Care and Storage of Steel Molds

[Boyscout]

I just got my first set of steel molds (RCBS) and was confused by the care and storage instructions. Do they need to be oiled and then cleaned and re-smoked before and after each use? I have access to all sorts of VCI (Volatile Corrosive Inhibitor) paper and plastic. One instruction said to leave the last pour in the mold.

[btroj]

Keep em in a dry enviornment and they will be fine. The whole points to keep them from rusting.

Some people oil the mould after each use to prevent rust. I don't becausei don't want to degrease it again each time I want to cast.

[John Boy]

Do they need to be oiled and then cleaned and re-smoked before and after each use? I have access to all sorts of VCI (Volatile Corrosive Inhibitor) paper and plastic. One instruction said to leave the last pour in the mold.
Scout, as is normal you will receive many different ways to store your molds. But the objective is to prevent any rusting
1. VCI paper works fine in an environment of 70 temperature and 50 percent humidity
2. Otherwise, with an environment of higher humidity use a protectorate on the molds such as plain mineral oil. I use Eezox (the best rust inhibitor on the the market) because my basement has an average humidity of 62-68 percent and my mold investment is close to 200 molds, many for obsolete bullets

3. Smoking a mold is absolutely not needed. A absolutely clean mold will release bullets equally well

4. Do what you want to but leaving a bullet in the mold serves no preventative purpose to keep the cavity from rusting. For reference, I leave a bullet in the storage box but not in the mold

PS: Some folks are in love with Ballistol as a protectorate . Personally, I'm not but the major chemical in Ballistol is plain old mineral oil which by itself works to prevent rusting

[Shiloh]

It is humid in the midwest. I oil my iron molds.
Is it an inconvenience to clean the molds prior to use?? Yes. A big deal?? Not when
you consider the alternative of a rusted mold. I have molds I havem't used in years.
It would be heartbreaking to have one ruined because I was un oiled.
Oiling virtually guarantees no rust from the humidity.

Shiloh

[longbow]

+1 on oiling iron moulds and steel parts on brass and aluminum moulds. Many are happy with dessicants, air tight boxes, or whatever but as Shiloh says oiling virtually guarantees no rust.

I oil all my iron moulds and all the steel parts on brass and aluminum moulds. I do not find clean up objectionable, time consuming or difficult.

I do leave boolits in the cavities but not because I think the lead stops corrosion, a boolit placed back in each cavity ensures that the oil I use stays in the cavity and seals it. Also, they are a handy reference if you want to check weight or diameter as cast.

You will get lots of opinions but oiling is what I do.

Longbow

[Huntducks]

During hunting season when I don't cast I will either use rem oil on the molds and the ones I hardly or never use I vacume seal them 5-6 to a bag depending on size.

[MtGun44]

No steel molds. RCBS is meehanite, a kind of cast iron. Of course - it rusts like steel.

Put them in an ammo can with a bag of dessicant. Keep the desicant dried out by baking
in the oven at 150 max overnight periodically.

Bill

[hermans]

I totally agree with MtGun44, I do exactly the same, I just revive my desicant by putting it in the microwave on defrost for 20 minutes, and it is ready to protect my molds for another year in the air tight ammo box.

[12DMAX]

$8 air tight ammo box with some VCI paper if you wish.

[curioushooter]

There surely has to be something better than oiling ferrous molds...

Has anyone tried wrapping in VCI paper then placing it in a plastic zipper bag?

Oil is only as good as the oil remains on the surface. Many oils offgas and after a year or so provide little protection. And they need to be blasted off with brake cleaner or something to clean the mold.

The idea is to prevent OXYGEN from reacting with the IRON. Water merely accelerates the reaction...even in the driest conditions if O2 gets in rust is a possibility.

[Randy Bohannon]

While the mould is still hot using a piece of paraffin wax or a candle melt the wax all over the mould.If the mould is hot enough it will shed the excess and leave a very thin coating of wax.It has never failed me and no interference with dewaxing,preheating the mould removes the wax and there's not enough to make a mess.

