Accurate mold problem

[Lefty SRH]

I have a 2 cavity Accurate mold (aluminum) for my .480 Ruger, 420gr pill. I'm having a hard time keeping the mold at the right temp. When the middle 1/3 of the boolit looks good then the nose or base is slightly wrinkled. When the nose and or base isn't wrinkled the middle 1/3 in the driving band area are frosted. Am I doing something wrong? Alloy is WW and melt temp is 700-750.

[BulletFactory]

Are you preheating with a hotplate? I found that things are much more consistent that way.

[geargnasher]

I have a 2 cavity Accurate mold (aluminum) for my .480 Ruger, 420gr pill. I'm having a hard time keeping the mold at the right temp. When the middle 1/3 of the boolit looks good then the nose or base is slightly wrinkled. When the nose and or base isn't wrinkled the middle 1/3 in the driving band area are frosted. Am I doing something wrong? Alloy is WW and melt temp is 700-750.

Yes, you aren't casting fast enough to keep the mould hot.

Give this a shot: Get an analog clock with a sweeping second hand and put it over your casting area. Cast a timed four pours a minute for twenty pours, don't look at the boolits after they drop out and don't futz with the mould or pot. By about the fifteenth pour it will be dropping good boolits. No need to run the pot hotter than 700 degrees with WW alloy, it's the mould that needs to be hotter.

Gear

[runfiverun]

in addition to gears fixes, try having a consistent pour method.
thats a pretty good sized boolit in a 2 cav aluminum.
so you have a lot of metal going in there, i'd try pouring and letting the lead run into the sprew hole from an angle.

[cajun shooter]

I would first try the hot plate as I have been doing it that way for some time now. I now use nothing but brass moulds as they are easier to maintain that sweet spot for dropping good boolits.
After preheating the mould, you did not post your method of pouring but if using a bottom pour or ladle put the spout into the sprew hole so that you force the alloy into the mould.
When casting larger bullets if you back away with the ladle or the pour spout it tends to let the bullet be in layers which cause the wrinkled look. Later David

[Lefty SRH]

It's a bottom pout Lee 4-20. The mold was preheated on a hot plate at med-high setting. If the bands are frosted then the nose and base look good. When the bands look good the nose and base may have slight wrinkles.

[Lefty SRH]

I really like the bullet it makes I wish the mold was brass instead of aluminum.

[leadman]

There is nothing wrong with a frosty boolit. I cast all of mine this way. They are normally filled out better and more consistent in weight.

[geargnasher]

I really like the bullet it makes I wish the mold was brass instead of aluminum.

Give it to me and order a brass one! I'll even pay the shipping ;-)

Gear

[Shooter6br]

I have a few brass molds including a Accurate 31-200L.It is two cavity and I like it. It is for my M1917 "American Enfield with 5 groove original barrel It is 3o-06 but grove is .311 In gang mold I prefer the lighter aluminum (Lee 6 cavity)

[MGySgt]

What is the temperature of the area you are casting in?

If the temp in my casting shed isn't above 45 degrees - I don't get good boolits from the multiple cavity aluminum moulds. Brass and iron are fine.

[475/480]

I have a bunch (12) of 475 cal moulds and casting temp should be about 650 deg after you get the mould up to temp.

Sean

[Lefty SRH]

I guess I'll try the things suggested in this thread.

[Lefty SRH]

What is the temperature of the area you are casting in?

If the temp in my casting shed isn't above 45 degrees - I don't get good boolits from the multiple cavity aluminum moulds. Brass and iron are fine.

When I tried last night it was about 60-65 if I had to guess. We haven't exactly had our typical winter this year for whatever reason.

[Lefty SRH]

Give it to me and order a brass one! I'll even pay the shipping ;-)

Gear

You are so generous! Order me the brass equivalent and we have a deal!

