Mold problem - alignment pins

[Sagebrush Burns]

I'm fairly new at bullet casting and have been casting using a Lyman 2 cavity mold. Lately abouy half my bullets look like the mold halves are out of alignment. Looking at the mold, it seems like the holes for the alignment pins have gotten "wallowed" out ao the mold doesn't close quite right. Is this something a local mold maker can fix or do I need to contact Lyman? If I can get the mold fixed, what should I do different to prevent a re-occurance of the problem? Thanks in advance for your advice and assistance.

[Dale53]

This is almost always caused by slamming the moulds shut when you are casting. Hot moulds are SOFT and can be damaged by just a few SLAMS.

Closed gently, the mould will last for generations. It also helps to lubricate the mould pins and sockets. I prefer Bullshop's Sprue Plate Lube for this purpose.

Dale53

[35remington]

Oftentimes the locating pins are not driven out far enough, and they most definitely should be. They need to have some of the parallel sided section out of the block so the hole has something to align on.

Hold them up to the light-you should see a semicircle with a short section of parallel sided full pin diameter sticking out. If they are not, this will lead to a wallowed out hole, since the block really has nothing aligning it. Don't drive too much out, and keep the pins well lubricated. Upon closing the mould using the handles, you may see some light between the mould halves. Lightly seat the halves, make sure they are well lubricated, and get to work. You may need to seat the first several dozen casts before the pins and holes wear in together and ease closing. If the holes are excessively wallowed, the pins may not seat, but usually there's just dings around the periphery of the hole rather than protrusion of metal in the holes themselves.

Remember again not to overdo it, but make sure the alignment pins are actually aligning. They should look like an upside down U with very short sides.

I got another RCBS Cowboy 230 FN and the alignment pins were protruding incorrectly. After driving the pins out slightly, lubricating and seating for the first fifty or so casts, they are fine. The mould halves look brand new after a few thousand casts (double cavity) and that's how they should look. No battering anywhere.

[Lloyd Smale]

pretty easy to ajust yourself

[grouch]

If the holes are damaged, you may have to do a simple repair. Take the "hole"side of the mold and rub it LIGHTLY on a FLAT shrpening stone. It'll be obvious if the holes are dented out obstructing the mold closing. If you see shiney spots around th holes rub just enough to level them. If the mold block is not machined quite flat, DON'T rush into rubbing it flat. If it was like that when the cavity was cut, it likely produces round bullets as is, flatening it may throw your bullets out of round.

[Sagebrush Burns]

Got some very good information here. I've got the molds apart and checked out the locating pins and they don't stick out very far. I've put a few drops of Break Free on them and will see if I can drive them out enough for better engagement. I'll post my progress as the project continues. Thanks for the help.

[MT Gianni]

I would put them in dry as they don't need lubrication when they are together. If the pin goes in with out lube you want it to stay not move easily. Gianni.

[Sagebrush Burns]

A couple of responses here have spoken of lubrication - of the pins/holes? Now that I have driven the pins out a bit and the mold halves line up correctly again, I want to be sure I don't mess up again. No more slamming the molds shut! Do I need to lubricate? If so what do I use and where do I get it?

[monadnock#5]

Check the first post in this thread. Dale53 anticipated your question, and answered it already.

[Sagebrush Burns]

Gotcha - now where do I find Bullshops Sprueplate Lube? Midway? Brownells? or somewhere else...?

[Dale53]

Bullshop is one of our most helpful forum members:

http://bullshop.gunloads.com/index.html

Dale53

[Sagebrush Burns]

Thank you - I'll get in contact. Great bunch here - with your help I think I've solved my problem.

[35remington]

I didn't mean to be confusing-the pins need to be lubricated while you're using the mould to cast bullets. This prevents galling the pins and holes, as hot metal tends to get sticky and wear at a more rapid rate.

I also understand that Bullshop's lube is good stuff, but I haven't tried it myself.

Use only a small amount of lubricant on the pins so it doesn't creep into the cavities.

[Buckshot]

................Sagebrush Burns, welcome to the board! If the blocks are loose on the handles they should be tightened up. You can use pop can aluminum as a shim after punching a hole in it for the attachment screws to run up through. For fore and aft movement on the handles you can drill and tap a hole for a setcrew to go through the handles and bear against the mould blocks to restrict their movement.

...................Buckshot

[Sagebrush Burns]

Got a chance to do some casting today after working on the locator pins as suggested here. Pleased to report the the bullets came out well formed and looking good - perhaps the very best I've cast so far. I've got some sprue plate lube ordered from Bull Shop and that should get things working even better. I'll keep the board posted on my results. In the mean time, many thanks. I've gotten a lot of good advice and information here and I want everyone to know: the next round is on me!

[Buckshot]

Got a chance to do some casting today after working on the locator pins as suggested here. Pleased to report the the bullets came out well formed and looking good - perhaps the very best I've cast so far. I've got some sprue plate lube ordered from Bull Shop and that should get things working even better. I'll keep the board posted on my results. In the mean time, many thanks. I've gotten a lot of good advice and information here and I want everyone to know: the next round is on me!

............That's what we're here for, and thanks for reporting back. As a member payment comes when you help someone else. That Bullplate lube is neat stuff.

................Buckshot

[45nut]

............That's what we're here for, and thanks for reporting back. As a member payment comes when you help someone else. That Bullplate lube is neat stuff.

................Buckshot

Payment also begins at home,,for us thats Gunloads. A donation to Gunloads to help with expenses will always be appreciated. As we approach 3000 members the bandwidth and hosting expenses has increased tremendously from our humble beginnings.

We dont ask here often,,,but it has come to be that time again.

In the works here, Is a Cast Boolits Membership,,with 3-4 levels and increasing bonus's with each jump in donation. Stay tuned as we work out the details.

[Sagebrush Burns]

Not really an update, just a dammitall! Started looking through the bullets I had been casting before I noticed the problem. Dammitall!!! I had to cull close to 500 bullets that were noticeably out of true. Oh well, life is a learning experience...