Master Caster owners--what temps

[wlkjr]

I am using a Master Caster for three different calibers,95g .380, 147g 9mm and a 233g .45acp. My first casts were the 95g and I used the pot temp controller set at about 725. I noticed a lot of dings but the boolits shoot very good. When I went to the 233g I connected the pid and the temp showed about 750 so I adjusted down to around 700 degrees. It seems to take a long time for the sprue to glaze over or I get a lot of dings and dents, I suppose from hitting the divider. Same thing happens when I do the 147g for the 9mm. It seems to work better if I adjust temp down to between 650 and 685.
What temps are you guys using and are you using a pid to regulate the temperatures?

[runfiverun]

no pid.
I did use a thermometer to check my temps and then moved the dial on the stem to correspond to it.
I also use the fan attachment to cool the sprues faster.
I also turn the heat down for the bigger boolits and up some for the little ones.
bout 675 up to about 725.
even though this is a machine the same rules of mold temp and consistent times apply.
dents come from the boolit being banged around while it's still hot.
put some rags down to cushion everything.

[ReloaderFred]

I've been casting for the past two days with my Master Caster. I cast 3,000, 200 gr. RNFP .45 bullets, 1,100, .454" round balls from pure lead, 1,200, 100 gr. RNFP .38 bullets and 700, 160 gr. .38 Super bullets.

I normally run my Master Caster at 725 degrees, but decided for this batch to turn the heat down and see how it does, so I turned it down to 625 degrees and eventually got pour spout freeze up. When I turned it back up to 650 degrees, all the various bullets came out fine, even the round balls from pure lead.

I place my 10 pound ingots on the top of the pot rim at the back to allow them to heat up before adding them to the pot. This greatly reduces freeze up and doesn't interrupt production. Normally, I'll leave them up there for about 20 to 30 minutes before adding them, as that's about how long it takes to draw the alloy level down enough to accept another ingot.

Just don't go to answer the phone and then decide to have lunch while an ingot is warming on the rim. It really makes a mess by the time you get back............

Hope this helps.

Fred

[6bg6ga]

I have a ballisti-cast but I'm going to chime in anyway. My PID doesn't seem to be accurate with respect to temp and a dial thermometer doesn't seem to be accurate either so I just dial it again with the results being my guide. I look for clean shinny boolits no frost and all filled out. That is my guide. My PID readout just tells me numbers that may or may not be accurate.

[davidalyn01]

I do not have a PID, but I do use a casting thermometer. I experimented with different temperatures for different size bullets for the first year one so I had my Master Caster. Twenty plus years later, I cast everything at 650 to 675 degrees using mostly wheel weight.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk