Satokad
05-27-2014, 12:53 AM
Hey Folks,
I had my third session today. I learned a few more things, and I have a question.
Question first - When you water cool (harden), does the bullet have to still be hot enough to sizzle when it hits the water? Some of mine had cooled off enough so they didn't. With that being said, they were still very hot (or so my finger tells me). You would think after 53 years, I wouldn't be that stupid.
I was casting round balls for a 45 Colt and 452 255gr RNFP. The water cooled ones were pure lead, as were the round balls. On a side note, I had more trouble with the round balls than I did with the bullets. I thought it would be the other way around.
The second set of 452 bullets were about 50/50 lead/COWW. These were air-cooled. I will run them both through my handy dandy Lee Hardness tester tomorrow.
The bullets went much easier than the 12 gauge slugs I made the first two times. Probably because they don't have that cone in the middle (or more likely, I learned about getting the mold nice and hot before starting). It went nice and smooth. I had about 150 bullets before I knew it.
I would imagine that the pure lead bullets will need to be pushed slower, but I won't load them up until the weekend, so I have time to make sure I have it right.
I'm either misunderstanding the dross/flux thing, or I have been blessed with fairly clean metal. Not much to take out so far.
Anyway, I wanted to also say thanks to all of you for answering a ton of questions when I first set this up. It is greatly appreciated and I am officially hooked. Looking forward to casting many bullets in the days to come.
Have a great night.
106225
106226
I had my third session today. I learned a few more things, and I have a question.
Question first - When you water cool (harden), does the bullet have to still be hot enough to sizzle when it hits the water? Some of mine had cooled off enough so they didn't. With that being said, they were still very hot (or so my finger tells me). You would think after 53 years, I wouldn't be that stupid.
I was casting round balls for a 45 Colt and 452 255gr RNFP. The water cooled ones were pure lead, as were the round balls. On a side note, I had more trouble with the round balls than I did with the bullets. I thought it would be the other way around.
The second set of 452 bullets were about 50/50 lead/COWW. These were air-cooled. I will run them both through my handy dandy Lee Hardness tester tomorrow.
The bullets went much easier than the 12 gauge slugs I made the first two times. Probably because they don't have that cone in the middle (or more likely, I learned about getting the mold nice and hot before starting). It went nice and smooth. I had about 150 bullets before I knew it.
I would imagine that the pure lead bullets will need to be pushed slower, but I won't load them up until the weekend, so I have time to make sure I have it right.
I'm either misunderstanding the dross/flux thing, or I have been blessed with fairly clean metal. Not much to take out so far.
Anyway, I wanted to also say thanks to all of you for answering a ton of questions when I first set this up. It is greatly appreciated and I am officially hooked. Looking forward to casting many bullets in the days to come.
Have a great night.
106225
106226