Frosty

[SharpsShooter]

I am casting 450gr boolits for my 45-70 with a lee 457-450f from WW. I am running temps hot enough to properly fill out the mould, but all boolits are frosty. If i reduce heat temp to clean up the frosty appearance, I get deformed casts.. Am i just not finding the "sweet spot" for my temp or what.

:-D

[Johnch]

You may try adding some tin .
I run mostly WW + 2% tin

Johnch

[Junior1942]

I like frosty bullets!

[SharpsShooter]

You may try adding some tin .
I run mostly WW + 2% tin

Johnch


I'd rather not add tin as these are for BPCR and need to be soft

Thanks

[SharpsShooter]

I like frosty bullets!


A frosty beverage perhaps :lol: , but i thought that a polished finish was the typical goal. I doubt they would shoot differently, but thats another subject.

Thanks

[waksupi]

I'd rather not add tin as these are for BPCR and need to be soft

Thanks

Funny thing. I was talking with a group of other BPCR shooters this weekend. It seemed the longer they person had been shooting, the more likely they were to be shooting wheel weight bullets for competition. And shooting them well. I suspect it could be individual rifle preference. E.G. Smith, who has been shooting Sharps for probably close to 40 years, was going on about how on Labor day, he had other shooters telling him he had to weigh his bullets. So he tells them, I did, and they weighed twenty three pounds. Then they told him he had to weigh his powder. He said, what for? It comes by the pound. Says so right on the can.

[SharpsShooter]

Funny thing. I was talking with a group of other BPCR shooters this weekend. It seemed the longer they person had been shooting, the more likely they were to be shooting wheel weight bullets for competition. And shooting them well. I suspect it could be individual rifle preference. E.G. Smith, who has been shooting Sharps for probably close to 40 years, was going on about how on Labor day, he had other shooters telling him he had to weigh his bullets. So he tells them, I did, and they weighed twenty three pounds. Then they told him he had to weigh his powder. He said, what for? It comes by the pound. Says so right on the can.


Waksupi, Ya make a fine point. It's easy to go WAY, WAY overboard on the tiny details. The same thing was said by a respected gunsmith at the last match I attended. I'm currently casting Wheel Weights, but they are acting like pure lead. It is likely true that the frosty appearance is only cosmetic, but I wanted to figure out how to fix it.

Regards

[wills]

I'd rather not add tin as these are for BPCR and need to be soft

Thanks

Many BPCR shooters use 20/1 or 30/1 lead/tin alloy.

[drinks]

Yes, if you want a soft alloy. wws is not the route, as wills said, 20-1, 30-1 or even 40-1, lead -tin is soft.
My current crop of wws, just mined at the tire store, have a 3 day BHN of 12-13, this is not soft.

[David R]

What is wrong with frosty boolits? As long as they are filled out perfectly, they work just like the shiny ones. I find them to be MORE consistant. Weigh some shiny ones and some frosty ones I bet you will find the frosted ones have a lower ES.

David

[w30wcf]

SharpsShooter,

Just curious...... are you using a dipper ........or a bottom pour? I have found in my experience, that although the bottom pour is the best solution for bullets up to about 300 grains, the dipper works the very best for making the best longer, heavier .45 caliber bullets. This using w.w. or lead tin alloys.

Adding a % or 2 to w.w will do almost nothing to the hardness of w.w. but will make it cast better.

Good luck,
w30wcf

[SharpsShooter]

What is wrong with frosty boolits? As long as they are filled out perfectly, they work just like the shiny ones. I find them to be MORE consistant. Weigh some shiny ones and some frosty ones I bet you will find the frosted ones have a lower ES.

David

There is most likely nothing wrong with frosty boolits. After culling the flawed ones I cast earlier this evening, less than 4% were outside acceptable weight. I'm shooting (pardon the pun) for no more than + or - .5 a grain. I don't currently have a hardness tester so couldn't tell you the BNH. An old timer once told me that "if they scratch right easy with yer thumbnail, they are soft".

Thanks

[SharpsShooter]

SharpsShooter,

Just curious...... are you using a dipper ........or a bottom pour? I have found in my experience, that although the bottom pour is the best solution for bullets up to about 300 grains, the dipper works the very best for making the best longer, heavier .45 caliber bullets. This using w.w. or lead tin alloys.

