1st casting 22 BOOLITS

[Jal5]

After culling ended up with 80 BOOLITS from the NOE 22 mold. 225 55gr RN

Feedback on how they turned out is welcome. Alloy is range scrap + solder, alloy temp 650-700*, and lots of wrinkles about 80 or so in59432 the rejects.

[CWME]

How did you clean the mold? I use hot water, dawn dish soap, and a tooth brush. Looks like you need to get the mold hotter than where you had it. Lead temp is good where your at, you just need to get more heat in the mold. Are you pre-heating on a hot plate sprue plate down? Casting out doors where it is cold? That will make it tough to get the mold up to temp if your weather is as cold as mine here in Maine.

[w30wcf]

Jal5,
Nice looking bullets with the exception of a few that I see with rounded bases and bands. If you preheat your mold in a toaster oven to bring it up to temperature before casting, you will eliminate most if not all of the wrinkled bullets.

w30wcf

[**oneshot**]

I have the NOE 60gr. aside from cleaning the first time, Keeping the mold hot is key. Preheat on a hot plate, cast quick and steady, let the sprue be your guide on the pace.

[454PB]

Yeah, you've got to preheat the mould and cast fast when making small boolits. There's just not enough hot lead moving through the mould to keep it at a good casting temperature.

[Jal5]

Thanks for the feedback.
Cleaned the same way you mentioned hot soap and h20 with toothbrush.
USed the hotplate and left it on there until the lead melted in the pot. But didn't think to turn it sprue plate down.
I know I was fumbling around a little getting used to the 4 cavs and didn't develop a good rhythm dropping the boolits, so that plus the small size of these kept the mold too cool.

Will try it again on Sat. and yes that garage is very cold, I could get some heat in there which may help too.

Joe

[Jal5]

With casting #2 I picked up the pace to keep the mold temp up. Results were very few wrinkles and crisp bases. 120 keepers and 15 rejects. That's success I think.

Now I am waiting for the Blammer gas checks. And for this snow to break.

[Gtek]

Older eyeballs, picture looks like sprue is pulling more than cutting. Bump and keep temp at 700 and pace to frost and throttle back would be my next move. Them little boolits is tough pouring AND shooting I hear, all must be right with the world. I get myself into enough trouble between .300"-.462". Good luck with your journey. Gtek

[Jal5]

Gtek what causes the pulling? I can tell when that happens either on this mold or the mold for the .270 Win too.
Second batch didn't do it as much but still occurred regularly.
I may be getting into a headache with these tiny ones but at the price of .223 ammo.....I can stand a headache.
Joe

[dverna]

Jal5

I purchased 5000 .223 FMJ bullets for about $400 delivered from Wideners a few months ago after looking at casting for my .223. That is $.08/bullet. I could not justify casting.

Getting a good .22 cal cast bullet is not an easy thing to do. It will need a GC at $.02 and a good alloy - say $1.25/lb or about $.01/bullet. Add in power and lube and I was at $.04 for a cast bullet that may or may not work. Add in the cost of a mold ($100) and a Star sizing die ($40) and I was almost at break even for 5000 bullets that will shoot with relatively easy load development into 2 MOA or less.

There are some very talented people on this site that have had success but I am not even close to their ability. For me, the journey was not worth the effort. It will take me a long time to shoot 5000 .22 CF bullets. I did not see any advantage to justify the work needed to make an acceptable cast .22 bullet.

Good luck!!

Don

[Green Lizzard]

i cast for a hornet with good luck to 2400fps using aa 1680 dont weight sort but lookem over real good dont be shy about remelting

[Jal5]

Part of this hobby that I enjoy is experimenting with loads, so I don't mind the work involved and I like a good challenge! I bought 500 jacketed bullets to reload at Christmas so I can always play with those too. But a good cast boolit for this application would feel really good to me. Joe

[Bad Water Bill]

22s are a bit of a challenge. Each of my 22 moulds is an individual unto itself. Some take 5 seconds for the sprue to solidify, others may need 7-8 seconds.

When I have a mould running good I will cast HUNDREDS at a time and stash them.

[1Shirt]

The smaller the boolit, the faster and hotter you have to cast. It is hard to keep the 22 molds hot enough to frost the boolits, but have managed it a couple of times when I got a good rythm going.
1Shirt!

