Bullets looking like sprinkled with flour?!

[old_haidouk]

I changed alloys again and I am getting bullets that look dull and a bit like they were sprinkled with flour. I tried lowering the temp and it didn't solve it. Is the lead dirty? I did flux it twice.

[lead chucker]

Can you take a picture and post it so we can see what it looks like. A picture says a thousand words.

[375RUGER]

lowering the temp of the mould or the alloy? Sounds like very heavy frosting to me. Does it wipe off and reveal a shiny or semi-satin surface underneath? How long to solidify the sprue?
Pics are best. Also description of the mould and your alloy, lots of casters here with personal experience that will blow your mind. You can tell them you have a particular mould and they will tell you how to cast with that mould to get perfect boolits.

I'd lower the mold temp.....cast slower.......till you get a satin finish coming out.

Do a search for "heavy frosting", there are other things that can cause it and cause it to be localized to only parts of a boolit, but I think I'd cool the mould first. This is what I do when I get what you describe, but I'm just getting use to pouring with a 6 banger, there is a learning curve.

[stubshaft]

Sounds like frosting to me, but pics would help isolate your problem.

[williamwaco]

Check thes photos of frosting:

http://www.reloadingtips.com/how_to/frosted-bullets.htm

I am almost positive that is what you are seeing.

Frosting is caused by the mold being too hot.
You can get frosting at any alloy temperature if you cast too fast.
You can eliminate frosting at any alloy temperature if you cast slow enough.
( Well, any temperature up to 850. That is the highest I have ever tested. )

I keep a rotary fan on my casting table.
When I am having trouble with frosting, I dump the bullets on my drop pad, lay the mold with the blocks wide open in front of the fan and then carefully inspect the bullets. This inspection slows down the cadence enough that it usually cures the frosting.

NOTE: Most casters prefer a light frost to a shiny bullet.

.

[7br]

I water drop and I have noticed that if I leave the boolits underwater too long, I will get a coating that looks like a badly floured boolit.

[old_haidouk]

You guys are probably right. The problem was exacerbated by a tiny amount of WD 40 in the mold cavity. This was causing wrinkled boolits. So I ignored the frosting at first till I discovered the tainted mold.

[MtGun44]

Of course, frosted boolits are not a problem.

Bill

[hydraulic]

Cast bullets are like choclate cake; they're better with frosting.

[ShooterAZ]

I like my boolits slightly frosted...I tumble lube mine and they seem to "absorb" the lube better. Just a very small squirt of of LLA on a couple hundred boolits. The "flour" disappears and they aren't sticky at all after a day or two of drying.

Shooter

[Old Coot]

Frosting has more to do with how fast A bullet cools. When I cast up here in the winter I will get more frosted bullets with the same casting tempo and temperature.