What am I doing wrong???

[Texaslawman]

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/TEXASLAWMAN54/IMG_0055.jpg

Every bullet I make has these veins in them cant get it right made a hundred or so so far.

[HARRYMPOPE]

looks like oil in the mold.Clean with hot water and dish soap with a nylon bristle brush and then use a bic lighter to smoke it and all should be fine.

George

[Ben]

Tell us how you cleaned the mold.

Bottom pour or dipper.

What type of alloy, what is your temp right now ?

What caliber and brand of mold is that ?
________________

My 1st guess would be alloy too cool, AND mold too cool.

The mold may not be totally clean and free of any oils.

[94Doug]

I guess I am in agreement with these guys....first make sure that mould is good and clean, then try casting a bit faster to get the mould up to temp. After several attempts your mould will also be past the "break in" period, and minor traces of oil and gunk will be taken care of as well.

Doug

[Texaslawman]

Its the NOE mould I heated it to 400 and let cool 4 times then I used a lighter to smoke it. Im using a dipper over a coleman stove I dont know how hot It look melted good and flows like water. Im using WW's

[mpmarty]

Unless you want smaller boolits skip the smoking with a lighter. Just clean the molds and get them hot. Cast as fast as you can to get up to temp and when they come out frosted slow down a bit. Dont get your pot much over 700 degrees F.

[MtGun44]

Cold mold/alloy. Hotter metal and cast as fast as you can - do NOT spend ANY time looking
at them, pour, cut, dump, repeat as fast as you can to heat up the mold. Once they get
nice, slow down to avoid overheating the mold.

Don't smoke the molds, just makes the boolit smaller, which is usually bad, and makes it
messy. Not necessary to get a release.

If hotter doesn't work, scrub the mold with a toothbrush and comet. Then do the hot metal
and fast casting again. Put a barest hint of synthetic 2-stroke oil on the top of blocks, bottom
of sprue plate and alignment features. Do not get it into the cavities.

Bill

[btroj]

You mentioned how you broke in the mould. How did you CLEAN it?
That sure looks like an oily mould to me.

Clean that mould in hot water and soap. Repeat that a few times. Then try it again. I find that my NOE moulds all liked a cleaning after the first session, post cleaning, to remove oil the first session brought to the surface.

An oily mould will never give good fill out.

[Texaslawman]

Thanks guys cleaned it heated it up some more they are coming out nice now! :)

[mstarling]

;-) Glad things better! Can be frustrating the first times.

[MikeS]

Just to add another thing, you mentioned it was 'the NOE mold', that's kind of like saying the car you drive is a Ford. Tells us what brand the mould is, but not what boolit it casts. Not that what boolit is being casts makes a difference to fixing your problem, just a not for future use, when somebody asks what mould, they usually mean the brand of the mould, as as what boolit it casts, and possibly also the weight (either the weight it's supposed to cast, or the actual weight it's casting, or both).

I'm glad you got the problem fixed. My first rifle mould was a Lee 2 cavity 170gr FP, and most of them looked just like the ones you posted. I managed to get it lessened quite a bit with experience, but even then I never got to eliminating the problem till I bought a Lyman 2 cavity 311041 which casts great for me. Good luck, and don't let future problems get to you, just do the same thing you did here, ask questions, somebody here will help.

[noylj]

Did you smoke the molds with a Zippo or other naphtha-fuel source? That will leave an oily residue.
For plinking, they didn't look that bad. The base seemed to be filled out quite well.
Be surprised how good bullets can shoot as long as the base is filled out completely.

[1Shirt]

Life is a learning experiance. Looks like you learned quickly! Good luck in the future.
1Shirt!

[milprileb]

I don't recommend following the sticky on use of Kroil in that mold.

You already know what wrinkled bullets look like and just overcame that drama.

Just saying ....

[Lizard333]

I don't recommend following the sticky on use of Kroil in that mold.

You already know what wrinkled bullets look like and just overcame that drama.

Just saying ....

At the same time don't shy away from Kroil either. It wouldn't be a sticky if it was a bad thing to use. A LOT of people have had success. I'm one of them. I don't think I would run to Kroil for this problem. It looks like your mold is too cold. Each mold has it's own needs and wants. I would get this mold hotter and then try to cast with it. You cam preheat over an electric hot plate or set it on the top of your pot for a bit after it gets hot. You may need to increase your pot temp. You may have success with other molds with the temp you have it set it at, this one may needed it hotter to keep the mold hotter. I have found that once my mold is at the temp I like it tends to have a light frost to it. You boolits do not look like they got anywhere near hot enough.

[thehouseproduct]

Like many stated above, the mold is too cold. It is problematic that this particular group buy 311 247gr mold brought so many newcomers to this hobby but it is a very difficult mold to start with. This mold demands it is nice and hot to make good boolits. If you can spring for a thermometer for the lead, keep it at 700-725, it helps keep the mold hot while not burning out the tin.

[Texaslawman]

Yes its the .311 247 gr mould. They are coming out nicely now thanks again for all the help. They are just for plinking hogs at 40 yards and in!

[MtGun44]

Well, if you want to, they will work just fine at 3 times that range - but I bet you are
talking about how far you can see them!

Bill

[runfiverun]

kroil is more suited to steel molds, and takes patience to make it work properly.

[geargnasher]

Squeaky-clean mould, fast casting pace to keep it very hot, and cool alloy for better tin retention and fillout works best for me.

Gear

[littlejack]

Texaslawman:
Welcome to the CastBoolits.
It sounds like you have the cleaning down patt.
Now, before casting, I always heat my moulds up on the kitchen stove. I have "a lot" started casting and have perfect boolits from the first drop. Lots of folks buy a hot plate to preheat with, but whatever works for you. It will save you a lot of time, rather than heating them up with molten metal.
Jack

[captaint]

lawman - I'd be betting that most everyone on this board's first boolits looked just like yours. Mine certainly did. One fix at a time. enjoy Mike

[Texaslawman]

Thanks again guys have hundreds of nice bullets now! Going to get a mould for my 45/70 also!