Loaded my first cast bullets

[ebb]

I loaded some 158 grain bullets that I cast, and noticed some of them look BAD. They were loaded in several sessions last spring and run through a lee sizer and lubed with liquid Alox. Some of the bullets are very dark and some are not. I have no idea why? Some have fissures that run around the diameter of the bullet and some run the length of the bullet. I assume that the fissures are from not having the mold hot enough? I tried to remady this is the second casting session by running a heat gun on the mold but it was tough to get every thing lined up so that the gun was actually hitting the mold every time. I have seen here others using a one burner electric cook top to heat the mold, would this be a solution to the fissures?

[OS OK]

Get those moulds pre-heated to at least 300ºƒ & that'll be the end of those 'fissures' you call'em...unless you get some lube in one of the cavities.

https://i.imgur.com/PvDO92L.jpg

[toallmy]

Try preheating your mold on a metal plate sitting on a burner next round .

[ebb]

Thanks guys. What made the bullets turn dark almost black?

[cwlongshot]

Never seen blk lead bullets drop from a mold... But I can Powder Coat them any color in the ra bo plus dozens upon dozens more!!:-P

As you have discovered its mold/lead temp causingbthe wrinkles. I start my pots and set the molds on top to heat up. In 20-40 minutes it takes to "melt" the lead the molds are near hot enough. I blast them out with BRAKE PRTS CLEANER. Then fill with lead and set back on top of the pots. Allowing that hot lead to further heat and burn off anything within the cavities.

Fill and dump the cavities a few times watching the look of the bullets. Soon ya will be dropping good bullets. If after 5-10 drops ya still have wrinkles. Blast the mold out again with the brake clean and repeat. Ya will get good bullets once the cavities are oil free and everything is a "happy" temprature.

Good luck and WELCOME TO OUR ADDICTION! :bigsmyl2:

CW

[gwpercle]

If you don't have a hot plate or burner you can preheat mould the old school way ...sit the blocks on top of the pot rim . This works well with 2 , 3 , and 4 cavity moulds .
I don't have a hot plate so I cast old school ...but I learned in 1967 so that might have something to do with it .

What mould and how many cavities are you casting with ?
Gary

[ebb]

I am casting with a 2 cavity mold, its a lee and I had read that the 6 cavity molds are troublesome for a beginner. The bullets did not come from the mold dark grey they were cast some months back and lubed and sized and I put them all in a coffee can, maybe 250 or 300 of them and when I finally got time to load them some are as shinny as they came from the mold and some are almost black.

[cwlongshot]

My guess is that Thats Some kind of contamination for what ever was in that can before the bullets.

[LenH]

It could be too much Alox, I learned the hard way on that but have since switched to traditional lube from a lube/sizer.
I have a couple of boxes of older bullets with alox and they are a funky dark color. I think you only need a light coat
for alox to work.

[ebb]

That sounds about right Len. They all came from the mold shinny, and the can was a plastic coffee can that was washed. What lube do you use? I have a lee sizer will it apply the lube as you size, or do I need a different sizer? When I put Alox on I was disappointed that the lube grooves in the bullets didn't have the lube in them like the ones I see here. It was just smeared all over ever thing.

[JoeJames]

Just starting at casting myself, but one of the much more experienced members suggested using a 50-50 mixture of Lee Liquid Alox and mineral spirits. I probably made 2 ounces of it and used a small travel bottle from Walmart. Then I kind of drew a Z with the mix over the bullets, then tumbled them in a covered plastic container. It does not take much. It is kind of surprising how little is required to coat them. They will turn a very light bronze color; at least mine did. Then take off the top and let the mineral spirits evaporate. Tumble every few hours, and then I spread mine on a sheet of aluminum foil. Finally they will get to where they are not too tacky to the touch. I have not been sizing mine; since they seem to be just the right diameter for my revolvers - .430" for my 44 Special, and .312" for my 32's.

The main and most important thing I did was just peruse many of the postings on here on casting and lubing. There is a wealth of information on here.

[Targa]

I am casting with a 2 cavity mold, its a lee and I had read that the 6 cavity molds are troublesome for a beginner.

I started with Lee 2 cavity molds for the same reason and because you can’t beat the price. I decided to get a six cavity for .357 mag, it is about a 5 min learning process (if that) from the 2 cavity molds. The benefit is obviously 3x the production but also the larger molds ability to maintain the heat sweet spot over the 2 cavity molds.

