First Post 50YO newbie

[Gripit]

Hello all,

I'm gonna jump in and ask a question. 260252 I bought a new accurate mold 45-300-E and after casting 100plus bullets, I can't seem to get a "perfect bullet" at least not consistently. I'm casting hardball alloy from rotometals, from a bottom pour Lee pot. I've tried cleaning the mold with Dawn and hot water and brake cleaner. I've turned up the melt, turned down the melt, increased and decreased pour pressure.
I'm a 35 year handloader who decided to start casting for my wheel guns and maybe I'm expecting too much too soon but I want to make cast bullets that are better than commercially available bullets.
Please steer me straight.

Thanks for any advise y'all can share.

[Kraschenbirn]

First thing I'd try would be going back to Square One and thoroughly cleaning the mould cavities, again. Like start with a thorough scrubbing using dish detergent and a toothbrush followed by a rinse with water and a clean toothbrush. After that, I might rinse the cavities again with carb cleaner followed by another scrubbing.

BTW: Welcome aboard.

Bill

[unclemikeinct]

New mold, New caster. It will come, Mo heat. A little frosting is nothing to worry about. You will fine tune as you go. good luck, uncle mike

[RickinTN]

Welcome to the forum. It's hard to tell from the pictures what is exactly going on. Tom at Accurate makes an excellent mold. It looks like there may be foreign matter in your alloy? With a bottom pour pot the foreign stuff usually floats to the top so shouldn't be coming out of the spout. One of the hardest parts for me to learn was to get the mold hot enough. You can have alloy very hot but if the mold is not hot enough you won't get good bullets. A cold mold usually results in wrinkled bullets which doesn't seem to be the case with yours? I wish I could be of more help. I'm sure there will be others along soon to help.
Good Luck,
Rick

[fredj338]

Preheat the mold, cast about 700deg. In my experience, a new mold takes a bit of time to season after a good cleaning. The top bullet in you pic looks about as good as it gets though.

[kmw1954]

Not much help from me either other than the top bullet looks very nice, bottom one not so much.

I have only been casting for about 8 months and still learning myself. The few previous session went very well and then I went back to a Lee 200gr RNFP with a different alloy and they turned out like poo. So I don't know if it was me or the new alloy. Try again and see if results improve. try different things, faster, slower, more time left in the mold, less time.

[WHITETAIL]

Gripit, welcome to the madness.
As said start with a good cleaning.
I am talking from over 40 years in the
tool making field.
Then I would get a single burner electric
hot plate from WW. Use an old saw blade
on the hot plate.
Get the mould up to a warm temp.
Then start pouring the lead.
You will improve with time the heads
are not that bad but they will get better
with time.:Fire:
Good luck and may GOD BLESS

[country gent]

Experiment with your cadence, faster and slower. Also if you dont have one pick up a thermometer so you know what temp you have, what works,and can repeat it. Even if your thermometer is off 25* it is repeatable to its reading. Flux and clean your melt well before starting to cast.

When casting cast when sorting sort, dont try to do both at the same time. It slows your cadence and breaks concentration. Casting at a pace that keeps the mould hot and in the running range is important. a cooler melt and you cast faster to maintain this a hotter melt and slower pace to keep mould temps down. Pour a large sprue this helps to keep the plate hot and allows for better fill out.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Gripit,
Welcome to the Forum.

Practice makes perfect. Keep trying.

When I began casting, I spent about 6 months reading posts here and reading the Lyman Castbullet handbook 4th Ed. ...as well as, doing some casting here and there ...anyway, I wasn't real happy with my own cast boolits, until I spent the 6 months practicing and reading.
Good Luck.

[Alstep]

Welcome sir, to a compulsive addiction!

I've been reloading well over 50 years, and when I started casting about 20 years ago, found out I had a lot to learn and new skills to acquire. My first couple of hundred cast boolits were a disaster, not a half dozen were keepers.

