Fast casters, who’s got hot hands?

[Drew P]

I have been working my way up in total casts per session and per hour lately. I’m able to consistent,y hit 1500 per hour with several molds. Many many mods to my casting setup have refined it to the point of perfection so I did a speed run this weekend starting with a hot mold and hot pot (Lee 4-20) I set forth on a speed run and got 1940 cast in a solid hour. Wasn’t really rushing, just stayed focused which is hard for me. These were small air gun pellets too, 47 grain, in an 8 cav mold. I don’t think my Lee pot can physically keep up with remelt if I push much faster. I tried running two of these molds simultaneously but it doesn’t really increase the rate that much and it becomes too hard to keep the molds hot enough. These smaller boolits don’t put enough heat into the mold, but that means I must drop them at a very fast rate!
Anyway I can see that with a tiny bit more effort I can hit 2000 per hour. Anyone able to top that?

[QuackAttack24]

Not even close, but getting better. I started with a Lee pot and a dipper and Lee 2 cavity molds. Moving to the Lyman bottom pour furnace helped speed things up, and now I'm starting to use 5 and 6 cavity molds. Just got 3 more Lee six cavity, and 3 5 cavity from Arsenal molds. No question it is faster with the 6 cavity. I'm not yet to the point of timing my production. No question that alternating molds helps. I keep the ones not in use on a hot plate, and when the bullets turn a bit frosty, I switch out the mold and keep going with a different one. 1500 in one hour is impressive production.

[Jim22]

I ain't much into speed. I find going fast always magnifies the troubles. YMMV.

[Bad Ass Wallace]

I'm not up to that speed BUT I do cast good boolits with an extremely low rejection rate!

[Markopolo]

An Old bull and a Young bull were standing at the top of a hill looking down at a herd of cows....

Young bull says to the old bull, "Lets Run down there and have us ONE of them Cows"

Old bull looks at the young bull and shakes his horns sadly back and forth and says,
"Young bull, how about we WALK down there and have ALL them cows"...

Moral of the story... dont get in a hurry!!!! :bigsmyl2:

PS.. hope this don't get me into trouble.

[BNE]

An Old bull and a Young bull were standing at the top of a hill looking down at a herd of cows....

Young bull says to the old bull, "Lets Run down there and have us ONE of them Cows"

Old bull looks at the young bull and shakes his horns sadly back and forth and says,
"Young bull, how about we WALK down there and have ALL them cows"...

Moral of the story... dont get in a hurry!!!! :bigsmyl2:

PS.. hope this don't get me into trouble.


When I was a young buck engineer, I was told that story (a little bit more colorfully) by one of my older technicians. I now quote that story to my young buck engineers....

As to the OP -If I get 1,000 in a couple of hours, I am quite happy.

BNE

[45-70 Chevroner]

I can remember when the first Lee six Cavity came out, I bought two a 158gr 357 and a 240 gr. 44 mag, I got the idea to use them in tandem. I could cast about 600 an hour with very good casts. Never got much better than that. Going on 80 now I can work for about two hours after heat up and can cast about the same amount now but have to quit and put things away and go rest. Age is no fun sometimes, but try to keep on plugging. I don't it as often any more either. I've got lead in my blood I guess HA HA.

[Hossfly]

Last time I cast 45ACP limited myself to 1 hr. Set my timer on my phone, cast about 540 in that time. Slow and sho with few rejects. Had some fining started to show up, so had to fix that problem.

Keeping ingots hot and ready really helps with keeping pot temp up.

[gwpercle]

OK ...You win the Sober - Clothed- Sighted Boolit Casting trophy !

But , have you heard about the Drunk - Naked - Blindfolded Boolit Casting Competition ?
Do some practicing at home and let us know how that goes... :drinks:
Gary

I'm only joking ...don't get naked and drunk ...

[Winger Ed.]

I never timed it, or counted, but I can cover the bottom of a five gal. bucket with new .45s or .30 cal. pretty fast
with a two cavity iron mold.

My reject rate is almost none, and I don't want to knock 'em out too fast or I'll have to go do some real work.

[DonHowe]

Makes me think of younger guys at the public range I shoot at. They tend to shoot ARs or high cap a city 9s at big targets at 50yds or 7yds and shoot big patterns real fast. If that's a person's brand of fun it takes lots of boolits that are just boolits.
Not knocking it, just not my thing. One really good group can be more enjoyable than a hundred rounds downrange but into less satisfactory groups.

