Casting temp?

[SWANEEDB]

What would be the best overall casting temp be using 10 parts W/W and 4 1/2 parts lino. I think i'm pouring maybe a little to lite a temp in a RCBS bottom pour pot. Don't want to go to hot.

[BABore]

As long as the alloy is melted and doesn't freeze in your spout, it is hot enough. Good fillout and quality boolits are a product of your mold temperature period.

[Calamity Jake]

Yap somewhere around 700°

[mustanggt]

When I first started at this site I read alot of threads dealing with temperature. Pot, alloy, mould etc. I fell for the old if you're having trouble casting just crank'er up boys!!! Well my experience and those of some others has proven to me that mould temp is where it's at. You get your mould hot enough and you will get good boolits. You can't get good consistent boolits with alloy temp at 800F. There are many fellas here that can get you the scienctific answer if that is what you seek but just the same get the mould at the right temp (300F or so) and you'll be making pertty boolits in no time.

[Cowboy T]

Depends on the mould. Most of mine, I keep the temperature at about 700 deg. F. However, one of my moulds (the one for .357 Magnum) definitely prefers an alloy temperature of about 800.

Note also that aluminum moulds heat up--and cool down--a lot faster than steel moulds. That means that an aluminum mould will come to temperature and give you good boolits sooner than a steel one. For me, that's an advantage because I cast not just for good quality, but also for speed.

Owners of steel moulds are aware of this "break-in" time and might make several castings to heat up the mould. Once warmed up, they tend to stay warm for longer than do the aluminum ones, and from that point on, you don't need to run your alloy temperature quite as hot.

[Bret4207]

Good advice so far. Find a temp you like and vary your mould temp as required by altering you casting speed. I don;t know what you think "too hot" is, but what you want doesn't matter. What the mould wants is all that matters.

[jsizemore]

Just like everyone else has stated. If your mold is up casting temp then you can cut your melt temp back to increase your production rate. With 4-6 cavity iron molds I run my RCBS pot at 650deg.

[MtGun44]

Don't overthink this temperature thing. Set the pot and let it stabilize and start casting.
If the spout freezes up, you need hotter. If the sprues are taking a long time to solidify,
you need cooler. Adjust the pot and see what works. Not rocket surgery. ;-)

Bill

[runfiverun]

molds do well in the 360-375 range.
i didn't ever think about alloy temp and was casting at 620 forever.
letting the sprues change color and knocking the plate open with a stick.
i have changed my routine and don't throw near as many back as i used to, but i doubt the quality has gotten much better.
i just get better fill out and not as shiney of boolits as i used to sooner.
but my pots usually end up in the 675-650 range before a session is over.

[ted60]

with Lee molds they do heat up fast, and if they get too hot I get frosty bullets that arent filled out right, so I cast 3 molds at a time,2 20lb. Lee pots, I like to get it done fast and spend more time reloading, 650 is the heat range or an even 6 on both my pots, I had a 4 hole Lyman steel
mold which I threw more junk bullets back in pot till it was up to temp, then it would get over hot it was a 195 gr. .38 rn bullet, whicj I sold at some forum years ago, the only other steel mold is .25 acp, and that is a complete PITA, did 500 rds. and quit, thank Lee for their GREAT aluminum molds, also a wet rag helps cool fast if molds get too hot, I bet most cast more than one bullet at a time?

[geargnasher]

Casting pace and ambient temperature/airflow (sometimes I use a fan) controls mould temperature, and should be the ONLY variables used. that means leave the pot dial alone and cast faster if you're getting wrinkles.

Mould temperature determines boolit quality, and has very little to do with pot temperature except hotter alloy will impart more heat to the mould in the same amount of time a cooler alloy will.

Alloy composition determines the temperature at which the pot should be maintained. This is the part very few people ever understand, and will give bad advice on account of that. My rule of thumb is the same as Lyman's: Maintain the pot at 100 degrees over full liquidus, plus or minus 25 degrees or so, more if it's cold in the casting area, less if it's hot. Never cast hotter than 750 with an alloy containing any significant amount of tin. That means 550 or so for straight Lino and about 675 for wheel weights. The exception here is casting straight lead, or alloys containing virtually no tin, I run them up to as high as 900 if needed to get good fillout.

Mould temps run from 300 to 425 depending on a host of things, but the mould will tell you right off what it likes, and a short run will tell you what the pace should be to maintain the temp it likes with the alloy you're using.

Gear