[white eagle]

what does it matter if there is a bit of frost on the boolit
chances are its not going to affect your shooting any
keep at it you will work out a rhythm and be dropping great boolits
sometimes ya just got to keep after it to get your timing
its not a problem with the mold its the caster (operator)
fwiw

[Lefty SRH]

what does it matter if there is a bit of frost on the boolit
chances are its not going to affect your shooting any
keep at it you will work out a rhythm and be dropping great boolits
sometimes ya just got to keep after it to get your timing
its not a problem with the mold its the caster (operator)
fwiw

I understand its not a problem with a mold. I'm fishing for suggestions.

[357shooter]

Another option is to turn the heat of the pot up. Casting faster is one way to keep the mould temp up, some moulds work out with hotter alloy. The heat comes from the alloy either way, just two different approaches to make it work for you. Add 50 degrees and see how if it helps, add 50 more if needed.

I have a mould that casts great when cooler (700-750 range) and some that must be 850, at the minimum. Use a wet rag to cool the mould when the bullet starts to frost. Otherwise they will be smaller in diameter and potentially undersize for your gun.

Or it it's not really a temp problem, pouring each cavity faster may help. Alloy being poured to slowly isn't good and causes problems too.

[Dan Cash]

Lefty,
Stay with it. I recently got a new4 hole brass Accurate mould and it is taking me a little time to figure it out. It seems to want pressure casting (ladle in direct contact with sprue plate) with hot metal. Bullets are fine when you figure out the mould.

[fishnbob]

Lefty,
Stay with it. I recently got a new4 hole brass Accurate mould and it is taking me a little time to figure it out. It seems to want pressure casting (ladle in direct contact with sprue plate) with hot metal. Bullets are fine when you figure out the mould.

I have an Accurate Aluminum in 35 cal and mine likes the direct contact with the sprue plate also but that leads to the old "hole in the base" problem. Sometimes I back over the cavities to fill'em and then cut the sprue. If I don't force feed it, the noses on mine are wrinkled. I only get maybe one good one out of four, but that one is a pretty one, bright & shiny. A helluva nice boolit but a real pita.[smilie=b:

[fishnbob]

Not trying to hijack a thread but when my mold gets hot and drops frosty boolits that are filled out and look good & consistent, then the mold gets sticky and hard to open, even after I touch a little Bullplate on the pins and line up holes. What's that all about?

[Pigslayer]

I have a 2 cavity Accurate mold (aluminum) for my .480 Ruger, 420gr pill. I'm having a hard time keeping the mold at the right temp. When the middle 1/3 of the boolit looks good then the nose or base is slightly wrinkled. When the nose and or base isn't wrinkled the middle 1/3 in the driving band area are frosted. Am I doing something wrong? Alloy is WW and melt temp is 700-750.

I had that problem at first. I found that first I had to preheat my mold then I had to lower my temp. Lucky I build a PID. The sweet spot for mine was about 630 degrees or 330C. Once I got it there I had to keep moving.
Oh, by the way . . . those frosty bullets will shoot . . . AND kill game just as well as those perfect shiney ones! Preheating that mold is a big factor. I do it with a propane torch, gently & evenly.

[Lefty SRH]

I casted some more with that mold this evening. I got a routine. I don't quite understand it but it worked well!
I ran my alloy a little hotter, poured faster, pre-heated the mold hotter. The boolits turned out with better fill out, very little (maybe none) driving band frosting and most of them fell out tof the mold when it opened. I also tried pouring closer to the pot spout, but didn't really see any difference.
Gues the mold likes it hot and NO LOLLY GAGGING!
Thanks guys

[white eagle]

I am glad its working for you
I just shot a bunch of those today as a matter of fact I just walked in the door from my range
its a very good boolit

[357shooter]

Not trying to hijack a thread but when my mold gets hot and drops frosty boolits that are filled out and look good & consistent, then the mold gets sticky and hard to open, even after I touch a little Bullplate on the pins and line up holes. What's that all about?

You need to cool the mould when that happens, maybe turn the alloy temp down some too. Touch the mould to a wet cloth for 5 secs, wait a few and cast again. The biggest bullets come from a mould just a little cooler than frosting/sticking temp. A small fan can help too.

