1st time casting 45 rn 230gr. boolits

[CobraMan]

First off let me say, I am very experienced in casting lead sinkers, jigs etc., so, since I am a shooter I thought its about time to cast my own bullits. I was told by many that this site is awesome so last week I signed up and received a great warm welcome. I started reading many posts, so many posts my eyes got crossed so I took a break and read some more, great information. I followed alot of advice from the many experienced boolit makers on this site and it really paid off. I started out with a new Lee mold, 2 cavity, 230 gr. rn with the 4 lube ribs. I cleaned the mold first with rubbing alcohol, then smoked the cavities with matches, pre-heated the mold, my lead was up to temp. and fluxed with Marvelox. Made 1 pour, knocked open the spruce plate, put a very light coating of Bullshop spruce lube in the appropriate areas, opened up the mold and 2 PERFECT boolits fell out into a 5 gallon bucket of water. I kept pouring and within 1 hour I had 100 perfect boolits, along the way there were numerous boolits that did not turn out but that was my fault as I fumbled the pour in the mold hole. I just could not ask for a better 1st time pour, it was fun and I would not have stopped at 100 boolits except my wife called and said she was hungry for dinner and wanted me to make my Parmesan baked Halibut receipt for dinner. She is one of the main reasons why I get to fish for Halibut so much, (she loves to eat Halibut). I want to thank you all again for the numerous informational posts on this site that helped my 1st pour a tremendous success. The pictures show the 1st coat of alox waiting do dry overnight .

[454PB]

Those look better than my first attempt 40+ years ago, good job!

I suggest you forget about smoking the mould, it can cause more problems than it cures.

When I use LLA as a lube, I place the coated boolits on a piece of wax paper.....it looks like yours are on wax paper?

Lastly, it's called SPRUE lube.

[CobraMan]

Those look better than my first attempt 40+ years ago, good job!

I suggest you forget about smoking the mould, it can cause more problems than it cures.

When I use LLA as a lube, I place the coated boolits on a piece of wax paper.....it looks like yours are on wax paper?

Lastly, it's called SPRUE lube.

Thanks for the compliment and yes my bootlits are on wax paper. Thanks for the correction on sprue lube. I like your quote about losing sight of the shore. When we go Halibut fishing 30 miles West out in the Pacific Ocean we lose sight of all landmarks, at that point I rely solely on gps electronic navigation.

[CobraMan]

454PB: You mentioned to not smoke the mold. OK, I initially smoked the lube before the first use, now should I clean it before I use it again or ??????

[Walter Laich]

I'd say just leave the mold as is and cast away. I smoke mine brand new molds the first time and that usually does the trick.

walt

[fcvan]

Back in the 80s, I smoked the mold with wood matches. The last few molds I've bought I just cleaned them with hot soapy water (Dawn dish soap) dried the mold, lubed the contact points and sprue plate, and cast away. All of my molds have been cleaned the same way, even the old molds I smoked long ago.

30 miles out for halibut? That's a far piece for sure. Farthest out I went was 40 when chasing tuna out of Crescent City, CA. It sure gets pretty out there, too bad gas has made it hard to enjoy a day on the ocean.

[MtGun44]

Smoking is some where between irrelevant and harmfull. Boolits look good.
Good luck.

Bill

[454PB]

454PB: You mentioned to not smoke the mold. OK, I initially smoked the lube before the first use, now should I clean it before I use it again or ??????

I'd leave it alone, your boolits look good. Back when I started casting, I read somewhere to use a candle to smoke the mould. That REALLY screws up the mould, coating it with wax, and it then won't cast a boolit without wrinkles.

[Bullwolf]

Your boolits look great. Bet you will really enjoy shooting your own creations.

I find that heating up the boolits with a hair dryer before tumble lubing helps the Alox tumble lube spread around, cover, and adhere much better. I could also get away with using a lot less. Others like to thin the Alox with mineral spirits. If it's cold where you are (or your Alox bottle is solid) heating the Alox up in warm water will help thin it out so it dispenses easier.

A hard lesson for me to learn was that when using Lee Liquid Alox, less is often better than more. When I could get a light haze color on the boolits, I got it about right. I often used way too much, making more work for myself, and excess lube smoke. It took me quite a while to learn that less was better. If you overdo it, or need to clean up Alox Mineral Spirits on a rag will cut it quickly.

Here's a batch of twice tumble lubed and sized 45ACP that I was loading recently. It was a small batch of 50, and I still used a bit too much tumble lube. I think it's easier to get the amount just right when tumble lubing larger batches of boolits.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=60181&d=1359865941

I find Recluse's 45-45-10 mix of Alox, Johnson's Paste Wax, that's cut with mineral spirits to be less messy. It applies easier, and works better for me than straight Alox, and it's fun and easy to make.

It's so good, that it got made into a forum sticky!
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?67654-Tumble-Lubing-Made-Easy-amp-Mess-Free

Check out the 45-45-10 mix of LLA-JPW-MS. It's less sticky, and dries faster than straight Alox. I have loaded countless boolits with straight old Lee Liquid Alox and it works fine, but the 45-45-10 isn't as messy and it's faster to use. Once you have used 45-45-10, you won't want to go back to using straight Alox.

