round ball casting- wrinkley RB's

[soldierbilly1]

I just got my Lyman Deerstalker Flinter (Pennsy you know) and I am now pouring some 50 cal round balls for this guy.
My question is this, I am melting stick-on weights, which I hear are near 99% pure lead, and I am getting
lotsa wrinkley RB's. The Lee 2 cav is brandy new, I cleaned her up with dish detergent before running.
Is working with pure Pb the problem? (I am running between 700 - 800)
Do new cavities need a break in period (like all the molds I have ever owned)?
Should I wait till the cavities get broken in, or, alternatively, should I put a touch of Tin in there? (they will be patched when fired.)
The balls are running about 180 gr so I suspect they are pretty much Pb.
(0.490 diameter)
What say you, the hive?
Bill Boy

[Catshooter]

I say, the mould sounds clean so I would suspect that it isn't hot enough. The mould, not the lead.


Cat

[runfiverun]

yep..
i like to heat cycle my new aluminum molds a few times.
but get it hot nuff that you have to wait for the lead to set-up for 15-20 seconds and makes a frosty looking boolit [not really gonna happen with lead/tin alloy though]
but you get the idea..
it takes some effort to get the cutting [whatever] oil outta a lee mold.
the heat and the cycling does that.

[JIMinPHX]

I'd clean the mold again with some alcohol, or else boil it in water for a few minutes.

After that, don't be stingy with the heat when casting with pure lead. 850F is not an unreasonable temperature to use with pure. Also, fluxing the melt a few extra times to be sure you have the alloy good & clean could help.

Beyond that, you could try varying your casting technique to see if that makes any difference. Try casting 10 in a row while pressure casting, then try the next 10 while casting with a gap between the pour spout & the sprue plate.

There are other techniques you can try too.

Try a whole bunch of stuff. See what works for you. Each mold can have it's own personality.

[bosterr]

I use to run 3 Lee 2 cavity .530 round ball molds to get higher production and made lots of wrinkled ones. What really turned things around was to run the pot over 800 degrees, run 2 molds instead of 3, and use sprue plate lube so I could knock the sprue off quicker. In other words, I increased my casting cadence to really fast, keeping the mold a lot hotter, and getting perfect wrinkle free round balls. I use lead pipe (pure lead).

[HARRYMPOPE]

What others have said is right on.But shooting wrinkled RB's against "perfect" ones often shows no accuracy change. In sporting rifles that shoot about 1.5 MOA to 100 yards anyhow.

George
.

[troy_mclure]

Yep, I've found no effect on accuracy with wrinkles or sprue stubs.
Tho I've found adding just a touch of tin really helps out too.

[OnHoPr]

Could be the heat in the mold or pot. Could be the pour also. When I cast with my Lee .311 single cavity I need to have the Lee production pot turned all the way up to 10.

[44man]

Bill, you will love that rifle. I have always considered them the most accurate and good looking too.
Now just maybe your problem is the stick on weights. I found some terrible stuff in those things. The last batch I melted was at least 50% zinc. Even found aluminum.

[docone31]

You gotta heat your mold.
I use the six second rule. If the sprue freezes prior to six seconds, it is too cool. If it freezes after six seconds, it is too hot.
Float the mold on the melt, then cast.
You will notice a difference.

[soldierbilly1]

Thanks to all for the responses.
This Thankgiving AM, I went to my cold garage and man, I heated the mold by dunking about half of it in the melt for about one minute, thereby answering the question of my mold being too cold (or still oily). The first two R. balls were frosted, then on, the mold cooled down and she ran like a champ. It seemed about 880 degrees was the best temp. Very happy with the mold, running pure lead is surely different than wheel weights!
thanks to all, and Happy Thanksgiving!
Yes, 44 man, the Deerslayer is awesome and at a good price, too! You don't have to spend tons of $$$$ to get a decent ML, flintlock at that! Now, all I have to do is to get that thing firing 100% of the time and I will be in like sin.
Billy boy
Docone 31: your advice is on the $$$ for any mold, thanks! Here's the Billy amendment: First, make the mold too hot!
BTW, did not use any tin.

[GMW]

Get some pure lead for those rb's, buy it at Dixon's Shop if you have too. Wrinkled rb's have no adverse effect on their accuracy. But the goal is to get nice shinney rb's. Hot, pure lead will get you there.

[1Shirt]

Hot, and more hot, when they start to frost you are there!
1Shirt!

[44man]

Hot, and more hot, when they start to frost you are there!
1Shirt!
Pure lead will not frost.

[HARRYMPOPE]

Pure lead will not frost.

100% agree-- i have argued that one for years as well.