Step On In....Second Casting Session Pics

[matchlite]

Well, I had a chance to break out the casting stuff again on Friday night. This was my second casting session, ever. The first session is already posted here from last week, so have a look at that thread if you haven't seen it already. One thing I used this time was the hot plate that I had purchased a couple weeks ago. I forgot to get it out for my first casting session. I removed all of the smoke from the 228gr round nose mold to see if it would make any difference in the diameter of those bullets. They were casting a little small (see previous thread). Cleaned the brand new 200gr SWC mold with acetone and pre-heated along with the 228gr round nose on my hot plate.
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My first bullets looked terrible compared to the first casting session. Lots of wrinkles and poor fill out. The only thing I was doing differently was I had my pot turned down to around 675* versus the 750* I had casted at initially, and had cleaned all the smoke off of the mold as recommended in my last thread. Someone in my last thread also commented that casting at cooler lead temps could help to increase the bullet size. Brought the temp back up to 750* to see if that helped.....it did not. Went ahead and smoked the mold lightly, and fill out was way better, and everything started running much better. Not sure why my aluminum molds need to be smoked, but it sure made them run considerably better.

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I still get that slightly rounded driving band on some of my bullets as shown in the pic of the middle bullet. Hopefully this won't cause leading or accuracy issues. I really need to pay attention when casting, as it may be one of the mold cavities causing this.

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Pics of some of the 200gr SWC bullets pulled at random. Once I smoked the SWC mold, the bullets came out looking beautiful ! These pics are as cast with no polishing, cleaning, touch up, etc. These 5 were also truly pulled at random....no hand picked stuff here, as I'm gonna show you the good with the bad when I post pics. I want y'all to critique my bullets as I want to get better casting !

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These were casting much closer in size to what I expected, vs the round nose bullets. The round nose were still casting from the largest size of .452 to a smallest of .450ish. This is on the same bullet, so it's out of round that much. The SWCs were casting very round, with something like .0002 variance.

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Thanks to everyone who had input on my first casting thread, and feel free to discuss ways for me to improve my bullets and casting techniques !

[Walter Laich]

When I would get a new Lee mold, back in the day, I would clean and smoke it. If I didn't I would get wrinkles. After several casting sessions I could remove/clean off the smoke.
There will be folks that tell you they never even clean a mold just cast at high temps and it works for them which is great...for them.
I always needed the smoked molds to be successful from the start.

I'm guessing these are for pistol/revolver?? Unless you are going for competition bullseye they are great. Load some up and see what you get.
For awhile I was casting for a fellow shooter; he would smelt and I would do the casting. I would shoot the "rejects" and didn't have any accuracy issues. Now I wasn't hitting a half inch bull at 1000 yards in a driving rainstorm, with 50 mph winds...at night but they were fine for my needs.

they look great BTW

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Looks like you're getting a 'feel' for this hobby. Smoking the molds seems to work for you, I'm glad you didn't hesitate to do so, even if many of us tell you, that we don't use any smoke...I know there are a number of members that do.

It's too bad about the Round nose mold...if you recall my statement from your first thread,

Lee molds (especially the 2 cav molds) can be hit and miss.
If they are only 'out-of-round' by 0.001" (or less), then you got a good one.
You could try a few more casting sessions with it, just to be sure, but it sounds like it's a wee bit undersized, besides being out of round.

As to the "slightly rounded driving band on some of my bullets", when you have good fillout in the base, but there is this seemingly poor fillout on the middle of the boolit, or especially on one side of the middle of the boolit...It's what I call "shrinkage". As the alloy solidifies in the mold, it will pull more alloy from the molten sprue due to contraction. If the sprue freezes before the middle of the cavity freezes, it can't pull more alloy in, hence creating this shrinkage. Pouring as large of a sprue puddle as possible, helps remedy this problem.

[runfiverun]

your pouring heat into the mold.
the lower alloy temp means you need to increase your speed to keep the same amount of heat in the mold.
aluminum gives off heat super quick.

if you seen how I run my 45-70 2 cavity lee mold you'd think I was trying to break it.
but the boolits come out well filled out and sharp.
I'm probably going about 5 pours a minute with it.

your 230gr mold is right in that in-between temp zone where your just starting to break into the grey well filled out area.
speed things up a bit, tear a sprue every now and then.
many of my boolits come from the mold shiny but turn grey [galvanized] as they cool off, but they weigh darn near the same and are sharp.
the weight differences is from tearing the base as I cut the mold [I open by hand] open but it's minimal.

[matchlite]

I'm guessing these are for pistol/revolver?? Unless you are going for competition bullseye they are great.

I intend to load these up in 45ACP for my Springfield Armory MC Operator 1911. If they shoot fine out to 25 yards, they'll be perfectly fine.
Thanks again for the input gang ! I need to get my Hornady LNL AP all set up. It's been hanging out in the box for 8 or 9 years, and I've never used it. Just now getting back into shooting pistol regularly, as I mostly reload and shoot lots of shot shells (trap and skeet).

[kmw1954]

Those boolits look great. Now enjoy that new old press!

