First time using my Lee 00 BuckShot mold

[Beagler]

Works great. Less than a half hour made enough to fill a paper plate using straight WW. Also put in the rock tumbler for about an hour

[WILCO]

Nice!

[Navy_Guns]

Yeah, the tumbler shines them up nicely, doesn't it? :)

[missionary5155]

Greetings
But after all the shine they do not whisle quit the same as when they were rough.

[msinc]

Can you tell us in detail exactly how/what you did to tumble these??? Rock tumbler...you mean not a vibratory type?? You have the upright type that spins. What did you use for a polishing media?? Thanks in advance.

[Swede44mag]

Every time I try to tumble lead it turns dark not shiny.

[BoolitBill]

I like to use a Thumbler's Tumbler and throw in a pencil lead (graphite). This will smooth them and give a light coating of graphite. Come out looking smooth but dark, not shiny.

[Beagler]

I fill the Thumbler's Tumbler barrels (3 three pound barrels) half full and put them on for about an hour that's it.

[mtgrs737]

I have been casting 00 and #4 buckshot using moulds from sharpshooter. I use a midway vibratory tumbler and a 1/4 teaspoon of powdered graphite from a John Deere dealer. I put in a pound or two and let it run for about 15 minutes. You will not believe how noisy it is so you might like to run it out in the garage, also make sure you use a lid to keep the graphite from drifting all over the place (ask me how I know). Tumbling the shot takes off the burrs left by the sprue and gives them a light grahpite coating, I have about 25 lbs. of 00 and 15 lbs. of #4 ready to load. I find that if you run your alloy hot (800+ degrees) you can snap the mould open before the alloy is too firm and the shot and sprues will seperate themselves at the shot edge so you have very little to cut off by hand. The sprue nib will be very small and will polish off somewhat so that the nib is minimal, more so than by cutting them off. If you use the vibratory tumbler to graphite the shot, get an extra bowl from Midway as they will not be suitable for brass cleaning unless you can remove the graphite stain which would be a lot of trouble. I plan on getting a Lee mould when I can find one at a reasonable price.

[ted60]

those are nice, does Lee make a specific 00 buck ball mold,I looked Midways big catalog and I
was trying to figure the closest round ball mold to buy for 00 buck, im not seeing the mold,be nice to have a 6 cavity 00 mold,is there one?

[klcarroll]

I use a rotary tumbler to finish ALL of my cast round balls; ......#4 Buck all the way up to .690"!

It eliminates a bunch of hand work "cleaning up" sprues, and I have noticed that the polished, graphited pellets are less inclined to leave lead marks in the barrel. (00B pellets just don't stack "right" inside a 12 gauge shotcup; ....so my 00 loads "ride bareback".)

Kent

[Moonie]

those are nice, does Lee make a specific 00 buck ball mold,I looked Midways big catalog and I
was trying to figure the closest round ball mold to buy for 00 buck, im not seeing the mold,be nice to have a 6 cavity 00 mold,is there one?

Actually no, they don't have a 6 cavity, they have an 18:

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=373263&bcsi_scan_07604E082D908201=yBe+wuVrxtdigmLk/0NyIE4OdZsVAAAADit4FQ==&bcsi_scan_filename=default.aspx

[Shooter6br]

When I moly coated jacketed bullets I put the moly in small peanut butter jars with lids, bullets ,moly and put it in Lyman 1200. No mess and coated the bullets well. Just a thought.

[pls1911]

+1 on the Lee mold, and I don't spend time making buckshot pretty other than tilting the table... if it dosn't try to roll, it goes back into the pot.
The easy load below groups to 6" at 20 paces wit an I/C choke:
AA hull, W12AA wad, win 209 primer, 19-20 grains Green Dot, 8 pellets 00 Buck.
This shoots like a 1 oz field load (8 pellets =1oz), fits all the buckshot INSIDE the wad petals 2 wide x 4 high, 8 point crimps perfectly, and scoots at 1200fps.
The varmint on the receiving end will never miss the last BB or the 100 fps, and your shoulder will thank you for it.