[fredj338]

It really isnt fast hands but how long it takes for the spru to set up. At my best pace it is about 1000 per hour with a 6cav. That is 3 pours a min, about as fast as the mold lets me go. If using the Magma, its even less. You cant go faster than the spru setup or its a mess.

[Conditor22]

I'm a lot like DonHowe, I never count how many casts per hour, I just cast at the speed my sprues set up (I have a heavy/thick metal plate I set the molds on to speed the sprue cooling)

I do know that I've drained my pro melt 4 times in 1 casting session and have cast with up to 5 molds at one time. I prefer just 1 or 2 at a leisurely pace.

IF the room/area is cool/cold the pace is much faster (to keep the spout from "freezing" than in the summer.

I also love shooting my H&R single shot, I enjoy the "process" of shooting more than sticking a mag in the gun and shooting.

I can't remember the last time I did a mag dump [too expensive nowadays :bigsmyl2:]

[imashooter2]

That’s a fill every 14.8 seconds. Pretty good pace for not rushing.

[charlie b]

Congrats. Never pushed myself. My shoulders start to get sore after 30min and I have to take a break. I can get quite a few .357 slugs in that amount of time with a 6 cavity mold. Don't shoot pistol that much so a few hundred slugs last me a while.

I would not mind making bullets faster, but, I run at a pace that reduces rejects. Since most of mine are for long distance rifle shooting I don't mind taking my time. The rifle molds I use the most are 2 cavity which also limits production. I usually run 15-20sec per cast, which would be 6-8 per min. 30min is 180-240 bullets.

[OS OK]

Show us some GOOD pictures of these HiSpeed cast...show us the spruce cuts at the base of the cast...only then will your numbers impress me.

[rintinglen]

There used to be a guy here whose handle was "SF Liberal With a gun." He had a video of him casting 240~odd 40 cal boolits from a 6 cavity LEE in just over 8 minutes. If he could keep up that pace for an hour, he'd be banging on your heels, but I think the pot would run dry long before then. My personal best was about 630 an hour with an aluminum 8 cavity MP 9mm mold.

[Drew P]

Okay I’ll send pics tomorrow. My sprues are large on these, as the mold just won’t seem to heat soak no matter what, and I like a log shape sprue so I can grab two at a time to put back in melt, every pour. This keeps pot heating at full power and limits fluctuation. I do this while letting pour harden up. I’m also using a thick steel plate for cooling most pours once up to full speed and this was a game changer for my setup. I tried again today with my 25 cal mold and results slowed a little, mostly due to the pot no being able to keep up melting sprues. Fred is right it’s largely about how fast the sprue sets up. These small pills set quickly and the thick plates on my mp molds do great at sucking the heat out of the sprue.
To those who say slow is better quality I disagree. Casting the fastest pace possible for me means consistency, flow, and high mold temps which all leads to quality casts.
Also important is an aluminum mold. After much experimentation I’ve concluded that I’m definitely an aluminum man when it comes to preferred block material.

[Drew P]

Out of the 2000 I had maybe 20 non keepers and most of those were caused by tiny water bead in the cavity. They don’t like that too much lol.

[a.squibload]

I'm not that fast but hot hands? Few days ago I had about 20 boolits dropped
and the handle came off the ladle. Wasn't gonna waste the propane so
used a visegrip as a handle, well it's steel and heated up, even with gloves on
it got uncomfy. Pinned and JB Welded the handle after it cooled off, just gotta
grind the excess pin stickin out & it'll be fine.

[farmerjim]

I can do 1,000 an hour with 2 lee 6 cavity 358-125-RF molds. My lyman mag 25 starts out full and is full when I finish. I preheat Ingots to just below melting and continuously add them as soon as there is room. I wish that I could do 2k an hour.

[smithnframe]

I’d have to see it to believe it! Just sayin.

[Mal Paso]

Makes me think of younger guys at the public range I shoot at. They tend to shoot ARs or high cap a city 9s at big targets at 50yds or 7yds and shoot big patterns real fast. If that's a person's brand of fun it takes lots of boolits that are just boolits.
Not knocking it, just not my thing. One really good group can be more enjoyable than a hundred rounds downrange but into less satisfactory groups.

Perfect Practice makes Perfect. At the police range next to the public range it's empty the mag as fast as you can. That has always bothered me.

