Mk42gunner
02-17-2016, 11:56 PM
Well today was the first time in a long, long time that I have felt like casting; so I thought I would try out a couple of new to me molds.
First up was an old single cavity Lee .358 82 grain wadcutter. This came to me in the box, and looks like it may have casted two or three boolits; just a slight smear of lead on top of the sprue plate, the rest of the mold looks new.
The first two boolits stuck as I was getting it up to temp, then they just fell out. .359-.360", sharp bands and bases. I only cast a few as I was waiting for the other mold to heat up. It worked well with either the RCBS dipper or bottom filling from the Promelt. I did not weigh any, maybe tomorrow.
Next was the one I really wanted to work, a 32-98-SWC by RCBS. It came to me looking almost new, and seems to be in good shape. Alas, I believe it has venting issues. I got a few (very few) decent looking boolits from it by pressure pouring using the aforementioned dipper, the Promelt produced half to two thirds of a blob.
The sprue plate doesn't act like it is too tight, but maybe it is. I didn't have my allen wrenches handy to loosen the lock screw.
After messing with it for about a half hour, and having about a cup and a half of rejects; my hips were saying to give it a rest and maybe try tomorrow.
To prove to myself that it wasn't me, I grabbed the Lyman 257420 and a Rapine 43 Spanish mold from the shelf. No problems with either of them so I will work with the RCBS mold some more.
Robert
First up was an old single cavity Lee .358 82 grain wadcutter. This came to me in the box, and looks like it may have casted two or three boolits; just a slight smear of lead on top of the sprue plate, the rest of the mold looks new.
The first two boolits stuck as I was getting it up to temp, then they just fell out. .359-.360", sharp bands and bases. I only cast a few as I was waiting for the other mold to heat up. It worked well with either the RCBS dipper or bottom filling from the Promelt. I did not weigh any, maybe tomorrow.
Next was the one I really wanted to work, a 32-98-SWC by RCBS. It came to me looking almost new, and seems to be in good shape. Alas, I believe it has venting issues. I got a few (very few) decent looking boolits from it by pressure pouring using the aforementioned dipper, the Promelt produced half to two thirds of a blob.
The sprue plate doesn't act like it is too tight, but maybe it is. I didn't have my allen wrenches handy to loosen the lock screw.
After messing with it for about a half hour, and having about a cup and a half of rejects; my hips were saying to give it a rest and maybe try tomorrow.
To prove to myself that it wasn't me, I grabbed the Lyman 257420 and a Rapine 43 Spanish mold from the shelf. No problems with either of them so I will work with the RCBS mold some more.
Robert