nose fillout on long skinny boolit?

[yondering]

Hey guys, I need some advice on what I'm doing wrong here. I'm getting consistently poor nose fillout on my Lee 200gr 30 caliber mold. This is one of the older single cavity molds. Alloy is WW with ~2% tin. I've opened up the vent lines on the mold already. I don't have a thermometer yet (it's on the way) but casting temp is the same that I use for my Lee and Lyman .45 cal molds with good results.

My problem is that I consistently get wrinkles in the nose, even when the driving bands are filled out. I'm using a Lee 20 lb bottom pour pot, and even tried pressure pouring into this mold by holding it up against the spout. Casting quickly with this method gets the mold hot enough that the driving bands get frosty and not filled out, but the nose is still wrinkled. I've tried preheating the mold by holding the base in the melt for a bit, until the melt doesn't stick to the bottom of the mold. I've tried adjusting the bottom pour to dump the melt fast or slow, and I've also tried ladle pouring with the same results. I'm stumped.

Here's a picture of a few typical boolits. The one on the left is the most typical. Note that the wrinkle in the nose is on the vent line on this particular boolit, but often it's not along a vent line.

[docone31]

Your mold is too cool. On my double cavity Lee molds, they look like that untill the mold gets up to temperature.
That is with dipping the mold in the melt.
You be too cool. If you did not have tin in there, I bet there would be more wrinkles.

[yondering]

Your mold is too cool. On my double cavity Lee molds, they look like that untill the mold gets up to temperature.
That is with dipping the mold in the melt.
You be too cool. If you did not have tin in there, I bet there would be more wrinkles.

Should I be running the melt hotter? The boolits in the picture were cast after at least 50 or 60 previous rejects, at a fairly quick pace. This same melt temp gives me frosty boolits in my 45's pretty quick.

[STP22]

I`d offer that your mould is not clean. The flaw you show is at the same location.
Did you try smoking the cavity? If so, there`s likely a need to scrub with hot soapy water with an oldtooth brush in very warm water and rinse with same. I`ve had more than one Lee mould that responded to the same cure for the same issue. Most do need smoking with a Bic lighter afterwards in order to get acceptable boolits afterwards. YMMV...

[Shiloh]

Every mold has a sweet spot.

I agree with the previous post by Docone31, Your mold is too cool.
make sure the mold is good and warm. What is your casting tempo like?? What about the stream out of the pot? It should be steady with no beading in it. Try turning the temp up a little. The new thermometer will be a good help in finding the sweet spot. A note book is another very useful tool. The .45 mold sounds like it holds the heat better and the boolit is a shorter, more squat, and larger diameter.

Shiloh

[runfiverun]

cold mold, and a slow pour.

[HABCAN]

I used to get results just like that when my LEE pot dripped a small drip into the cavities just before I opened the spout to pour. Cleaning the pot interior to prevent this stopped the problem.

[docone31]

With those Lee pots, it just takes a tiny bit of crud.
I found, after I get my melt, I use my handy stirrer to go around the pot drain. I always find something.
Lots of time, I find the stuff in the corners in the pot.
I have had issues before.
I had some zinc in a melt once. It poured great, then slowed, and slowed, and finally did not pour at all. Zinc will do it also.

[yondering]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'm going to lap the cavity slightly for a better release, so it'll get cleaned then. I'll try running the melt hotter as well.

The mold has been smoked, I don't remember if it gave me trouble before that or not, it's been quite a while since I've used it, until just the other night.

Definitely not a slow pour though. I've opened up my Lee's spout so I can adjust the pour rate from almost nothing to "whoa, turn it down!". Tried a wide range of pour rates with no improvement. Pouring it real slow was worse though.

My pot does drip sometimes, but I'm careful to brush off the drip with the edge of the mold right before pouring. No zinc in this alloy either, i'm pretty sure. It's definitely a mold-specific issue; as the alloy, pour rate, etc all work fine for all my other molds.

[Bad Karma]

I feel your pain. Lee moulds seem to have a few quirks built in. I had to send mine back 3 times! The bore ride shank was too big. Now that they got it right I am looking foreward to trying the 200gr jobber in my .308 M1 Garand.