Hot and heavy can get you into trouble with brass molds. Some areas heat faster than the mold can absorb it and "tinning" on the grooves next to the block face can be a real problem. I think I was up to 3 casts a minute with the MP 503 solid 4 cavity but cleaning the mold killed any speed record.

[Sasquatch-1]

Makes me think of younger guys at the public range I shoot at. They tend to shoot ARs or high cap a city 9s at big targets at 50yds or 7yds and shoot big patterns real fast. If that's a person's brand of fun it takes lots of boolits that are just boolits.
Not knocking it, just not my thing. One really good group can be more enjoyable than a hundred rounds downrange but into less satisfactory groups.

These guys will be at the range when I take one of my flint locks. In the time it takes me to fire off 5 or 6 shots they have unpacked, shot a hundred dollars worth of ammo, packed up and left. I am still sitting there enjoying a days worth of shooting. Oh yeah, they also come over and admire what I am shooting like it's an early Colt Snake gun or a 50 bmg.

Slow down and enjoy.

[Drew P]

I know I’m bragging about my speed here but honestly it’s just the fact that it’s a small Bullet and an 8 cav mold, and a bit of practice. The combo of those factors makes them rain like mad!

[gwpercle]

I ain't much into speed. I find going fast always magnifies the troubles. YMMV.

You mean Momma was right when she kept telling me ... "Haste Makes Waste !"
Gary

[Walks]

In My youth I used to cast from a pair of Lyman 4cavs using a Lyman XX 20lb pot and an RCBS Pro-Melt 22lb Pot. A Hot Plate too.
About 1,000 - 1,200 an Hour. Problem was I couldn't keep enough going thru the pots. It took a good 10min to refill a pot. And then switch over to the other pot, then 10min later I had to go back to the 1st pot and top it off. Fluxing took up time too.
Did 25,000 bullets in one weekend, Boy Howdy, was I sore come Monday morning. That is I ended up with about 25,000 with that many, about a 5% rejection rate.

[Burnt Fingers]

I have been working my way up in total casts per session and per hour lately. I’m able to consistent,y hit 1500 per hour with several molds. Many many mods to my casting setup have refined it to the point of perfection so I did a speed run this weekend starting with a hot mold and hot pot (Lee 4-20) I set forth on a speed run and got 1940 cast in a solid hour. Wasn’t really rushing, just stayed focused which is hard for me. These were small air gun pellets too, 47 grain, in an 8 cav mold. I don’t think my Lee pot can physically keep up with remelt if I push much faster. I tried running two of these molds simultaneously but it doesn’t really increase the rate that much and it becomes too hard to keep the molds hot enough. These smaller boolits don’t put enough heat into the mold, but that means I must drop them at a very fast rate!
Anyway I can see that with a tiny bit more effort I can hit 2000 per hour. Anyone able to top that?

Can you do that with a REAL boolit mold? Not some 47 gr pellet mold? I doubt it.


Perfect Practice makes Perfect. At the police range next to the public range it's empty the mag as fast as you can. That has always bothered me.

Hot and heavy can get you into trouble with brass molds. Some areas heat faster than the mold can absorb it and "tinning" on the grooves next to the block face can be a real problem. I think I was up to 3 casts a minute with the MP 503 solid 4 cavity but cleaning the mold killed any speed record.

That's the favorite saying of my Senior Drill Instructor.

With my eight cavity MP mold I can cast 1000 125 gr 9mm boolits in right around two hours. This includes feeding the sprues back into the pot. If I didn't put the sprues back in I'd run out of alloy in my PMII.

2000 of those little pellets equals 752 of my 9mm boolits. I could match that in a hour. That would be one pour every 40 seconds.

[fecmech]

My normal pace is 700-750 per hour with a Lee 6 cav 125RF. I use the "BruceB" wet rag method on the sprus and drop them back in the pot. I have the bottom cut off a plastic jug with a wet wash rag in it. As soon as the spru flashes I turn the mold upside down on the wet rag for a second or two and then cut the spru. That keeps the hot spru from smearing molten lead on the blocks and lets you cast quickly without waiting for the spru to harden. I had a friend using the old Saeco 10lb 1000 watt pot with 2 H&G 4 cavs did 1000/hr for his reloading business. He started with a full pot and heated the ingots as he went on the top of the pot.

