Help with COWW mix

[3jimbo3]

I am looking for some insight on how I should prepare my metal for casting. I have about 300 pounds of clean coww in ingot form. I want to use this for 9mm, 40, 38, and 45 casting. Will this be suitable as is or do I need to mix some soft lead or something with it for better boolits? I use Lee molds and I size with a Lyman 450. I use Ben's Red and a heater while sizing. Now with all that said, I have a couple of complaints. First my mold doesn't fill out real well. By this I mean the edges in the lube grove are not nice and sharp. I like crisp edges. The second is leading my barrels. I have air cooled,water quinched, sized larger,sized smaller, changed lubes, even tumble lubed. I can reduce leading but I can't stop it. I can buy commercial lead boolits and I don't have the same problem. I have slugged my barrel and sized to that size and even stepped up one size. So I guess I'm asking for professional secrets and advice. Thank you for advice in advance. All is greatly appreciated and respected. Have a great day and New Year.

Jim

[6622729]

I am looking for some insight on how I should prepare my metal for casting. I have about 300 pounds of clean coww in ingot form. I want to use this for 9mm, 40, 38, and 45 casting. Will this be suitable as is or do I need to mix some soft lead or something with it for better boolits? I use Lee molds and I size with a Lyman 450. I use Ben's Red and a heater while sizing. Now with all that said, I have a couple of complaints. First my mold doesn't fill out real well. By this I mean the edges in the lube grove are not nice and sharp. I like crisp edges. The second is leading my barrels. I have air cooled,water quinched, sized larger,sized smaller, changed lubes, even tumble lubed. I can reduce leading but I can't stop it. I can buy commercial lead boolits and I don't have the same problem. I have slugged my barrel and sized to that size and even stepped up one size. So I guess I'm asking for professional secrets and advice. Thank you for advice in advance. All is greatly appreciated and respected. Have a great day and New Year.

Jim

COWW should be good enough for fill out. What temp is the pot? If the temp is right then you can add a little tin to get the better fill out. In regards to leading, what velocities are you recording on your chrono? You might be trying to load too hot.

[Dusty Bannister]

If you have not found this sticky, you might read through it and maybe apply some of the suggestions for your loads. Most common for leading is undersized bullets, so I am wondering why you mention sized smaller. And of course it is the details. Measured the barrel slug, but no mention of the measurement or whether it is with a mic or a caliper. You can get through this it might take a little more work.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?121607-Setting-up-for-boolits-in-a-new-9mm

[RogerDat]

Tin helps fill out up to about 2% Sn but you can often achieve noticeable improvement at as little as 1% and WW's may have about .5% or a little less already. Temp is the other factor. If mold/lead is hotter it can flow more before it sets up so has more chance to fill in the details.

Might also want to check out the shake and bake powder coating in alternative coating forum. Baked on electrostatic paint acts like a jacket and lubricant in one. Allows for pushing more velocity, and using softer lead at more moderate velocities. Can also add 1 thousandth to the bullet diameter if done after sizing. Or size with it on.

Too hard lead can possibly be an issue, the pressure of the charge on the back of the bullet causes it to squish outward and engage the barrel tighter, called obturation if you wanted to google that for information to consider. Softer lead squishes more than harder lead, so it is possible that harder will actually lead more.

You don't say what you are shooting in what but high velocity with soft lead will tend to lead also.

[Yodogsandman]

The pressure of the powder charge can contribute to leading as well. Maybe try a slower powder.

[3jimbo3]

COWW should be good enough for fill out. What temp is the pot? If the temp is right then you can add a little tin to get the better fill out. In regards to leading, what velocities are you recording on your chrono? You might be trying to load too hot.


My my pot is set at 700 degrees, I use a pid to control the temp. As far as velocity on any gun I shoot I load by the load data in my manuals(I use several different sources and compare the data) and I start in the bottom and work my way up never exceeding the max charge. I usually end up somewhere around the mid ways point of the data provided. Most of the time I end up with a really good shooting and accurate load. I'm sorry but I don't have any exact velocities for you.

[3jimbo3]

The pressure of the powder charge can contribute to leading as well. Maybe try a slower powder.


I use Bullseye and Unique for my pistols. I think I might try some American Select in my revolvers, I just found some data for that and I have a pound I need to use for something.

[lightman]

I have used straight wheelwrights for a long time with good results. If you are not getting good fillout try changing temps a little. As a last result you can add a little tin. Start with .05 or 1 % and go from there. Some casters dilute straight wheelwrights by 25 or 50 % with soft lead but if your alloy is not giving you the fill that you want then this will not help you.

[runfiverun]

the pot temp ain't the secret.
the mold temp is what allows the lead to move around in it and fill out the corners.
look at some ww's you can read those little letters on them right?
well they didn't add anything to get those letters there.

[3jimbo3]

I took the temp up 5 degrees and readjusted the temp on my mold oven, slowed down and took my time and wallah. Nice crisp looking boolits. 184288

Sorry I don't know how these pics keep flipping sideways.

[Yodogsandman]

Now, size your boolits .002" over bore groove diameter.

[gundownunder]

COWW has very little tin. I use nothing but coww for all my casting but I always add 2% tin. Cast them .002 over bore size and you can drive them downrange without any leading provided your lube can keep up. Before I switched to Hightek coat I used a mix of equal parts beeswax, lithium grease, liquid alox. That mix would allow me to drive 357 bullets through my Marlin rifle at over 1750 fps with zero leading.