dmdracer
06-24-2005, 09:32 PM
I got my mold, furnace, etc wed form Midway, read all the destuctions and tried it out this a/n. not too bad for my first time. I'd say I have 2/3 as keepers, you can cast alot of boolits from a 20 lb. pot !
I had some that were wrinkley, is that a word? and some that did not form all the way, think that is how I let the lead pour into the mold. I'm not there yet but I experimented some and don't have a good consistant technique yet but I'm trying. I got some that were... how to descibe...like you pour and then you pour some more and you get a "layer" type look, had a little trouble being consistant with the speed of the stream coming out of the bottom pour, perhaps letting the pot getting low amounted to that.
I measured 2 of the boolits, they were .310 to .3105 dia. that made me happy but I bought a .309 sizer so need to do something there, remember this is for a Marlin micro groove, grabbed a gc and placed it on the bottom...is it suppose to be real loose? I understand that the sizer will crimp these on but it seems too loose, thought they would almost snap on and then the crimp does it's thing to make sure it stays on...??
One other observation, I weighed a few, they were in the 152 to 152.6 gr weight without the checks, so I think they will be close to 157 or 158 ready to shoot, I'll have to adjust the load from the 149's I purchased and shot with the 4756 powder, any suggestions there? was 10,0 gr and around 1400 fps. Also noticed my cast are approx 3/16 shorter than the leadhead ones I bought, see any problem there? all in all it was neat to see a finished product, they are shiney looking if that means anything, you think I should turn the heat up some to smooth out the wrinkles? no thermometer yet, I did set the corner of the mold in the melt for 20 seconds and the first pour was frosty but sharp edges, let it cool b4 next pour, back to shiney
thanks all for the great info
Dave
I had some that were wrinkley, is that a word? and some that did not form all the way, think that is how I let the lead pour into the mold. I'm not there yet but I experimented some and don't have a good consistant technique yet but I'm trying. I got some that were... how to descibe...like you pour and then you pour some more and you get a "layer" type look, had a little trouble being consistant with the speed of the stream coming out of the bottom pour, perhaps letting the pot getting low amounted to that.
I measured 2 of the boolits, they were .310 to .3105 dia. that made me happy but I bought a .309 sizer so need to do something there, remember this is for a Marlin micro groove, grabbed a gc and placed it on the bottom...is it suppose to be real loose? I understand that the sizer will crimp these on but it seems too loose, thought they would almost snap on and then the crimp does it's thing to make sure it stays on...??
One other observation, I weighed a few, they were in the 152 to 152.6 gr weight without the checks, so I think they will be close to 157 or 158 ready to shoot, I'll have to adjust the load from the 149's I purchased and shot with the 4756 powder, any suggestions there? was 10,0 gr and around 1400 fps. Also noticed my cast are approx 3/16 shorter than the leadhead ones I bought, see any problem there? all in all it was neat to see a finished product, they are shiney looking if that means anything, you think I should turn the heat up some to smooth out the wrinkles? no thermometer yet, I did set the corner of the mold in the melt for 20 seconds and the first pour was frosty but sharp edges, let it cool b4 next pour, back to shiney
thanks all for the great info
Dave