[Ed_Shot]

+1 on oiling iron moulds and steel parts on brass and aluminum moulds. Many are happy with dessicants, air tight boxes, or whatever but as Shiloh says oiling virtually guarantees no rust.

I oil all my iron moulds and all the steel parts on brass and aluminum moulds. I do not find clean up objectionable, time consuming or difficult.

I do leave boolits in the cavities but not because I think the lead stops corrosion, a boolit placed back in each cavity ensures that the oil I use stays in the cavity and seals it. Also, they are a handy reference if you want to check weight or diameter as cast.

You will get lots of opinions but oiling is what I do.

Longbow

+2 I use penetrating oil on my Lyman molds after each use and wrap them in a rag. I might spend a whole minute degreasing a mold before next use. I don't worry about rust.

[lightman]

Like someone else posted, you will get a lot of ideas. It really depends on what the environment is like at your location. When you are tying different methods be sure to check on the occasionally and look for rust.

Its very humid here where I live so I oil mine. After they are used and cool off I squirt them with whatever oil I currently use on my guns. Then I wrap them in a shop rag and store them in an MTM dry box. I degrease them with brake cleaner and an old tooth brush. I used multiple ammo cans in the past but the MTM box holds all of them and is sturdy enough to stand or sit on, serving multiple purposes. I've never smoked a mold so having to do that after degreasing them is not a factor for me. I doubt that leaving lead in a mold will work as well as a coating of oil. VCI paper should work fine in an air tight container like an ammo can but I would check on them occasionally until I grew to trust it.

[curioushooter]

I have oiled my molds in the past. It just doesn't cut it where the corn "sweats" (https://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2016/07/22/corn-sweat-iowa-midwest-heat-wave-evapotranspiration/87442376/) and temperatures rise into the 90s (basically simulating a corrosion test). I have box of Lee molds and every iron part on them rusted after 4 summers in my barn. Thank goodness they were Lee molds!

The best rust preventatives I have found, which will also creep and penetrate like oil does (something wax wont do unless the mold is quite hot), are LPS-3 and Fluid Film. These are both expensive products but they both will go a long way if all you are doing is treating molds. They both of course require cleaning of the mold prior to use. The only thing that works well for this I have found is brake cleaner--another added consumable expense.

I have never found any oil to burn off during pre-heating of the mold. It burns ON (ash residues) and can basically make your mold throw undersized or generally crappy boolits. This is why for example Lee harps on using a wood match to smoke their molds (a practice I have come to condemn and have abandoned); the use of a butane lighter or parrafin candle will leave oily ash residues.

I have gone to wrapping molds in VCI paper (one 6"x6" sheet for Lyman and two for RCBS/SAECO) and then placing the wrapped mold individually in a plastic zip bag which I attempt to press as much air out of as possible. If I have the box for the mold I then place it inside the box warped in VCI; otherwise I just label the bag with a sharpie. I have all of these in a smallish metal box (to minimize air circulation/space) that I line top and bottom with more VCI paper.

I have not detected any corrosion and the mold stays perfectly clean needing no pre-cleaning before or after a casting session. I have had the perfect casting day ruined too many times by an empty can of brake cleaner! The first thing I do when I get a mold (especially a used one) is to clean all the crud and oil off, wrap it up, and put it away.

I bought a 1000 sheets of VCI paper for $25 and gave a couple hundred sheets to my oiling-and-cleaning friends. At the present rate of use this should be a lifetime supply.

234766

[alamogunr]

I keep all my molds in the detached shop that is heated and air conditioned. All molds are kept in original boxes or airtight plastic food containers with those little desiccant bags/capsules that come with pharmaceuticals. My son is a pharmacist so there is a constant supply. I periodically go thru everything and replace the desiccant. Since I have so many, I usually throw 2 or 3 in each box. I have never seen a speck of rust.

