What's wrong with these Boolits?

[ruger.john]

My friend casts a lot of Boolits and generously shares them with me. They are usually perfect however I just bought a mold for him so he could cast me some Boolits for my .303 British. The mold is a Lee 562844 2 cavity .312 185 grain. The bullets seem to have cracks in them He said he made about 50 and still couldn't get a good Boolit. He used the Kroil method on his mold which has worked well before and cast them as he does the others we use .44,.357 and .45 which are no problem. What is he doing wrong? Thanks in advance.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z79/rugerjohn/guns/th_Boolits2.jpg (http://s190.photobucket.com/albums/z79/rugerjohn/guns/?action=view&current=Boolits2.jpg)

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z79/rugerjohn/guns/th_boolits.jpg (http://s190.photobucket.com/albums/z79/rugerjohn/guns/?action=view&current=boolits.jpg)

[selmerfan]

They sure look like the mold is waaaaayyyyy too cold. The fillout is poor and the boolits are wrinkly. If this is his first Lee mold, have him get that bugger HOT before starting to cast. I use a hot plate, run it at 75% and leave the mold on it while the lead is heating up. That's how to get it hot.

[dubber123]

The mould has too much Kroil, (or the origional LEE preservative) in it, or he is simply casting with the mould not up to temp. The pic looks like wrinkles, not cracks, and the bands are not filled out. Scrub the mould VERY clean, and try again, with more heat. Good luck.

[Horace]

Mould and or alloy to cold. Horace

[44man]

An old toothbrush and hot water with dish soap does wonders.
I can see the lead hardening in layers as it flows into the mold. Looks like bottom poured. Nothing is hot enough.

[Wireman134]

Oil of any kind is not good for mold fill out. De grease mold cavity, oil only sprue plate , alignment pins and rails slightly. Smoke mold cavity with a flame and preheat mold the best you can to burn off excess oil. Mold is too cold or contaminated with oil.

[wizard93]

I have the same mold in a single cavity and mine casts just fine. I followed Lee's instructions for their molds and never had any problem. Just clean all traces of oil from the cavities with acetone or denatured alcohol (both have worked for me), and smoke the cavities with a fireplace lighter (the kind with the long metal spout) until the cavities are completely black. Then when the lead in the pot is good and hot, dip a corner of the mold into the mix, and when the mold is hot enough, the lead won't stick to it anymore, then it's time to cast. BTW, after heating up the mold, apply a trace amount of boolit lube (not the kind containing alox) to the pins and sprue plate hinge pin to keep things from getting sticky and worn.

I have never deviated from Lee's instructions for his molds, and while I sometimes get a cavity or two that might want to hold a boolit tight, a simple tap with a stick (I use a 1x1" by 18" piece of deck board) to the hinge pin on the handle usually knocks the boolits out every time. I've noticed on all of my Lee molds that they love to run hot. A frosty boolit never bothers me, it just makes them retain bullet lube better. Lee's method is the ONLY way I've ever been able to get those sharp, square corners on my boolits.

wizard93

P.S. Someone needs to fix the spell check on here. It shouldn't be showing up boolit as being misspelled. ;)

[jlchucker]

When I first read of using Kroil on molds (on this website) I tried it on a Lee mold and my boolets looked like that. I was using a 6 cavity group-buy (311041 PB) and it seems like it took about 100 or so like those in the photo before the mold started dropping boolets that I considered acceptable. I still use Kroil--only a whole lot more sparingly. Kroil works great on iron molds though. But I only say that knowing that all of my iron molds are double-cavity and have been used quite a bit. Selmerfan and Dubber sound like they're both right on IMO.

[thx997303]

Don't put boolit lube on your mold.

[atr]

visual appearance indicates to cold a mold / mix...I have that same mold and it casts very good sharp boolits without the imperfections yours show
also,
finger nail polish remover, (it is acetone based) works great for removing oil and grease in the mold.

[DLCTEX]

No bullet lube on the mould. Use Bullplate lube, available from the Bullshop, found at the bottom of the page. Bullet lube builds up a carbon deposit that is almost impossible to remove. It clogs vent lines and prevents the mould from closing properly. I preheat my moulds by dipping a corner in the melt, then dip the sprue plate as well. +1 on oil contamination causing the wrinkles. I do not find it necessary to smoke aluminum moulds.

[snake river marksman]

I did the same thing over the weekend. Only difference is, I put Lock Ease in the moulds (Lee and NEI). I thought the Graphite might help the boollits drop from the mould a little better. They sat on the bench for two days before I used them, and I still ended up with boolits that looked just like that. The only fix was to scrub them with Goo Gone and dry them really well. Acetone, or alcohol would likely have worked just as well.

[462]

ruger.john,

Thoroughly clean the mould with spray brake cleaner followed by Dawn dishsoap and very hot water (may take more than cleaning), crank up the heat, pre-heat the mould, use Kroil very sparingly (apply a bit using a q-Tip, let soak a few moments, wipe with a clean rag) , no need to smoke the mould.

When using Kroil, the first few casts will produce wrinkled boolits, but that soon disappears and boolits will easily release from the mould.

[MtGun44]

Clean.

Hot.

Bullplate lube.

Bill

[AZ-Stew]

The mould need to be hot enough that the alloy will stay liquid until the cavity is full. As 44Man said, it's cooling in layers as the alloy enters the mould and cools when it hits the "cold" cavity surface. As others have said, get the mould clean, then heat it up. Cast a lot of boolits quickly until the mould heats up, then maintain temperature by adjusting your casting rhythm. Too cold and you'll get poor fillout. Speed up your casting rhythm. Too hot and you'll get localized frosting which produces depressions in the boolit surface. Slow your casting rhythm.

Regards,

Stew

[wills]

You can use aluminum foil to make a “boat” to put your mold in, and float it on the lube to heat it.