I don't like brass molds. I don't like 4+ cavity molds

[Stopsign32v]

Just frustration...

Got the new MP 4 cavity 360-640. It's heavy as bajesus and factor in 4 cavities full of lead over and over and it gets real heavy quick. Used a hot plate and got the pot up to setting 9 and STILL couldn't get the dang mold hot enough!!! After roughly 200 wrinkled castings I gave up. It was starting to fill and smooth out but I just had had enough for today. Everything went back into the pot and I closed up shop. Going to go back to working on planting the squash and zucchini in the garden.

Just venting but days like today really make me love my 2 cavity NOE aluminum molds.

[Recycled bullet]

Use the propane torch to add more heat and get it right in the first five casts. Use the two cycle rag to clean lead smears and to provide lubrication for the hot bullet mold.

[Stopsign32v]

Use the propane torch to add more heat and get it right in the first five casts. Use the two cycle rag to clean lead smears and to provide lubrication for the hot bullet mold.

I'll try that next time. Didn't think of a torch.

[Recycled bullet]

Rotometals sells a lead thermometer it helps allot with consistency of pouring. Are you ladle casting too?

[hc18flyer]

I have the MP 358640 6 cavity brass mold. I use a hot plate to bring my mold up to 400 degrees and my pot at about 725 degrees. I have a nice patina built up, so my mold drops nice boolets pretty quick. Yes it is heavy, but I am willing to accept that, because of the quality of the output. I am looking at another 6 cavity brass MP mold now. Hope your next casting session improves. hc18flyer

[Stopsign32v]

Rotometals sells a lead thermometer it helps allot with consistency of pouring. Are you ladle casting too?

Yes I ladle cast

[Recycled bullet]

Yes I ladle cast

I ladle cast also I use the rcbs ladle it holds several ounces of bullet metal. Remember the greatest difficulty is heat management.

Remember you are pouring heat that has metal attached.

[Minerat]

They can be a challenge.

[Stopsign32v]

I ladle cast also I use the rcbs ladle it holds several ounces of bullet metal. Remember the greatest difficulty is heat management.

Remember you are pouring heat that has metal attached.

I've cast a MP 4 cavity before with success so I know it's just a matter of I couldn't get it all hot enough. Just venting my frustrations...

I also use the RCBS ladle

[nannyhammer]

You need to swap to one of those "semi-auto assault lead pots" with the bottom pour to keep those heavy molds hot.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I have a steel coffee can (3 lb size)I put over the mold/hotplate. It holds in the heat and acts more like an oven...allowing mold to get hotter.

Attachment 313070

[Recycled bullet]

So how did the bullets look were they usable if powder coated then sized?

[HWooldridge]

You may already know this but any amount of oil on the cavities and/or vents will cause wrinkles. I cleaned a steel mold a couple weeks ago and was getting wrinkles then I noticed some oil was oozing from an alignment pin. Cleaned it again with brake degreaser and the boolits started filling out.

[Stopsign32v]

So how did the bullets look were they usable if powder coated then sized?

Yea absolutely but I don't know if you guys ever do it but sometimes I just want to cast a few when I got other stuff I should/am doing so I go down to the building and just cast for an hour or so to relax. This is what I was doing to check out the new mold.

I was about 10 more cycles away from good heat and NICE castings.

However maybe it is for a new thread but my overflow kept breaking off into 2 pieces. Kinda makes me think the bullets would be brittle and break not squish. Kinda hard to explain but I can get pictures next time. Not sure what was causing that...

[Recycled bullet]

This past Friday recently I began pouring my ladle from a higher height.


The dribbles slap into and fill the hot mold giving me excellent plain base thirty caliber slugs.

I powder coated and sized them 309 yesterday morning.

They are cast of Lyman 2 equivalent home made alloy.

[15meter]

I have a steel coffee can (3 lb size)I put over the mold/hotplate. It holds in the heat and acts more like an oven...allowing mold to get hotter.

Attachment 313070

This, plus the old saw blade to distribute the heat better. Get the mold sitting as flat as you can on the saw blade for maximum heat transfer.

Try flipping the mold upside down on the hot plate for the last half of your preheat cycle to get the sprue plate up to temp, just used a 4 cavity 120 grain carbine mold and had trouble get the sprue plate up to temp. Wrinkled boolits. The 5 cavity 152 grain 30 caliber mold I used at the first of the week got and held the sprue up to temp much easier. Not much wrinkled boolits.

Another thing I've seen is holding the mold level or slightly down on the end you start filling cavities seems to help with fillout. I bottom pour, starting at the cavity closest to me and if I tilt towards empty cavities, it seems that it almost wants to pull out of the first cavity, usually leaving a poorly filled out base/wrinkled boolit.

Just seems to cast better with a slight bias in angle towards the filled cavity(s).

Or it's my imagination.

[35 Rem]

I dislike the bulky heavy molds too. I only have one 6 cavity mold and it's a Lee 9mm TL design. I don't even use it - mainly because I don't really reload the 9 anymore - but even if I did, I wouldn't use that mold. I have a couple of 3 cavity molds and one NOE that is 4 (I think) where you have two plain base and two gas check cavities. Only have one brass mold and that is a 3 holer. It casts great but I dislike using it because of the weight. Thankfully it's for a rifle bullet so don't need a lot of them.

I started casting years ago when I was broke (in college) so as a result used only Lee two cavity molds. I suppose that set my expectation for how a mold should feel and operate.

[winelover]

Get a bigger ladle, if you're using those tiny Lyman or RCBS. At least, a Rowell #1..............#2 is what I use, most of the time. Keep pouring, over the pot, until ladle runs dry. When you can open the mold with just a gloved hand, mold is up to temperature.

Winelover.

[dverna]

I will go out a limb and suggest it was your alloy.

If you did 200 casts, that is 800 bullets...about 15 lbs of alloy used. You were adding ingots (or should have) during your session. IIRC you do not maintain records of your alloy. Sometimes you can get away with using a mystery alloy but not every time.

If you fail again, get some 92-2-6 alloy from Missouri Bullets. They sell in small quantities at a reasonable price. Or add more tin to what you have now.

[Thumbcocker]

Brass molds like to be run with pressure and hot.