[dale2242]

All my steel molds get sprayed with oil if they will be stored for any length of time here in moist and rainy southern Oregon.
I typically cast a large number of bullets from each mold when I have them clean.
I take them completely apart.
I start with denatured alcohol and scrub them with a tooth brush.
I blow them off with air and give them one more blast with brake cleaner.
Blow them off with air again and assemble them.
They are them placed on a hotplate while my pot is heating .
When the mold and metal are both up to temp, I normally get good boolits right away....dale

[Starvnhuntr]

Let em cool. spray them with a good rust preventive oil. wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and then into a Ziploc freezer bag or original box. when ready to use a good spraying with brake cleaner will have them ready to use in minutes. I've never had any rust issues and believe me rust comes easy in the Pacific North West.

[lightman]

I have oiled my molds. It just doesn't cut it where the corn "sweats" and temperatures rise into the 90s (basically simulating a corrosion test). I have box of Lee molds and every iron part on them rusted after 4 summers in my barn. Thank goodness they were Lee molds!

The best rust preventatives I have found, which will also creep and penetrate like oil does (something wax wont do unless the mold is quite hot), are LPS-3 and Fluid Film. These are both expensive products but they both will go a long way if all you are doing is treating molds. They both of course require cleaning of the mold prior to use. The only thing that works well for this I have found is brake cleaner--another added consumable expense. I have never found any oil to burn off during pre-heating of the mold. It burns ON (ash residues) and can basically make your mold throw undersized or generally crappy boolits. This is why for example Lee harps on using a wood match to smoke their molds (a practice I have come to condemn and have abandoned); the use of a butane lighter or parrafin candle will leave oily ash residues.

I have gone to warping molds in VCI paper and then placing the wrapped mold individually in a freezer grade (not sandwich bags) plastic zip bag which I attempt to press as much air out of as possible. If I have the box for the mold I then place this inside the box; otherwise I put it in a cardboard box.

I have not detected any corrosion and the mold stays perfectly clean (well, except for sprue lube, which is another thing you will need to re-apply if cleaning the mold with brake cleaner). I bought a 1000 sheets of VCI paper for $25 and gave a couple hundred to my friends. At the present rate of use this should be a lifetime supply.

I've always oiled mine and degreased them with either brake cleaner or electrical contact cleaner. Once, long ago, I decided to skip degreasing the one I was going to use and just let the lead burn it off. Well, it didn't! And I'm not sure if it ever would have! Bad idea!

[rrob692326]

VCI impregnated bag stuck into a mylar moisture proof bag, stuck in a GI Ammo can with oxygen absorber and dessicant. Why take a chance?

[alamogunr]

VCI impregnated bag stuck into a mylar moisture proof bag, stuck in a GI Ammo can with oxygen absorber and dessicant. Why take a chance?

My first thought was "belt & suspenders". Now I'm wondering what comes after suspenders?

[LenH]

I bought a couple of Lyman molds from an ole timer that was selling everything. The molds were in the original box and were wrapped with VCI paper
and the mold was packed in gun grease. A couple of shots of break cleaner and they came clean. I usually shoot them with a bit of gun oil and wrap in
the paper that came with it.

[Taterhead]

While still warm, I use a light coat of Ballistol. Then a quick hit of dish soap and hot water before casting. I live in dry SW Idaho so we are not prone to get rust.

[curioushooter]

Using a detergent in hot water to clean oily residue is highly inferior to a non-polar solvent. Hot water and detergent work for water-soluble (polar) black powder fouling, but they do very little to remove non-polar oils and greases.

