New to casting, about ready to throw in the towel ... but ...

[Echo]

This whole thread ought to be copied, edited, and placed in all the gun rags.

[462]

J,

Excellent first post that should be required reading for all new casters. You experienced a problem and tried to work to work it out yourself before asking for help.

With the help that is willingly offered here, I was able to overcome a very frustrating, new caster problem I was having. Every attempt I made to correct it was just another exercise in futility. I had almost decided to call it quits, when I decided to seek some Cast Boolit advise. With the input from gracious members, I was able to eliminate the problem.

I've had to beagle two moulds to get the correct boolit size. It's easily done and the mould can always be returned to its original configuration.

Lee moulds require a lot of heat. Turn the thermostat to its highest setting. Also, there is a sticky about "Leementing" Lee moulds, that is very helpful.

Start collecting wheel weights and smelting your own ingots.

You will probably encounter further problems, some of which you will be able to figure out. For the others, this is the place to turn to for assistance.

[Larry Gibson]

I echo Buckshots recomendations and will add one more.

With the large 45-70 and 45 Colt bullets the alloy must get into the mould fast. Make sure the rod that allows the alloy out of the bottom spout is adjusted as far open as it can go. That means the adjustment that controlls how far you are lifting it up. Also keep the pot 1/2+ full of alloy to keep the pressure high coming out of the spout. With the larger bullets and the smaller 10 lb pot this will mean adding more alloy more frequently. With cast bullets of 300+ grs I use a Lyman dipper instead of the furnace spout to get very good, well filled out cast bullets.

Larry Gibson

[Huntducks]

I heat my molds up with a propane torch.

[fredj338]

I heat my molds up with a propane torch.

I would certasinly be carefull w/ that, especially w/ aluminum. Warping seems a greater possibilty than just setting them on the ege of your pot.

[GLL]

Follow Buckshot's plan !

My only suggestion is to buy a bottle of DAWN brand detergent. Once you have cleaned the moulds a second time just repeat it a third time !!! USE SUPER HOT water !

Most of the problems I have had are related to moulds that are not super clean.

Clean alloy and high enough temperature are the next to consider.

Jerry

[cbrick]

JSimpson65, well your from the right town for a brand new caster, it is something that humbled every single one of us when we first started.

Very solid advice given so far so there isn't any reason to repeat it. I'll just add that aluminum gives off heat far faster than does iron, takes a bit more to get'em up to casting temp and takes a faster rythm (more heat) to keep'em at casting temp. Look at it as not pouring alloy but rather your pouring heat and the proper amount of heat is needed for properly filled out boolits.

Good for you for not giving up, soon you'll still be from Humble but not humbled.

Rick

[montana_charlie]

PS - Was casting inside my garage due to rain outside, with main door open about 2 feet and side door open for ventilation, and a raccoon walked in just as I was finishing up. Thought it might get exciting for a moment, but he ran out the open overhead door pretty quick.

Racoons make good flux, but you need a big pot...

[TAWILDCATT]

there are stickys here that explain all the steps and mistakes.YOU DID NOT READ THEM.I also like the 20 lb pot hold more metal but it also holds the heat better.

[TAWILDCATT]

also Lees handloading book explains most all.and lyman cast bullet is good.the more you know the less trouble you will have I have 72 yrs experiance.casting
and still learning.
I have every ones cat. as I like to read and see whats there.

[DLCTEX]

-I preheat my moulds by dunking the corners into the melt. When the mould is hot the lead will shed easily, although small bits may have to be wiped off with a towel or a gloved hand.

[runfiverun]

the start them hot and cool as you go till you hit the happy temp is how i run all my aluminum molds not just the lees.
once i hit that temp i go like the dickens and cast a pile of them.
the rain certainly helped you also.

[gashooter]

Casting can have some frustrating bumps (don't ask me about gas checks).
A few things from my own experiences are:
Straight from the box I have only cleaned my molds with contact cleaner , brake cleaner as suggested would be just as good. No sticking at all. Steel mold + water = rust.
You said you got ww lead. That is high in antimony and hard. Alloys of that type have more "shrink back", maybe that would help explain why they are small out of the mold. Maybe mix in some pure lead and see how it goes.
I try using a pot thermometer but it seems to be just a reference only. Cold molds/alloy = wrinkles, excessive heat = frost. Just try to watch your bullets and adjust accordingly.

