Trouble casting for a .45 rifle - what am I doing wrong?

[Bill*B]

I have cast for the .30 calibers for years, and get nice, clean bullets that are a source of pride to me. Just started to cast for a .458 - and instead of shiny, pristine bullets I get granular, heavily frosted slugs that sometimes actually crack apart when they fall to the padded surface I catch them on. The ones that pass muster shoot O.K., but I have a high reject rate and they just don't look right. Same alloy (Lyman #2). Tried lowering the temp, but then they just don't fill out at all. Bases are often rounded off, and sometimes you can see a line of heavy frost around just the base, while the nose is O.K. Any ideas why bullets in the 350 -500 grain range would cast differently than lighter 150 - 180 grain ones? Thanks for your advice, Bill.

[dubber123]

It sounds like you are cutting and dropping a bit too fast. It takes a 500 gr. a bit longer to fully solidify than it does a 150 gr. There is usually a lot less mold material around the bigger boolits, and it is easy to get a mold overheated. Try running the temp high enough for good fill out, but wait longer to cut and drop. I have molds that I cut the sprue when it is still fairly easy, but wait an additional few seconds before opening and dropping. Good luck.

[Bill*B]

That makes sense. Thanks! Bill

[petroid]

A lot of people find ladle pouring much better with heavy boolits than bottom pour pots if that's what you are using.

[Bill*B]

Yes, I was using a ladle - but as dubber123 correctly surmised, I was just moving too fast and wasn't letting the boolit cool enough. I took his advice and what a difference it made - all is "cool" now! Nice shiny sharp bases. Thanks, guys - I can't tell you how much I appreciate your easing me out of this one.

[starmac]

I had the exact opposite trouble. I learned (supposedly) casting 45 cal, 300 gr, and then went to 55 grain 22 cal and it drove me nuts for a while.

[Char-Gar]

Casting large heavy bullets with a dipper can be a problem. Take a drill and open up the spout of you dipper to get the metal into the mold faster. With the factory spout, the noses start to cool while the base is still being poured. I routinely do this with a new dipper anyway and it doesn't hurt with smaller bullets.

It takes longer for these heavy bullets to cool enough to drop them without breaking them. If your bullets are breaking when they hit, you are dropping them wet.

Open up the spout and slow down and you will be just fine.

[zuke]

Adding a bit of tin doesn't hurt either.

[GLL]

Go with Char-Gar on this one. Open up the spout !

I have one ladle that is opened up "a lot" just for large bullets.

Jerry

[Bill*B]

Thanks for the advice! Along with slowing down, I'll get the drill out. Bill