[fredj338]

Okay I’ll send pics tomorrow. My sprues are large on these, as the mold just won’t seem to heat soak no matter what, and I like a log shape sprue so I can grab two at a time to put back in melt, every pour. This keeps pot heating at full power and limits fluctuation. I do this while letting pour harden up. I’m also using a thick steel plate for cooling most pours once up to full speed and this was a game changer for my setup. I tried again today with my 25 cal mold and results slowed a little, mostly due to the pot no being able to keep up melting sprues. Fred is right it’s largely about how fast the sprue sets up. These small pills set quickly and the thick plates on my mp molds do great at sucking the heat out of the sprue.
To those who say slow is better quality I disagree. Casting the fastest pace possible for me means consistency, flow, and high mold temps which all leads to quality casts.
Also important is an aluminum mold. After much experimentation I’ve concluded that I’m definitely an aluminum man when it comes to preferred block material.

Yup. I can cast more 9mm than 45 in the same 6cav molds, the sprue just takes longer to setup.

[kevin c]

With my 8 cav 147 gr 9mm aluminum MP molds and a bottom pour with a feeder pot, a nice cadence allowing inspection and culling (actually very few rejects when at optimal mold temp) is right around 1000 an hour. I can go two or three hours before stopping from being plum wore out.

Faster is possible if I use two molds or the speed casting technique involving wet sponge sprue cooling, but with the first I get sloppy with an unacceptable reject rate unless I can stay in the right temp range (harder with two molds), and with the sponge technique, I got rust on the steel hardware unless the mold got completely broken down for oiling, a pain when necessary every day in a week long casting run.

[Drew P]

Yep here I’m bragging but in all honesty I just listen to the mold and it tells me how fast to go and these pellet molds demand a very high speed. Doesn’t mean I can’t revel in my production rate tho! Lol. I just did a stopwatch timed hour, and I banged out 2295 keepers! I made a time lapse movie but it didn’t come out as I’d planned so I’ll have to see how that works but yeah, it’s possible, with the right setup AND mold.

[Phlier]

With my eight cavity MP mold I can cast 1000 125 gr 9mm boolits in right around two hours. This includes feeding the sprues back into the pot.
That's my exact speed with my MP 125 gr 9mm mold, too. Lots of down time waiting for lead to melt.

I need to stop being lazy and get my second pot (Dad gave me a vintage SAECO pot that still runs beautifully) going, so I'll be able to run non stop... run a pot, switch to the other while the first pot melts new alloy, rinse and repeat.

[Burnt Fingers]

That's my exact speed with my MP 125 gr 9mm mold, too. Lots of down time waiting for lead to melt.

I need to stop being lazy and get my second pot (Dad gave me a vintage SAECO pot that still runs beautifully) going, so I'll be able to run non stop... run a pot, switch to the other while the first pot melts new alloy, rinse and repeat.

I have both a PM and a PM II. I could run two pots but right now the PM is full of pure lead for casting lures and jigs.

284114

Though I must have a couple hundred pounds of slabs in my boat :)

[Phlier]

I have both a PM and a PM II. I could run two pots but right now the PM is full of pure lead for casting lures and jigs.

284114

Though I must have a couple hundred pounds of slabs in my boat :)

Wow, those are some beautifully done lures!

[guy_with_boolits]

It has nothing to do with 'being in a hurry'. Time is precious and I have better things to do than cast. I'd rather shoot. If I could make a robot pump out boolits all day long I'd press the on button and walk away.

Anyways, I think I am doing a rate of 720 per hour, 4 cavity MP452-200 HP mold, Lee 10lb pot.

Ya I'd say 14 to 20 seconds is the time it takes for me to fill the mold, wait for it to solidify, cut the sprue, dump into the water bucket, close the mold and sprue plate, and then fill again. I dont see how that part could be sped up really.

My bottle neck is reprocessing the cut sprues. The little Lee 10lb pot (with PID) drops very quickly in temperature if you start putting sprues back into it. Also, putting ANYTHING in the pot will probably drag some charcoal from wax/sawdust to the bottom and clog it.

So for max speed, might want to have perfectly clean lead, so you can use the pot up almost completely, then drop in all the sprues at one time to remelt.

And of course, the hot plate to preheat and maintain the mold temperature at any time you take a break or during start-up really improves things.

