Need Advice With Hollow Point Problems

[Idahoan]

I have the Lyman 452374 "Devastater" Hollow Point Mould, and can not keep the area right at the nose free of wrinkles and unfilled areas, I assume because the hollow point pin is cooling down too much betweeen casts, having to remove it and all. I will be using them in a 1911 so they need to be reasonably "right" to feed well.

I am using a Lee Pro 4 20 furnace running all the way hot with 20-1 Lead to Tin alloy. I suppose I could try Lyman #2 alloy which of course does not need to be as hot, but kinda' defeats the purpose of a HP by using a harder alloy.

Suggestions?

[Lloyd Smale]

when i cast with a devestator i do one of two things about every fifth bullet i stick the hp pin in the melted lead to heat it or I take a propane torch and heat it for about 5 seconds.

[Larry Gibson]

when i cast with a devestator i do one of two things about every fifth bullet i stick the hp pin in the melted lead to heat it or I take a propane torch and heat it for about 5 seconds.

Yup, Lloyds got the solution.

Larry Gibson

[Dale53]

I "third" the idea! That should solve it just fine.

Dale53

[anachronism]

Yup, it seems to work best when the pin is even hotter than the mould.
Don't forget to "smoke" the pin too!

[leftiye]

If the HP pin doesn't have a wooden handle, you can set the mold on a hot plate between casts. Since it probably does have a wooden handle, you could remove the wood, and handle the pin with pliers (as I have done). Mold heater is real nice for controlling mold temps in a variety of applications. Just work it into your casting cycle, and adjust the temp up and down.

[Wayne Smith]

I just bent some copper wire into a loop and a hook on the other end. Hook goes over the edge of the pot, HP pin goes into the loop into the molten lead between castings. I pull the pin and drop it into the loop in one motion.

[Idahoan]

Thanks for all the help Folks, dipping the pin into the lead did not work too well for me though, the lead clogged everything up, pin would not seat fully because of lead build-up at the flange, and some lead ended up on the mould faces, so not closing completely.

I did cast 100 or so bullets afterwards with a RCBS 50-450-FN mould, normally I get beautiful bullets with it, but they looked a bit pitted, like 30 or 40 to 1 alloy, I was out of freshly made up ingots, instead pouring a bunch of 20-1 sprues and scrap bullets into the furnace, the continual fluxing may have thinned out the tin a bit.

Or it may have been the 35 degree temp a couple feet inside the big open garage door where I cast, or possibly the furnace just does not run quite as hot as it should, or a combination of the above.

I did use up most of the 20-1 lead on the 50-70 bullets as I had planned, and refilled with #2 alloy, tried again, and results were only slightly better. Perhaps a loose nut behind the handle as the mould was hotter than the hubs of hell

Perhaps I will try again this summer a few feet outside the garage with the sun shining on everything, and my old cast-iron SAECO pot, something to heat up the pin, and a new batch of 20-1.

[44man]

Pots can be a problem. My old Lyman had to have the contacts cleaned all the time but the thermostat finally gave out and the lead would start to freeze in the pot while I was casting. I bypassed it and now plug it into a voltage controller and can keep it within a few degrees.
My friend has two new Lyman pots and an RCBS and none of them gets hot enough for good boolits. The one I have no problems with is my Lee. It seems like the cycle time is shorter on it. It also gets hotter. Sometimes cheap is good!

[Idahoan]

Pots can be a problem. My old Lyman had to have the contacts cleaned all the time but the thermostat finally gave out and the lead would start to freeze in the pot while I was casting. I bypassed it and now plug it into a voltage controller and can keep it within a few degrees.
My friend has two new Lyman pots and an RCBS and none of them gets hot enough for good boolits. The one I have no problems with is my Lee. It seems like the cycle time is shorter on it. It also gets hotter. Sometimes cheap is good!

Well, maybe not good, but hotter, the new Lee Drip-A-Matic seemed to run hotter than the old SAECO, at least until I tried this mould. But I don't have a thermometer so hard to tell for sure.

