What's causing this and how to fix it?

[AndFereira]

This is a new master caster. I feel like the molds aren't aligned perfectly. the bullet is slightly out of round ranging between .4525 and .4555. It seems like if I run my finger nail over the line there is a high side and a low side. I can feel my finger nail catch going one way and it drops down and is easy to go across the other way. The line also appears to only be on one side of the bullet. The other side where the halves mate I can see the line visually but I can not feel it.

If if the molds aren't aligned properly how do I go about fixing that?


I also noticed that when the mold opens up the mold halve on the right lifts up slightly compared to the left halve. I suspect this is normal operation of the Machine from the Sprue plate contacting the rod to open it. But what do I know? I figured I would add it in just in case

[ReloaderFred]

Check your mold and make sure the two halves are matching up when closed. There should also be a number stamped on the end of each half, if they're Magma molds, and the number should be the same.

You may also need to adjust the guide rails so the mold brackets are slightly touching them when the mold is in the pour position. This will ensure the mold is fully closed.

Another thing to check is to make sure there isn't anything stuck to the mating surfaces of the molds, or in the alignment pin recesses. That will also make for out of round bullets, and about the best way to clean them is to dismount the mold and do a good inspection and cleaning.

Make sure you lube the top of the mold, between the sprue cutter and the mold blocks. This will keep lead from sticking to either surface and make the whole operation smoother. In the picture of the mold, it looks like you've got some smearing on the top of the mold. To clean that off, a single edge razor scraper, like painters use for cleaning glass, with take it off. Just remember to keep the razor blade flat on the surface and us very light pressure. And don't mess up the edges of the cavity....... After you remove the lead smears, then take a Q-Tip and apply some mold lube to the top of the mold, but not inside the cavities. I like to use generic PAM, mixed with anhydrous alcohol for this. It's much cheaper than the lube Magma sells, and smells better, too......

Hope this helps.

Fred

[w5pv]

I give my molds a little love tap with my sprue knocker to make sure they are aligned correctly seems to work for me.



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[HATCH]

adjust the rails so that they barely touch the mold carrier.

There isn't a lot of flashing on the boolit shown so I suspect that the mold is pretty closed.
It is possible that you have two left shoes though....

Basically you have 2 different halfs. They aren't cut identical but they are close.

Have you tried to size the boolit and see what you end up with?
I am guessing you are gonna go to .452 in size.
The raw boolit with coating should almost round itself after being sized.