Buckshot mold

[DDRanch]

So general consensus is, no real luck with Lee buckshot molds? So probably my best bet is to order a mold from Marty and wait.

[Faret]

So general consensus is, no real luck with Lee buckshot molds? So probably my best bet is to order a mold from Marty and wait.

00 and 000 work good! The #4 have to run really hot and cast as fast as a race car though.

[megasupermagnum]

So general consensus is, no real luck with Lee buckshot molds? So probably my best bet is to order a mold from Marty and wait.

I only have the 000 from Lee. It does work, but I find it a little difficult to get every single cavity to fill. You are almost guaranteed to have at least a couple that only half fill. Not a huge deal, but I hate sorting bad ones. I would have rather Lee kept the balls to a single row.

[Faret]

They work but have to be run got and fast. You also do not have to snip the spru off of every pellet!

[megasupermagnum]

They work but have to be run got and fast. You also do not have to snip the spru off of every pellet!

You don't have to trim the sprue, but the balls are in bundles of three. Some of mine broke apart, but I still needed to break many of them apart by hand.

I find that no more or less effort than snipping them off the strips from Marty's mold.

[megasupermagnum]

Let us know what diameter it casts at with your alloy - I hope it's right at .740 or better

Well, I have an unexpected report. I was casting some blackpowder balls, so was casting with pure lead. I decided to try the new Marty mold. Just like the 000 buck mold, it takes a specific pour to get it to fill. These molds are kind of odd in that they do not fill the cavities until they are hot, then all of a sudden cast like a dream. You won't get wrinkly bullets. this one is the same way, it either fills or it doesn't.

Anyway, the mold is supposed to be a .740" cavity, and I was using pure lead, which should cast the smaller than any lead alloy. All four cavities were casting pure lead balls right on .742". Clearly the cavity is far oversized, I would guess a good .005" over. I did slug a couple barrels with them, and they definitely require more force than the .733" balls, but still not as hard as most shotgun slugs. I believe I'll back off my usual charges and try a few shots with these.

I will be sending an email to Marty to see what he thinks.


One other thing, my new Mossberg 590 has a bore of .734". Even at .742", there was not as much bearing surface as you would think.

[firefly1957]

Megasupermagnum if you look at his page it says orders usually ship in a week It also said my order was in stock, I tried to contact him 4 times no response however I had been billed . Now I know he was having issue but as stated I followed the instructions of Shopify that did the billing . They are the ones that refunded me and he got fined $45 then Marty called me names in a Email that is not how to stay in business he should update his page and respond to inquiries .
Shame this happened but I just wanted the mold for my pellet rifle not getting called names, then my response which explained What was going on was never answered either if he had not gone of the deep end he would have seen I had sent messages he did not receive and took steps to fix it !
He would also probably not printed a label Sunday and had something sent out on Tuesday either because Tuesday was after I was refunded so incompetence seems to be compounded on Marty's part in this .
Hopefully he does better with next customers than he did with me a simple response that he was behind would have been fine.

[shaune509]

"he would have seen I had sent messages he did not recieve and took steps to fix it"
You sir sound like the Dems and the 7734 that they used to try an impeach the POTUS. how does he fix some thing HE DID NOT RECEIVE?
The impression I get is that he is a 1 man shop using a service to host his product, ie Shopify and may be limited to modifying his page by there rules and setup of page and processing of correspondence etc. The photo of the molds he makes show that even in this day of CNC milling he ha a lot more machine time in them then those previously offered years back by Sharpshooter. The complaint of time quote is a non started as even big shops often under estimate turn a round and ad to that uncontrollable's as weather, health, family, shipping [holiday's] 7734 happens.
Hope you can let go and move on with a well learned new respect that the world does not revolve around you.
Shaune509

[deepskyridge]

I am looking for a 4 buck mold, have a 00 buck one and it works good.

Gary

[jsizemore]

Well, I have an unexpected report. I was casting some blackpowder balls, so was casting with pure lead. I decided to try the new Marty mold. Just like the 000 buck mold, it takes a specific pour to get it to fill. These molds are kind of odd in that they do not fill the cavities until they are hot, then all of a sudden cast like a dream. You won't get wrinkly bullets. this one is the same way, it either fills or it doesn't.

Anyway, the mold is supposed to be a .740" cavity, and I was using pure lead, which should cast the smaller than any lead alloy. All four cavities were casting pure lead balls right on .742". Clearly the cavity is far oversized, I would guess a good .005" over. I did slug a couple barrels with them, and they definitely require more force than the .733" balls, but still not as hard as most shotgun slugs. I believe I'll back off my usual charges and try a few shots with these.

I will be sending an email to Marty to see what he thinks.


One other thing, my new Mossberg 590 has a bore of .734". Even at .742", there was not as much bearing surface as you would think.