[country gent]

If possible try a faster pour or even a pressure pour with the sprue held tight to the spout. This uses the pressure of the pots lead weight to fill the mould hold for a 5 count and pour a large sprue as you lower the mould. The trick with smoking is to learn to apply the same even coat every time you do it, It dosnt take alot to do what needs to be done. On the 228 grn round nose being out of round test some see how they perform, then make a decision. a light lapping with tooth paste or flitz metal polish may cure it. also make sure which cavity is out of round or if both are. You need to keep the cavities seperate to measure after they cool for this. If They shoot acceptably for you theres no reason to go any farther.

[g17]

Like yourself, I'm new to casting with a few months in and the only molds I've used are Lee's TL in .430 240gr swc and .358 158gr swc and 148gr wc. After scrubbing them with an old toothbrush and dawn, I sprayed them with carb cleaner followed by a wipe down in alcohol. Smoked them with a butane lighter and have had very successful results. I've only casted somewhere around 5,000 bullets but they come out of the mold just about right on the money as for weight and diameter. More importantly, they are as accurate as any bullets I've shot and more so than some. I've only had a few bullets with wrinkles and that's because the mold wasn't hot enough and that only happened when I forgot to place my mold on the pot while heating up.

[matchlite]

I'm sure this has been discussed here before, but I'll ask anyway..... How long should I let the bullets "rest" before sizing and lubing ?

[matchlite]

your pouring heat into the mold.
the lower alloy temp means you need to increase your speed to keep the same amount of heat in the mold.
aluminum gives off heat super quick.

if you seen how I run my 45-70 2 cavity lee mold you'd think I was trying to break it.
but the boolits come out well filled out and sharp.
I'm probably going about 5 pours a minute with it.

your 230gr mold is right in that in-between temp zone where your just starting to break into the grey well filled out area.
speed things up a bit, tear a sprue every now and then.

It will probably help with my tempo when I'm not concerned about taking pictures for the forum!
I'll try to get a better pic with a good camera of the "rounded" driving band. You can kinda make out the discoloration of the lead where the band edge is not sharp and well defined. It has a galvanized / crystalline look to it. Hopefully this will give you guys more info to help with this issue.

[country gent]

When your casting cast, when your taking pics take pics when your sorting sort. Trying to do it all together throws the cadence, pace and timing off. Do one thing at a time and do it to the best of your ability. You are distracted doing it all together

[plainsman456]

I let them set at least a week,sometimes longer.

Just depends on the alloy.

[44man]

I see one problem! Your boolits are drunk. One leans one way and another leans the other!
Yeah I know it's the camera but drunk is more fun. [smilie=w:
Time to see how they shoot.
There are two reasons for the drive band, one was already posted but another could be a hot spot where lead first hits all the time. I mostly get that with the TL boolits.
The thin sprue plates lose heat fast so the sprue can set too fast.
I make my plates from 1/4" stainless and after milling they are still 3/16" or more. Nothing holds heat like stainless. Then I ladle cast and hold the ladle long enough for the boolit to take all the lead it needs from molten lead in the ladle. But the darned TL boolits can get a hot spot if I go too fast. You can tell it is heat if the bad spot looks like crystal. If not, your sprue set too fast.
I am a slow caster and do better with 2, 2 cavity molds at once, set on wood between pours, even got to 3 molds now and then. Use oak and not pine.
Never get frantic when casting to get a whole bucket of scrubs. My reject rate might be 1 with 20# pot. Many times I get none. But I have cast longer then some of you are old. Making my own molds taught me even more about heat, roundness, sizes, etc.
Teaching hands on is best but not a single person can do what I do so far, close but no cigar.

[JeffG]

Concerning the random instances of rounded frosty looking bands, I have personally wonder if there could be hot spots, which 44man notes above. I have tried several things over the years to understand why that happens and have tried various things as follows:

1. Pressure pour. This will work, but assuming the venting is good etc., I would hope there is no need for that.
2. Lower alloy temp. This has sometimes helped but I've never been satisfied this is THE answer.
3. Bigger sprue puddle. This has also helped since the answer may be it just needs more alloy to draw into the mold for fill out.
4. Adjusting my distance from the spout of the pot to the sprue plate, ensuring it has adequate venting for gasses coming out the mold. This too helps, learning what each mold needs, sometimes pouring directly into the center of the hole with a bottom pour pot.
5. Slowing down my pour rate into the mold. I have speculated this improves the fill out and is tied to number 4, allowing adequate time for gasses to vent from the mold. You can get too slow
6. Consistency in all or combination of the above. There is a combination here, and some bullets certainly seem to more sensitive to these things than others. Some molds like the Lee 6 cavity 356-120-TC, I can crank them out hard and fast, and rarely have issue, noting as runfiverun indicated, that they will drop from the mold still soft and shiny then get frosty after that, and every one is perfect. If there is a little sprue tear in the base, who cares.

Seems like you have a darn good start. I see a few dirt inclusions on a couple of the pictures, and I generally try to get those out, cleaning my alloy again to stop that.

[SSGOldfart]

Hmmmm Sir I think you got it down nicely,looking really good,now enjoy loading and don't forget to report back:castmine:

[BigMagShooter]

I'm sure this has been discussed here before, but I'll ask anyway..... How long should I let the bullets "rest" before sizing and lubing ?

long enough that when you pick them up they don't burn you. :)