Lead Sticking in Mold

[hunter64]

Stupid question and I have read some other posts and everyone says that hitting the pivot bolt on the mold should release a sticking bullet but mine doesn't. I have cast 1000's of pistol bullets and they fall right out, once in a while a gentle rap on the bolt and out they come. Well I have never done rifle bullets and so I bought a 160 grn Lee 30 caliber mold today to give it a try for my 30/30. After what I thought was enough preheating with about 15 bullets cast and starting to look normal, the lead would still get hung up in the mold. If I smoked the mold then the next pour came out without a hitch and then it would stick there after till I smoked it again. It is so bad that I literally would have to dig them out with a sharp pointer on the base to get the bullet out of the mold. Since I have never tried rifle and only cast WW lead I mixed some Lyman #2 type lead with 9 to 1 ratio. Do I have to much tin in my mix? The bullets come out with good sharp corners, when they do eventually come out. Varied the temp up and down of the lead pot, and also casting speed and they stick unless I smoke the mold first. What am I doing wrong?

[grumpy one]

Since this is a brand new mould, the first things to suspect would be a burr or similar fault in the mould causing the bullets to hang up, or incompete removal of some chemical, that is now becoming sticky. Don't persist in belting the mould around trying to get them out - find the cause. I think you'll find some useful instructions in stickies and at least one recent thread, but the first step is a careful inspection of the cavity or cavities with a magnifying glass. Once you find out if there is a burr, you can get details of how to remove it safely.

You said you seemed to get some temporary relief by smoking the mould. That probably means either that the burr is very small, or you have some sticky situation in the cavity, such as a preservative chemical that you didn't remove well enough. If you didn't clean the cavity very thoroughly, including scrubbing with a soft brush and a cleaning chemical or soap, you need to do that.

If you find a burr, don't attack it with a machete or something - it is a delicate operation to remove it, especially from an aluminium mould. Buckshot posted instructions on it within the last week, so you should be able to find them with a search.

[D.Mack]

Go to the bottom of this page, look at CAST BULLET ARTICLES. read the articles on the Lee molds, your mold may not be a Lee, but the principles are the same.

[hunter64]

What I found when I looked under a microscope was a small burr on one of the grooves on one of the sides that the bullet was sticking in. I got rid of the burr and smoked the mold as per usually and everything is as it should be now. As soon as I open the mold the bullet drops right out. Never had this happen before with a new mold but I guess it probably won't be the last time. Thanks for the help guys.