Casting problems

[beleg2]

Hi,
Rader than continue with my thread about pure lead temperature I prefer to start a new one.
I have been casting for one and a half hour and get almost 200 bullets.
My mold is a Lee R.E.A.L , 440 gn., muzzleloading bullet, so I cast them in pure lead.
I set the fire to get 700º (lower than recommended on the other thread), use a ladle and a wet towel to cool the plate. I casted almost prefect bullets, until I check them with good light.
2/3 of the bullets from cavity closer to the handles were rejected and almost all the bullets from the other cavity also were rejects. All bullets have the same problem at different degree, the one you see on the picture (I do not know how it calls).

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee157/beleg2/DSC02993X.jpg

Is it a problem that solves casting at higher temperature? I set it at 700º because at higher setting the mold gets too hot.

Will these “bad” bullets affects accuracy? Just want your opinion.LOL

Thanks
Martin

[cuzinbruce]

Turn up the heat. It's too cold. That's why it isn't fillng out.
Good Luck

[snuffy]

Pure lead has to be as hot as the pot will go, max. Why are you worried about the mold getting too hot? With pure lead, the hotter you can get the mold, and the hotter it will stay, the better boolits you will get.

Then you have to provide as much lead on top of the sprue plate as the boolit needs to draw lead from as it cools, that's if you're using a bottom pour pot. Let the stream flow after the cavity has filled.

I use a bottom pour ladle by Lyman in contact with the sprue for a count of 3 seconds, then separate to form a good pool of lead on top of the sprue. The pressure of the lead in the ladle and the extra heat insure a good fill out.

Those boolits that look like that may be okay at close range, but past 50 yards they will start to spiral because of imbalance. Especially if you're shooting them in a slow 1-48 twist.

[Nueces]

That's a great close up photo, beleg2. Would you mind lettin' on what camera you used?

Thanks, Mark

[beleg2]

Thanks for your answers, I will try at 750 º today.
Scuffy,
My problem using too much heat is that if the plate is too hot I could not get enough lead over the sprue and as it cools I get a hole in the base of the bullet. I do not have this problem at lower temperature.
Nueces,
I have a Sony DSC-W55.

Thanks
Martin

[Onlymenotu]

Hi I haven't been following either thread sorry,,,,, so i'm kind lost on what you've done and not done.......are you a 100% sure the mold is clean all junk * oil,spruce lube ect ect* that stuff can be pretty tuff to get out

is it sc or dc.......... if its dual cavity,,,check closely and see if one of the cavities is dropping the faulty boolits as this would most likely be a sign of a contamatied mold if the other cavity consistantly makes good boolits.... but with a 2/3's reject,,it sounds like both cavitys are dropping bad boolits....

[Whitespider]

I haven't been doin' this for a real long time, but I get that same symptom when the mold isn't up to temperature. If I pick up the casting pace the mold will heat up and the problem disappears. So...... (I'm guessing here) you need more heat in the mold, or in the pot, or both.

[beleg2]

Onlymenotu,
It is a dc mold and bullets from the cavity I fill first was all rejested and the one I fills second (the closer to the handles) have 2/3 of rejected bullets.
I clean the mold and also it is the second time I cast with it. First time I get some good bullets but as I have not the termometer at had I casted with varing temperature.
Thanks
Martin

[beleg2]

Thank for the answers.
I manage to cast good bulltes at 750º, only a few rejected.
Thanks
Martin

[JIMinPHX]

2/3 of the bullets from cavity closer to the handles were rejected and almost all the bullets from the other cavity also were rejects.

Let me guess…you pour the cavity near the handles first? If that is the case then that cavity gets hotter than the other one. If the hotter cavity pours better, than the problem was not enough temperature.