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View Poll Results: When do you sort/"cull" your cast boolits?

Voters
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  • While casting

    68 25.00%
  • After casting before storing or lubing

    145 53.31%
  • When they are taken out of storage to be used

    5 1.84%
  • Before they are lubed

    44 16.18%
  • After they are lubed & before loading

    8 2.94%
  • Don't sort them at all

    2 0.74%
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Thread: When do you sort/cull your cast boolits?

  1. #41
    Boolit Master


    David2011's Avatar
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    The first cull for me is when the sprue plate is opened. Any base that is not filled out gets flicked out before I dump the rest. After that I cull again after they cool but will pull an obviously bad boolit if I see flaws as it rolls around in the cooling area. I keep an eye out for more flaws every time they're handled. I also consider what the boolit will be used for before rejecting very minor flaws. If I know it will be used for plinking I will tolerate a hairline mark as it won't affect the balance of the boolit much for that practice. If it's for a gun I use for competition I try to find all flaws and recycle them. As they're handled to powder coat or lube I watch again for flaws. PC seems to hide hairline flaws so I give them a good look before dropping into the PC tub. They get another glance as they're loaded and if I see a flaw on a loaded round it gets rejected as well. Fortunately those are very rare.

    I don't think I pick up too many individual boolits and roll them through my fingers to inspect unless I thought I saw a flaw but I try to be vigilant for bad boolits throughout the process.
    Sometimes life taps you on the shoulder and reminds you it's a one way street. Jim Morris

  2. #42
    Boolit Grand Master

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    After I cast while still hot. If they are bad I throw them back in
    I Am Descended From Men Who Would Not Be Ruled

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  3. #43
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    Yes, I do cull at those times.

    I never ignore a bad base or wrinkle I see because I never know if I will catch it at a later time so I toss it right then or shove to reject pile even if casting. Some I cull when placing gas checks and running through the sizer. Tumble lube without gas checks I do when I size, and some get caught when I go to PC them if they are getting coated. Then when loading I'm still watching. I have a mini muffin tin at the bench that is about 1/2 full of late breaking rejects.

    In short if I'm looking at the bullet I'm more than willing to reject it if something about it I don't like.
    Scrap.... because all the really pithy and emphatic four letter words were taken and we had to describe this source of casting material somehow so we added an "S" to what non casters and wives call what we collect.

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  4. #44
    Boolit Grand Master tazman's Avatar
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    I watch all the time during every process for bad boolits. Fortunately, I get very few. Probably less than 1%.
    I am picky about how warm things are before I start. I almost always have lightly frosted boolits.

  5. #45
    Boolit Bub Uncle Dave's Avatar
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    As a new caster I focus on cadence so all go into the bucket. I first visually inspect prior to Hi Tek coating for gross imperfections. Then I reinspect during handling during sizing and then once more while handeling during seating. Hi Tek does cover many of my poor but improving habits. I shoot pistol for fun so I’m not overly picked and have descent results. More interested in volume than precision right now but finding a balance. I certainly would tighten my standardsfor accuracy required loads.

  6. #46
    Boolit Grand Master fredj338's Avatar
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    Even plinking, a bad bullet is a bad bullet. For me culling is just pulling out obvious defects like a hole in the base or driving band that isn't formed.
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  7. #47
    Boolit Bub AKholicBubba's Avatar
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    I also keep an eye on good from bad while casting, after casting, before storage and during lubing/coating. I'm not really as picky cause they are just for plinking for the most part

  8. #48
    Boolit Master
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    I would say I cull any time I see something I don't like . I start culling at the pot when cutting the sprue , if I see a base not filled out nice and flat all the way around back in the pot it goes . I drop my cast boolits in two separate places when casting on top of the bench beside the pot I have a pan , that I use when I first get started casting or when something seams off with the fill I drop the boollits in it to keep a eye on them - then there is a larger container under the bench that I can comfortably drop cast boolits in while I'm casting after I get everything going right . The top pan gets most of the bad ones out , sometimes I just dump the top pan back in the pot . When I lube size them I keep a eye on them as well , by the way preheating the mold takes care of a lot of casting problems , and I would like to thank you guys for telling me that over and over until I gave up and tried it , I'm hard headed .

  9. #49
    Boolit Master
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    After I get good bullets dropping out of my mould I'll keep them.
    Any rounded bases or defect get put back in the pot.
    After I'm done I'll do a quick once over to get the ones I missed while up to speed and in the window of godlyness.
    By the time I'm done casting I'm done with it so I'll pick out any obvious ones but tend to get to it properly once I'm in the mood for lubing or sizing or such.
    So I put when taken out of storage.
    Like most I cull as I see them or after I have mistreated them somehow. like dropping them on the floor.
    Ha

  10. #50
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    I pc and dont inspect until after coated as I am sizing the bullets.
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  11. #51
    Boolit Master


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    I cull bases as I open the sprue plate. I cull again after the session is finished, but before tubing or sizing. I cast from old single cavity rifle molds and separate the perfect one's by weight. Handgun bullets I'm less picky about. I can no longer shoot well enough to weigh/separate handgun bullets for accuracy, so all I care about is clean, sharp bearing surfaces. If they'll hit a 6" plate at 50ft, that's good enough for me.
    I HATE auto-correct

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  12. #52
    Boolit Master pls1911's Avatar
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    Obvious bloopers are sorted as casting progresses.

