Buckshot from mould

[Mervin]

How are you all getting easily the little tit off of the shot from cutting from the lee 20 shot mould.


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[Nueces]

I would use a pair of small, side cutting wire cutters, as used in circuit board manufacture. Take, say, 3 snips, then tumble the shot all together to push down the remaining sprue. Some folks will say to put the box of balls in your car for a week, but I don't drive long distances any more, so I would use a small tumbler with no media.

[Mervin]

Thanks thought about that. Going to be looking for a mould with sorue cutter. Using pair of wire nippers now.

[Conditor22]

I file down a small side cutter to where the cutting edge is flush on the bottom, nip them close then put them in a square 2# peanut jar with a pinch of graphite and tumble them for a few hours

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[redhawk0]

Use a small side cutter then with a small brass hammer, peen the tit flat.

redhawk

[Mervin]

Like that. And the Quote my favorite. I'm doing a 20lb pot of 00 buck.

[Minerat]

They make spure cutters for sinker moulds. Check Do-It molds they have them. Doesn't get them all but enough.

[megasupermagnum]

What you want is called a flush cutter. Or you can grind the back of your side cutters flat.

[Cap'n Morgan]

I'm curious; Has anybody ever tested if removing the sprue mark actually improves the pattern to any degree?

[Hogtamer]

Cap'n I have made up my mind that it must. Don't be confusing me with facts!

[beagle]

Go to Wally World and look in the sewing/crafts department. They have side cutters with green rubber handles. Them's the ones. Work great. Trim as close as possible. I throw mine is a RCBS Sidewinder tumbler, add a dash of graphite (no media), turn it on and pull an Elvis (leave the building) as it's loud. Come back and check every couple of hours. When they get smooth enough for your liking, you're there./beagle

[Mr Peabody]

you can get a small tumbler from harbor freight that works pretty good. I glued a couple of small pieces of wood inside the drum; makes the tumble a little more aggressive.

[Cap'n Morgan]

Cap'n I have made up my mind that it must. Don't be confusing me with facts!

[smilie=1: But now the thought will haunt you whenever you're cutting sprues.

I've cast a lot of buckshot, testing molds for a group-buy. When using a hard alloy (and a pair of gloves) the shot would easily snap from the stem, leaving only a small pockmark not likely to affect the ballistic. I planned on trying some buffered loads, using sawdust for buffer, but never got around to it.

[jsizemore]

I'm curious; Has anybody ever tested if removing the sprue mark actually improves the pattern to any degree?

Doesn't help at all.

[fcvan]

Guillotine type toenail clippers for the pooch works great. Rolling 00 between two steel plates quickly trues up the ball but letting the tumbler do its work without media helps spread the graphite too.

[leadhead 500]

Another great way is not to snip them off but let them cool and take a small pair of pliers and give them a twist, they will look way better than cutting them apart

[megasupermagnum]

Another great way is not to snip them off but let them cool and take a small pair of pliers and give them a twist, they will look way better than cutting them apart

This does work very well for round ball, especially with soft lead. For buckshot though, I think it's a good way to get carpal tunnel syndrome.

[r6487]

snip them off flat, then tumble all shot with a dap of powdered graphite, the tumbling will eventually smooth out the flat spots and the graphite coating makes the shot look factory spec.

[savage308]

I use the LEE 18 ball 00 mold and sometimes I snip them off and spray an aerosol graphite from a spray can in the tumbler and let them go for 4 or 5 hours. sometimes I leave them attached and load them and they do OK

[KCSO]

Make a ball roller if you need them really round. 6 inch lipped flat plate for the table of a drill press and a 6" plate with a 1/2" drive shank on the back. Run at slow speed and put the balls in the bottom and lower the plate till the balls spin, next thing you know they are plumb round.

[Mr_Sheesh]

A search on eBay, Amazon, etc. for "Side Cutter" will get you decent side cutters for as low as $1.30 sometimes, if you are OK with waiting for shipments from overseas. (Taiwan, HK, China, India, ...)

