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Thread: What did you >>> CAST <<< recently?

  1. #1
    Boolit Grand Master OS OK's Avatar
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    What did you >>> CAST <<< recently?

    Please post pictures of your casting efforts, successes and not so much success also.
    I figure we can all pick up something here...ESPECIALLY diagnosing any problems with moulds or melts.

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    These have been coming out of my trusty 'Drip-O-Matic' lately trying to feed the insatiable appetite of my Green Machine...it takes forever to cast 18 lbs. of these Lyman 358091's with the old 2 cavity mould but I like this 'Button Top' & bevel base FWC.

    Recently I bought an H&G 50, 6 cavity mould from a member to speed things along....'Geeesh' what a heavy and long mould...haven't cast with it yet cause I have to make a new mould rest that will allow this long mould to go completely under the spigot at an angle so it doesn't bump the back of the pot. Any suggestions on a new rest?
    a m e r i c a n p r a v d a

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  2. #2
    Boolit Buddy
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  3. #3
    Boolit Master

    jeepyj's Avatar
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    In preparation for this years shooting I've got started on getting a few 38 cal. Shown in the red container is almost 50 pounds that I've done in the last couple weeks. The others shown are some 44s 9mm 45 etc. that I cast in between to keep my moulds at the desired temperature.


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    Sometimes it takes a second box of boolits to clear my head.
    Feed back thread http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...?261449-jeepyj

  4. #4
    Boolit Buddy
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    And some ideal 311291

  5. #5
    Boolit Grand Master OS OK's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Adam20 View Post
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    And some ideal 311291
    What caused that little bubble thing on several noses? Was it mould lube that got into the cavity?
    It doesn't look like foreign matter in the melt...the melt looks really good. All your casts look really good.
    a m e r i c a n p r a v d a

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  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master OS OK's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jeepyj View Post
    In preparation for this years shooting I've got started on getting a few 38 cal. Shown in the red container is almost 50 pounds that I've done in the last couple weeks. The others shown are some 44s 9mm 45 etc. that I cast in between to keep my moulds at the desired temperature.


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    Geeez...that's a lot of casts...a lot of work too! I wouldn't want to arm wrestle you after seeing this.
    I hope you have a fast way to size that herd!
    a m e r i c a n p r a v d a

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  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy
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    I bought the mold with that mark in it, does not seem to effect anything. Had finning with this mold, was not closing tight I worked on it to get it going.
    Response to post 5

  8. #8
    Boolit Grand Master OS OK's Avatar
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    Sometimes a tiny and hard to see little speck of Pb will get onto one of the closing/allignment pins...finning will start right out of the blue after casting great boolits from the start.
    That little bobble on the nose wouldn't stop me from shooting those casts either, they certainly have great fill-out everywhere else.
    a m e r i c a n p r a v d a

    Be a Patriot . . . expose their lies!

    “In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” G. Orwell

  9. #9
    Boolit Master brewer12345's Avatar
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    Before Christmas I cast about 1800 Lyman 358495 DEWCs with a 4 banger mold I bought from a member. It is marked Ideal, so I think it is really old (like from the 50s). They are already sized, lubed and packed away, so no pics. I am planning on getting my melt on in the coming week with another new-to-me mold, an accurate 138 grain 38 RNFP. Might cast up some additional 35 Rem fodder with the RCBS mold as well if I pile up enough of the 138 grainers before I get tired. Waiting for my Mihec group buy HG50 8 banger to come in so I can get an even bigger pile of DEWCs...
    When you care enough to send the very best, send an ounce of lead.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master waco's Avatar
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    The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
    Proverbs 1:7

  11. #11
    Boolit Master





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    Bought a new Lee mold this week; 145gr SWC flavor for my Glock 35 that prefers lighter bullets. Best success so far with Speer 155gr TMJs with Win 231.

    Reviews on Midway said it dropped heavier boolits in the 150 to 152gr range. Perfect! This is the lightest boolit I've ever cast, so it took a bit of fiddling with the mold temp and lead temp to find the sweet spot.

    Only cast about 100 of those and then tried another 100 of the Lee 175gr SWC. Those dropped nearly perfectly from the start, as usual.

    Weighed the boolits and the 145gr actually weighed 142gr quite consistently. The 175gr weighed 175gr pretty consistently. Loaded both up with a very low charge of 4.5gr of Unique and will see how they do today in about an hour when I drive out to my range.

    Goal of the loads is acceptable accuracy and very low recoil for GSSF matches. Last week I got a 1 5/8" group and a couple of 2" groups at 25yds with the stock Glock G35. If these can do 2" or better, then I just saved a bunch of money on boolits...

