Sharpshooter Mold Brass pin warping?

[spuddicus]

Anyone else had this happen to them?

I've cast about 20lbs of #4 buckshot on this mold and in the middle of my last casting session I noticed a lot of flashing on the casts so I took a closer look at the mold, the mold will only close completely under excessive pressure and I cannot find any high spots on the mold itself.

The mold will not open/close easily anymore which leads me to believe it is the brass hinge pin. The pin is under too much pressure to tap out without risking mushrooming the small end.

Anyone have any ideas on a solution/fix

[220swiftfn]

If you have to remove the pin, the easiest way is to do it when the mold is hot. I had a problem with the hinge pins backing out on mine, and replaced them with hitch pins from the hardware store. Others have used shoulder bolts, so it's not like you don't have options here.......


Oh, and if switching pins doesn't cure the mold closing all the way, take a look at the locator ball bearings, sometimes they can start to pop out......



Dan