Whitespider
06-11-2017, 08:25 AM
...to you guys with bottom-pour pots and multi-cavity molds.
But each one of these little 40-grain jewels represent a carefully executed pour from my ladle into an ancient Ideal single-cavity mold in my 95° shop yesterday.
197356
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=197356
I noticed I was running low on yard vermin ammunition (.22 Hornet) the other day, and with yesterday's heat coupled with 30-40 MPH winds there weren't much shooting gonna' be happening. This is only the second time I've used this mold. The first time it was a real PITA... boolits stuck in the mold, many would have a small wing on the gas check shank that had to be removed, and I would occasionally get flanged bases. So yesterday morning I tore the mold completely down, pulled all the pins and trued-up the surfaces on a piece of glass using oiled 220 grit paper. Then I carefully de-burred, reset the pins, and scrubbed the devil out'a the mold in hot soapy water.
My efforts were well rewarded... good bullets from the the third cast. The hot day made it easy to regulate mold temp, I worked at a quick, but not hurried pace, cutting the sprues with a gloved hand just a second or two after pouring.
Something interesting I learned about this mold yesterday, and I have no explanation for it. I learned if I gave the handle hinge a light tap with sprue knocker after closing the mold, the next boolit would fall from the mold as soon as I opened it. If I didn't give the hinge a light tap on closing the mold, it required a little shake or tap to make the boolit fall (shrug).
Now the irritating part needs to be done... the checking and sizing of these little devils wears my patients as thin as it gets.
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But each one of these little 40-grain jewels represent a carefully executed pour from my ladle into an ancient Ideal single-cavity mold in my 95° shop yesterday.
197356
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=197356
I noticed I was running low on yard vermin ammunition (.22 Hornet) the other day, and with yesterday's heat coupled with 30-40 MPH winds there weren't much shooting gonna' be happening. This is only the second time I've used this mold. The first time it was a real PITA... boolits stuck in the mold, many would have a small wing on the gas check shank that had to be removed, and I would occasionally get flanged bases. So yesterday morning I tore the mold completely down, pulled all the pins and trued-up the surfaces on a piece of glass using oiled 220 grit paper. Then I carefully de-burred, reset the pins, and scrubbed the devil out'a the mold in hot soapy water.
My efforts were well rewarded... good bullets from the the third cast. The hot day made it easy to regulate mold temp, I worked at a quick, but not hurried pace, cutting the sprues with a gloved hand just a second or two after pouring.
Something interesting I learned about this mold yesterday, and I have no explanation for it. I learned if I gave the handle hinge a light tap with sprue knocker after closing the mold, the next boolit would fall from the mold as soon as I opened it. If I didn't give the hinge a light tap on closing the mold, it required a little shake or tap to make the boolit fall (shrug).
Now the irritating part needs to be done... the checking and sizing of these little devils wears my patients as thin as it gets.
*