You have started out with a top of the line mold, Accurate. Your mold has to be absolutely CLEAN and HOT! Use a hotplate to preheat your mold. I'm using 50/50 Pb/WW for pistol & revolver, and I cast hotter than most, at least 750* or more, from a bottom pour pot. I keep the mold about an inch, maybe a little less, below the nozzle of the pot. Leave a lot of extra molten metal on top of the sprew plate, be generous, keep pouring after the cavity is full. Be a slob. Give the metal a chance to cool and solidify before cutting the sprew, you'll see the shade of the metal change after pouring, from shinny liquid to a dull gray when it solidifies. It takes 5 or 10 seconds. Then cut the sprew. You'll get into a rhythm when it all comes together.

Use a Q tip and some synthetic 2 cycle oil to lubricate the sprew plate screw & locating pins. Only a tiny amount, you don't want to get any oil in the cavities. I use a flat carpenters pencil and go over the top of the mold and bottom of the sprew plate and the mold faces, this keeps the plate sliding smoothly, and prevents the soldering of led onto those surfaces, especially Iron molds.

Others here will have different methods & techniques, but this is what works for me. Don't despair, don't give up, keep at it. It will be frustrating at first, but it'll all come together. Good luck.

[kevin c]

The thing that made the biggest difference for me was getting the mold to the right temperature and keeping it there. See this thread, especially the posts by geargnasher: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?236488-Something-I-learned-last-weekend-about-temp

The rest is practice, in that practice refines your technique so that it becomes efficient and repeatable so that you can maintain the right cadence that keeps the mold at optimum casting temperature, and that gives you the experience that will let you adjust properly to different molds, alloys, etc., that might need altered temps and cadences.

And welcome to the forums!

[Winger Ed.]

Welcome aboard.
This is an addiction, but try to keep a low profile or your family may schedule an intervention.:bigsmyl2:

Its a learning curve, and your mold will need to season with use like Grandma's cast Iron frying pan.

The one thing I hadn't seen mentioned is to flux the pot once in awhile as you're going along.
Also, I don't know if, or how long it takes for the melt to separate/stratify,
but I stir mine with a big, old, screwdriver every 10 minutes or so.

It may be my imagination, but I think it helps keep the boolit weights more consistent.

[fcvan]

+1 for the new mold, new caster. All the advice above is spot on. Although I do not have any Accurate molds (mostly Lee, some SAECO and Lyman) I have had similar results. The only molds I have had that dropped perfect the first time were Lee and an NOE mold. Several molds took a lot longer to 'season' in, maybe 200 casting cycles. Your worst boolt in the picture could be shot, but if you are like me you will probably reject it. I powder coat with Airsoft BB PC and you wouldn't even see the minor imperfections.

Good looking boolit profile, looks like something that would shoot well in either my Old Model Vaquero or 20" Classic Carbine, both 45 Colt. I have a Lee C452-310 RF that I have not cast with yet. A buddy actually ordered 2 so he gave me the extra mold. I make my own gas checks but found that with PC I don't need them. Heck, I even got a set of dies from PatMarlins that makes plain base gas checks from soda can material. They work great but with PC I don't need them either.

Welcome to the casting addiction, Rotometal is a good outfit and their alloy is top shelf. There are a ton of other vendors where you can get good alloy at competitive prices. Gone are the days when I was getting lead free from the range at work (retired LEO) or 50 lbs a week for the cost of a pizza or some cheeseburgers taken to the guys at a tire shop.

Enjoy this new facet of reloading. I liked a tag line a member here uses which says something like 'I got into reloading to save money, I'm sure the savings are going to happen someday.' You don't save money, you just shoot more.

[Gripit]

I knew I was getting into a never ending rabbit hole. I enjoy every part of shooting...even brass prep.
Thank all of you for sharing your wisdom with me. I thought I scrubbed that mold, with a toothbrush, plenty long enough. Also the brake cleaner and Q-tips. I'll give it another go.
My thermometer is in transit, so I'll wait a couple days and start the process again.
You guys are great, Thanks again.

[Markopolo]

how much tin is in the roto metals alloy?? also, take a old bath towel, lay it on something flat and rub the boolit on it to buff it out a bit.. see what it looks like then?

[Gripit]

Hardball Bullet Casting Alloy ingot- 5 pounds (2%-Tin,6%-Antimony,and 92%-Lead)
Rotometals.com

When I buff the bullet with a towel it looks pretty good. It's like a surface thing. They both weigh 301 grains.