I can’t help with the Alox issue, I pan lube.

[Land Owner]

Len maybe on to it. I don't tumble lube. Maybe I should try. I know that unwaxed lead (true lead) darkens over time as its surface oxidizes, unless it is an alloy mixed with 1.5% to 2% tin (mine), then it stays silver shiny, even unlubed. I have opened cans of long (10+ years) ago cast boolits of unknown alloy that are dark, some even coated in lead oxide (white residue), that when "cleaned" were dark. I have purchased cast boolits, mass produced, that when the packaging was opened were dark and unlubed. I think it is a sign of no tin.

[ebb]

I am thinking that some of my problems are temp related , and i have been casting with out a thermometer. I found a 1000 degree thermometer on Amazon and it should be on the way. Before i cast anymore bullets i will have a thermometer and a heat source to lay the mold on. And yes Land Owner the first bullets were 100% lead so I think you guys have solved the dark bullets. Thanks for all the help guys !!!!

[Jniedbalski]

Ebb.the lee sizers will only size . That’s why you have to tumble lube after sizing. Most of my lee molds I leave un sized after casting. 100% lead will turn dark . The ones with tin will stay shiny a lot longer. When you use alox you are not trying to fill up the lube groves.just a very light coat. If you see any alox build up in the lube groove you are using way to much. I first did this with my first batch of alox lubed bullets. Way to much smoke and sticky . I now use white label lube 45/45/10 . Alox / mineral spirits/ Johnson past wax. Works just as good and dries quicker and is so cheep it’s not worth mixing my own.

[Jniedbalski]

I still haven’t bought a hot plate to pre heat my molds. I just place my lee 2 cavity mold on top of my pot warming up. Then right before I cast I dip my spure cutter in the melted led for 20 seconds and good to go. I know iam cheep but it works and I already have to much casting and loading stuff to keep up with.

[ebb]

LO my wife and i have a friend that we shoot archery with that works a second job in Mims. He is the bow guy at the Ace hardware on US1 in Mims.

[Conditor22]

"Some have fissures that run around the diameter of the bullet and some run the length of the bullet."

Whenever a new mold doesn't drop clean boolits, first thing to do is (after the mold is cool) take it to a sink and using dawn dish soap and either a denture cleaning brush or tooth brush and hot water scrub the mold cavities several times.

You can prewarm the lee 2 cavity molds by dipping a corner in the hot lead and leaving it there until the lead no longer sticks. or the preferred method

Use a hotplate with an old sawblade on it of piece of metal and preheat the mold to 400°

What alloy are you using? the less tin in the alloy the warmer you need to get to get good fillout.

I normally cast at 720° degrees and 750° for pure lead

[ebb]

I am using what i think to be pure lead. My first tries were some of my thought to be pure lead and some wheel weights, and i didn't know how to sort the zinc out and made a few pots of lead/zinc oatmeal. So I thought I would cast something I knew to be lead even if it was pure lead just to try and get a usable bullet. Well they are almost usable, some are kinda ugly.

[Land Owner]

LO my wife and i have a friend that we shoot archery with that works a second job in Mims. He is the bow guy at the Ace hardware on US1 in Mims.
I have been to that Hardware store. If he is the same young man that has been there "for quite some time" then I have seen him and interacted with him, in a help me find this or that sort of way. I have not shot archery since that day, as kids, we were harassing the local swamp rabbits with bows and arrows. One of the boys shot his arrow up (idiot), to come straight down into the top of a bank about 20 yards away. I "called the shot" in advance and split his arrow in two with my next shot! I was Robin Hood and "King for a Day" in my narrow circle of neighborhood friends. I never fired an arrow afterward...I quit while I was ahead.

[ebb]

Thermometer is here and a single burner cook top with a cast iron deck is on its way from amazon. My coffee can is almost empty and more 357 /158 grn bullets will be needed. My neighbor gave me a bucket full of fishing weights. Are the fishing weights of a known hardness or could they be anything?

[Land Owner]

Fishing weights could be anything. I made some from pure lead. Others from 49-49-2 percent Pb/WW/Sn. Some from straight WW's. No way to really tell hardness, except by a tester. No way to tell metal composition either, except by lab analysis.

[robg]

i used to use a lube sizer now i just tumble lube ,they shoot just as well and its quicker.

[David2011]

I love it every time someone posts about their first casting session or first loading session with their own boolits.