[Lefty SRH]

I am glad its working for you
I just shot a bunch of those today as a matter of fact I just walked in the door from my range
its a very good boolit

I really like the boolit profile. Bowen has my cylinder right now to open the throats to .476 I finallt got to shoot the gun last weekend and one chamber is too small. Round wouldn't even seat completely, a factory round had to be pushed to fully seat. Overall she showed REAL promise. Can't wait to get the cylinder back and try again. I'll have boolits ready for her!!!!!:Fire:

[geargnasher]

Not trying to hijack a thread but when my mold gets hot and drops frosty boolits that are filled out and look good & consistent, then the mold gets sticky and hard to open, even after I touch a little Bullplate on the pins and line up holes. What's that all about?

I can't imagine why the mould would be difficult to open unless the boolits are sticking to the cavities for some reason. It just isn't possible for the alignment points to stick together under normal casting conditions.


I casted some more with that mold this evening. I got a routine. I don't quite understand it but it worked well!
I ran my alloy a little hotter, poured faster, pre-heated the mold hotter. The boolits turned out with better fill out, very little (maybe none) driving band frosting and most of them fell out tof the mold when it opened. I also tried pouring closer to the pot spout, but didn't really see any difference.
Gues the mold likes it hot and NO LOLLY GAGGING!
Thanks guys

That's right, no lolly gagging, get set and get after it! Preheat the mould to 400 degrees and make four pours a minute with 700 degree wheel weight alloy, TIME IT! Slow down when it takes more than six seconds for the sprue to set enough to cut by hand.

Gear

[357shooter]

The bullets are sticking to the cavities. Try cooling the mould and see if that fixes it. The pot may need to have the temp turned down just a little.

[Grandpas50AE]

I casted some more with that mold this evening. I got a routine. I don't quite understand it but it worked well!
I ran my alloy a little hotter, poured faster, pre-heated the mold hotter. The boolits turned out with better fill out, very little (maybe none) driving band frosting and most of them fell out tof the mold when it opened. I also tried pouring closer to the pot spout, but didn't really see any difference.
Gues the mold likes it hot and NO LOLLY GAGGING!
Thanks guys

I cast some with mine yesterday and found that at 50 degrees ambient temp in the garage I had to run the melt at 720 to keep the pour spout running well. At that point I also dicovered that these brass molds like NO LOLLY GAGGING - keep it running at a good four or more pours per minute. Doesn't leave time to add sprues or anything else back to the pot, just cast!

[Pigslayer]

I found all of my molds have different requirements. I'm getting so many molds now that I'm going to start writing all of the info in a notebook!

[geargnasher]

I used to keep a casting logbook with details of each mould, alloy, and all the detailed information from each session. I say used to, because after a few years I began plotting trends and noticed two things: Every session was both different and the same.

Every session was different because slight changes in humidity, temperature, alloy, and even (I swear) mood affects the way a mould casts.

Virtually every session is the same in that I get the best boolits with the alloy about 100 degrees over full-liquidus +/- 25 degrees, the mould preheated to somewhere around 420 degrees and the casting pace leveled-off after the first few pours to drop light satin frost after cutting the sprue by hand. I like to see the little pucker in the boolit base be consistent, that way I know the temperature of every boolit is the same when the sprue plate is cut, and I can control the consistency of the drop from there. If observe this guideline for alloy temp and starting mould temp and then observe the signs of the boolit finish (which will be different with different alloys, of course, but at least THAT is predictable), sprue freeze rate, and base appearance, I can make good boolits with any mould I pick up on any day, with three notable exceptions: Pure lead (just up the temp to 200 over melt point, or about 825 degrees), an overweight HP mould I cast with once, and a custom hollow base mould I just cast with last week.

So I filed the log away in a dark corner and just get to casting. It ain't rocket science.

Gear

[MikeS]

Wow, now that so many of you have stopped gagging Lolly, I'll bet she's a lot happier! :)

[grubbylabs]

Wow, now that so many of you have stopped gagging Lolly, I'll bet she's a lot happier! :)

Nah she's still a cranky old beast.

[Tar Heel]

Every session was different because slight changes in humidity, temperature, alloy, and even (I swear) mood affects the way a mould casts.

Gear

I believe it. You just have to be in the right mood.