    Others sorted after heat treating, for those batches I heat treat.

    Before gas check and lube, as gas check consistency is not a worry due to today's quality, and lube is uniform.

    I've checked weights before and after checking and lubing, and have seen retained consistency, the difference being the weight of the lube and the check.
    Salvaging old Marlins is not a pasttime...it's a passion

  13. #53
    Boolit Master & Generous Contributor

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    Quote Originally Posted by JonB_in_Glencoe View Post
    So, this is not recommended to those who haven't refined their own technique...but I cull out major flaws in pistol boolits as I cast. I observe for base fillout before I dump them out of the mold. Then when dumping them out of the mold, I move the flawed boolits into a reject pile. That takes care of 90% of my flawed boolits.

    I also 'quickly' inspect each boolit as I size it...if I see a flaw, the boolit gets rejected. I also inspect them as I load ammo, it's rare I find a reject at that time, but it does happen.
    Same here. By the time my booits make it to the loader, the rejects are pretty much gone. I don't have many rejects though. I normally reject the first several casts to get the mould up to temp, very few rejects after that.
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  14. #54
    Boolit Grand Master
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    The obvious ones while casting.
    Otherwise when they dry after taking them out of the bucket of water they get dropped in.
    They get looked over again when sizing and lubing.

    If it has a nose and a good base, they get loaded and fired. Rifle boolits get scrutinized more.
    Minor imperfections don't seem to affect things to much. Most of my rifle shooting is surplus rifles.

    Shiloh
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  15. #55
    Boolit Master


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    Like David2011, I cull throughout the process.

    I know when my casting rhythm is thrown off I'll have a short pour, I'll dump it right into the sprue box. I'll pull obviously bad ones from the pile at the same time I add ingots, and put them in the pre-warming pot along with the next set of ingots. While sorting by weight, while checking/sizing/lubing, even before loading (but by that time almost all of the bad ones are gone).
    I give loading advice based on my actual results in factory rifles with standard chambers, twist rates and basic accurizing.
    My goals for using cast boolits are lots of good, cheap, and reasonably accurate shooting, while avoiding overly tedious loading processes.
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  16. #56
    Boolit Master

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    Through the whole process. Casting, pulling out of water drop bucket, before PC, then before gas checking, if that’s needed. ESPECIALLY when casting for this .44 Mag. I bought. I try for absolutely perfect cast boolits for that round. These 310 grain RNFP GC boolits have to be as good as I can make them. Just my .02
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  17. #57
    Boolit Bub
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    I cull when weighing. I sort the field and cull the out of range heavy/light bullets. Works well.

  18. #58
    Boolit Master

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    I inspect and cull as I cast. I got a wooden box that's toweled lined. With two small wooden boxes in the corners. I cut the sprue and it goes into the rejected bullet box. Once I get a good size pile. I inspect and sort. Rejects go in with the sprues which when full gets dumped back into the pot. other box gets good bullets. I keep going till the pot is empty and I have a giant pile of good bullets. I don't sort by weight. I just look for obvious flaws in bases and mold fill out, wrinkles.
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  19. #59
    Boolit Master
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    I am new to casting, but am casting in volume to feed my action pistol habit, which can consume a couple thousand rounds a month, and maybe more now that I have more time post retirement. Accuracy matters, but two inch groups at 25 yards is considered acceptable for the sport, as most targets are generous in size and closer.

    I would like to cast the best bullets I can, but feel that the volume I need to produce is a limiting factor, and that the need is not critical to be as perfect as possible. Also, I HiTek my boolits, and need to size after coating. The coating, once applied, makes close inspection for minor flaws pretty difficult.

    The end result is that I am pretty much forced to inspect and cull as I cast, checking bases right after opening the sprue plate, and looking at the bullets just dropped before moving them into the good pile while the sprue cools on the next pour.
    Last edited by kevin c; 09-26-2018 at 01:58 PM.

  20. #60
    Boolit Grand Master
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    My castings are subject to cull-out at any point during the processing regimen. Obvious flawed bullets get recycled while the casting is under way, and the bullets get stored as-cast in bulk. I size and lube as the need arises for a given reloading project, and they get a critical look-see just before they hit the H&I die. To answer the poll......."All the above", excepting the last response.
    I don't paint bullets. I like Black Rifle Coffee. Sacred cows are always fair game. California is to the United States what Syria is to Russia and North Korea is to China/South Korea/Japan--a Hermit Kingdom detached from the real world and led by delusional maniacs, an economic and social basket case sustained by "foreign" aid so as to not lose military bases.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check