Lee 45 REAL mold...

[mannyCA]

I recently started casting the Lee 2 cav 45-200-REAL 45 Caliber (467 Diameter), and they're all coming out at 185 gr with the right diameter of .467. I used pure Pb and they were not frosty. Can they really drop that much different than what they're supposed to be? Have I gotten to wrong mold?
I looked but couldn't find a Lee 185gr ish mold anywhere. Any suggestions?
thanks

[338RemUltraMag]

it is really up to the alloy, as long as it is the right diameter thats all it can be. I got the 250 gr version that casts close but like you not on 250

[mooman76]

I wouldn't worry about it. You probably have a little tin in the alloy or something and it's is common for the moulds to be off a little too.

[Old Coot]

Manny; fI would think that to drop 15 gr. you would have to have one heck of a lot of tin in your alloy. I would see if they are as long as they are supposed to be, and how easily do they load and shoot. If they are indeed hard enough to lose 15gr. of weight they may be a real pain to engrave.
Brodie

[GabbyM]

My 45-200 R.E.A.L. weights 203.2 grains as cast from some very pure cable sheathing scrap. diameter is .464" Length is .560". Grove diameter is .412". Diameter actually varies between .463" to .465" as it's a tad out of round. At least the one I picked up.

15gr in a .45 diameter woud be over .032" of bullet length at the full diameter of the base.
The base band should have a bevel under it and apear similar to the two bands above it.

[mannyCA]

Old Coot, I've got to look into that, the lead I used was pure plumbers lead scrap which I was given about 25 lbs worth. I haven't casted anything else with it as I wanted to use it strictly for cap and ball. thanks for the info.
Manny

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

I wouldn't think a tiny bit of tin would make that much difference.

Since the lead is so soft you can take a big, sharp knife and cut the lightest boolit in half right through the center of the sprue. I've done this with light roundballs and everytime I revealed an open cavity. But the cavities were small and I was only dealing with balls that were 3 grains lighter than the rest.

Another thing you can check is whether the mold is filling out perfectly. With pure lead and a jaggedy edged bullet like the REAL you may get rounded edges on the lube grooves. This can account for a lot of missing lead. Adding some tin helps to fill these out more. My bp casting is all roundballs so I don't have this concern.