Now that White Label Lubes sells 45-45-10 already made commercially, it's pretty hard to beat the price, and the simplicity of just buying a jug of it from them. I doubt I will ever make 45-45-10 again, (I probably have a lifetime supply of it anyways) but I am still glad I made it at least once.


- Bullwolf

[CobraMan]

Thank You all for the excellent information. I got all of my information from this site before my first pour and it really paid off. My first batch of boolits were tumbled in Alox cut with rubbing alcohol, (2 ounces Alox to 1/2 ounce alcohol), it appears to have coated nicely and dried rapidly, (dried in approx. 4 hours), now I will resize and re-lube. I will try the 45-45-10 mix on the next batch of boolits, I think I will order some from White Label, I need to find White Label.

[CobraMan]

I'd leave it alone, your boolits look good. Back when I started casting, I read somewhere to use a candle to smoke the mould. That REALLY screws up the mould, coating it with wax, and it then won't cast a boolit without wrinkles.

Thanks, I left the mould alone and performed my 2nd casting of a couple hundred more boolits last night, mould works perfect, I just could not be any happier with the Lee mould.

[RickinTN]

I need to find White Label.

Go to the bottom of any page on this forum and click on "Lsstuff". That is the link to Whitelabel lubes.

Making your own is a blast isn't it?

[littlejack]

That is some nice work. They look good, should shoot just fine. I may have missed it, but what is the alloy you are using?
Jack

[CobraMan]

Littlejack, I am using wheel weights fluxed with Marvelox , and 50/50 solder. I have gotten all of my information from people like you and all the other awesome folks on this site. The ratio is 16 pounds of wheel weights and 1/2 pound 50/50 solder. Since I am wet behind the ears on this casting boolit thing right now all I know is they are pouring excellent. I have yet to weigh them or test the hardeness etc. Right now I do not even know how to test the hardness and do not know if it is even really important. I am just a country boy livin in the city and will use these boolits for paper cuttin and if needed tweeker eliminatin.

[CobraMan]

I need to find White Label.

Go to the bottom of any page on this forum and click on "Lsstuff". That is the link to Whitelabel lubes.

Making your own is a blast isn't it?
Hi RickinTN, yes it really is fun and rewarding, thanks for the info on Lsstuff.

[CobraMan]

I'd say just leave the mold as is and cast away. I smoke mine brand new molds the first time and that usually does the trick.

walt

Thanks Walter, I left the mould alone and cast a couple hundred boolits last night and they are just excellent.

[CobraMan]

That is some nice work. They look good, should shoot just fine. I may have missed it, but what is the alloy you are using?
Jack

After the 1st pour I left the mould alone, did not clean it or smoke it based on the info received from everyone here, 2nd pour last night, a couple hundred, all excellent, this is so fun and rewarding I do not want to stop, is there such a word as lead dic ted. ????????

[littlejack]

I do believe this fella has gotten the CastBoolit Cravin. LOL
That ww+ tin is good as any alloy. A lot of folks here mix 50% pure with there coww's to soften just a little, and make it last longer. I cast straight coww's for decades before someone told me there was this stuff called tin. I never had any problems.
I save my pure for my 45-70 black powder cartridge.
If/when you run out of Marvelox, you can use sawdust for a very fine fluxing medium. (Was that last word correct?)
Jack

[MtGun44]

That tin from the 50/50 will really help the fill out. It is frequently needed
in my experience for many batches of range lead or wwt alloy mixes.

littlejack - yes, medium is correct in that usage. Singular version of media,
correct there.

Bill

[littlejack]

Thank you.

[JSAND]

Great looking boolits, congratulations on your success. +1 on the 45-45-10, easy to make and works like a charm for all my applications. Hope you have had a chance to send some down range,
that feels as good as seeing them come out of the mould.

[prs]

By gum, we'uns git an Anglish lesson an'a boolit make'n lesson all rolt-up in one on this hear forum.

prs

[SlippShodd]

Yeah, yeah, those boolits look great.
Now... where's that parmesan halibut recipe???
:p

mike
...and ditch the Marvelux and switch to sawdust. All of your casting tools and your alloy will thank you.

[CobraMan]

By gum, we'uns git an Anglish lesson an'a boolit make'n lesson all rolt-up in one on this hear forum.

prs

I do not understand your post?????????????????????????????????

[littlejack]

I believe he was referring to my "medium" on my prior post.

[prs]

I do not understand your post?????????????????????????????????

Your failure to understand that post, my friend, is probably excellent testimony of your superior intellect. LOL

Yes, littlejack and also 454PB were both helping us keep our language arts skills sharp.

I have to admit, that same Lee boolit in a 6 cavity mould gave me fits for a few sessions before it came around to my way of thinking. I even tried the KROIL treatment with it, total disaster. But after using Dawn detergent with a tooth brush to clean it of the Kroil under hot tap water, it dropped nice bullets from 95:2:3 alloy.

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