Lyman 356402 Four cavity (9mm 120gr TC)

[Sapper771]

Hey Guys,

I decided to take the expensive leap into a quality mould. I got a Lyman 356402 120gr TC 9mm mold. I really like the mold so far, but I have a few questions.

One of the cavities is not releasing the boolit easily. I have to really beat on the hinge of the handles to get it to release the boolit. I looked at the cavity and it doesnt appear to have any burrs on it.

Does it matter how you mount the mould blocks to the handles?

Does this mold do better if it is smoked? Are there any other things I should be aware of when using this mold. This is my first steel mold, have been using Lee aluminum molds.

Thanks in advance.

[MikeS]

It doesn't matter how it's mounted on the handles are far as a cavity releasing or not, but the 'proper' orientation is with the raised tab facing toward you as you hold the mould in your hand. Do you have the older style handles where the hinge is on the top, so the mould blocks are between you and the hinge, or the newer style handles where the hinge is in the middle, so you have wood handles, hinge, then mould blocks? If they're the older style, than an easy way to open the mould if you can't open it by hand is to turn the mould 90 degrees so the sprue plate is on the right side, then rest the hinge on your workbench top, and holding the mould at a 45 degree angle tap the bent portion of the sprue plate with a mallet (or stick, etc.) to cut the sprues. There's never a situation where smoking a mould is a fix, at best it only masks a problem. Do a search on Leementing a mould, while it's written with Lee moulds in mind, it works with any brand of mould (of course disregard the portions about drilling screw holes to put locking screws in, they're already there), but if you cast some boolits, then drill a hole in the center of them, and put a screw into the boolit (be careful not to go all the way thru) and use them to polish the cavity in question (or even all of them while you're doing it). also follow the advise about checking for burrs using a magnifying glass, and also about checking the vent lines, etc. That should take care of any boolits sticking, and give you a nice casting mould.

Are you preheating the mould on a hotplate before casting? Starting with a mould that's already either at or very near the proper casting temp makes a big difference in how the casting session goes. Steel moulds take quite a bit more to get them up to casting temp than aluminum does (but they also hold that heat much better), so if you've been "preheating" the mould by dipping a corner of the mould into the molten lead as Lee suggests which might work fine for an aluminum mould, won't cut it for a steel one. You can get a small single burner hotplate at Walgreens for $12.00 or so, and it works great for preheating moulds. I have an old square griddle that I put on the hotplate, but others here have used aluminum plates, or even old saw blades, just so you're not putting the mould directly onto the coils of the hotplate. If you find a hotplate that has a solid surface for the burner rather than coils, you might be able to put the mould directly onto that surface, I'm not sure. I remember from years ago that they used to say if you left an electric burner (with coils) on without anything on it, that it could explode. I don't know if that's still true, or even if it ever was true, or if it was just another old wives tale. In any case, preheating the mould before casting with it will make a big difference. What I do is I turn on the hotplate with the mould on it set to high at the same time as I turn on the lead pot, and by the time the lead is up to the proper casting temp (usually 100 degrees hotter than the temp where it turns fully liquid - I cast using Lyman #2 alloy at 650 degrees), the mould is also ready to cast, and you might even find that doing this you can get keepers right from the very first pour! I also leave the hotplate on (I lower the temp slightly) while I'm casting, so if I take a short break I can put the mould back on the hotplate to keep it up to temp. I've had quite a few casting sessions where I had absolutely no rejects from start to finish, and the first time that happens, it's a great feeling! Almost better than going to Brenda's Lounge! (inside joke) Try the Leementing tips, and see if that doesn't fix the problem.

Sorry for the long winded post, I do that sometimes!

[462]

Sapper771,
MikeS gave you a lot of good advise. If, after following it the problem still persists, read the Kroil sticky.

I've never found any need to smoke a mould.

[Ben]

If you do this, they will " jump out " of the mold :

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=31700

[Sapper771]

MikeS,

Thank you for the info. I went back with a magnifying glass and i did find a teeny tiny burr on the problem cavity. I used a mini file to smooth it out. It still sticks a little, but not like it was. I was thinking about the Leementing too. Seems like it is pretty easy to acomplish. I dont have any polishing compound, but I recall a Gentleman using a Comet style cleaning powder as a polishing compound. I do have some Comet. I will give it a try when I get the time.

This is my first steel mould, I wanted to make sure I didnt screw it up due to inexperience. The mould/Handle instructions were the same and said nothing about the proper way to mount the handles. A google search didnt show anything, but the image search showed them mounted both ways. I have the newer handles where the hinge is in between the handles and the mould.

So far, I really like the Lyman 120gr TC. The lube groove is bigger than the Lee versions. The boolit also has a longer nose, which I am sure aids in feeding. I am starting my load development with this boolit and W231.

Again, Thank you for all the help guys.

[clintsfolly]

Hi Sapper start your load at 4-4.2 of 231 and call it good ! Clint

[Sapper771]

Hey Clint,

Thank you for the recommendation. I would start a little higher on the data, but I have been noticing some things lately. I am sizing my boolits to 0.358" and I think it is causing me to get higher velocities/pressure. 4.0gr of Bullseye under a 124gr TC will run close to 1150fps-1175fps out of my Glock 17 with Lone Wolf barrel. A starting load of VV N340 (4.8gr) will get me to 1200fps easily. Dont know if my Chrono is off or if it really is the 0.358" boolit in the 0.355" groove diameter barrel. Anyone seen this before?

Because of this, I was going to start low on the data and work my way up. I normally get pressure signs with W231 early on, but I am using soft Federal primers. Word is that the Federals will start flattening at 20K psi. I guess this is why I got away from W231 about a year ago. Once I got started tinkering with the slower powders (Unique, AA#5,WSF, Silhouette), the flat primers went away.

Just from my research, I have seen folk have excellent success with this boolit over 3.8gr - 4.2gr of W231.

[HORNET]

Hey, Sapper, Tooth paste also works if you're just doing some light cavity polishing, especially on aluminum molds. I think I've been using an old tube of Ultra-Brite. As far as which way to mount the blocks on the handles, you might want to try both ways and see which way you prefer. I don't know if it's a right hand/ left hand thing but I've seen both.

[Sapper771]

Thanks Rick. I think I will try that out on one of my less cooperative Lee moulds.