wise.

Cooling your alloy down though can help make a larger bullet diameter so if your mold is dropping bullets that are a bit undersized you can cool the melt down to work toward a larger bullet diameter or head the other direction if need by casting with more heat if your mold is dropping bullets bigger than you want.

Many people use tin as it just makes the alloy easier to work with, but whatever you decide it depends what you like and what you feel works best for your casting needs. I feel there is really no wrong or right direction on this one.

[Shiloh]

Mold may be a bit to warm as well. Go easy on the tin. Add some and see how it is working. If yu add mre than needed, won't hurt anything, but it is un-necessary and is the most expensive part of the alloy.

Shiloh

[DLCTEX]

Try casting with straight WW and see how the boolits turn out. So far I've never added any tin to any alloy and cast 22 to 58 cal. boolits. As stated, you may need to run a little hotter to get good fillout. Vary your casting temp and see how it goes, mistakes can just be remelted. Extreme frosting can cause rough spots on bands and noses, but light frosting is ok.

[Shiloh]

Try casting with straight WW and see how the boolits turn out. So far I've never added any tin to any alloy and cast 22 to 58 cal. boolits. As stated, you may need to run a little hotter to get good fillout. Vary your casting temp and see how it goes, mistakes can just be remelted. Extreme frosting can cause rough spots on bands and noses, but light frosting is ok.

Lack of tin can sometimes be made up with additional heat. I try it that way first. Sometimes one has to add some 95-5 solder. The frostey boolits hold Alox a bit better so I don't worry.

[jonk]

I've not seen a problem yet. I run my pot hot and most of my bullets are frosty. The only downside is the mold might get so hot that you have to take a break to let it cool, otherwise cooling time with the bullet in it gets excessive and leads to torn bases.

Usually I run 2 molds at once, so as one gets too hot I switch to the other.

You can, in theory, get a brittle bullet but I've not yet seen it and have tried pounding out a few with a hammer to see if they shatter. I've not gotten one frosty enough to have this happen.

I usually run about 10 pounds of wheelweights to 1 pound of 50/50 solder... or 10 pounds to 1/2 pound tin would be fine. Not entirely needed but I find I get fewer occlusions and little air gaps in the skirts on some smaller molds this way.

[JIMinPHX]

If you buy a roll of 1/8" solid 95/5 solder, then a 3" piece per pound of lead will add about 1% tin to the mix. If you get 50/50 solder, then 6" per pound = 1% tin added.

[lwknight]

Keep the molds a little cooler. Your boolits were not frosty when you started unless you preheated the molds. It make no difference what alloy temp you cast. Also, the higher the tin content , the more likely to get frosting.
If you want to see some real frosting, cast a boolit in the mold then heat the mold till the boolit melts then let the mold cool.

[454PB]

I strive for frosty boolits, it's kind of an insurance that the mould and melt are hot enough for perfect castings.

If it bothers you or you don't like the appearance, it can be wiped off once the rounds are loaded. Another way of contolling it quickly is to keep a wet sponge in a shallow pan AWAY from the melt and touch the bottom of the filled mould on this for a second or two.

[Tom W.]

I've cast a few for my .45 Colt that were too frosty, and somewhat brittle. But then again, I was using mostly babbitt....

[Lloyd Smale]

shinny bullets are pretty but thats about the only advantage. Ive run into it before that adding tin actually made a steal mold harder to cast with. When the mold got hot it had fillout problems between the cavitys especially with big bullets. With them ive found that straight ww will allow you to run the mold hot with good fillout. To me a perfect bullet is a bullet that is perfectly filled out and a little frosty.

[lwknight]

Thats true. If the mold is too hot and you have a high tin content you are likely to get the " shrunken band syndrome"

[HangFireW8]

1. Can I get rid of the frosty look by just turning the heat down?

Probably, by letting the mold cool off more between casts. You need not get rid of the frosty appearance entirely.



2. Do the frosty boolits shoot any differet than the nice looking ones, or are they softer or more brittle??

They tend to have slightly harder surface hardness.



3. If I remelt the frosty lead will is always be frosty or will it go back to normal?
What I mean is did I change the metal aloy or anything, or ruin the melt?

It will go away if remelted.



4.What solider and how much per pound of lead should I use to get some tin in the alloy for good fill out.

Any tin-bearing solder will do, 50/50, 60/40, 40/60, or even lead-free solder, which is usually something like 95% tin 5% antimony.

Do your best calculations to get at least 1% tin for easy casting.

-HF

[runfiverun]

turn down the heat a bit.
i like to cool my mold off with a damp rag at the frosty point.
i try to keep a steady pace just short of the frosty rounded edge heat.
if i am going along at 725 and the boolits get the white to them i bump the temp down to 710 cool the mold and maintain my pace.
this usually keeps things on track for the next hour or so.

[jlchucker]

I agree with Lloyd and others this morning. I've encountered frosty boolets, and never saw much if any difference when it came to shooting them. The mold may be a tad too hot, but the alloy flows into all of the nooks and crannies completely, and you most likely have a perfectly-filled out boolet. Some shiny ones may not be filled out as well. Turn your mold heat down a tiny bit, or, if the frosty look really bothers you, then try letting the mold cool for a few seconds after you've dropped your boolets before refilling it.

[1Shirt]

:To me if there is such a thing as ideal, I like some frosting, with emphasis on the bases of the blts, in the lube grooves. I have found that if I cast at the right temp, I can usually accomplishe this by timing, running a hot pot, and using two molds.
1Shirt!:coffeecom