I made a rotary tumbler from a washing machine motor, pillar/pillow (?) bearings and a 6" PVC pipe drum lined with duct tape. I tumble round ball and buckshot. The edges of the duct tape are laid along the length of the pipe and the edges butt and don't lap. Gives the ball and buck some traction as it tumbles. It will reduce the buck and ball a few thousandths depending on how long you tumble. Nothing in there but the buck or ball. Just them rolling against each other and the duct tape covered drum smooths and polishes and slightly reduces the diameter. My drum turns at 50 rpm.

[firefly1957]

deepskyridge I am pretty happy with the Lee #4 buckshot mold it does 18 at a time . You must keep it pretty hot to cast well.

I also like the way # 4 buck works in the shotgun it has a good amount of killing power Have not hit anything larger then a raccoon with it yet.

[deepskyridge]

Thanks for the info, I will pickup a 4 buck mold soon.

Gary

[megasupermagnum]

What would be nice is if we could get 1# sample packs from Ballistic Products. I never liked 4 buck, or I should say my guns do not. F always performed better. It would be nice to be able to try different sizes from BB to 4 buck, just to see what your gun patterns best with. I only ever tried BB, F and 4 buck. For all I know BBB, T, or TT are even better.

I'm going to ask BPI if they would be willing to do that.

[Blood Trail]

What would be nice is if we could get 1# sample packs from Ballistic Products. I never liked 4 buck, or I should say my guns do not. F always performed better. It would be nice to be able to try different sizes from BB to 4 buck, just to see what your gun patterns best with. I only ever tried BB, F and 4 buck. For all I know BBB, T, or TT are even better.

I'm going to ask BPI if they would be willing to do that.

#1 is my favorite


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[megasupermagnum]

#1 is my favorite


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

For coyote/varmint though? No doubt effective, but that's only 15-18 pellets. Compare that to my F load with 48 pellets. No doubt 1 buck would be a good choice for medium size game.

[Blood Trail]

For coyote/varmint though? No doubt effective, but that's only 15-18 pellets. Compare that to my F load with 48 pellets. No doubt 1 buck would be a good choice for medium size game.

#00 is pretty popular around here for yotes. I’ve developed some real tight patterns at 50 yards with #1.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BJK]

New member to the forum and casting and already you folks have helped me. You've confirmed what I thought I had for a problem; not enough heat.

I'm trying to cast #4 buckshot using a LEE mold (found one in the UK) and my propane burner wasn't putting out all the BTUs it should have been. I was getting good shot in the upper balls, but below them nothing resembling shot. But I put the end of the mold into the molten lead to get it hotter, and added some heat from a propane torch to the pot. Only temporary you understand. That saw better filling of the mold but still not what I want. But I was going in the right direction or so I thought. Now to read here that the mold must be HOT(!). Looking forward to getting my new burner in hand.

I'll also be casting 7/8 ounce slugs but I suspect that will be easy compared to the buckshot. I just don't have the mold yet; a few more weeks I was told.

[megasupermagnum]

New member to the forum and casting and already you folks have helped me. You've confirmed what I thought I had for a problem; not enough heat.

I'm trying to cast #4 buckshot using a LEE mold (found one in the UK) and my propane burner wasn't putting out all the BTUs it should have been. I was getting good shot in the upper balls, but below them nothing resembling shot. But I put the end of the mold into the molten lead to get it hotter, and added some heat from a propane torch to the pot. Only temporary you understand. That saw better filling of the mold but still not what I want. But I was going in the right direction or so I thought. Now to read here that the mold must be HOT(!). Looking forward to getting my new burner in hand.

I'll also be casting 7/8 ounce slugs but I suspect that will be easy compared to the buckshot. I just don't have the mold yet; a few more weeks I was told.

Yes, I think you will find casting the Lee slugs is not that bad. As for the buckshot, the melt doesn't have to be super hot. If you can get to 750-800 degrees, you should be ok. The key is to get the mold hot, which is regulated by the pace you cast at. It's kind of a tricky deal because to get the mold hot, you need to cast with it. Since it is not hot yet, it barely fills with lead. The best thing is to pre-heat the mold somehow, dipping in the lead can do it. The other thing you can do is called pressure pouring. I'm assuming you are using some kind of ladle. If you have a Lyman ladle, or something with a spout, you can put that spout right on the sprue plate, and let the weight of the lead force itself into the mold.

[BJK]

Thanks. Yes, I should be able to do all of that. But everything is on hold until my new burner comes in.

[BJK]

The burner came in today and I wasted little time in getting it on line. But nothing is ever easy. I had a cheap pot that I left lead in years ago and my plan was to melt it and put it into ingots, retire the pot and find something more rugged at a lawn sale. The lead began melting and I saw the lead dripping out of the pot. I got that under control and pressed on with a smaller pot.

The shorter story is that I was able to make a bunch of #4 buckshot. Sure there are some culls, but I'll get better at it, but the majority of them are quality shot. Heat makes a huge difference.

Thanks for the help MSM!