I start with the cavity closest to me and pull the mould out from under the spout.
From the front first
From the back first
I start with the cavity closest to me and pull the mould out from under the spout.
It's all chicken, even the beak!
Third selection, I alternate back and forth to keep the mold temp even.
The NOE website suggests alternating. Traditionally, l found it easier to pull to me than to push.
The unexamined life is not worth living....Socrates
Pain, is just weakness leaving the body....USMC
Fast is fine, but accuracy is FINAL!....Wyatt Earp
I said front but with 4-6cav molds, it depends. I will often go front to back & rotate that sequence. It gives me less failure to fill out with some molds. Odd I know but that works for me.
EVERY GOOD SHOOTER NEEDS TO BE A HANDLOADER.
NRA Cert. Inst. Met. Reloading & Basic Pistol
I go near-to-far, back-to-front. If I fill front-to-back, the pin holding the Lyman mold trough catches the front of the mold, and screws things up. Going back-to-front, I can rest the front of the mold ON the pin, and pull it off after I have filled the first cavity...
Echo
USAF Ret
DPS, 2600
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O&U
One of the most endearing sights in the world is the vision of a naked good-looking woman leaving the bedroom to make breakfast. Bolivar Shagnasty (I believe that Lazarus Long also said it, but I can't find any record of it.)
I use a larger ladle and make one sprue puddle over every cavity
Regards
John
I am a believer in a frosty bullet, so I cast hot enough and fast enough to get there and stay there. I also keep a soggy rag nearby so I can chill the aluminum blocks or the sprue plate as needed when lead congealing begins to get all laggy and slow.
There is a cooling gradient on those multiple spues, making the oldest sprue the strongest so to speak.
By casting from the sprue pivot on up the line to the furthest sprue then striking the plate when that last sprue jells, I can minimize the amount of disruptive force needed to cut all the sprues. This makes the earliest/toughest sprue see the highest rotational leverage on the cut off plate and allows you to judge the entire casting set by judging off the last sprue that was cast.
My goal is to be able to cut the sprues without beating on them with a chunk of hardwood. When you get your timing working well, cutting sprues can be done with simple hand force. Cast, jell, move the plate by hand and finger force.
All retired now, just growing tomatoes and building and shooting my guns.
Last edited by jsizemore; 06-19-2020 at 08:42 PM.
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.
The BHN Deformation Formula, and why I don't use it.
How to find and fix sizing die eccentricity problems.
Do you trust your casting thermometer?
A few musings.
Back to front letting the lead continuously flow over the filled cavities.
Old enough to know better, young enough to do it anyway!
Men who don't understand women fall into two categories: bachelors and husbands!
nearest to me first .usually use 2 or 3 molds fill fast so i dont have to slow down .
Using 8 cavity aluminum molds with a bottom pour, and averaging just under two fills a minute, I push the mold away (filling the furthest back first). Maybe it's just what I've gotten used to, but I find it easier to see the sprue cavity and control the movement of the block for greatest consistency this way, as opposed to pulling towards me.
I'd think that the end of the mold blocks filled first, especially on a long gang mold, would get hotter as there's more time for heat transfer from the alloy compared to the other end? I really haven't appreciated a big difference (what'd I look for, a change in frosting, boolits sticking in the cavity more from still being hot?) on my few attempts to alternate, though. Maybe I cycle the mold so slowly that the aluminum cools enough.
I ladle pour and I've experimented with both and I seem to get the most keepers filling closest to me first. I figure it has to do with the handles sucking heat out of the mould until it's completely up to temperature. By that time I'm in a rythm so I keep going.
I'm also guessing it is going to depend on if you ladle dip or bottom pour.
I use a Lee 10# dipping pot and a Lyman bottom pour ladle. I had a few 4 cavity Ideal/Lyman molds at one time and I just never liked them. Most of my multiple cavity (more than 2 cavities) are NOE and in different calibers - seems to depend on the mold. I do rest the blocks on the pot to help maintain heat. Some seem to like a certain direction and others don't. I have a 5 cavity NOE for the likes of the Lyman 454-190. That one requires me to make at least two and sometimes three refills of the dipper to pour the whole mold. I was worried about it when I bought it (used from a member here) but it is one of my easiest to cast with and likes to be poured in either direction.
George makes a good point though - the older I get the more I prefer to use a 2 cavity - the stamina to keep a multi cavity mold going sometimes just isn't there! LOL
I use a Rowell ladle and work from back to forward so I can watch the pour.
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 |