How do you water drop without splashing.

[Tomuchiron]

Just start water dropping after a 20 year break in reloading. Don't like the water splashing up on the hot molds, etc. Tried dropping the bullets on a slide board into the bucket, about 45' degree angle. Now I started deforming the bullets into ovals, etc. they seem to resize back ok with varying degrees of force. So, what tricks for water dropping am I missing.. I have to run the lee 6 cavitys at max hot to get fill out. with my range lead.
Mike

I won't show you my slide board, but I'll let you see my resizing thingy.
http://youtu.be/3xYkgeAMoBY

[geargnasher]

Bungee cord and an old 100% cotton tee shirt.

Rip the shirt in half down the sides, drape one over the top of the bucket with the "tail" seam overlapping about 2/3, push it down to make it sag a few inches, drape the other half across the same 2/3 but from the opposite side, and don't push it down as far. Carefully wrap the bungee around the top of the bucket to hold the cloth in place. You should have an overlapping "stairstep" of the tee shirt material, where the boolit will roll off the higher one, plop onto the edge of the layer below, reverse direction and roll into the water.

Gear

[leadman]

I use an old bath towel slit in the middle. Push the slit area down in the water with the reat on the bucket rim. Get all the towel in the bucket opening wet and then just drop the boolits a little off to the side and they roll down to the slit. I use cut up foam rubber in the water, about 1" to 2" squares. Make sure they are wet. I squeeze the foam to get the air out and they suspend in the water and slow the boolit descent.

[Ole]

You only need a couple inches of water in your bucket.

[runfiverun]

i use a small pail with about a half gallon of cold water in it and drop from about 3"s above it.
i set it on a stool at about waist height 90* to my right.
i keep a damp rag there also if i need to cool the mold down.
i get a drop of water on my mold once in a while but that's about it.
it's dry before i return the mold to the pour spout.

[Sonnypie]

I don't even worry about it.
I love that CHEWwwwwwwwwwww as the bullets sink and chill.
And basically, any water I've had spit up on my molds has skittered off like water on a hot frying pan. Virtually no effect on the mold.
I use about 2 gallons in a 5 gal pail.

[fcvan]

I drop my boolits onto a folded towel and refill the mold. I then pick up the boolits with a spoon which allows me to roll/inspect and either place into the water bucket or into a bowl if not water dropping. The sprue goes back in the pot right then along with any obvious defects. Frank

[Dennis Eugene]

For years I used to cover the water with styraphome peanuts, but now there hard to find. So simular to Gear I use a T-shirt and bungee cord only I just rip two slits in t-shirt one in front one in back and kinda line 'em up keep shirt kinda taunt and bullets find ther way to the water lickity split. I do fill 5 gallon bucket at least half full. I water drop 90 percent of my bullets only ones I don't water drop are the hollow points. Dennis

[L1A1Rocker]

Go forward to about 1:20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sMXtwOqc1NY#!

[geargnasher]

That's the same concept I use with the tee-shirt, it's difficult to describe. Never thought about using the cheapo chinese spring clamps for that though, good idea.

Gear

[altheating]

I use a 5 gallon square pail. I have a piece of 1/2" foam cut to fit the pail. The top is a bit bigger than the bottom so it acts like a hinge. The bottom floats on the water, the top pivots. The foam is about 1" back from the edge on the bottom. Drop them boolits towards the slot, no splashing and the boolits slide off the wet foam right into the water with no deformation at all. There is about a foot of water in the pail. The pail sets on a chair.

[dragonrider]

You want to get the boolits into the water as quickly as possible, anything in between your mold and the water lengthens that time and the boolit is cooling more before it hits the water thereby perhaps allowing much variability in the hardness of your boolit. I use a five gallon bucket almost full. A couple of inches will not cool your boolit enough before they come in contact with each other at the bottom and result in a lot of dented or even bent boolits. Nothing inbetween, no rags, no chutes and ladders, if a drop of water splashes on my mold I can hear it and be sure it's gone before next pour.

[dnotarianni]

5 gal bucket on floor with hole in bench top. Open mold and slide boolits into hole. No splash near lead
Dave

[Doc Highwall]

That is one of the better casting vidieos that L1A1Rocker posted the link to.

About the only thing that could be added would be a themometer for the hot plate showing the mould pre heat temperature and the lead temperature. I think that would answer all the questions of a caster both new and some one with less then desirable results.