    Attachment 211200

  12. #12
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    This, the Lee 410-195-SWC casting session was the most recent...It was a couple weeks ago.
    A couple hours casting, yielded about 350 to 400 boolits.
    They got lubed and sized a couple days ago, This was a soft misc alloy mix, about 10BHN, and I loaded a box with 5.2 gr Red Dot.
    I went to the range yesterday, it was about zero degrees, I had to test fire some, to confirm I liked that load. I think I could go a little lighter on the load with the remainder of the boolits.


    Attachment 211201

    Attachment 211202

    Next up is the NOE 41 Keith HP GB mold, I think I'll use this same soft alloy and similar load.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    “If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.”
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  13. #13
    Boolit Grand Master OS OK's Avatar
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    This is great, love all the pictures!
    You know, there's a heap of information in a fresh pile-O-casts....for instance, how the sprue cut looks & what it says about the casting tempo of the caster, how smart the heel of the cast is and how tight or loose the sprue plate is...how well they are filled out and the content of the Pb and/or the texture of the Pb itself and how hot you might think they were cast and even the part lines on the mould and how they reveal whether or not there is a slight dab-O-lead on the face of the mould or in a mating pin...

    Never get tired of looking at fresh cast boolits. Thanks to all for starting this new thread off with some great pics...
    a m e r i c a n p r a v d a

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  14. #14
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by OS OK View Post
    Any suggestions on a new rest?
    This is an old pic. The wood is now as wide as possible. If it needs to be higher or lower I just remove the support pieces at the front and back. No need for anything fancy.


  15. #15
    Boolit Grand Master OS OK's Avatar
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    Thanks Dragon...I can do that, got a whole pile of leftover oak from my cabinets in bits and pieces sizes like that.

    I need a 'runway of sorts' that will let me place the weight of the long mould on the wood and go in under the spigot from lower right to upper left.
    Maybe I'll go out and hobble cobble something together...I really would like to try the mould.

    thanks . . . c h a r l i e

    PS...don't turn the wrong burner on when warming that mould...you might turn loose of it really quick.
    a m e r i c a n p r a v d a

    Be a Patriot . . . expose their lies!

    “In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” G. Orwell

  16. #16
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  17. #17
    Boolit Grand Master OS OK's Avatar
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    Hey Grmps..."One looks like a 'pill' the other looks like a 'suppository' . . . hmmmm, do they still prescribe those things?"
    About 40 years ago I came back from the Dr. with a foil package of those things...later in the evening my wife ask if it went ok with those suppository's? I told her no, no problems...but, they sure taste bad! I had her going for a minute or so...

    Thanks Dragon for the insight to the wooden rest and thanks Grmps for suggesting I line it with some tin.

    I made this wood runway a few minutes ago, slanted forward and to the side a bit so I can see the 'trough' that's ground into the sprue plate. I nailed a curb on the far side of the ramp to keep the mould indexed in the center of the spout...that worked out fine...only one little problem...that dang H&G 50 must weigh 50 lbs., that sucker just wore me out quick. I'll have a little longer than usual learning curve learning how to handle this massive chunk-O-steel.

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    It does make some purdy 'Button Top, full base' Wad Cutters...look in the bottom right corner and you'll see what it makes when you don't pour the cavities correctly. This is the first mould that had the slot in it that I've used with a bottom pour pot, I was concerned about getting Pb in a cavity before I was ready to pour that particular cavity...in the end it didn't make any difference as the stream flow coming out of the pot and how soon you indexed it was the key there, that and bringing the mould up to 425*F. in the oven before starting.

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    I had 3 fills before I gave the cavities a good squirt of brake cleaner and then the 4'th fill was fine but I made some awful looking sprues starting out.
    a m e r i c a n p r a v d a

    Be a Patriot . . . expose their lies!

    “In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” G. Orwell

  18. #18
    Boolit Grand Master In Remembrance
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    Found an Ideal Mold that I've been looking for a long time ... The Ideal 311467
    This afternoon - 100 bullets cast with Bhn 19.3 - GC'd - Lubed and ready for reloading. Ideal said this bore riding 8 GG band bullet is good to 1000yds - so gonna try them in a 300 Win Mag with a Hi-Lux M-1000 scope

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ID:	211229 311467 Excellent results even up to 1000 yards with this bullet. Designed by H. Guy Loverin. (GC, RN, 177 - TP is 467)
    Regards
    John

  19. #19
    Boolit Man jeff100's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OS OK View Post

    I had 3 fills before I gave the cavities a good squirt of brake cleaner and then the 4'th fill was fine but I made some awful looking sprues starting out.
    Are you squirting brake cleaner into a hot mold? If so, does the brake cleaner ignite? Not sure at what temp brake cleaner would ignite. - JJ

  20. #20
    Boolit Grand Master


    Larry Gibson's Avatar
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    Cast these last Saturday; 5-600 NOE 30 XCBs and 400+ 314299s......

    Attachment 211230
    Larry Gibson

    “Deficient observation is merely a form of ignorance and responsible for the many morbid notions and foolish ideas prevailing.”
    ― Nikola Tesla

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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