Lots of good info can be had from this forum, ask questions and keep trying.

[Heavy lead]

I'm one who uses hotter than hell water with dawn, yes even on iron moulds.
Read through this thread and I saw no mention of tin. Keep yourself a couple rolls of 95/5 around (95% tin/5% antimony), when you're not getting good fillout add some to pot and flux, stir well. I've done this quite a bit when I get a tough casting session, and it makes life much easier. You'll get the hang of it when to add and when you don't need to, tin doesn't make the alloy much harder, just much easier to work with.

[Ken O]

I think we have all had the problem of not getting all the cutting oil off a new mold. I'm a big fan of carb cleaner, it washes it out real good, then evaporates leaving it extra clean and ready to use right away. The dollar store has the big cans of carb cleaner real cheap. I never used brake cleaner, I don't know if it is a good sub or not. The carb cleaner smell like acetone.

I don't like putting the mold in the lead to pre-heat. The lead gets into places it shouldn't be. I bought a electic hot plate at a second hand store for 50 cents and use it. I flip it over a few times while the lead is coming up to temperture, and is ready to go about the same time.

[35remington]

Lee's 45 caliber rifle moulds are advertised to cast at .457", and from hard personal experience I can tell you that's just what they cast.

This is a bit undersized, and not helpful. .459-.460" would be more preferable.

Two fixes, besides beagling.

One, send Lee 25 bucks and ask to get a mould that casts on the large side of their tolerance range. I've done so in the past and got moulds that now go .460-.461", which is ideal for my 45-70 Marlin.

Second, buy their 405 HB mould, which casts to .462" in my copy. There's a trick to using this mould. It fills better with either a dipper (not Lee's as it doesn't have the capacity or "head pressure") or with pressure from the pot's pouring spout held directly on the sprue plate chamfer, which allows the head pressure from the weight of lead in the pot to fully fill out the hollow base of the bullet.

Failure to do so leaves a void at the apex of the hollow cavity.

[MtGun44]

Maybe add a bit of tin to the alloy, too.

Scrub cavities of a new Lee with Comet and a toothbrush. Takes off the goop and a lot
of the smaller burrs, too.

Bill

[JSimpson65]

there are stickys here that explain all the steps and mistakes.YOU DID NOT READ THEM.I also like the 20 lb pot hold more metal but it also holds the heat better.

Actually, I did read the stickys, and thought I understood things well enough to get started casting. I have the Lyman cast bullet handbook, and read it cover to cover. Also have Lee, Lyman, and several other reloading manuals, all of which I have read. I've also been silently lurking on this forum, reading and doing a lot of searches trying to answer my own questions without bothering everyone here with my typical noob mistakes.

In my case, part of the problem was that, having never cast bullets before, it's hard to know what you don't know. You can read about fluxing, preheating molds, frosted bullets, cleaning molds, etc. all day, but that doesn't guarantee success. I think I had several things going against me - contaminated molds, not running molds hot enough, not fluxing enough, possible less-than-perfect alloy, etc. When you combine all of these with inexperience, it makes it a little trying.

I cast some 45colt and 357's with the remaining 2 Lee molds tonight, and all went well. In both cases, maybe the first 10-15 were rejects as the mold was heating up, then suddenly the bullets started getting uniformly frosted and well filled out with no wrinkles. I was very happy with the results. Maybe 100 of each with only about the first 10% rejected. I now realize one of my bigger problems (maybe the only problem?) was that I wasn't letting the molds heat up enough. Even letting them sit on the edge of the pot, it still took awhile to get them well-filled out. Now that I know how to recognize what is going on, it seems pretty simple as I am sure it all seems more than simple to most of you folks with tons more experience than I.

Thanks again for everyone's suggestions and encouragement!

[nonferrous]

I took a new 6 cavity Lee .358 mold, soaked it in mineral spirits for 48 hours. Using a 20 pound Lee prouduction pot and clip on lead, I was dropping good boolits after the third fill, made over 300 keepers in one hour with only one fluxing.
I found the key to be, getting the mold up to temp, running the melt at about 675 to 700 degrees and when they start coming, keep pouring.
I also found that leaving the thermometer in the melt was a big help in adjusting the temp.

[462]

J,

Seems you have a handle on things. Next up is to see how they shoot.

Keep in mind that each mould will be unique unto itself. You may want to make some notes indicating the thermostat setting that produces the best boolits for each mould.