Good cast today

[Toymaker]

Yesterday it was about 50°F, bright sun, no wind, so I got the casting equipment out. It was a bit late when I got started so I only got 50 bullets out of my Hoch 459-500 mold before the chill set in. Not one single bullet was any good. I have a PID and the temperature was set for 750°F. I have a hot plate to pre-heat the mold and dipper. The mix was pure lead with 1% tin by weight.

Today was about 50°F again, bright sun, no wind and I got started earlier. Set the PID to 800°F this time. I set my pace and had 50 bullets in no time. Refilled the pot and checked the bullets. Only one had a bad bottom. When the pot was ready I cast another 50 + 1 to make up for the bad one, refilled and checked. All of them were good. Did a final 50 and all of them were good too.

Time to size, lube and load up.

Just curious - how long do you wait to test hardness on a batch of new cast bullets?

[scottfire1957]

Your "just curious" question is answered in this thread, on page 1 as of now.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?295568-Question-about-alloy-mixing

[Yodogsandman]

The wait time for testing will depend on the alloy. Tin and pure lead alloys age harden very, very fast.

I'd wait just a day for your lead/tin alloy.

I wait 3 weeks (21 days) to test any air cooled, antimonial alloys and 5 days if it's been heat treated.

[Toymaker]

Thank you, gents.

Yodogsandman, my first venture into antimonial alloys did not go well. I emptied the pot and put aside the ingots for the time being.

[Yodogsandman]

It's just practice and perseverance. Hey, just melt the ugly ones down! Nobody will know except you! Start a new thread with any problems and someone will be along to help out real soon.