Lead melter
05-17-2008, 05:24 PM
Picked up one of the above molds the other day after reading some of the glowing reports on how well it does in a variety of rifles.
Brand new from Lyman, I cleaned the mold completely and used electrical contact cleaner to remove any residue. I then beagled the mold with .002" thick aluminum duct tape.
Started casting today with the mold in Lyman 4 cavity handles, and noticed that the cavity nearest the handles had a pronounced fin on the nose. Looking at the mold, I could see light through that cavity which was not there when the mold was off the handles. I'll put this down to the design of the handles. Boolits cast out at .314" to .316", which will size down just about right for the .314" or .315" size I wish to try in my M-N.
Removed the beagling tape and cast more, which then cast out about .311-.313, which will work out fine sized down for a 30 caliber.
I do have two problems, though. The first is that the sprue will not release from the sprue plate. It must be tapped out from the bottom each time. There may be some roughness in the sprue bevel which holds the sprue in the hole. I can't feel any burr on the bottom side of the plate, so I'm thinking some 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper with some polishing compound might be in order. Keep in mind I have very little experience with Lyman molds. Just wondering if this is the way to address the issue, or is there another trick I need to know?
Second problem has to do with the boolits themselves. I run an alloy of 5 parts pure to 2 parts lino for most of my gas checked slugs. Works well so far at max 1600 fps. I had to make up another batch of alloy the other day, so this is a new mix. The problem is that the boolits have a metallic "tink" when they are jostled around. It is almost like the sound of washers being knocked together, not the dull "thunk" a usual boolit sounds like. There is no problem with fillout, edges are nice and sharp, radius is nice and smooth. Weight of the 'beagled' boolit is right about 203 grains, and the plain boolit is about 201 grains...about right on tartget for the size difference. I have never cast a long skinny boolit like this before, and don't know if this is normal, but it sure doesn't seem right.
I cast several other boolits yesterday in 6 different molds of the same alloy. Their weights are right on track, but they "thunk" when knocked around. They were a 150 grain 30 cal, a 175 grain 40 cal, a 50 cal minie boolit, a 250 grain 38-55, and 2 45 colt mold, 250 and 255 grains.
Think maybe I'm losing what little mind I have left?
Do you think the alloy is contaminated? Zinc? Some other problem? I have not yet had a chance to shoot them, but they are nice, pretty, and shiny, so I can't see why they would not work.
Any advice or suggestions are welcome.
Brand new from Lyman, I cleaned the mold completely and used electrical contact cleaner to remove any residue. I then beagled the mold with .002" thick aluminum duct tape.
Started casting today with the mold in Lyman 4 cavity handles, and noticed that the cavity nearest the handles had a pronounced fin on the nose. Looking at the mold, I could see light through that cavity which was not there when the mold was off the handles. I'll put this down to the design of the handles. Boolits cast out at .314" to .316", which will size down just about right for the .314" or .315" size I wish to try in my M-N.
Removed the beagling tape and cast more, which then cast out about .311-.313, which will work out fine sized down for a 30 caliber.
I do have two problems, though. The first is that the sprue will not release from the sprue plate. It must be tapped out from the bottom each time. There may be some roughness in the sprue bevel which holds the sprue in the hole. I can't feel any burr on the bottom side of the plate, so I'm thinking some 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper with some polishing compound might be in order. Keep in mind I have very little experience with Lyman molds. Just wondering if this is the way to address the issue, or is there another trick I need to know?
Second problem has to do with the boolits themselves. I run an alloy of 5 parts pure to 2 parts lino for most of my gas checked slugs. Works well so far at max 1600 fps. I had to make up another batch of alloy the other day, so this is a new mix. The problem is that the boolits have a metallic "tink" when they are jostled around. It is almost like the sound of washers being knocked together, not the dull "thunk" a usual boolit sounds like. There is no problem with fillout, edges are nice and sharp, radius is nice and smooth. Weight of the 'beagled' boolit is right about 203 grains, and the plain boolit is about 201 grains...about right on tartget for the size difference. I have never cast a long skinny boolit like this before, and don't know if this is normal, but it sure doesn't seem right.
I cast several other boolits yesterday in 6 different molds of the same alloy. Their weights are right on track, but they "thunk" when knocked around. They were a 150 grain 30 cal, a 175 grain 40 cal, a 50 cal minie boolit, a 250 grain 38-55, and 2 45 colt mold, 250 and 255 grains.
Think maybe I'm losing what little mind I have left?
Do you think the alloy is contaminated? Zinc? Some other problem? I have not yet had a chance to shoot them, but they are nice, pretty, and shiny, so I can't see why they would not work.
Any advice or suggestions are welcome.