My first casts and a question on "keepers"

[Landshark9025]

Got my pot, mold, thermometer, ladel, etc. etc. Thursday. Made a couple of casts Thursday night just to try it out.
For reference, these will be shot in a S&W Mod 66, loaded to 38SPL loads(likely either Unique or 700-x), 4" BBL, shooting at paper and steel. Likely not past 15 yds.
Will be tumble lubing these with 40/40/10 and then sizing to .358.

Once I got the temp up to about 750-800 on the Lyman thermometer, I was getting good fillout. I also found it was better if I broke the sprue by hand as this sped up the process.
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Once I got into a groove, they were coming out like that with a "matte" finish. Bases were very square. Then the mosquitoes arrived and I had to call it a night.

Today I went back at it and cast about 125 that looked like this:
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My question is, a few of them came out like this:
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Is this what you would consider "frosted"? It appears a little rough. Not quite as bad as the photo, but def. not the uniform "matte" finish of the others.

Also, I have a bunch that look like this on one side:
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Good, right? (Photo doesn't show the matte finish well.)

But this on the other:
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It doesn't look anywhere near that bad in real life. Just looks like there is some ash or dirt on it. Is that likely a non-issue? If you zoom in, it does look a bit rough. Any ideas what that is? Should I toss all these and start over or lube 'em and shoot 'em?

Lemme know what you think of these and if I need to sort more.

Last question, once you get into a groove- how do you stop? Seemed like I did all these in the blink of an eye with a two cavity mold. Feels like I took 40 years off.

Thanks,

[mrblue]

I would use them. If you want shoot the good batch vs the frosted batch to compare. You can also use them to test dummy loads, or get your lube process down.

[OverMax]

So long as the cast looks filled out and has sharp edges. That's what I look for when casting. I also have the heat dialed up in my smelter and bottom pour a hot cast so mine are always frosted looking on purpose. Reason being: I prefer not to use a pot thermometer.

[Walter Laich]

Some folks actually like the frosted ones if they are tumble lubing--says the lube has something to stick to.
Frosting usually means melt is a bit hot but no real problems with it.
shoot 'em and keep going

[Landshark9025]

Thanks, all. I just finished mixing up Recluse's 45/45/10 mixture andut the first coat on. They are sitting in the sun drying now. The plan WAS to let them cure for a week or two, but depending in how long it takes to dry, resize, lube again and dry, some of these may get loaded tomorrow morning and fired at the range tomorrow.

Why not, eh?

[TXGunNut]

They all look good enough to shoot, IMHO. Lube, load and shoot them! Congrats on a good job!

[Hickok]

I always move the sprue plate by hand. I wear a heavy leather glove and push the plate aside. I just could never bring myself to go wacking on the sprue plate with wooden broom handle or the like. I do tap the center bolt on the mold handles at times when a boolit hangs up with a wooden dowel, but never the molds or the sprue plate.

Your boolits look good! I would say you are hooked now, there is no turning back.

[canyon-ghost]

I spend all afternoon, sometimes all day making another 500 keepers. It's usually half of a 3lb. coffee can (they're now 34 oz. plastic but, that doesn't bother me). The matte finish are fine, the frosted can be too hot or some passing oil or parafin. Both kinds of impurities can show up on the outside. If you cut the sprue by hand, be certain you aren't tearing out a chunk of the bullet base. Bases are going to matter most. I get so picky as to weigh all mine on the scale, it's enlightening as to what drops the weight. Stirred in air makes very tiny bubbles all the through the lead and is the worst defect. Torn bullet sprues are second. The defects on sides and top really don't matter all that much as long as they aren't rounding of bands and edges. That's the third worst defect, rounded edges from poor fillout.

These first bullets look really good, you can shoot them all if you don't want to weight sort them. At 38 caliber, it would take a full one grain spread to make a batch. I use the medium heavy weights, throw away about a handful to too heavies, and a quarter of the batch as too light. Some molds will hold to 1/2 grain range, some 7/10 grain range, and most big bore 1 to 1&1/2 grain range. If you aren't going long range or getting to serious about accuracy, shoot 'em all.

Good Luck,
Ron

PS: How do I stop? I don't! :D

[Tatume]

I would use them. If you want shoot the good batch vs the frosted batch to compare. You can also use them to test dummy loads, or get your lube process down.

The good batch is the frosted batch.

I would shoot all of those bullets. At 15 yards I doubt you can tell them apart.

Take care, Tom

[bangerjim]

I prefer frosted. Since I PC all my boolits, that gives them a "tooth" for the coating to hang on even better. Same with your grease lube.

Who cares if the boolits are shiny or frosty, as long as they are filling out right, no divots or voids, square bases (if you mold is supposed to make them!), no wrinkles, and are of the right weight.

They have to be pretty bad with holes/lines/creases for me to remelt them.

Get out there and shoot them.

banger

[Landshark9025]

Thanks, all. I measured a dozen or so of them and they were all .361 - .3615. Generally .0005 difference if I rotated the boolit 90 degrees. Sized fine at .358. I put another coat of lube on them (I fear it was a bit heavy) and they are now under the ceiling fan.

I don't have a scale that goes more than 120g so I can't weigh them.

When I do load these up, I'll likely use 700-x. Hodgdon's site lists:
140 Cowboy from 2.5 to 4.3g of 700x- that was the closest match I could find.

My gun has always liked the higher end of the spectrum for the 125g FP, 158g FP, 158g SWC I have loaded so far. This seemed to hold true with both 700-x or Bullseye. Charge weights at the bottom of the scale did not produce good accuracy.

I am thinking to load this first trial run about 3.6g, possibly 3.8. Does that sound reasonable or should I back it all the way down and "ladder up"?

thanks,