[pls1911]

Lee OO buckshot molds CHEAP (Like $37):

http://factorysales.com/html/xcart/Lee-00-BUCKSHOT-18-MOLD-Lee-Handles-shown-not-included.html

Likely you have handles which can be made to fit... or buy Lee's

[jungleman9941]

i would not buy from Factory Sales!! they don't answer the phone, don't answer e-mails you will not get the items you buy for months. i'm sure i'm not the only one this happened to.

George

[StrawHat]

Would the OO mold cast consistant enough to use in a 31 caliber C&B revolver? Being able to cast 18 at once would be intriguing enough for me to consider buying the mold.

[Beagler]

not sure of the ball size for the revolver but it casts a .330 dia ball

[StrawHat]

not sure of the ball size for the revolver but it casts a .330 dia ball

As long as the castings are fairly consistant from one to another, .330 would be fine for me. I will have to give them a try. Currently using +/- .320 so a bit of swaging would be a better seal for the little revolver. Thank you for the info.

[pls1911]

I can only relate my own experience with Factory Sales.
They did answer the phone when I called, and directed me to ordering by internet.
The price was right and I received the buckshot mold in about 10 days.
Mold works as advertized, though it needs to be run hot with high temp lead as well.
Shooting results and my own load data is provided above.

[pls1911]

And as posted elsehwere on this forum....
Cheap, effective, FUN!!!

[pls1911]

As posted else where ....
Cheap effective, and FUN...

[thehouseproduct]

Can you post your load data? What gun is it for? A semi auto? I need a load for Win AA hulls, and Federal primer. I have Green Dot, Unique, Red Dot, WST and 700X.

[20nickels]

Midwayusa has these on clearance.

Does the shot drop easily or is some polishing of the cavities needed?

Also, why coat them with graphite?

[Beagler]

Midwayusa has these on clearance.

Does the shot drop easily or is some polishing of the cavities needed?

Also, why coat them with graphite?

easy if you have it at right temp alot of commercial shot is coated with graphite acts as a dry lubricant its up to you alot of use put pencil lead in with the shot in a rock tumbler smooths out the shot and makes it perdy

[FORKLIFT352]

So I got one and it says heat it up to
800 F....would I also heat my lead to
800..?

[Redditch]

So I got one and it says heat it up to
800 F....would I also heat my lead to
800..?

You heat the mold to almost the same heat as your lead furnace (Either balance the mold on the top of the furnace, or dip a corner of the mold into the molten lead for a few minutes to warm it).
REMEMBER, do not forget to smother the inside walls of the mold with a little wiping of wax (Beeswax is ideal) as otherwise you´ll be buying a new one after about 50-60 castings !!!:drinks::castmine:

[FORKLIFT352]

I have been casting at 800 F. And they
are filling nicely.
But the first and only thing that I have done
to the molds was light a match......
Being new to this I could use any help I can
get.....sooooo.....I should clean with laqer thiner
and then rub bees wax all up in it...wipe it off
and start casting?

[tacklebury]

i would not buy from Factory Sales!! they don't answer the phone, don't answer e-mails you will not get the items you buy for months. i'm sure i'm not the only one this happened to.

George

Nothing but positives for me with them. About 90% of my Lee products including dies, sizeing, etc. purchased through them. Sorry for your bad luck.

[odfairfaxsub]

i just tried the num 4 buck mold. it has a hard time filling out every ball. half will fill out nicely and the other half will have a wack ball.

and the spru handle broke on me today. after using it for 1 hour. sucks. ill try to get a new handle under warrenty

[500cadillac]

i just tried the num 4 buck mold. it has a hard time filling out every ball. half will fill out nicely and the other half will have a wack ball.

and the spru handle broke on me today. after using it for 1 hour. sucks. ill try to get a new handle under warrenty

Sounds like you need to cast faster. :idea:
You should start a new thread with pics as this is a new mold.

