New Supplies

[centershot]

I rely on my P.I.D. to control my melt temperature. It will hold the temp steady +/- 3* F. No thermometer can do that.

[Rickf1985]

IR temp guns will not read reflective surfaces. You will find it will tell you the lead is about 200 degrees. #8 on my Lee 20# pot will hit 1,000 degrees so be careful with that. I agree with the thermometer. You can get good ones from Lyman or Rotometals. Not all that expensive and I know with the two I have, Lyman and Roto, they are spot on with my PID temps.

[405grain]

A setting of 7 on a Lee pot sounds about right. If you dial up the heat on the pot too much it will start causing some oxidization of your alloy. Looking at the photo of your bullets I think that the problem might be your mold temperature. Casting at too low a temperature will cause wrinkles and poor mold fill out (like on your driving bands). Aluminum mold blocks loose heat faster than iron or brass. Your bullets look like a Lee design, so I'm guessing that you're using aluminum blocks. (and Lee blocks are smaller in size than most other molds, so that can also cause them to loose some heat) What most people have done successfully is to preheat the molds, run the pot a little hotter than normal, then cast at a faster pace to keep the molds hot. It's better to get a light frost on the bullets from the heat than it is to get wrinkles and rounded driving bands.

When trying to cast at a faster pace remember to let the sprue solidify, then watch for it to change color (it will go from a silvery to a dull grey color) before opening the sprue plate. If you're not waiting long enough for all the metals in the alloy to solidify before you open the sprue plate it can cause metal to smear on both the top of the mold blocks and the bottom of the sprue plate. I own some aluminum molds, but I prefer to use iron or brass because they are more forgiving when it comes to the pace that you can cast with them because they retain heat longer.

[braddock]

Thanks for the replies fellas. Weather looks good next week for some outside lead work.
BHN of my "new" alloy is 12, I'm going to try to powder coat the bullets once I've cast them and fit gas checks so hopefully shouldn't get any leading issues.
Next mix of alloy I'll do60/40 pure lead/linotype and hopefully that'll be spot on and I'll make some 358 boolits.

[braddock]

I ordered up a single hot plate, that'll let me put my molds on it to retain their temperature as I'm sure, with casting outside in temperatures about 18C (60F?), the molds cool off real quick.
I'll see when the plate gets here.

[Rickf1985]

A lot of guys build metal boxes that go around the stuff on the hotplate so wind does not cool them off and also helps to more evenly heat things up. I cast inside a garage so wind is not an issue but I am still going to build an enclosure.

[braddock]

That's a good idea, thanks.