How to make boolits shiny?

[davidheart]

I've looked at some beautiful pictures of cast boolits and some guys have sent me samples with a very high shine and perfectly filled lube grooves and I've often wondered... how?

Is it alloy? Temperature? Or just fancy lighting? If you know the secret I'm all ears! My boolits usually come out "dull" and dark.

Case in point:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?277067-May-2015-Photo-Submission-Topic-Lube-and-it-s-accoutrements

and

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=143688&d=1423385803

[Smoke4320]

2% +Tin then hand polish lightly with a cloth with make very shiny bullets

[fryboy]

Casting at a low of temp as feasible also helps but ,yeah,it's hard to beat what a paper towel and a lil elbow grease can to appeal to the eyes

[Tenbender]

Add more lino. I cast some 180gr GC 358's with 8 + 3, WW - lino. Nice and shiney !

[runfiverun]

the second pic is rag assisted.
the first is Tin and newly sized.
you can run the mold colder and get perfectly shiny boolits too.

i'll take the galvanized look where I can see the swipes of the cherry in the mold myself.
it's not frosted and it ain't shiny more of a matte grey that has corners sharp enough to shave with [okay you can't shave with lead]

[HangFireW8]

If the rag doesn't beautify enough, try steel wool.

[MarkP]

I casted up some 225107 (37 gr) out of pure linotype and they look like Harley Davidson parts as dropped.

[bangerjim]

Most if not ALL of those cool shiny photo-op boolits are polished (like crazy!) as said above. I personally do not give a carp. After all, they all go splat down range!

And I powder coat all my boolits, so shiny means absolutely nothing to me.

[Bullwolf]

It's all in the alloy.

My family was in the offset printing business. Because of that I learned to cast using straight Linotype, and harder print metals. Before anyone complains about how wasteful it is, remember that many here had easy access to print type metals in the early days and did the same thing until easy access to Linotype began to disappear.

Originally print type metals were the only alloy that I had to use, and it always seems to cast shiny.

If you want to cast using straight Linotype, or worse Mono/Foundry type, you too will get incredibly shiny boolits.

I still cast with Lino in a new mould, just see how large it will cast, and to make my dummy setup boolits from. Type metals are amazingly easy to cast boolits with.

The incredibly hard boolits are very durable for die set up and dummy rounds, and rarely oxidize. They also photograph well, but are a waste of expensive tin rich alloy.

Straight printing type metal alloys perform poorly on targets. The overly hard boolits can actually break or shatter. Trying to size boolits cast from straight Monotype can be somewhat interesting as well.

Unless you happen to be rich, you'll eventually run out of expensive tin rich type metal alloys, and start using regular commonly scavenged alloys like wheel weights, X-ray lead and lead pipe. Small quantities of added type metal makes a great sweetener for these alloys.

It helps to realize that incredibly hard and shiny aren't all that important.

When you cast with a cooler mould, the boolits tend to be more shiny, heat it up enough and boolits turn frosty. If you water drop, they are going to look a little dull no matter what in my experience.

If you want a really shiny boolit, and are OCD enough to wipe lube off boolit noses... Use floor wax as a tumble lube, then wipe the wax off of the boolit noses with a rag, or paper towel.

Some examples:

A few incredibly hard 45 ACP that I cast from straight Monotype
They are not polished and are very shiny straight from the boolit mould.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=94239&d=1305080033

A few of the same boolits, loaded and "polished" after the Johnson's Paste Wax lube has been wiped off the boolit noses.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52373&d=1305080033

Some print type that I re purposed for my 9mm 940 Centennial.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52418&d=1307078961

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52416&d=1307078844

PB 250-260 grain 44 boolits finger lubed with Lar's Carnuba-Red,
Before being shoved through a push through sizer die.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144252&d=1422503294

Some Plain Base fat 44 Special boolits cast from straight Monotype.
Lubed with Johson's Paste Wax, tumble lube has been wiped off the boolit noses.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=162561&d=1423126812

Lee 358-158-RF cast from straight Monotype. (Shiny)
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=114681&d=1409181971

Lee-358-158-RF dummy setup round cast from Monotype, tumble lubed in JPW.
The Johnson's Paste Wax has been"polished" or wiped off the nose with a rag.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=133050&d=1423625335

Remember that the dull silver boolits shoot just as good as the shiny ones. Sometimes even better.



- Bullwolf

[RogerDat]

I mostly tumble lube so shiny just means still need to be lubed and not ready to load yet. Being right on the edge of frosty is where I like to cast anyway. I suppose I could polish with a rag but.... meh? why bother!

[bendad97]

I mostly tumble lube so shiny just means still need to be lubed and not ready to load yet. Being right on the edge of frosty is where I like to cast anyway. I suppose I could polish with a rag but.... meh? why bother!

This.

[davidheart]

This.

Because tumble lube is not awesome in an autoloader, boolits are sticky, and shiny boolits simply make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Thanks Bullwolf! Your boolits were the ones I was really looking at! Impressive and I appreciate the input.

[Pine Baron]

Most if not ALL of those cool shiny photo-op boolits are polished (like crazy!) as said above. I personally do not give a carp. After all, they all go splat down range!

And I powder coat all my boolits, so shiny means absolutely nothing to me.

Yup! Powder coat 'em.

[Geezer in NH]

I like frosted. PC is more of a pain to me as I have 4 sizers and time is important.

Not saying PC is not good just not for me even with the shills who have to inject it everywhere.