Adding a % or 2 to w.w will do almost nothing to the hardness of w.w. but will make it cast better.

Good luck,
w30wcf


w30wcf, I'm using a bottom pour. I gotta get a bigger pot if I go to the dipper.

Thanks

[njmj]

Sharps shooter,
Almost any alloy will cast shiney bullets if the mould is cold.
I have never had success using a bottom pour for bullets this large. I use a dipper. I think it's possible but I probably need to run the pot hotter. Hotter than it's capable of getting. The more lead rich the alloy the higher the temp needed to cast good bullets. It's just my opinion but I think the use of soft alloys started when mostly original guns were used with their varying bore diameters. The softer alloys bumped up to fill the large bores to yield acceptable accuracy. With closer tolerances of modern reproductions and available accessories I don't think the need for softer alloys is as necessary today as it was in the past. I do believe the alloy hardness to pressure relationship is as important in black powder as it is with smokless otherwise leading will result.
Wash your mould out with a toothbrush, dishwashing detergent, and hot water. Don't use the toothbrush for your teeth afterwards. (haha) Crank the pot up to 800-850 if using pure lead. If they frost it aint pure lead. if so, then lower the temp to 700-750. They should fill out by now. if they still frost the only way to get them not to is to let the mould cool more between castings. Good luck and have fun, NJMJ

[Frank46]

Ah frosty bullets. I like 'em. I have saeco, rcbs, and lyman molds. I turn up the heat to about 700-750 degrees and keep casting until they are completely frosted. For the 45 rifle molds especially its the only way to get good well filled out boolits. Frank

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
LOTS OF GOOD INFO ALREADY POSTED!
I have heard of some folks having success w/ ww metat air cooled in a BP rifle,but I've never been able to do it yet.
I have had moderate, (defenatly not braggen groups) success w/ a 1# Pb to 4#ww mix pushed w/ 110 grs of ffg. Pressures may be around 35,000psi.
Don"t know what to vel. is out of my 30" 45cal barrel. I am hoping it's at least 1400'/s w/ my 500gr bullet.
90grs. & a pure Pb bullet 500grs on deer has worked for hunting.
The 110gr. load is my attempt at developing a Elk load.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
LOTS OF GOOD INFO ALREADY POSTED!
I have heard of some folks having success w/ ww metat air cooled in a BP rifle,but I've never been able to do it yet.
I have had moderate, (defenatly not braggen groups) success w/ a 1# Pb to 4#ww mix pushed w/ 110 grs of ffg. Pressures may be around 35,000psi.
Don"t know what to vel. is out of my 30" 45cal barrel. I am hoping it's at least 1400'/s w/ my 500gr bullet.
90grs. & a pure Pb bullet 500grs on deer has worked for hunting.
The 110gr. load is my attempt at developing a Elk load.
I also swag/size the bullets after casting so any frost dissapears at least on the sides. I don't think the frost really matters but I haven"t done any scientific tests, so it's just a opinion.

[SharpsShooter]

What is wrong with frosty boolits? As long as they are filled out perfectly, they work just like the shiny ones. I find them to be MORE consistant. Weigh some shiny ones and some frosty ones I bet you will find the frosted ones have a lower ES.

David

When you are right, you're right! I fooled around with the temp earlier this afternoon and started getting shiny boolits from WW. I gathered up my new creations and went to the loading bench to run them across the scale. The shiny offerings apparently did not please the casting gods. Perhaps they like a frosty one? At Any rate, shiny scaled weights gave an ES of over 4gr, while the few frosty ones ES was less than a grain.

Thanks for the advice,

[sundog]

When I am armpit deep into a really good casting session, and the moulds are running good, boolits drop just as shiny as a diamond in a goat..., oops got keep it clean, and they frost over whilst they are alayin' there. Got to be careful and dump them on something like a towel, because they are really soft when they are like that. Out of all the group buy Lee 6-bangers, I have already been able to do that with a couple of them. It's like everthang in the universe is lined up right, then..., ya gotta refill the steekin' pot and get goin' agin. On a cool, damp, sometimes rainy day, is when it works bestest. sundog