Ladle pouring question and maybe some advice

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

The last 2 times I cast some boolits, I've had some difficulty.
I ladle pour, with a home made ladle. I was able to get around my issue somewhat by changing
my pouring method. My question is, can the size of the hole in the ladle be too big?
After grumbling for an hour or 2, I remembered a while back I made the hole bigger-very slightly,
and its been since then that I had difficulty. Not with molds that have a larger sprue hole, only for my rifle molds
with a smaller hole in the plate.
Also, the last to sessions, I seem to be having difficulty getting away from wrinkles, and inclusions. Tried moving the pot temp
up ( in increments) to around 800 mark, got the mold hot enough to get healthy frosting and still had some difficulty with fill out and wrinkles.
The 2 molds are NOE, 314299 and the new 314-165-RF group buy. I know it isn't a mold issue as they have worked well before.
Could all of this been created by simply making the pour spout hole too big? I usally cast between 650-700 in the pot and stay just shy of frosting
on the mold temp and have had no issues.

Maybe related: I thought maybe I had some crud get in my alloy- it would dross out the tin as soon as I got it warmer, I could make 7-10 pours
then all goopy again. I emptied the pot, cleaned it and started with fresh ingots. A little better but still, crud would appear much quicker
than it used too. I'd flux, be alright for a bit (7-10 pours) then have to flux again as it would start sheeting and get the chunky tin floating.
Melt is clip on WW, with tin added as I have alwasy done- just enough to get nice sharp edges. Something has changed & I'm not sure what it is.
Thoughts?

[shooter2]

I use a Rowell bottom pour ladle and love it! S2

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

have one, don't like it, and the spout is even bigger

[Le Loup Solitaire]

One of the sources recommending the enlargement of the dipper snout hole was in the NRA Handloading guide of many years ago. it was/is supposed to improve the quality of the castings. Along with that modification was the idea to also enlarge the hole in the sprue plate. I never did either and did ok, but I suppose that many folks successfully followed the suggestions with some success. The symptoms you are describing wit the rifle molds that have a smaller opening in the sprue plate could be the result of too much of an alloy flow that is not letting the air in the mold escape quickly enough/easily...and there is some interference with fillout. Also check tightness of the sprue plate to the blocks...the cutter should sit flat on the blocks...not too tight and swing freely on its own weight when the blocks are tilted. That way air in the cavities can also escape via that route. On the gloopy melt there is no real reason to use more than 2-3% tin as it will, with antimony present, make pretty hard bullets, and they will be well filled out and sharp. A possibility is that some zinc has gotten into the act/equation and it doesn't take much to really goof things up in several ways. Do some research reading on how to overcome/eliminate the effects; there are different remedies to counteract/get rid of the problem. The type of ladle is not usually the culprit if it is being handled right. I have successfully poured with an open soup type (don't try to imagine what the sprues looked like) and the bullets were fine. Usually 750 degrees is about right for most casting; frosting isn't necessary, but won't hurt if it occurs....try to solve the fillout probs first. LLS