[Dale53]

Both the Lyman and RCBS pot can have the thermostat adjusted to correctly reflect the temperature it is set on. On the RCBS, you need to remove the pop rivets that hold the outer cover together. Then, you will have access to the thermostat. Use a good thermometer and set it up with the same conditions prevailing as when you cast. Remove the knob on the thermostat - the adjusting nut is underneath. I have adjusted several RCBS' so that the number "7" is 700 degrees, and the "8" is 800 degrees, etc. I am MUCH happier for having done that.

If you are careful when you remove the rivets (drill them out) and then pop rivet them back, the pot will be none the worse for wear.

I don't guess I have to remind you to only work on the pot's electrical system IF YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE DOING!! It is BEST to unplug it before you work on it ...

Good luck!
Dale53

[44man]

Hey Dale, anyone that works on a plugged in pot should not be casting OR shooting and could make the Darwin awards.
I don't have an RCBS pot but will pass on the info to my friend. The Lyman adjustment under the knob never worked right and after setting it, the thing would go haywire anyway. But this pot was made in 1961 or so. Sometimes it worked fine then the lead would get cold again. Can't make boolits for beans like that. I can't believe the heating element has worked all these years. Thermostats wear out though. No replacement parts because it is so old. The lady at Lyman laughed when I gave her the number.
I never use the bottom pour on my Lee and it seldom leaks. Maybe a drip or so and turning the screw stops it. I didn't want the bottom pour but they were out of the other pot and I had to get this one. Someday I will just plug the hole and get rid of the junk on top.

[shooter2]

Try casting with a ladle and see what happens...

[MT Chambers]

This works for me, do what you've been doing, only change, drop bullet with pin still in bullet, pull pin and re-insert into mould at last opp. before pouring again...you'll need good leather gloves as you are half holding the hot bullet while you pull out pin. you know the old saying"when it's hot, keep it in a bit longer"

[dakotashooter2]

I have a lee bottom pour and when I pull my hp pin I place it under the lift wire on the rim of the pot . The rim is hot enough to hold the temp of the pin all that is needed is something to hold it in place. A person could probably make a small metal loop attached to the pot to set the pin in. The heat transfer from the pot to the loop should be enough to keep the pin hot.

[Dale53]

44man;
I had my old 11 lb Lyman bottom pour pot loaned to a good friend. He only had it a few days (waiting on his pot to arrive) and the thermostat went out. He said nothing to me, just went to a Cincinnati appliance repair supply shop and bought a new thermostat. He installed it, regulated and returned the pot as soon as he was finished. I protested that the pot had been used for YEARS and the therm was not his reponsibility. He refused to even let me pay for the part. Now THAT is a good friend.

If you live in a big city, you might try to see if an electrical shop has a generic thermostat (that Lyman part was used in electric irons - like your mother used to iron clothes). You might be able to put it back into service.

Incidentally, I believe I have a NEW Lyman cast iron pot with heating element. I bought a spare and never had to use it. When I sold the complete pot, the new owner wasn't interested in the spare pot and heating element. I would entertain a bid on the pot...

Dale53

[fourarmed]

Another thing that helps fill out hollow points is to hold the mold against the spout with the spout open a few seconds longer than necessary to fill the mold. The extra pressure helps fill. Drop the mold away from the spout just BEFORE you cut off the flow. That way you get a sprue with enough weight to drop off when you open the mold.

[44man]

Dale, I have three pots and my old Lyman works better then new with the voltage control. I just cast a pile of boolits with it with zero rejects.
Plus, I am broke!

[Beau Cassidy]

10-4 on the ladle. You won't have to do anything but churn out bullets.

[GLL]

My 429640 Devastater responds very nicely to an RCBS ladle with the hole bored out,very hot alloy, and fast pace. I have few fillout problems with this mould if I can keep up a rapid cycle rate.

Jerry