[DonH]

I have not found Lee molds to be that quirky to cast good bullets with. My bet would be that the mold needs cleaned, or re-cleaned. Sounds to me like you have tried enough variables s to have hit on a that worked in terms of pot/temp/casting rate, etc. Make sure it is clean, preheat the mold (dip a corner of blocks in the melt) and try again with mold held against spout then dropped away to form a puddle on top of the sprue plate. If that doesn't work, try prayer! Smoking the mold is worth doing after cleaning and won't hurt anything if unnecessary, at least in my experience. Also, I would consider 750 deg. melt temp to be a good starting point.

I pour long skinny bullets in molds from Lee, Lyman, NEI and B&D and the methods described above have yielded good results with all of them.

[Newtire]

I have not found Lee molds to be that quirky to cast good bullets with. My bet would be that the mold needs cleaned, or re-cleaned. Sounds to me like you have tried enough variables s to have hit on a that worked in terms of pot/temp/casting rate, etc. Make sure it is clean, preheat the mold (dip a corner of blocks in the melt) and try again with mold held against spout then dropped away to form a puddle on top of the sprue plate. If that doesn't work, try prayer! Smoking the mold is worth doing after cleaning and won't hurt anything if unnecessary, at least in my experience. Also, I would consider 750 deg. melt temp to be a good starting point.

I pour long skinny bullets in molds from Lee, Lyman, NEI and B&D and the methods described above have yielded good results with all of them.

I have lots & lots of Lee Moulds and it varies from mould to mould but each one makes boolits exactly like the ones you are showing until all the coolant or whatever is impregnated into the pores of the metal gets out finally.

I seem to have best luck by boiling them in soapy dishwater for about 15 minutes and then wiping with cotton swabs before boiling again in clear water & then some Brake Kleen. If that doesn't do it, another boiling session in the soapy water.

Don't use the pan for cooking!

Then a good smoking. Once it begins to cast without the wrinkles, they never ever show up again.

My biggest PITA is having them stick in the mould. I can't figure out how to find the rough spots...Any tips that work????

[Boerrancher]

I tend to agree that the mould needs cleaned and you most certainly casting way too cold. I have had the best experience with lee moulds when they are run hot enough that the boolits come out slightly frosted. When you start getting a light frosting on your lee moulded boolits you are at the right temp. On my Lee Pro 20, it is around 8 on the Temp setting.

My biggest PITA is having them stick in the mould. I can't figure out how to find the rough spots...Any tips that work????

I have a couple of Lee moulds that just wouldn't release. Me being cheap, I took a couple of #2 lead pencils and lightly went over the entire mold to coat it with the graphite. I made sure that I got the areas around the rotating bands and grease grooves well. After coating with a #2 pencil, go over the entire mould cavity with a Q tip to mop up the excess graphite as it will cause wrinkles.


Best Wishes from the Boer Ranch,

Joe

[1Shirt]

Agree with those who say more heat both in alloy and mold, plus a faster pour and a steady pace in casting.
1Shirt!

[Kuato]

I had the same problem with the exact same mold you're using. It didn't matter how hot the melt or the mold got, the boolit would still have that little wrinkle in it. So I scrubbed the hell out of it with hot soapy water a few times & smoked it to death. Problem solved...

[Echo]

I have heard that aluminum sometimes is sorta porus, and cutting oil/coolant/whatever can get into the pores. MUST be removed, and boiling in soapy water sounds good to me...

[Marshal Kane]

I would definitely try bumping up the alloy temperature a bit and ladle casting these bullets. Ladle casting dumps a lot of hot alloy into the cavities like right now. It is a messy way to cast but it turns out consistently good bullets. That's how I now cast my all big fat bullets and it should work for long skinny ones too! Let us know what works for you. Best wishes.

[Newtire]

I'll give a try to the coating with the #2 lead pencil. I have some older moulds that the boolit just can't wait to jump out into the water pail. So goes it with Lee. I really haven't had the time yet to get my new Ranch Dog 30 cal. a going over with the magnifier and clean out the vent lines etc. It sure casts up a pretty looking slug though!

[yondering]

Thought I'd follow up on this.

I lapped the mold a little (boolits were sticking badly) with one boolit coated in 600 grit compound, then one more coated in Flitz metal polish. After that I degreased it with brake cleaner and a toothbrush. Finally, I used a #2 pencil, as suggested, and colored the cavity with it, in all the little corners and everywhere.
Now the boolits fill out nicely at normal casting temps and pour rate, and drop from the mold with only a slight tap on the hinge bolt.
Thanks for all the suggestions on cleaning the mold and whatnot.