[kevin c]

This helps a lot:

284161

Sprues and fresh ingots into the top; hot alloy into the bottom. Both PID controlled, and if the sprues are added as cut and if the ingots spent time on the lip of the top pot before taking their lead bath, there isn't much temp drop in the top, and none, of course, in the bottom. The flow of immediately available and optimally heated molten alloy is essentially endless.

[Burnt Fingers]

Wow, those are some beautifully done lures!

Thanks. Those take a lot of time. Quality top coats are required to keep the paint on them. Quality top coats aren't cheap and are a pain to work with.

[Mavrick]

Kevin has the right idea. I MAY try that. When I cast, it's usually two days runnin'. This weekend, I sat down for both days, for about 8hours each, and I don't think I got 2000 for the entire weekend.
I don't feel too bad(except for the sun part) as my melt-time was reduced by using two different alloys, one a day.
I use 2 similar molds at a time, both steel, or both aluminum.
While one is cooling, the other is being cleaned, and repoured.
using two Lee six-holer .40s at 175gr the production goes right along.
With Ideal 1-hole .44s at 240grs...not so much.
The Lyman iron 4-hole .45s and Lyman 4-hole .357s make your hands tired.
the Lyman iron 2-holers .25s...the "tired" is a little lower.
I use an RCBS 20# pot, and keep the heat turned up a bit. Periodically, I'll drop spues back in, and toss some more wood chips in to keep the oxidation down.
The RCBS and Lyman (heated) lubri-sizers are gonna B busy for a while, though I do PC a large percentage.
Have fun, Gene

[bruce381]

This helps a lot:

284161

Sprues and fresh ingots into the top; hot alloy into the bottom. Both PID controlled, and if the sprues are added as cut and if the ingots spent time on the lip of the top pot before taking their lead bath, there isn't much temp drop in the top, and none, of course, in the bottom. The flow of immediately available and optimally heated molten alloy is essentially endless.


Kevin I have seen your ingots do they fit?

[kevin c]

The Cast Boolits/Redneck Gold bar ingots (2 to 2.5 pounds) are stable sitting on the pot rim for preheating and several will go into the empty pot set end on. They also can be held with pliers or vice grips for easy lowering into the melt.

The mini loaf pan ingots (2.5 to 3 pounds) don't sit well on the rim, are harder to lower into the melt with vice grips or pliers, and will only go two or three into an empty pot.

It matters to me how well I can control adding ingots to a partly filled pot: sometimes a complete ingot will overfill the pot so being able to keep firm hold of what I don't want to drop into the melt as the submerged part liquifies is important. My ingots are stored in my unfinished basement and are exposed to moisture from the air and ground both, so preheating is to drive out any water as well as speeding melting with minimal temp drop.

The small loaf pan ingots (9 to 10 pounds) don't fit my casting pots at all, though they probably will go into a monster pot like the Magma. I cast those out of scrap for ease of storage and for batching and analysis.

[GregLaROCHE]

If you are casting small boolits maybe you can speed up without any ill effects, but I cast mostly 400-500 grain boolits these days and if I speed up, my wrist gets sore and I end up stopping. With an easy does it method, I end up with a lot more good boolits at the end of a casting session.

If you have a hot plate for keeping your molds at temperature, you can put your ingots on it to pre heat them, so they melt faster and don’t bring down the the alloy temperature as much.

[ioon44]

Yesterday I tried to pre heat my ingots with my really old hot plate, no temp control, and melted some ingots and had to disassemble the hot plate to get all the lead out of it.
That was the only problem with a all day casting session , I cast 72 lbs of 204gr .45 ACP bullets.
Today I will Hi-Tek coat and bake them.

[Scrounge]

I ain't much into speed. I find going fast always magnifies the troubles. YMMV.

I'm with you on this one. Practice will get you going faster, but trying to get faster increases the rate of accidents. Which you do not need when handling molten metal and measuring explosives and such. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Getting it right is much more important that getting fast at it.

Bill

[GregLaROCHE]

Yesterday I tried to pre heat my ingots with my really old hot plate, no temp control, and melted some ingots and had to disassemble the hot plate to get all the lead out of it.
That was the only problem with a all day casting session , I cast 72 lbs of 204gr .45 ACP bullets.
Today I will Hi-Tek coat and bake them.

You need to get yourself an infrared thermometer. They are really inexpensive these days. You don’t want want your hot plate too hot for your molds either. However, don’t count on it for the temperature of the alloy in your casting pot. It’s never accurate. Probably because there’s always some flux or debris on the surface, that insulates the alloy from the outside temp. It will always read low.

