Small Holes In Sprue Plate

[alamogunr]

I have a SAECO #130(.45 ACP, 185gr SWC) 4 cavity mold that I bought used some years ago. It is in very good condition but the holes in the sprue plate are quite a bit smaller than other molds. I'm just now getting around to using it and those small holes are a real trial. I have to get the sprue plate extra hot to get lead into the cavities. So far, I've yet to get 4 good boolets from a pour.

Any recommendations other than flood the sprue plate with lead as I pour?

[fecmech]

I had one of those molds years back and had a spru plate for my Lyman 4 cavs made the same. At the time I was casting 50/50 WW/lino or the tin rich Lyman alloy and that gave me beautiful bases. I tried it a while back with a WW+ 2%SN and it didn't work that great with 358429. Maybe bump up the heat or a bit more tin may help.

[CJR]

Ammogunr,

The NRA did a study on sprue plates, etc., i.e.pg.14, Supplement No.1, NRA Cast Bullet Manual (free download on Castpics), entitled "From the Loading Bench-A Fitted Sprue Plate". They talked about matching sprue holes to dipper holes. If you decide to enlarge the sprue holes, do it with a countersink to maintain a sharp cutting edge on the sprue hole to minimize cutting force to remove sprues.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

CJR

[Wayne S]

PM sent, I've got a 4 cavity plate with .158 holes, if yours are .140 or smaller I'll trade you

[dkf]

I am going to experiment with small holes on a lee .380 mold I have. Got a sprue plate with .100 holes for it. If it does not work out I will just enlarge the holes.

[Dusty Bannister]

When I started playing with the Saeco #221 which is the 60 grain 22 cal cast bullet, it was a real challenge. The first mold had the normal sized sprue holes, but the gas check shank was so short it would not accept a Hornady gas check. It went back to Redding and several weeks later I got the present mold, cut correctly, and the sprue plate with smaller sprue holes. I had to pressure feed with the BP pot to get a well filled casting and called Redding to ask about the change in plate style. Ended up that
I got a new plate with the larger holes which speeded up things, but ended up with a distorted bullet base. I eventually drilled out the small sprue holes to about .125 and that makes me happy for the small casting. Larger castings might require larger holes. I do not think the small hole sprue plates are available any longer.

If anyone made an after market for the 2 cav Lee old style molds or now even the new style 2 cav molds with smaller holes I might be happier still. The present plates on the 22 Bator really shove the gas check shank out of position when cutting. I have emailed Lee Precision asking if a blank plate might be available to purchase, but have not ever had a reply. I suppose that if I ever decided to break the sprue with gloves it might be a non issue, but why change now? Dusty

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

snip...
If anyone made an after market for the 2 cav Lee old style molds or now even the new style 2 cav molds with smaller holes I might be happier still. The present plates on the 22 Bator really shove the gas check shank out of position when cutting. I have emailed Lee Precision asking if a blank plate might be available to purchase, but have not ever had a reply. I suppose that if I ever decided to break the sprue with gloves it might be a non issue, but why change now? Dusty

You are in luck
check out this GB
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?234053-Lee-2-cavity-3-16-4140-sprue-plates!

[alamogunr]

Thanks for the input. I went back to the shop and fired up the pot and plugged in the hot plate. Turned the hot plate to max and set the mold on it while the pot was bringing the alloy up to temp. By the time the alloy was melted and fluxed, the mold was hot. I guess I went overboard. First pour filled out completely and almost didn't solidify. I spilled lead from the sprue puddle because it wouldn't cool. Took about 4 pours to get back to a good temp on the mold.

One problem with this mold is the shape of the sprue plate. The extension for applying pressure to cut the sprue is on the end away from the handle. May be normal but since this is the only(one that I've used) SAECO mold I'm familiar with, it was new to me. Any way, the cavity furthest from the handle was where I was having most trouble. Heated up real good, it cast fine.

I guess I'm going off topic in my own thread but is anyone familiar with this boolet(SAECO #130, .45 ACP 185 gr SWC).
Any thing I should watch out for when loading?

[alamogunr]

Ammogunr,

The NRA did a study on sprue plates, etc., i.e.pg.14, Supplement No.1, NRA Cast Bullet Manual (free download on Castpics), entitled "From the Loading Bench-A Fitted Sprue Plate". They talked about matching sprue holes to dipper holes. If you decide to enlarge the sprue holes, do it with a countersink to maintain a sharp cutting edge on the sprue hole to minimize cutting force to remove sprues.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

CJR

CJR, I have the NRA Cast Bullet Manuals but didn't think to look there for info on the sprue plate. Thanks for the info.

I appreciate the input from everyone.

I'm looking forward to the replacement sprue plates for the Lee 6 cavity molds. I need to check to see where they stand.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Not a thing wrong with opening up sprue plate holes. It's silly to pour a big minie' ball through a 225438 sprue plate hole as an example. I use an 82 degree countersink and carefully file the underside burr off the plate then lap the plate to finish. Go slowly and try several hole sizes between moulding efforts. Lyman sprue plates are block specific, not boolit size specific.

BvT

[blackthorn]

Quote "One problem with this mold is the shape of the sprue plate. The extension for applying pressure to cut the sprue is on the end away from the handle. May be normal but since this is the only(one that I've used) SAECO mold I'm familiar with, it was new to me."

If you don't like where the "extension" is, try reversing the mould in the handles.

[alamogunr]

That might work. When I bought the mold(used), the handles were included, all in the original box. It never occurred to me that I should try the reverse.

If the mold had ever been used, it was very little.

[alamogunr]

Measured the holes in the sprue plate at .097. That could vary +/_ .003 since I used the ID points on a dial caliper but I can't imagine that even a max error would make any difference. It is still a small hole.

Also reversed the handle on the mold. Felt awkward so I put it back as it was originally.