why cant i get a correct size bullet anymorer ?

[sandman228]

ive been using nothing but lee molds since I started to cast without issue, they always used to drop bullets a few thou over the diameter I needed, they were slightly out of round but sizing tool care of that . it seems now they almost all seem to drop under size . I just bought a lee .358 140 swc mold I got a couple hundred decent bullets out of it they alloy I was using was 4 lb wheel weight ingots .1 lb soft lead ,1 lb range scrap and 1/2 oz of tin . so I fired up the melting pot today dumped the sprues in added some ingots and started casting most of them were dropping .359/.360 thern when I turn the bullet a half turn in the caliper it drops down to .356/.357 . and this isn't the 1st mold ive had this trouble with . my older molds for the most part seem to do ok its just the newer ones . I tried temps ranging from 650 to over 800 with same results . i didn't wanna powder coat this bullet but it looks like I'm gonna have to to bring it up to the size i need . and to top it off i started to pc a small batch today and maybe 5 min into the oven smoke starts pouring out ,my oven quit on me . so i got a small batch of powder coated bullets that baked maybe 5 min . i took them out of oven dumped in a water bucket then dried them off . i dumped some mineral spirits on a rag and tried wiping the pc off the bullets nothing came off it seems to be cured but i don't know weather to trust them or not . maybe today wasn't a good casting day lol .

[Dusty Bannister]

If I could see some of those bullets, it might give some clue as to what is going on. We are having weather changes so what worked last month might need a higher melt temp, and a faster cadence to do as well. Your alloy mix is a mystery since you use decimals, commas, and then a fraction. Which are typo's and which are correct? A caliper might be OK, but a mic is much more reliable to actually measure the bullet diameters. If you have rounded bands on the skinny side, that says you still have an alloy or temperature issue and you are not getting a proper fill out. That is YOU, not the mold. Do a good inspection and tell everyone what you are seeing and you will probably figure it out before we can. How do those out of round bullets weigh? Same as the previous ones or lighter? Lighter might be a slight alloy contamination.

As to powder coating failure, shoot a few and see. It will be easy enough to clean up the barrel if necessary.

[sandman228]

205903

[HeavyMetal]

I wish I could teach my boolits to hang like that, storage would be much easier, LOL!

Now to get serious: what wheel weights are you using? If they are stick on you may not have enough tin in the mix for fill out.

Also I'd suggest checking mold for burrs but you seem to be having this problem with several molds?? Do I read that right?

HM

[sandman228]

Here are the bullets in question.they measure .360 then when spun 1/2 turn they measure . 357 . They vary in weight from 144.5 to 145.5 . The alloy was 4 lb wheel weight ingots , 1lb soft lead , 1lb range scrap , 1/2 oz pure tin . Sorry for typo . Im not saying im not capable of making a mistake , we all are . But i seem to have allot more issues with my molds ive bought in the past year or so than my older molds . If im doing something wrong i'll correct it . Sorry pic is upside down im not sure what i did there .

[sandman228]

The wheel weight ingots were clip on . When im smelting i seperate stick ons and treat them as pure lead . Ive had this undersized prob with multiple molds

[Dusty Bannister]

Well, looking at the image as it appears on the screen, the two on the left appear to have rounded bands which might be a factor on the size. Since you mentioned that this is a newer mold, that means it is a new style with the alignment pins. Please measure the bullets on the same driving band with the mold seam held at 12-6 or vertical. Then measure from 11-5, 9-3 and 7-1. This will verify which way the blocks are shifting. If 11-5 and 7-1 are not equal, check the face of the blocks for debris, and the alignment pins for correct depth and fitting. It is not unusual for the 9-3 measurement be a little more or a little less than the other two. How hard the handles are gripped might also be a factor for you to keep in mind. First check the numbers. A mic would be preferred, but use what ya got. The two in the middle sure appear to have a different depth of lube groove, but that is probably just the light angle.

[Grmps]

As far as I know, bullet molds don't shrink.

Different lead alloys will result in different weights and sizes.

http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm

https://i.imgur.com/ijpzmfg.jpg

[MT Chambers]

205903

Those must be for use by folks that mount their press upside down.

[brass410]

they must have been sized in a inverted lee sizing die, I had the same problem so I just put the press back on the bench they way it was designed to be mounted. lol lol now to the question I to am having same problem undersize boolits

[FlyfishermanMike]

Smash a PC'd bullet with a hammer to see how it's cured. Use a secondary thermometer to verify your oven temp.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Grmps]

those must be for use by folks that mount their press upside down.

no, these are in austrailia

[sandman228]

I loaded up 100 of these bullets yesterday 50 that dropped proper size tumble lubed and sized to .358 and tumble lubed again with 45/45/10 and 50 that dropped out of round and under sized then powder coated and sized to .358. all 100 rounds were loaded with 5.7 gr of unique primed with s&b primers and loaded in perfecta brass and oal 1.165 . the powder coated bullets shot better by far so I guess I'm not gonna worry about them dropping slightly undersized because the pc makes up for it . in the mean time I met a buddy at the range , he saw my home made wooden pistol rest and sand bag combo and didn't have much good to say about it lol I told him it was almost 20 yrs old and he said yea it looks it so he broke out his Caldwell pistolaro pistol rest and said here use this , WOW , I gotta get me one of those .he told me to hang onto it till I get my own so I know what i'll be shopping for this weekend .

[OS OK]

Just clean the mould faces and pins and use constant even squeeze pressure on the mould handles, hold it up to a bright light before closing the sprue plate...see any light? A micro fine amount of hair thin light will be ok unless you cast too hot and then it will fin... if it's a Lee 6 banger don't put pressure on the sprue handle.