I have a hot plate, but haven’t started using it yet. I’m not certain, but I don’t think the hot plate needs to be as hot as the molten alloy. Perhaps others can confirm this.

[robg]

im a wimp i cast 2-3 hundred an hour using 2 or 3 molds .

[Baltimoreed]

Got you all beat, did about 60 with my beagled Ideal 308-329 single cavity yesterday morning and then about 60 more today. About a small Lee pots worth each day. I’ll do another pots worth tomorrow, should hold me for awhile. Don’t know how long yesterday but today I was out in my shop for about 45 minutes actually casting. Waiting for some bigger sizers to show so I can build some accurate lead bullets for my latest Enfield remilitarization build.

[a.squibload]

I welcome the pot gettin low, reloadin it gives me a chance to get a cool drink!

I read about the Bruce B or wet sponge thing before but guess I missed the point,
it's for coolin the sprue. I usually stand there doin nothin while lettin the sprue cool
so they won't smear on top of the mould. Usually I cut the sprue with gloved hand and
drop it back in, figure I spent the propane to heat it up, better get it back in the pot.
Yeah I'm cheap like that. Might try the wet method though.

[LAH]

In business I could do 1200 per hour using 4 each 4 cavity moulds under my Master Pot but the total for 5 hour runs were more like 5000.

[Victor N TN]

I cast until my shoulders start getting tired. Stop and take a snack break. Repeat... At my age, my body tells me when to quit.

[kevin c]

I’m not certain, but I don’t think the hot plate needs to be as hot as the molten alloy. Perhaps others can confirm this.

I've asked here and been told to shoot for a mold temp around 400°. The hot plate will be a bit more than that. IIRC, my 1100 watt job will give me the desired mold temp when set near max, coil glowing dull red, with an infrared measuring it at around 800° (that reading seems low; most references I checked said the redness appears in heated objects at 900+°).

My understanding is that maintaining the optimal temp range in the mold sets the cadence, and that varies depending on alloy temp, mold size and material, casting environment, and specific cooling measures used like fans and the wet sponge sprue cooling technique.

[PhatForrest]

I can overflow a 8 inch pie pan with 38s or 9mms in about 2.5 hours, with a single 6 or 8 cavity mold. Figure around 700 or so.

It's not super fast, but it's just enough work that it doesn't get boring.

ETA just looked at my join date, I can't believe I've been casting for almost ten years now!

[Bigslug]

How does one properly compare casting speed?

If you're cranking out 2000 tiny airgun pellets from an 8 cavity mold in an hour. . .

. . .and I'm dropping 148 grain .38 wadcutters from an old 10-cavity H&G armory mold that makes HUGE sprues, all of which take longer to cool. . .

. . .and we're both running a 20 pound pot and I need to pump the brakes to remelt or refill. . .

. . .how do we compare overall productivity? You get more shots, but my pile weighs more.

[1hole]

Going on 80 now I can work for about two hours after heat up and can cast about the same amount now but have to quit and put things away and go rest. Age is no fun sometimes, but try to keep on plugging.

Lordy, ain't that the truth!

Half a life time ago I thought 60 would be old and 80 would be anchient; I was so right! Don't do a lot of things now but, by the grace of God, I still get a kick out of life.

[whisler]

By the grace of God indeed, me too!

[Drew P]

I've asked here and been told to shoot for a mold temp around 400°. The hot plate will be a bit more than that. IIRC, my 1100 watt job will give me the desired mold temp when set near max, coil glowing dull red, with an infrared measuring it at around 800° (that reading seems low; most references I checked said the redness appears in heated objects at 900+°).

My understanding is that maintaining the optimal temp range in the mold sets the cadence, and that varies depending on alloy temp, mold size and material, casting environment, and specific cooling measures used like fans and the wet sponge sprue cooling technique.
Bingo. The faster and more efficiently you run, you find that other factors will limit speed rather than the operator. This is mostly cooling time of the mold, and yes my small pellets are able to cool quickly on my steel plate. Some add a second mold to give something to do during this time and yes heavier Bullet’s will warrant this more than my pellets. The ultimate way to make production efficient is of course to remove the operator and extend the session time. Then, even a much much slower rate per hour will still be much faster if it can run all night. But, that’s not the focus of most in this group.

[Drew P]

I need to put a fan on my steel cooling plate.

