"Dirty" looking boolits

[ACrowe25]

Hey guys,

Been casting for a couple months and getting consistent weights. One thing though, is my boolits look "dirty". Like a thin film of something on the outside that can be scratched off with my fingernail. While it doesn't effect anything (240 gr took a deer a couple weekends back) I want to try to improve my technique.

I see pictures here of some real nice pretty boolits. All shiny and stuff, makes me jealous.

I'm using straight WW fluxed (or maybe not "fluxed") with paragon wax. I generally flux a big chunk (maybe 2-3 pea size) at start in my 10 lb lee bottom pour. I scrape all edges and bottom with a metal spoon and stir well. Then pull off the dirty dross on top. I flux again about 1/2 to an empty pot, and add more before I'm under 1-2 lbs. Rinse and repeat once next lead is melted and give 10 min one melted to reach temp.

I'm new, and always looking for tips. No expert, this just what I've been DOING. Can change habits not.

Also,my boolits are smooth without wrinkles and weight is fairly on (240 grains drop at 244-246 most at 245 grain and 200 drop at 204-206 with most at 205).

Thanks in advance guys.

[kevmc]

dirty as in black or frosted ( too hot)??

[Iron Mike Golf]

Can you post a pic of some "dirty" boolits? Since you say it's a "film", it sounds like a light frosting and that is just cosmetic. I shoot for my boolits to come out with a satin finish. What temp is your melt at? How fast is your casting cadence (pours per minute). Depending on your pot temp, you might want to consider dropping it a bit, slowing down your casting rate, or both.

Or you can keep doing what your doing and just give your assembled ammo a swipe with a rag. It sounds like your boolits are fine and work good and what you have is just cosmetic.

[ACrowe25]

It's purely cosmetic. Not frosted... Just some spots/blotches here and there. I've had frosting and these are no where near that. More of a little black/dark grey speck.

Can try to find some pictures later on when I get home :)

[ACrowe25]

But like I said, it's just for personal advancement. They WORK. Just trying to get the best I can.

Temp is set at about 7.5 on my lee bottom pour, can't really afford a thermometer lol (low income college student). But I do what I need to get by.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

could be char from a wooden stick, if you scrap the bottom of the pot with one.

[birddog1148]

I am running my Lee pot on 6 but I am new too.

[Iron Mike Golf]

Sounds like you have had some stuff trapped on the bottom and when you pour and the flow is dragging it to the spout. Might have some stuff in the spout, too. It might be char, it might be flecks of oxide+crud.

Have you ground the tip of your spoon flat? That might work better for bottom scraping than a rounded shape.

[243winxb]

"maybe not "fluxed" would be my guess. My Lee 10 lb pot is set at 8.5 when casting. This has nothing to do with the actual temperature.

[ACrowe25]

Sounds like you have had some stuff trapped on the bottom and when you pour and the flow is dragging it to the spout. Might have some stuff in the spout, too. It might be char, it might be flecks of oxide+crud.

Have you ground the tip of your spoon flat? That might work better for bottom scraping than a rounded shape.

GREAT idea, will grind off until I have about 0.5" flat surface and give it a try. If fails, goodwill has plenty of spoons for .10$ :)

[paul h]

A suggestion for cleaning a gunked up bottom poor pot is to run it empty then let it cool. Fill it with water and plug it back in and let it run until the water begins to boil. Empty the pot of the water and crud it takes with it. There is no issue of the water getting in your next melt because the water will boil off long before your lead begins to melt. Make sure you start with clean ingots as it's much easier to keep the pot clean with the occasional flux vs. scraping out crud.

As for frosty ww's, to me that isn't too hot, it's just right. I've never been able to get a nice mold fillout and shiny bullets with ww's, shiny equates to wrinkles with ww's. If you use a different alloy you can get shiny, but don't sweat shiny.

Here are some nice frosty accurate ww bullets

http://forums.accuratereloading.com/evefiles/photo_albums/3/4/4/344100033/744100033_3339F6808143EE14AD3755B7E8638787.JPG

[capt.hollis]

A suggestion for cleaning a gunked up bottom poor pot is to run it empty then let it cool. Fill it with water and plug it back in and let it run until the water begins to boil. Empty the pot of the water and crud it takes with it. There is no issue of the water getting in your next melt because the water will boil off long before your lead begins to melt. Make sure you start with clean ingots as it's much easier to keep the pot clean with the occasional flux vs. scraping out crud.

As for frosty ww's, to me that isn't too hot, it's just right. I've never been able to get a nice mold fillout and shiny bullets with ww's, shiny equates to wrinkles with ww's. If you use a different alloy you can get shiny, but don't sweat shiny.

Here are some nice frosty accurate ww bullets

http://forums.accuratereloading.com/evefiles/photo_albums/3/4/4/344100033/744100033_3339F6808143EE14AD3755B7E8638787.JPGthis . is why castboolits.com forum rules. These guys know there stuff, and help out so much .

[detox]

Linotype, 20/1,10/1 makes a nice shiney Silver boolit...WW makes a dull Gray Silver colored boolit

[shooter93]

Periodically I boil wateer on the stove and dump it in a warm pot and then sometimes us a soft wire bruch on a cordless drill afterwards. No more dirty bullets or one with inclusions from a dirty pot.

[Moonie]

Do you water drop your boolits? I have found the water in my area can cause this look, I've discussed it with other forum members that have the same issue. If you do water drop try dropping some on a towel and see if it goes away.

[9w1911]

I have had these issues with water dropped, I let them cool on a towel and they were fine the next time,

[cbrick]

85372

That is a picture of those "dull gray silver" and "shiny equates to wrinkles with ww's."

Not!

The picture is of a clip-on WW boolit +2% Sn. If you match your pot temp of about 700 degrees with your mold temp you get WW boolits like that, no dull gray, no wrinkles.

Skip the wax as flux and use sawdust & get your alloy clean.

Rick

Edit to add: My avatar is also a clip-on WW boolit.