First Post 50YO newbie

[JM7.7x58]

That top bullet looks pretty good.

Aluminum is porous. The machining process uses a coolant/cutting fluid. Heat cycling and solvent cleaning will eventually give you a clean mold.

I would clean it again with a solvent, brake cleaner or Acetone.

Cast and dump (throw them back into the pot) twenty times, as fast as you can.

Clean it again.

Smoke it (I only smoke my new molds the one time).

Cast and dump ten more.

Should be good.

JM

[kmw1954]

Hardball Bullet Casting Alloy ingot- 5 pounds (2%-Tin,6%-Antimony,and 92%-Lead)
Rotometals.com

When I buff the bullet with a towel it looks pretty good. It's like a surface thing. They both weigh 301 grains.

I find this interesting in that before I changed alloy I was using straight clip on wheel weight or range scrap from an indoor range that was very soft. Cast a dozen or so batches this way and then decided to try adding some print type to try and harden and lighten these bullets a bit. That's when I started having trouble. My bullets all started dropping looking frosted, even after turning the heat way down.

Then like you say, while sorting I started wiping them in a shop rag and they then looked perfect!

This linotype/print type I have I took a small amount and melted it down so I could pour ir into a mold and then try to use the pencil hardness test. After dropping that puck from the mold you could clearly see the large looking crystalized flakes in the smooth metal. This puck was so hard I could not scratch it with even the hardest pencil.

[Gripit]

You guys are know your stuff.

10 from last session top row.
10 from today.



I cleaned the mold again. I ran the temp higher.
Yes I'm shooting the ugly ones anyway.

[kmw1954]

Well done Gripit

[Bazoo]

Howdy,

Well, of those two bullets in the first picture, that spiderwebish frosted bullet looks fine to me. It appears better filled out on the driving bands than the top bullet. Complete fillout is much more important that surface appearance.

Having a shiny surface and then frosted edges and incomplete fillout on the bands is a sign of casting at the wrong temperature/cadence. The mould is just at the transition from shiny to frost temperature. Casting either slower to get shiny or faster to get somewhat frosted bullets should solve that.

A too cool sprue plate will cause the same thing. I pour extra metal over the sprue plate to get it to temperature.

I rarely cast shiny bullets, mostly I'm in the slightly frosty area.

I never could get the hang of using 2cycle oil, I used too much. I started using a carpenters pencil and it's great. Take the sprue plate off and color the top of the mould, the bottom of the sprue cutter, the pivot bolt and the hole in the sprue plate. Color the alignment pins. When your casting, If you get a smear between the plate and mould top, Just wipe it with a rag and recolor with the pencil.

Another thing I do, is if I have any issues with contamination, I fill the cavities (sprue plate open) with lighter fluid while it's hot. I've never had it flame up, just boil in the cavities. You must keep in mind that hot stuff will melt the bottle though. It doesn't cool the mould much, so no danger of warping it.

One thing I had to learn is I didn't stir enough when fluxing. A marble sized piece of wax and stirring 30 seconds to a minute does wonders over that 10 second stir my pot initially got when I first learned. Sometimes I'll stir and scrape my pot sides and bottoms 2 minutes or more. It helps.

[Knightflyer]

Mold temp, and here's my best suggestion, based on my own failures and success; start pouring, and just don't worry if any of them are good.

You see, aluminum heats up pretty quick, but it also cools quick. It becomes a rhythm, that keeps the mold hot. Beginners pause to fuss (or admire) and the mold cools. It took me awhile to figure out that my craving each boolit to be "right" was slowing my pour, and turning out worse boolits!

Fluxing is important too, or the tin might not be where it needs to be, and thus poor fill-out.
Shalom, David

PS I'm still a beginner, but this is what tripped me up the most!
PPS My suggestions are in addition to, not necessarily substitutes for others like a hot plate!

[DHDeal]

I've got that bullet in a 4 cavity 2 diameter mold (300E and a 290 grain GC 44 caliber) and it's an accurate bullet. Kinda heavy for plinking, but it still shoots good at a moderate velocity.

I understand that Tom @ Accurate ultrasonically cleans the molds, but I do it again anyway. First time casting with a new aluminum Accurate Mold is similar to a MP Mold. Only a few keepers. Second casting session is better and third time is the charm. Don't know why other than seasoning or oxide build up, but it's the way it is for me.

I ladle cast hot and fast and that works best for me. Even though I have thousands of GC's, I never install one on a imperfect bullet. I know folks say to not sort while casting, but I look at the bullets as open the mold and if there is a bad one, I'll dump that group somewhere else in my bullet box. While I pour the next mold full, I'll put the bad one's back in the sprue pile. Also, if the bases aren't perfect when I open the plate, I won't keep that bullet either. Once your cadence is good, the molds up to temperature, and the alloy is right, I don't have many rejects unless I screw up that pour.

[charlie b]

Looks like you are doing fine.

I second the break in part. My Accurate mold took three sessions to start making really nice bullets. FWIW, I cleaned it with acetone after the first session.

The surface flaws are something my bottom pour pot will do every now and then. I thought it was dirt in the lead or mold was not an even temp. After examining a bunch of bullets as I cast I believe it is a combination of how the lead enters the cavity and temperature gradients in the mold itself. The good news is it does not seem to affect shooting or powder coating. I still get sub-MOA groups with my rifle.

[Gripit]

Well I'm pretty sure I can feel an addiction forming. I left work early, cleaned the mold again, then again, put it in the oven and brought it up to 400, I let it cool to room temp and repeated. Whilst the mold was heating up I got the pot up to temp, pulled the mold out and started casting fast until the frost showed up, then I backed off. After that I really started liking my work. I weighed ten from the old session and ten from the new and improved session. The first session averaged 299.5 and the 10 "better" averaged 302. Pretty close. Anyway I'm feeling it, I might need 20 more molds and more pots and and and...

You guys are solid. This forum is great and I'll be lurking around soaking up all the information, all while pretending to watch whatever it is my wife's watching.

[Mitch]

Great Job Gripit.feeling it hum Bud your hooked some one reel him in lol.Now you kinow you have a good casting clean mold like said above in about 3 casting sessions it will cast Better.Them ugly bullets shoot to lol.Is good to see you off and running right away took me a bit longer.Them bullets look real good nice sharp edges. As you cast more with different alloys you will see they look a bit different.To me your new bullets look just like a hi antimony alloy should.And more lead.more molds the list will get long.

[waco]

Please remember. Tom runs all his molds through an ultra sonic cleaner before he ships. NO NEED TO CLEAN THEM.
Get the mold up to temp and have good clean alloy.
Glad you got it figured out Gripit.