[megasupermagnum]

A search on eBay, Amazon, etc. for "Side Cutter" will get you decent side cutters for as low as $1.30 sometimes, if you are OK with waiting for shipments from overseas. (Taiwan, HK, China, India, ...)

No, side cutters will not work well. Flush cutters are what to buy.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Yes, I know the difference, I've been soldering for over 50 years... Do the search though, and you'll see that these ARE flush cutters. Granted, they're not Xuron or other premium branded flush cutters, but they're perfectly serviceable. Chinese workers use a LOT of flush cutters, and they also sell those here as it lowers the price of the cutters (principle of economy of scale.) Chinese folks have some ODD names for things we call by different names, and the search I suggest takes that into account.

[megasupermagnum]

I wouldn't be buying anything from China right now, and maybe not for a couple months yet.

[Faret]

I wouldn't be buying anything from China right now, and maybe not for a couple months yet.

Or a year! LOL

[doghunter]

I use dog toenail clippers. Then vibrate in a tumbler for a few hours.

[NavyGuns45]

Question: if using a Lee 18-pellet mold, do you even need to cut the balls apart or if you plan to tumble them anyway, will the tumbling separate them and blunt the nib?

[6pt-sika]

I use dog toenail clippers. Then vibrate in a tumbler for a few hours.

When you tumble do you leave media in with the buckshot or tumble just the buckshot ? Only sizes I cast are 0000 and 00000 , for those I’ve been rolling them between two blocks of flat metal .

[W.R.Buchanan]

Instead of using the 18 cav moulds why not use round ball moulds which make 6 at a time and don't require any added attention after being cut off.

Lee makes those too.

I got one of he little HF tumblers to do mine and they work pretty well if you let them run for a full day.

I had a .311 2 cav mould and even it is faster than dealing with sprues. .311 is "0.5" or in between 0 and 1. Close enough for me. 9 stack perfectly in a trap wad.

My .02

Randy

[megasupermagnum]

Instead of using the 18 cav moulds why not use round ball moulds which make 6 at a time and don't require any added attention after being cut off.

Lee makes those too.

I got one of he little HF tumblers to do mine and they work pretty well if you let them run for a full day.

I had a .311 2 cav mould and even it is faster than dealing with sprues. .311 is "0.5" or in between 0 and 1. Close enough for me. 9 stack perfectly in a trap wad.

My .02

Randy

It may not be fun, but I can clip 18 buckshot apart way faster than someone can cast/cut, cast/cut, cast/cut 9 times.

[RoyEllis]

It may not be fun, but I can clip 18 buckshot apart way faster than someone can cast/cut, cast/cut, cast/cut 9 times.

I guess you failed to read Randy's 1st sentence fully.....he said "use round ball moulds which make 6 at a time" before making your comment which fails to accurately address his.....

[megasupermagnum]

I was replying to this sentence. "I had a .311 2 cav mould and even it is faster than dealing with sprues. .311 is "0.5" or in between 0 and 1. Close enough for me. 9 stack perfectly in a trap wad."

To each his own. I've got a .380 2 cavity mold for 0000 buck, and it is not as fast. That's all.

[6pt-sika]

To each his own. I've got a .380 2 cavity mold for 0000 buck, and it is not as fast. That's all.

I’ve been using junky el cheapo Lee 2 cavity molds for 0000 (.380”) and 00000 (.395”) . I could order six cavity ones from Track of the Wolf but I cast enough already with the two cavity jobs to last me a good long while .

[Ed_Shot]

Nine LEE .319 balls ( 435 gr. total) stack perfectly 3x3 in a CB1118-12 wad in a Win AA hull.

[6pt-sika]

Bear in mind my buckshot loads are generally loaded to be lower pressure not for my shoulders sake but just to be a bit more comfortable shooting them in damascus and twist barrels . About the only size I load for a 12 gauge 2 3/4” at present is single 0 nine pellets with buffer . I’d say maybe about 1100 FPS and it patterns very well from full choke barrels or atleast the six or seven I’ve tried it in so far . But again I normally pattern buckshot at 25 yards and leave it at that .