Thanks for posting that L1A1Rocker.:bigsmyl2:

[fecmech]

I too use a full 5 gallon bucket and don't worry about the splash. You can't get the hot mold back to the lead fast enough for the water drops to be a problem.

[Bigslug]

Cut up a bunch of kitchen sponges with shears and float them on top of the water. Keeps the splashes under control nicely.

[Huntducks]

You want to get the boolits into the water as quickly as possible, anything in between your mold and the water lengthens that time and the boolit is cooling more before it hits the water thereby perhaps allowing much variability in the hardness of your boolit. I use a five gallon bucket almost full. A couple of inches will not cool your boolit enough before they come in contact with each other at the bottom and result in a lot of dented or even bent boolits. Nothing inbetween, no rags, no chutes and ladders, if a drop of water splashes on my mold I can hear it and be sure it's gone before next pour.


I do the same here except my bucket is about 3/4 full.

[44man]

Five gallons in a six gallon plastic bucket, set on a low stool just to my left. Nothing in the bucket except water and a drop to the mold is rare.
The one thing I had happen was the setscrew came loose, the handle pin fell out and half the mold went for a swim! :Fire:

[paul h]

I don't even worry about it.
I love that CHEWwwwwwwwwwww as the bullets sink and chill.
And basically, any water I've had spit up on my molds has skittered off like water on a hot frying pan. Virtually no effect on the mold.
I use about 2 gallons in a 5 gal pail.

Same hear, though I generally use 4 gal in the 5 gallon bucket. I mostly water drop large heavy handgun bullets, and 400 gr and heavier bullets need a decent amount of water.

[bld451]

Get a sponge that a tile guy would use for grouting. (6X10X3" or so) Fill to within a couple inches of the top. Put the foam in the water and squeeze it to get it saturated. (this way it doesn't float above, but is almost all under water, and barely floats. Drop boolits off center on the foam, and they roll nicely into the water. Foam is full of water, so they are in contact with H2O s soon as they hit. Slick. I've been wanting to try the t-shirt trick, but am already set up for this, and I'm lazy!

[Catshooter]

Not only is a fuller bucket needed, but the water wants to be cold too boys. We throw in a bunch of ice and use strofoam peanuts. But I think the sponge idea is better.


Cat

[Tomuchiron]

I love Inguinety. I believe reloaders have more problem solving abilities than the other "normal" people at the range. And I thank all of you for the new ideas. It seems so simple now.
Thanks again. Mike

[45-70 Chevroner]

I don't even worry about it.
I love that CHEWwwwwwwwwwww as the bullets sink and chill.
And basically, any water I've had spit up on my molds has skittered off like water on a hot frying pan. Virtually no effect on the mold.
I use about 2 gallons in a 5 gal pail.

Ditto!!!!!
In 30 years of water dropping, using a 5 gallon bucket with about 4 1/2 gallons of water, I have never had water drops stay on or in a mold for more than 1 maybe 2 seconds and it takes longer than that to get the mold back in to position to refill it. The only thing I water drop for anymore is rifle boolits and not even all of those. Water drops on a sizzling hot mold are the least of my worries. Getting burned with hot lead is something to worry about, so I use all precautions. Long sleeves, good leather gloves, eye protection, and blue jean pants with a shop appron that goes below my knees.

[Sonnypie]

One day I got stupider than usual.
I just got into a "zone" and cast up 28.8 pounds of 45 ACP 230gr slugs.
It was a lot of fun.....
Until I had to get that bucket of lead and water out where I could dump the water off. :???:
Did you know that plastic buckets ain't what they use to be?

I stop at a more manageable amount now... :roll: DUH.

CAUTION: This machine is self entertaining and may burst into laughter at any time.

[Floydster]

I use a 55 gal drum and a 6ft. Step ladder.

[gandydancer]

5 gal bucket 1/2 full of water and a large thick sponge drop Boolits on to sponge the sponge will roll over spilling Boolits into water. NO splash.

[tenx]

ditto on the styrafoam peanuts, cheap and keeps water from splashing all over. 5 gallon bucket about 1/3 full of water and 2-3 inches of styrafoam. bullets punch right through the styrafoam into the water.

[Texasflyboy]

For years I used to cover the water with styrofoam peanuts, but now there hard to find.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This. Works great for me. The bullets push past the peanuts and capture any water splashes.

[MGySgt]

5 gal bucket with a cloth liner - Why the liner? when I get done casting I just undo the bunger cord holding the cloth liner and lift it out - all boolits I cast come with it. I can dump the bucket out the door or leave it there for the next session.