What am I doing worng?

[chaos]

I 've had good luck casting projos for my 44's so i went out and purchased a .45-405-FN for my 45/70. This is an RCBS mould cating a gc bullet.

It arrived today. I took it out and cleaned it up. Put a bit of frankford arsenal mold goo " Drop Out" on it so the bullets would drop out. I cast about 70 bullets and they look REALLY good. I tried to size them and seat the gas checks to .459 . My problem is that this thing is throwing about .458 out of the mold.

What do I do? Seriously, I'm about to pull out my hair..( what's left of it) Did that Frankford Arsenal "Drop out" make them too small?


Chaos... The stumped newbie

[DLCTEX]

The Drop Out would have to be heavy to reduce it a full thou, but it's possible. You don't say what alloy, which can have an effect, as can the casting temp . I'd dump the Drop Out as a first step, then try to run a little hotter. 1/2 a thou for Drop Out and 1/2 a thou of heat expansion would put you there. Leementing would smooth up the mold and enlarge it a little. DALE

[mooman76]

Like Dale said the drop out won't change it by a full thous. I tried it when I wanted some to drop a thous smaller and I had to put several coates of moly to get it to drop that much and this was thick like paint. The mould could be a little small or an alloy change could do it. You could do lementing or a quick fix would be to beagle the mould.

[chaos]

Alloy is wheel weights. What is lementing?Beagling?

Gas checks are a bit loose.

[HeavyMetal]

WW produce the smallest diameter bullets, Linotype the largest. If you want to increase daimeter with the least amount of hassle change alloy!

Even going to a blend the duplicates Lyman number 2 should get you in the ball park on the new mold!

Any of the Lyman cast bullet manuals will have a formula to produce Lyman # 2.

[Larry Gibson]

I've had Midways Drop Out ( might be the same stuff) reduce a C312-185-R by two thou. They were cast of WWs + 5% tin. Without drop out they are .313, with drop out they are .311. I'd clean the Drop Out out of the mould and cast some without it. Also casting a little hotter than normal with a large mould helps some.

Larry Gibson

[GabbyM]

Ripped this from the Saeco web page.

"The size and weight of bullets of a given alloy will also
vary according to casting temperature. Higher temperatures
will result in greater shrinkage as the bullet
cools, thereby producing a slightly smaller and lighter
bullet than one cast of the same alloy at a lower temperature."

With a 405 grain bullet it's easy to get your mould hot. If your bullets are frosty you could gain some diameter by cooling alloy and or mould down. Definatley clean out the release agent first. Since that's the simple step. Every RCBS mould I have drops the bullets right out.
With a big 45 slug it's own wieght should pull it loose. use the mould release for spur plate lube.

[chaos]

I tried it again last night with a clean mold and reduced heat. Still no joy as the sizer just barely skims parts of the sides and leave bullets untouched in parts.

How much tin do I need and what flavor of solder to add?

[DLCTEX]

Chaos, look under" classics and stickies" page three(currently) " sure fire leementing". Beagling is a method of increasing boolit dia. by placing strips of tape between the mold halves. I will let someone who has actually done this explain, maybe Beagle, a member who first posted the idea. DALE

[44man]

I have had the same problems with both RCBS and Lyman molds. They sharpen their cherries several times and each time the diameter is reduced but as long as a mold is in specs from .459 down to .457, the molds are sold. If you get one made with a new cherry it will be full size.
This is something you have to put up with when ordering a mold from the factories.
Temperature is vital for increasing the size too. Too cold will drop small boolits. Making the mold hotter will expand it more for a larger boolit but if you get too hot, the lead will shrink more.
Making the alloy harder and waiting a week after casting will also give the boolits time to expand, they will grow and get harder too.
There is nothing as frustrating as too small a mold! :-?

[The Double D]

There is one other step to take here...You say you are looking for .459, but have you tried these new bullets of .458 and determined for sure they don't work as they are?

More than once I have found the numbers predicted to work are not always the best. Science and and engineering are not always better than sorcery and witchcraft.

[leftiye]

Chaos, It sounds like (if your mold s showing some sizing in the sizer you want to use) as has been said that a little lapping will bring you up to the diameter of the sizer. This would be good because the least sizing you can get away with is seen to be best. Like Double D said they (being close) may shoot fine as cast and you won't know unless you try.

[GabbyM]

Ditto:
If your sizer is swaging down the high spots you may be their already.
Do you have a micrometer to check diameter and concentricity?
I've a new unused Lyman .430” sizer here that sizes to .4312”. Sent it back to Lyman and they sent it right back to me. Bought an RCBS .430 and I'll keep this one in case??

And yes Hot mould with coolest usable lead melt. For the largest boolits.

[Wayne Smith]

What am I doing worng?

Spelling, for one! Seriously, until you've shot them you don't know. Don't do anything drastic until you've put 20 or so down your barrel. See how they group.