[Nrut]

Gtek what causes the pulling? I can tell when that happens either on this mold or the mold for the .270 Win too.
Second batch didn't do it as much but still occurred regularly.
I may be getting into a headache with these tiny ones but at the price of .223 ammo.....I can stand a headache.
Joe
>> what causes the pulling?<<

Cutting the spure to late..
Apply some BullPlate as per instructions, then you can cut the sprue earlier without smearing the lead on the top of your mold..
Depending on mold temp I cut the spure "as it turns" to a dull grey.. (not after)
In fact you can anticipate the color change once you get in the groove..
Once your mold is up to temp you are almost in constant motion of pouring, cutting your sprue, and dumping, until your mold over heats, then you have to slow down to let the mold cool or dump some cut spures into the pot to cool the melt temp.
You will have to retreat the mold with BullPlate now and again during the casting session..
On my last pour I cut the spure and treat with BullPlate so it is ready to go next time I cast..
For me BullPlate advanced my casting quality and speed immensely all because I could cut the sprue sooner without smearing the lead on to top of the mold..

[Jal5]

Thanks those are all good suggestions. I will be cutting sprues sooner and see what results. I usually waited until it turned dull grey. Every little technique change helps!
And if I get it really running nice today I will surely cast up hundreds or as much as my back can stand which is usually my limiting factor. Joe

[captaint]

Jal5 - I cut my sprues as soon as the last cav turns color and sucks down. Cut it then - right then. You should be OK. More heat in the mold and the wrinkles will go away and if you get it hot enough, the boolits will have a frosty look. For me, that's the way I like them. enjoy - and good work. Mike

[dverna]

Joe,

Did not mean to offend. I really admire those who can meet a tough challenge and trying to get good cast .22's is right up there. I really do wish you luck. After reading some of the threads here on the subject I realized it was way beyond me - at least for now.

I have not cast for 30 years and just getting back into it. I have a .30 cal 311365 GB mold that I just got and a cheap Lee 6 banger for the .40. For me it is all about cost savings and being self-sufficient. I am not a "die hard" cast bullet guy. If I could buy jacketed bullets cheap - that is what I would use. But there is also the prospect of not being able to get any bullets if things get nasty. That is why I stocked up (about 10,000 .224's) for the AR. You will be able to make bullets long after my supply is exhausted - but by then maybe I will be a good enough to run with the big dogs and make .22's too - LOL

Again, good luck and keep us posted on your progress. A range report would be great once you send some of these downrange.

Regards,

Don

[Jal5]

Don no problem.
I kind of rolled the dice on this project. I will find out if I can do it and I'm sure learn a lot in the process.

[Gtek]

Just got back, usually waiting to long as said before. lead of the day, pot temp, ambient temp, mold type and size. If it were easy, everybody would be doing it. I think most here will agree, this thing we do can bring great joy and is probably responsible for a few new words. I bet your answers will be found over your pot. The picture shows you are there, the magic tweaks are you. I have found that running 15-20 with one cadence once at temp, not working, change one thing and go for another string. When magic found- write down everything. No shame in return to pot, just tell them you are sweetening 1% tin and were confirming fluxing. May the force be with you. Gtek

[.22-10-45]

Hello, Jal5. Get yourself an old clock with a sweep minute hand..I watch for sprue puddle to "turn" & start counting seconds..this method has reduced reject rate & made weights variations very small. I cast for .22 using iron moulds..both Ideal/Lyman & custom nose-pour. My problem seems to be overheating..bullets not frosted..but wait gets longer for sprue cutting..I use a big block of copper or aluminum & occasionaly turn mould upside down with plate resting on block for a few seconds..that big heat-sink cures any sprue pulling..bases cut clean & flush.

[nighthunter]

Make sure you fellows casting for 22 caliber read and then reread the thread involving adding copper to your alloy in the lead and alloy section. I am still amazed at my success with cast in 22 caliber and I am shooting them at close to 2800 fps with accuracy and no leading. My reject rate with my castings has plumited and mold fill out is incredible. The sprues CUT and do not tear from the base. If you are going to cast 22 caliber you owe it to yourself to try this.

Nighthunter

[Jal5]

Thanks will check out that thread.
I weighed and sorted my work from this weekend and ended up with about 150 boolits within 61.5 to 62.1 wgt.
I culled a bunch of rounded bases and grooves plus some under and over this wgt range and put those aside.
Now I am waiting for the checks I ordered to arrive. Joe

[Jal5]

Finally got some test batches loaded up but it will be awhile before I get to the range with this snow and cold!
Will keep you posted. Joe

[leadman]

If your sprue plate has a handle on it like a Lyman, RCBS, etc. this can be opened and dipped in the pot to heat it up when starting your casting. This keeps the lead from freezing too soon during the pour.
I cast the little 44gr Lyman and any alloy other than linotype is a real challenge. The good part is I can push these to 2,700 fps with excellent accuracy. I have shot them at up to 3,000 fps with no leading but accuracy dimished.
If you have problems with Blammers gas checks switch to the Hornady brand. They are thinner and seat easier, but cost alot more. Once the checks from Blammer are seated work well.