[Walter Laich]

I'll go along with the repeated cycles for 'seasoning' the mold.

all of the other ideas are good ones, too

keep it up, there is a bit of magic in casting

[Cast_outlaw]

wash Cavities with dawn like others said let dry if you have problems still I found smoking the cavity’s with a butane lighter helped me most times

[gnostic]

From the appearance of your lower bullet, I'd guess your mold and metal are too hot. A frosted bullet like on top is good, but the lower bullet looks like the mold was too hot, slow down a bit...

[Mitch]

welcome Gripit.yes one deep rabbit hole lol.There is one very nice thing about casting bullets that i have found.Lead don't go bad afyer many pours.the nect good thing is if the casting gods i not smiling on you shut everything off and try agin tomarrow.Even the people with alot of yeas casting have a bad day.

Now you I didnt see anything about sprue plate lube.I use a good qulity 2 cycle oil.from the looks of your Bad lookin bullet it could be some cntamination in your mold but maybe not.one of the things i did whe istarted was clean the mold alot.Now you do need a clean mold but once it is clean leave it alone for a few casing sessions.this way the mold will brak in for you.If you keep claninig it all the time it will just keep casting like carp.I suspect more of a temp problem.onec you get that themomerter you can see when the heat gets ballaced out study.Go ahead and get the heat up about 730 to 750.AND make sure the mold it up to temp.if you get Frosty bullets back of the speed you are casting and or back the temp off a bit.New molds i sametime just cast enough with it to get the mold good and hot.then let is cool off till the next time you have time to cast.it will get batter as you go.you have a realy ggod lookin bullet.now all youneed to do is figure out that you didnt to get them to cast like that.The mold will tell you alot if the sprue cuts hard you are either to cold or waiting to long to cut the sprue.If the lead smears the mold is to hot.When the sprues cut good and the bullets drop from the mold easy you have it right.

[JM7.7x58]

That top bullet looks pretty good.

Aluminum is porous. The machining process uses a coolant/cutting fluid. Heat cycling and solvent cleaning will eventually give you a clean mold.

I would clean it again with a solvent, brake cleaner or Acetone.

Cast and dump (throw them back into the pot) twenty times, as fast as you can.

Clean it again.

Smoke it (I only smoke my new molds the one time).

Cast and dump ten more.

Should be good.

JM

[kmw1954]

Hardball Bullet Casting Alloy ingot- 5 pounds (2%-Tin,6%-Antimony,and 92%-Lead)
Rotometals.com

When I buff the bullet with a towel it looks pretty good. It's like a surface thing. They both weigh 301 grains.

I find this interesting in that before I changed alloy I was using straight clip on wheel weight or range scrap from an indoor range that was very soft. Cast a dozen or so batches this way and then decided to try adding some print type to try and harden and lighten these bullets a bit. That's when I started having trouble. My bullets all started dropping looking frosted, even after turning the heat way down.

Then like you say, while sorting I started wiping them in a shop rag and they then looked perfect!

This linotype/print type I have I took a small amount and melted it down so I could pour ir into a mold and then try to use the pencil hardness test. After dropping that puck from the mold you could clearly see the large looking crystalized flakes in the smooth metal. This puck was so hard I could not scratch it with even the hardest pencil.

[Gripit]

You guys are know your stuff.

10 from last session top row.
10 from today.

260297

I cleaned the mold again. I ran the temp higher.
Yes I'm shooting the ugly ones anyway.

[kmw1954]

Well done Gripit

[Bazoo]

Howdy,

Well, of those two bullets in the first picture, that spiderwebish frosted bullet looks fine to me. It appears better filled out on the driving bands than the top bullet. Complete fillout is much more important that surface appearance.

Having a shiny surface and then frosted edges and incomplete fillout on the bands is a sign of casting at the wrong temperature/cadence. The mould is just at the transition from shiny to frost temperature. Casting either slower to get shiny or faster to get somewhat frosted bullets should solve that.

A too cool sprue plate will cause the same thing. I pour extra metal over the sprue plate to get it to temperature.

I rarely cast shiny bullets, mostly I'm in the slightly frosty area.

I never could get the hang of using 2cycle oil, I used too much. I started using a carpenters pencil and it's great. Take the sprue plate off and color the top of the mould, the bottom of the sprue cutter, the pivot bolt and the hole in the sprue plate. Color the alignment pins. When your casting, If you get a smear between the plate and mould top, Just wipe it with a rag and recolor with the pencil.