[slohunter]

I cast at about 4 beers per hour!

[dondiego]

I cast at about 4 beers per hour!

That will make you illegal to drive!

[358429]

If you cast while you are driving, your hands are hotter than mine!

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

[Helka]

Just did a session yesterday. In 1 hour of casting i was able to produce 318 usable boolits and about 40 return to melting pot (Base didn't fill in properly). Using a MP 359-125 4 cav mold.

[Drew P]

If you cast while you are driving, your hands are hotter than mine!

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
And his lap too!

[LAH]

Just did a session yesterday. In 1 hour of casting i was able to produce 318 usable boolits and about 40 return to melting pot (Base didn't fill in properly). Using a MP 359-125 4 cav mold.

How you like that mould?

[Helka]

How you like that mould?

Being a new caster my first batch were decent but the lead wasn’t hot enough(HP wasn’t filling out enough). The second time the lead was hot enough but mold wasn’t. The 3rd and subsequent batches have been spot on as I have a good lead temp and make sure my mold is very hot. I’m getting nice and shiny boolits. I know frosted is sought after but I’m happy with my results. In fact I was just at the range trying them out for the first time and had about a 4” grouping out of my shadow 2 at 25 yards. (My outdoor range doesn’t have anything closer)

I prefer the heavy brass over my Lee aluminum mold.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sasquatch-1]

I know frosted is sought after but I’m happy with my results.

Nice and shiny is what you are looking for. Frosty means you are starting to get too hot.

[kevin c]

Likely it's just me and my particular casting technique, but my aluminum MP 8 bangers cast best with the fewest culls when there's a light matte frost. Shiny gets me wrinkles (95-3-2 alloy at 720°).

True that I'm on the edge of too hot with frosty undersized casts, and have to occasionally pause or open the blocks for extra cooling. I welcome the break, though, and will still call it a day after 3K or so, whether it takes 3 hours or "just" 2 1/2.

[LAH]

Being a new caster my first batch were decent but the lead wasn’t hot enough(HP wasn’t filling out enough). The second time the lead was hot enough but mold wasn’t. The 3rd and subsequent batches have been spot on as I have a good lead temp and make sure my mold is very hot. I’m getting nice and shiny boolits. I know frosted is sought after but I’m happy with my results. In fact I was just at the range trying them out for the first time and had about a 4” grouping out of my shadow 2 at 25 yards. (My outdoor range doesn’t have anything closer)

I prefer the heavy brass over my Lee aluminum mold.


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How's the Shadow 2? I have a PreB 75.

[358429]

Likely it's just me and my particular casting technique, but my aluminum MP 8 bangers cast best with the fewest culls when there's a light matte frost. Shiny gets me wrinkles (95-3-2 alloy at 720°).

True that I'm on the edge of too hot with frosty undersized casts, and have to occasionally pause or open the blocks for extra cooling. I welcome the break, though, and will still call it a day after 3K or so, whether it takes 3 hours or "just" 2 1/2.What kind of bullets are you casting? 3000 is a fantastic humblebrag[emoji41][emoji3][emoji3][emoji3]

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[Helka]

How's the Shadow 2? I have a PreB 75.

All I can say is I will never sell it! It’s laser accurate


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[LAH]

Thanks Helka.

[farmbif]

How you like that mould?

I like the 359-125 mp very much. use it in 38spl, 357 mag and sized down in 9mm. one of my favorite loads in 38spl

[Helka]

I like the 359-125 mp very much. use it in 38spl, 357 mag and sized down in 9mm. one of my favorite loads in 38spl

I don’t know if it’s me but my shadow 2 shoots the regular HP better then the penta ones.


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[BJK]

Well, I'm glad to see that it's not just me who has had enough after 1.5-2 hours of casting bullets. In 2 sessions I cast 1800ish (counted by weight). With one MP 8 cavity 9mm mould there's only so fast that I can move. And my butt is dragging after a session. Maybe that because I cast outdoors and the weather always seems to change on me. It starts out just beautiful, low humidity and low 70s, but the humidity increases and that always sucks the starch out of me. I like that I have very few culls.

edit follows: I've been thinking about this some more...

The mould gets a lot of heat in it with each pour and once it's hot that heat needs to be removed once in awhile, that slows things down. With 2 moulds I could maybe make more in the same time. Except I'm not in a race. I have enough to do with just the one mould.