lee 6 cavity

[plow]

I got a new 6 cavity 9mm mold and after several attempts have yet to get a decent bullet out of it. The bullets come out wrinkled all over. I cleaned it out with mineral spirits and thought that would have done the trick to no avail. any ideas? btw, my first lee mold.

[Carolina Cast Bullets]

Let the mold come up to casting temperature before you get discouraged. Wrinkled bullets indicate that the mold is not hot enough. Frosted bullets
indicate that it is too hot.

Jerry
Carolina Cast Bullets

[Casting_40S&W]

Smoke the mold with a match or cigarette lighter, the wrinkles will be gone.

[1bluehorse]

Try cleaning it with hot soapy water and a toothbrush. How hot is your melt. My experience with Lee molds is to cast pretty hot. I run my temps close to 750 by my thermometer. You'll get wrinkled bullets if your mold isn't hot enough.. there are threads on here on how to "condition" a Lee mold.. good luck..

[462]

1. Mould not clean enough.
2. Mould temperature too cold -- preheat on a hotplate.
3. Mould needs a few casting sessions to burn off all the machining fluids.
4. Any combination of the above.

[fredj338]

Don't smoke the mold, that only makes a smaller bullet. Get the mold hot on a hot palte or the top of the pot. Then cast using the front 2cavs, then alternate rear 2cavs until the mold comes up to temp. This will get things going & put less strain on the fragile spru plate handle. Your slloy should be hot too, at 650-700deg min.

[sundog]

Just how much smoke are you putting on to make a boolit smaller? A hazy film is all that is needed, and that cannot be measured by the normal equipment of hand loaders. In fact, if you have a cantankerous mould that has fill out problems regardless of everything else, a film of smoke can actually make the boolit bigger by getting proper fill out. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

[plow]

I think maybe my melt wasn't hot enough. I will try that to see. I do love getting 6 bullets at once.

[skeet1]

I think mineral spirits is the wrong thing to use as it is oily. Acetone, brake cleaner or alcohol would be a much better cleaner and would not leave any oily residue. I use Acetone and a q-tip and it works very well. Once the mold is really clean I believe you will have some good casting ahead of you. The Lee 6 cavity is a great mould for the money.

Ken

[williamwaco]

I think mineral spirits is the wrong thing to use as it is oily. Acetone, brake cleaner or alcohol would be a much better cleaner and would not leave any oily residue. I use Acetone and a q-tip and it works very well. Once the mold is really clean I believe you will have some good casting ahead of you. The Lee 6 cavity is a great mould for the money.

Ken


Ditto.

I have never used it but I would be very surprised if mineral spirits didn't make it worse.

I use acetone or brake ( carburetor ) cleaner but only if I don't have a spray bottle of 409. I have not found alcohol to be as effective as the other three.

I get best results with 409, hot water (HOT) and a toothbrush.

.

[462]

"I think maybe my melt wasn't hot enough."

Mould temperature, mould temperature, mould temperature.

If your mould is at its optimum operating temperature, the first cast will produce keepers. Of course, the mould has to be squeaky clean.

[geargnasher]

1. Mould not clean enough.
2. Mould temperature too cold -- preheat on a hotplate.
3. Mould needs a few casting sessions to burn off all the machining fluids.
4. Any combination of the above.

BINGO!


"I think maybe my melt wasn't hot enough."

Mould temperature, mould temperature, mould temperature.

If your mould is at its optimum operating temperature, the first cast will produce keepers. Of course, the mould has to be squeaky clean.

BINGO, BINGO!

Alloy temp needs to be about 100 degrees hotter than the fully-liquid point. Mould temperature needs to be whatever it likes to make good boolits, it varies greatly.

Hot, soapy water to clean, skip the smoke. If your mould needs smoke to cast you're masking the real problem, which is it's new and saturated with cutting fluid.

Six-bangers need a hotplate to come up to temperature and three to four pours a minute to keep them hot with boolits that small. Large sprue puddles help too.

Clean the mould, get it to 400 degrees, and cast away. Keep at it, after a few heat/cool sessions it will work itself out.

Gear

[plow]

The lee insert with the mold mentioned mineral spirits, but I agree that it's oily. I'll whip some acetone on it and see if that helps too.

[John Boy]

1. Mould not clean enough.
2. Mould temperature too cold -- preheat on a hotplate.
3. Mould needs a few casting sessions to burn off all the machining fluids.
4. Any combination of the above. Here - Here ... Plus One!
And whoever came up with smoking a mold to cast bullets has never read Col Harrison's NRA Cast Bullets where he states a 'clean' mold casts & drops better bullets than one that is smoked. Plus, here's a hint ... coat the cavity with bluing - you'll be amazed how nice they drop and smooth the bullets are

As for a 6 gang - @ 710 degrees - the six gang 454190 Lee mold produces excellent bullets

[41 mag fan]

My first Lee mold that actually casts worth a darn is a 6 banger. I did figure out my pot needs to be about 710*, whereas my NOE and Mihec molds will cast perfect at 675*.
20 min on a hot plate, and after 2 casts my Lee starts throwing good boolits from then on.

[imashooter2]

But once they're working, they work really well...

http://home.comcast.net/~imashooter2/pictures/59lbs-s.jpg

[crappie-hunter]

My 6 cavity 44 lee mold doesn't cast well until the bullets ar frosted. If you read any of Veral Smiths writings he said he doesn't start to keep bullets until they come out of the mold frosted.

[VA Shooter]

I have had no issues with my 6 cav lee mould. my Lyman 2 cav is a different story I can see daylight near the bottom of the mould and get wings unless I press the handle together hadr. My next mould will be an Accurate and another Lee

[white eagle]

did anyone mention heat ????

[runfiverun]

if i get frosted boolits i'm doing something wrong.
i will smooth out my steel mold's cavity's to make them drop easier they just need a little lapping.
i will also use a lighter to smoke a mold but only an aluminum one i have a couple of walts nei molds that go along so much easier if i put a little smoke in the cavities from time to time.
the noe mold i have just drops the boolits with a little shake.