[tacklebury]

Great to hear. I've been eyeballing one of these molds. Definitely going to have to jump on one. ;) And 90% of all my reloading stuff has been from Factory sales. Never a problem, if you call during hours anyway, and they have been pleasant. Saved me a kaboodle over other places. ;) Good luck either way.

[bart55]

just tried my lee 18 cav double o mould tonight , had a lot of trouble with not filling out and only the top balls filling . I am also tired and maybe I just missed something , try it tomarow with a fresh approach

[wilded]

http://www.natchezss.com/product.cfm?contentID=productDetail&prodID=LEE90486

[44fanatic]

just tried my lee 18 cav double o mould tonight , had a lot of trouble with not filling out and only the top balls filling . I am also tired and maybe I just missed something , try it tomarow with a fresh approach

Hot and hotter is better. Im using a Lee pot set at 7. After the first 3 or 4 castings, all 18 holes are filled. Of course, after about 10 castings, I have to slow down a bit. Someone posted that cutting the sprue as soon as its solid will cause the shot to drop individually. I havnt intentionally practiced this myself, but I do have a bunch of individual shot (no cutting them apart) on the towel when I get to casting fast.

[Lloyd Smale]

thats what i do. Cast them as hot a possible withoug smearin on your mold and most drop individualy. Anymore i dont even cut the ones that dont. If there still connected its faster just to remelt them for the next batch.

[HiVelocity]

I just ordered two molds from Sharpshooter. E-mails from them reveal that they're not putting their molds on FleaBay much anymore, therefore contact them direct. www.Sharpshooter.com

FYI - They are now making a buckshot mold with two sized shot in one mold. One half is 00 and the other is 4 buckshot. I bought the "0" mold in that, from what I've read, they stack perfectly, 3 X 3, in a 2 3/4" shell. We'll see.

BTW, I plan to tumble my buckshot in a Midway tumbler with a spoonful of motor mica and see how they come out.

HV

[220swiftfn]

I just ordered two molds from Sharpshooter. E-mails from them reveal that they're not putting their molds on FleaBay much anymore, therefore contact them direct. www.Sharpshooter.com

FYI - They are now making a buckshot mold with two sized shot in one mold. One half is 00 and the other is 4 buckshot. I bought the "0" mold in that, from what I've read, they stack perfectly, 3 X 3, in a 2 3/4" shell. We'll see.

BTW, I plan to tumble my buckshot in a Midway tumbler with a spoonful of motor mica and see how they come out.

HV

You might still get some ball bulge from "0" in a cup, I use #1 and that's fine..... Just remember to take the media out first.....(and tumble when no-one will complain about the noise.....)


Dan

[Buckeye509]

Clicked the link above to www.Sharpshooter.com and it took me to Hasbro Toys.

[Buckeye509]

Found it through Google. Try www.buckshotmold.com

[Buckeye509]

I may have to try the combo 00 and #4 buck mold. Thanks for the information.

[sparky45]

Would the OO mold cast consistant enough to use in a 31 caliber C&B revolver? Being able to cast 18 at once would be intriguing enough for me to consider buying the mold.

FYI; No.1 Buckshot is .30; 0-Buckshot is .32 and 00-Buckshot is .33 in diameter. Maybe the 0-Buckshot would be a better match? Have you actually slugged your cylinder/barrel? I would think that one of the Buckshot molds would be just what you are looking for. Good Luck.
Sparky45

[michiganvet]

Nice info guys. Got a bunch of buckshot molds this year. Have been too busy to fire them up. (good thing) Been casting boolits since the 60's but not buck. I've seen answers here to questions I didn't know to ask like casting temp, use of alloys as well as tumbling with graphite. I have moly coated my swaged bullets and purchased ones in my Thumblers but it never dawned on me that buck would go there too. I really appreciate this site and I will answer all questions I see here on subjects I DO know.