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walker77
04-22-2010, 05:34 PM
How can i get a little bigger boolits out of my lyman mold? Its 429421 and they are coming out at .429 My barrel is .430 and i am dropping them straight out of the mold in a bucket of water. I know you can do the lee menting on the lee molds, and ive tried that once and it didnt turn out too great. Thanks guys!

woody1
04-22-2010, 05:51 PM
Try Beagleing. Do a search here for Probly Beagle a mould or some variation. If you don't find what yo need holler back. Also a good article on Castpics - Articles by Members. Regards, Woody

walker77
04-22-2010, 05:52 PM
isnt that the same thing as the lee menting?

DLCTEX
04-22-2010, 05:55 PM
Beagle the mould. It is not the same as Leementing. Leementing spinning a boolit in the cavity with and abrasive on it, plus other touches. Beagling is placing heat resistent tape on the mould faces to open the mould slightly. Do a search for Beagling a mould.

walker77
04-22-2010, 06:15 PM
Wont that make it oval shape?

mooman76
04-22-2010, 07:29 PM
1. Wait and measure your boolits again in a week and you should have your .430
2. It might make the boolit slightly oval but it should even out when you size it. Most moulds are slightly off anyway. Very few will you find are perfectly round.

462
04-22-2010, 08:06 PM
Beagling is a reversible process that works wonders...go ahead and do it.

Even if you shoot as cast, by the time a beagled, out-of-round boolit has transitioned from the case to the cylinder throats and the forcing cone and has entered the barrel, it will be as round as it needs to be.

Le Loup Solitaire
04-22-2010, 11:35 PM
Beagling is one way to do it. Another is to let them sit for a while as already said. A third option is to add about 2 % tin if you are using WW metal; that will increase the diameter by about .001-.002. Yet another possibility is to lap the mold which is somewhat more involved, but is a permanent solution. If done right it will not make oval bullets. Lyman has gotten to be a real pain in the tush. LLS

walker77
04-22-2010, 11:51 PM
Do you guys have a link to the sticky that goes into detail on how to do it? I looked around and i didnt see it.

HeavyMetal
04-23-2010, 12:34 AM
You can also try to adjust your alloy a bit and see what happens.

If your using straight WW metal adding 1.5 to 2% tin can make you boolit larger.

I would check them in a week

then add tin to the alloy

Then Beagle if the tin didn't give me what I want.

RobS
04-23-2010, 01:05 AM
Do you guys have a link to the sticky that goes into detail on how to do it? I looked around and i didnt see it.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=74686&highlight=beagle

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=959&highlight=beagle

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=12219&highlight=beagle

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=30670&highlight=beagle

Hope this helps a bit

lwknight
04-23-2010, 08:28 AM
Walker, What alloy are you using? Thats the first biggie question.

243winxb
04-23-2010, 08:54 AM
Add antimony to increase size, not tin. Using low amounts of antimony (less then 2%) will not make the bullets grow as they age.
The bullet diameters and weights presented in this list
are based on the use of Taracorp’s Lawrence Magnum
bullet alloy (2% tin, 6% antimony, 1/4% arsenic,
91.75% lead).
Bullet diameters and weights will vary considerably
depending on the lead casting alloy used. This variation
can be as much as 1/2% on the diameter, and 8% on
the weight among the most commonly used casting
alloys. For example, a .358-158 grain bullet might
show a diameter variation of .002", and a 13 grain difference
in weight.
Of the most commonly used alloys, wheel weights (.5%
tin, 4% antimony, 95% lead) will produce bullets having
the smallest diameter and heaviest weight, with
such bullets running approximately .3% smaller in
diameter and 3% heavier than bullets cast with
Taracorp's metal. Linotype will produce bullets with the
largest diameter and lightest weights. This alloy will
produce bullets approximately 1/10% larger and 3%
lighter than Taracorp. Other alloys of tin and antimony,
with antimony content above 5%, will produce bullets
with diameters and weights falling between those cast
from wheel weights and linotype.
Alloys containing little or no antimony will cast considerably
smaller than wheel weights and in some cases
will produce bullets too small for adequate sizing.
Within the limitations given above, the weight and
diameter of a cast bullet can be adjusted by varying the
alloy’s antimony content.
The size and weight of bullets of a given alloy will also
vary according to casting temperature. Higher temperatures
will result in greater shrinkage as the bullet
cools, thereby producing a slightly smaller and lighter
bullet than one cast of the same alloy at a lower temperature