Another thing I do, is if I have any issues with contamination, I fill the cavities (sprue plate open) with lighter fluid while it's hot. I've never had it flame up, just boil in the cavities. You must keep in mind that hot stuff will melt the bottle though. It doesn't cool the mould much, so no danger of warping it.

One thing I had to learn is I didn't stir enough when fluxing. A marble sized piece of wax and stirring 30 seconds to a minute does wonders over that 10 second stir my pot initially got when I first learned. Sometimes I'll stir and scrape my pot sides and bottoms 2 minutes or more. It helps.

[Knightflyer]

Mold temp, and here's my best suggestion, based on my own failures and success; start pouring, and just don't worry if any of them are good.

You see, aluminum heats up pretty quick, but it also cools quick. It becomes a rhythm, that keeps the mold hot. Beginners pause to fuss (or admire) and the mold cools. It took me awhile to figure out that my craving each boolit to be "right" was slowing my pour, and turning out worse boolits!

Fluxing is important too, or the tin might not be where it needs to be, and thus poor fill-out.
Shalom, David

PS I'm still a beginner, but this is what tripped me up the most!
PPS My suggestions are in addition to, not necessarily substitutes for others like a hot plate!

[DHDeal]

I've got that bullet in a 4 cavity 2 diameter mold (300E and a 290 grain GC 44 caliber) and it's an accurate bullet. Kinda heavy for plinking, but it still shoots good at a moderate velocity.

I understand that Tom @ Accurate ultrasonically cleans the molds, but I do it again anyway. First time casting with a new aluminum Accurate Mold is similar to a MP Mold. Only a few keepers. Second casting session is better and third time is the charm. Don't know why other than seasoning or oxide build up, but it's the way it is for me.

I ladle cast hot and fast and that works best for me. Even though I have thousands of GC's, I never install one on a imperfect bullet. I know folks say to not sort while casting, but I look at the bullets as open the mold and if there is a bad one, I'll dump that group somewhere else in my bullet box. While I pour the next mold full, I'll put the bad one's back in the sprue pile. Also, if the bases aren't perfect when I open the plate, I won't keep that bullet either. Once your cadence is good, the molds up to temperature, and the alloy is right, I don't have many rejects unless I screw up that pour.

[charlie b]

Looks like you are doing fine.

I second the break in part. My Accurate mold took three sessions to start making really nice bullets. FWIW, I cleaned it with acetone after the first session.

The surface flaws are something my bottom pour pot will do every now and then. I thought it was dirt in the lead or mold was not an even temp. After examining a bunch of bullets as I cast I believe it is a combination of how the lead enters the cavity and temperature gradients in the mold itself. The good news is it does not seem to affect shooting or powder coating. I still get sub-MOA groups with my rifle.

[Gripit]

Well I'm pretty sure I can feel an addiction forming. I left work early, cleaned the mold again, then again, put it in the oven and brought it up to 400, I let it cool to room temp and repeated. Whilst the mold was heating up I got the pot up to temp, pulled the mold out and started casting fast until the frost showed up, then I backed off. After that I really started liking my work. I weighed ten from the old session and ten from the new and improved session. The first session averaged 299.5 and the 10 "better" averaged 302. Pretty close. Anyway I'm feeling it, I might need 20 more molds and more pots and and and...

You guys are solid. This forum is great and I'll be lurking around soaking up all the information, all while pretending to watch whatever it is my wife's watching.

[Mitch]

Great Job Gripit.feeling it hum Bud your hooked some one reel him in lol.Now you kinow you have a good casting clean mold like said above in about 3 casting sessions it will cast Better.Them ugly bullets shoot to lol.Is good to see you off and running right away took me a bit longer.Them bullets look real good nice sharp edges. As you cast more with different alloys you will see they look a bit different.To me your new bullets look just like a hi antimony alloy should.And more lead.more molds the list will get long.

[waco]

Please remember. Tom runs all his molds through an ultra sonic cleaner before he ships. NO NEED TO CLEAN THEM.
Get the mold up to temp and have good clean alloy.
Glad you got it figured out Gripit.