mebe007
05-08-2011, 11:15 PM
Ok so it rained for quite a while today so I couldn't Ho to the rifle range. I figured I would setup my casting equip and give it a go.
I used an old riddle to preheat my molds and keep some ingots warmed up. I scrubbed my.molds in hot water and dawn. Then cleaned with brakleen. The molds I used were a lyman 452374 single cavity, a lee tl452-230-2r and the 356-102 for .380
Ok so I haven't gotten around to ordering any bullplate sprue lube yet do I dabbed some art on the pivot point with a cotton swab and wiped off the excess. Then I cleaned the cavities again with brakleen just to be safe. Now the lyman mold took a tad still to get up to good temp and give good fill out. But it seemed to start working well and I hot a good them down. It was rather interesting. It seemed as if I never had to stop as the mold didn't seem over heated.
Now the lee 6 cav got to full temp quick and I had few rejects initially. Man that thing can really pump out some serious boolits. That pot was emptying like crazy. It really was a lot of fun.
Now for what made me mad or at least frustrated. The 2 cav lee mold for the .380 was preheat and cleaned etc just like the others. I played with the flow etc but couldn't seem to win with it. After about 30 min I gave up on it. I could not get 1 unwrinkled bullet to drop. Lube groove and base seemed to have decent fill but the ogive and nose were wrinkled all to hell. So I put it up and started back for the .45.
Now some key notes. The lyman single cav is an excellent quality mold. It's an older version. The lee 6 cav rocked. I didn't smoke it or anything. Just cleaned and went to town. Boolits dropped right out. Checked the dia and it dropped a hair over .452 with my ww alloy. Now on the other hand the 2 cav seemed cheap. I had to take my time closing to get it to line up properly.
Then I put some bac in a pan and melted it in my toaster oven and dropped in my lyman boolits. I then used the wax meister to cut them out. It worked great. The lee boolits I tumbled in lla. I loaded up 100 of the lyman boolits over 5.3 grain of 231 to 1.65 col and headed to my indoor pistol range. I scrubbed the bore of any copper fooling before hand. I must say I have never had groups so nice out of my 1911 ever.100 rounds down range w/ 0 ftf, no misfires nothing. It was great. A Lil smokey but tolerable. This was my time shooting cast. After the first 50 I broke her down and checked for leading and found none. So I finished off the other 50. So with the exception of the .380 mold everything seemed to go well and I couldn't be happier. It was a blast.
Anywho here are some pics I snapped. Unfortunately I didn't think to snap photos of the boolits the .380 mold dropped.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0558.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0559.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0560.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0561.jpg
Tumble lubed in lla I think I got it right. Not too much lube
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0566.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0567.jpg
One of the lyman 452374 loaded up
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0564.jpg
First mag at 12 yards, so far so good
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0568.jpg
What I was feeding them through, 70 series colt commander lightweight, work done by Mario Ruffino. He's a great gunsmith
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/0403011648-1.jpg
Any opinions, tips and comments welcome. Thanks guys. I think I been bit by the bug I'm hooked
I used an old riddle to preheat my molds and keep some ingots warmed up. I scrubbed my.molds in hot water and dawn. Then cleaned with brakleen. The molds I used were a lyman 452374 single cavity, a lee tl452-230-2r and the 356-102 for .380
Ok so I haven't gotten around to ordering any bullplate sprue lube yet do I dabbed some art on the pivot point with a cotton swab and wiped off the excess. Then I cleaned the cavities again with brakleen just to be safe. Now the lyman mold took a tad still to get up to good temp and give good fill out. But it seemed to start working well and I hot a good them down. It was rather interesting. It seemed as if I never had to stop as the mold didn't seem over heated.
Now the lee 6 cav got to full temp quick and I had few rejects initially. Man that thing can really pump out some serious boolits. That pot was emptying like crazy. It really was a lot of fun.
Now for what made me mad or at least frustrated. The 2 cav lee mold for the .380 was preheat and cleaned etc just like the others. I played with the flow etc but couldn't seem to win with it. After about 30 min I gave up on it. I could not get 1 unwrinkled bullet to drop. Lube groove and base seemed to have decent fill but the ogive and nose were wrinkled all to hell. So I put it up and started back for the .45.
Now some key notes. The lyman single cav is an excellent quality mold. It's an older version. The lee 6 cav rocked. I didn't smoke it or anything. Just cleaned and went to town. Boolits dropped right out. Checked the dia and it dropped a hair over .452 with my ww alloy. Now on the other hand the 2 cav seemed cheap. I had to take my time closing to get it to line up properly.
Then I put some bac in a pan and melted it in my toaster oven and dropped in my lyman boolits. I then used the wax meister to cut them out. It worked great. The lee boolits I tumbled in lla. I loaded up 100 of the lyman boolits over 5.3 grain of 231 to 1.65 col and headed to my indoor pistol range. I scrubbed the bore of any copper fooling before hand. I must say I have never had groups so nice out of my 1911 ever.100 rounds down range w/ 0 ftf, no misfires nothing. It was great. A Lil smokey but tolerable. This was my time shooting cast. After the first 50 I broke her down and checked for leading and found none. So I finished off the other 50. So with the exception of the .380 mold everything seemed to go well and I couldn't be happier. It was a blast.
Anywho here are some pics I snapped. Unfortunately I didn't think to snap photos of the boolits the .380 mold dropped.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0558.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0559.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0560.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0561.jpg
Tumble lubed in lla I think I got it right. Not too much lube
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0566.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0567.jpg
One of the lyman 452374 loaded up
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0564.jpg
First mag at 12 yards, so far so good
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/IMAG0568.jpg
What I was feeding them through, 70 series colt commander lightweight, work done by Mario Ruffino. He's a great gunsmith
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/mebe007/0403011648-1.jpg
Any opinions, tips and comments welcome. Thanks guys. I think I been bit by the bug I'm hooked