HeavyMetal
04-23-2010, 09:55 AM
I apoligize for hi jacking the thread, but here goes.

antimony will do as 243winxb suggests however this is one of those "looks good on Paper" deals as adding it to an alloy is difficult for the average caster.

My experience is that most newbie casters are simply not up to speed yet on what to look for or, in most case's, are busy trying to make a million boolits in half an hour. Because of this fill out suffers to some degree.

Tin acts as a surfactant and allows the alloy to flow better allowing a newbie to fudge a little until he gets a bit more experience.

Tin is easier to get, easier to add to the alloy and if he gets to much in the alloy much easier to blend out with additional WW or pure lead.

So in my experience the easist, fastest way to increase boolit diameter is to increase the tin content. Again I'm adding a "fudge Factor" .

However everyone needs to keep in mind that a diameter increase is going to be reflected by the experience of the caster. If the OP has his boolits filling out sharp and clean he may not see any improvement by adding tin.

I doubt that adding Antimony at that point will net him any gains either.

That's when he needs to Beagle the mold.

243winxb
04-23-2010, 05:48 PM
Do you guys have a link to the sticky that goes into detail on how to do it? I looked around and i didnt see it. http://www.castpics.net/Look under "Articles by Member" Click on "Bullet Diameter Inlargement" When in doubt what to add to your alloy, add Linotype:smile: http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n420/joe1944usa/th_Alloy_20090610_1.jpg (http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n420/joe1944usa/Alloy_20090610_1.jpg)

lwknight
04-23-2010, 07:35 PM
My .429 mold casts .429 with low antimony lead and .431 with 6% antimony.
The downside is that they do not drop out of the mold as easily.

walker77
04-30-2010, 03:08 AM
How would i go about adding antimony?

lwknight
04-30-2010, 06:05 AM
The easiest way is to buy "Rotometals" 30% "Superhard" and mix it into your alloy. The bars will break when rapped sharply with a light hammer. Calculate your mix by weight to get what you want. About 6% antimony is as much as is reasonably useful and it takes about 2% tin to keep it from trying to float out and dross up.
If you go for the commercial mix of 92/2/6 Lead/tin/antimony you will get about a 16 bnh and beautiful boolits.

This speadsheet may also be helpful. Alloy calculator (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=17869&d=1260496796)

jmsj
04-30-2010, 08:39 AM
walker77,
beagleing a mold is really easy and if you dont like it you can easily remove the tape. I am pretty new to casting and I was able to save a lyman 452460 last weekend. It needed to be increased .006 on one axis.
Look for Beagles article at castpics. You said you only want an increase of .001 that should be pretty easy. The foil tape can be bought at Ace Hardware for $3.00-4.00 a roll. That should be enough tape to last a life time
jmsj

376Steyr
04-30-2010, 06:40 PM
Are you sure you want to water quench your bullets? An air-cooled bullet should be a lot softer (and more forgiving if slightly under-sized) than a water-quenched one. Unless you are at the upper edge of .44 Magnum pressures, water quenched wheelweights might not be needed.

10mmShooter
05-01-2010, 05:28 PM
Walker, I had the same problem with my Lyman 4banger 429421, I used rotometal Lyman2 ingots and it still dropped small bullets dropped at .429-.430. I ordered a rcbs 44-250-SWC same design as the lyman and with same alloy it drosp 432-434. I'm very happy now. :grin: