Alloy makes frosted bullets

[SpotHound]

I made a clone of Lyman #2 from wheel weights as per the Lyman book.

The bullets come out frosted and with poor bases (rounded) even when the mold is stone cold.

Adding tin helps definition but not the frosting.

The melt is clean and bright with no signs of oatmeal.

[btroj]

Wow, rounded bases from a cold mould.

Ignore the frosting, it happens with alloys containing much antimony.

Get the mould hot, ignore the frost, and make bullets that fill out.

Good bullets are based upon fillout and weight consistency. Sheen has nothing to do with the quality of the bullet.

[waksupi]

I would expect rounded edges with a cold mold. That's normal. Run it hot. Frosted boolits is a good thing, or at least not bad.

[Beagle333]

If you have fixed the problems, except for the frosting... shoot em! Even better... coat them with something (Hi-Tek or powdercoat), it'll stick better. :smile:

[SpotHound]

I swapped to store bought 2/6/92 and the bullets come out like you expect.

shiny and wrinkly, then shiny and good then frosted and good as the mold heats up.

I did notice the sprue was much harder to cut with this alloy.

[prs]

Lyman 2 is 90:5:5, which is quite hard, and sells for about $3.20 US or more per pound here. It is a waste of tin for most applications. I like frosty boolits too, but they must be with crisp detail. Enjoy!

prs

[joehaberxxx]

I learned a hard lesson when I did my casting outdoors in cold temperatures. I did not have the frosting but I sure had rounded edges. I simply could not get my molds to stay hot

[waco]

I learned a hard lesson when I did my casting outdoors in cold temperatures. I did not have the frosting but I sure had rounded edges. I simply could not get my molds to stay hot

Hot plates are cheap, and work wonders.

[Beagle333]

You gotta go at it hard and fast. There's no time for culling and/or admiring. Cast quick and sort later. You can glance over what you dumped out last time while waiting for the next sprue puddle to harden, but there's no time to dig through it or roll em around.... if they look like you're making anything close to keepers.... don't slow up! Once you get the pace set and the mold good and hot..... you might be able to rake a few around or toss sprues and culls back in the pot between pours, but not many at a time, because you're a lean mean casting machine!!!!! :wink::twisted:

[lwknight]

You can cast em shiny and filled out if your pot is hot enough and your molds not too hot. It will cost you in production because the molds will soon be hot and making frosty bullets anyway unless you really want to go slooooow.
Best bet is to not have the pot so hot and cast fast enough to keep the molds hot and you will get...... tada... frosty bullets.

[CPL Lou]

Maybe some zinc in the alloy ?

CPL Lou

[Lloyd Smale]

right answer
Wow, rounded bases from a cold mould.

Ignore the frosting, it happens with alloys containing much antimony.

Get the mould hot, ignore the frost, and make bullets that fill out.

Good bullets are based upon fillout and weight consistency. Sheen has nothing to do with the quality of the bullet.

[fastfire]

(Good bullets are based upon fillout and weight consistency. Sheen has nothing to do with the quality of the bullet.)

But the shinny ones are SOOOOO PURDY.