TXGunNut
12-28-2014, 09:27 PM
Finally got around to putting those new moulds to work casting boolits instead of holding down a hotplate, LOL. Between hunting season, work and a few other major distractions all I could do was look at them as I walked by for the last few months.
First up was the 360-230 (RD) NOE 5-cavity mould, brainchild of our own Beagle333. Got it up to temp quickly and as soon as I got my cadence down it was dropping nice boolits and I had 50 or so good ones in short order. Next up was the Accurate 322-170A. I figured it wasn't sitting flat on the hotplate; did several pours and couldn't get rid of the wrinkles.
Moved on to the 310-164 designed by our own frnkeore. Decided I like 4-cav moulds better than 5-cav, fits better under a Lee bottom-pour IMHO. No problem getting it up to temp, it and the 360-230 both dropped boolits with minor persuasion if any. Soon, I had a nice little pile of frnkeore's boolits and it was time to try the Accurate mould again.
This time the sprue plate was about 300 degrees but that wasn't hot enough. Wrinkles got smaller as I increased my cadence and after several pours I finally had some boolits that didn't need a trip back to the pot. Boolits dropped with minor, if any persuasion and I made a few too many. Once that little mould got going it was hard to stop, :-) had quite a few culls due to my learning curve but I really like that Accurate mould. It's my first from Tom but I had little doubt it would do a good job for me...as soon as I figured out that it likes to go hot & fast, really hot & fast. :shock:
I'm pumped! I have three beautiful new moulds that work well and drop some boolits that I'm excited about trying. I thought Lee and NOE multi-cav's liked to run fast, this new Accurate mould made me get with the program before it decided to drop some pretty boolits. :bigsmyl2:
I was going to run them thru the sizer but I went to the kitchen to take a break and saw some birds taking a bath in a puddle in the front yard. Hmmmm. Can't recall last time it rained but it was well over a week ago. :? Went outside for a better look and sure enough, I had a .2 acre lake. Took a few hours to find the leak; started digging where I thought the water was coming up but this old gumbo dirt led me on a merry chase and I was muddy up past my knees and pretty cold & wet by the time I got the leaky joint exposed. Decided sundown was a good time to quit. Cold, wet, muddy and dark is a bit more than I want to deal with tonight. :redneck:
Oh well, at least I have some pretty boolits to play with someday soon.
First up was the 360-230 (RD) NOE 5-cavity mould, brainchild of our own Beagle333. Got it up to temp quickly and as soon as I got my cadence down it was dropping nice boolits and I had 50 or so good ones in short order. Next up was the Accurate 322-170A. I figured it wasn't sitting flat on the hotplate; did several pours and couldn't get rid of the wrinkles.
Moved on to the 310-164 designed by our own frnkeore. Decided I like 4-cav moulds better than 5-cav, fits better under a Lee bottom-pour IMHO. No problem getting it up to temp, it and the 360-230 both dropped boolits with minor persuasion if any. Soon, I had a nice little pile of frnkeore's boolits and it was time to try the Accurate mould again.
This time the sprue plate was about 300 degrees but that wasn't hot enough. Wrinkles got smaller as I increased my cadence and after several pours I finally had some boolits that didn't need a trip back to the pot. Boolits dropped with minor, if any persuasion and I made a few too many. Once that little mould got going it was hard to stop, :-) had quite a few culls due to my learning curve but I really like that Accurate mould. It's my first from Tom but I had little doubt it would do a good job for me...as soon as I figured out that it likes to go hot & fast, really hot & fast. :shock:
I'm pumped! I have three beautiful new moulds that work well and drop some boolits that I'm excited about trying. I thought Lee and NOE multi-cav's liked to run fast, this new Accurate mould made me get with the program before it decided to drop some pretty boolits. :bigsmyl2:
I was going to run them thru the sizer but I went to the kitchen to take a break and saw some birds taking a bath in a puddle in the front yard. Hmmmm. Can't recall last time it rained but it was well over a week ago. :? Went outside for a better look and sure enough, I had a .2 acre lake. Took a few hours to find the leak; started digging where I thought the water was coming up but this old gumbo dirt led me on a merry chase and I was muddy up past my knees and pretty cold & wet by the time I got the leaky joint exposed. Decided sundown was a good time to quit. Cold, wet, muddy and dark is a bit more than I want to deal with tonight. :redneck:
Oh well, at least I have some pretty boolits to play with someday soon.