I would add that denatured alcohol is a inferior solvent for removal of oil/greases.To begin with unless you are using laboratory grade absolute isopropyl alcohol (propanol), it is going to contain at least 5% water. Water does not evaporate quickly from a room temp mold, or even a mold hot to touch. The highly volatile non-polar water free solvents found in rattle-can brake cleaner are the cheapest and best way to de-grease a mold by far. Sometimes you can get these for $2 a can at Rural King when they go on sale. They will destroy your skin, though. And they will penetrate all but chemical resistant gloves (they go right through latex and eventually even nitrite). If you want to use brake cleaner safely/healthfully, use it outside so the wind will blow the vapor away from you (and anything with paint on it like your house, garage door, or car!) and hold the mold with a pair of metal pliers or wooden clamp (any plastic will be dissolved).

It is just better to clean molds ONCE and put them away clean wrapped in VCI paper and placed in a bag/box. It's cheaper, faster, and you get less fume exposure.

[curioushooter]

VCI impregnated bag stuck into a mylar moisture proof bag, stuck in a GI Ammo can with oxygen absorber and desiccant. Why take a chance?

Oxygen absorber? You mean a bag of iron powder and salt? I think that is a poor idea. Nearly all salts are absorb moisture from the atmosphere. Unless the container is air tight (and nothing short of a positive pressure vessel really is) you will be attracting moisture to the vicinity of your precious iron molds. Same goes for desiccants (silica gel). All they do is attract and absorb moisture to themselves. Your system will still work, but it is because of the VCI bag (which cost about 100x more than VCI paper). The mylar and ammo can are probably helping. And the O2 absorber and desiccant are unnecessary and probably counterproductive.

If you really want something beyond the belt (VCI paper) and suspenders (mostly air tight plastic bag which functions more to preserve the VCI paper than anything else) then put a heater (like a gun-safe heater) inside a metal box or plastic box with the molds. This will create a positive pressure vessel by warming the air (which expands) inside the box and drive out moisture. Any reasonably tight but non-sealed container (like a metal tool box) will work. A simple metal tool box with a heater would probably work better than any sealed container (like a gasketed ammo can), which will not allow residual moisture to exit.

It is also worth noting that older VCI chemicals are carcinogenic and the modern ones may someday prove to be. It is best to keep this stuff out of your house and especially your kitchen. Don't put a mold wrapped in VCI in your lunchbox, either.

[Dragonheart]

Since I live in the Gulf Coast one thing is a given and that is if it can rust or corrode if left unprotected, it will! So the very best way to keep that from happening is by not allowing the metal to come in contact with air & moisture.
To do this I use gear oil as a coating for my molds. I then wrap them in heavy plastic to keep any sharp edges from cutting the bag, then seal the mold in a vacuum bag. If I want to go a step further I can throw in an oxygen absorber into the bag just before it seals. Sealed this way the molds are completely safe from air/water pretty much indefinitely.

[Static line]

I store my few molds,dry, in my gun safe with the Golden Rod.

[georgerkahn]

Residing in an area which ranges annually from thirty below, to more than 100 degrees above zero, my hunch is the major foe to anything which may rust is condensation -- temp changes being a major cause. On a good many days I've opened the door to my (in garage) shop to actually see condensate on drill press, tables saws, and other tool tables, requiring paper towel drying! I have quite a few steel moulds -- many in my possession for more than fifty years -- and I make sure they're as dry as possible before I put them in Plano 3700 series deep prolatch stowaway, model # 2-3730-05 boxes, which are 14: L x 9.13"W x 3.25" deep. Each has four compartments, which are almost perfect for storing a mould with handles attached in each. I cellophane tape the mould's descript on a piece of paper at each end, and add a teaspoon full or so of Uncle Ben's Long Grain Converted Rice to each.
I have little to no problem finding the mould I wish to use; the Plano box attenuates any condensate-forming temp changes, with the dry rice further prohibiting its formation. It's been probably forty years since I left bullets in the cavities, albeit I generally leave one of my castings in the compartment with the mould, for my later determination if "this mould I really should use?".
What I do..... :)
geo

[Outpost75]

I coat iron molds with either plain mineral oil USP from the drug store, or Kroil.

Pre-heat the molds on a hotplate before casting and the oil sublimes off so you get good bullets right away.