Tips for Casting with Hollow Point Mold

[deltaenterprizes]

I finally got a hollow point pin for a 9mm Lyman Devastator mold that I bought from a member here a couple of years ago!
I have not cast with a hollow point mold before so I am looking for tips.
I usually preheat my mold on an electric burner but with the hollow point pin that won’t work!
I suppose that I can preheat them separately but not sure how that will work.

How do you do it?

[Mk42gunner]

I've done it a couple of ways.

1. Make a holder out of wire and suspend the pin in the alloy.

2. Preheat the pin with an idling propane torch.

When I was casting HP with a Lyman mold, I was preheating the blocks by sitting the mold on the edge of the pot.

Pull the pin before cutting the sprue. It is very annoying to have the pin stuck and the projectile turn in the mold.

Cast at a quick cadence, get the pin back in the blocks as quick as you can. Look at the boolits after you refill the mold.

Robert

[deltaenterprizes]

Thanks!

[Harter66]

I've only cast hollow base but I would assume it's the same deal . With the Lyman twist lock pin I pre heat sprue plate down . I have a cast iron kettle plate on my hot plate so the mould doesn't sit flat but it does preheat well .

Keep the pin hot , pour fast .

I forgot about having a 454424 HP that has a .128 pin in it that one is no problem to keep hot . The the 450613(?) Minie' has a .450 dia pin for the HB and it is a little more difficult to keep both the mold and pin hot .

[la5676]

I just hold the pin in the melt 5-6 seconds, pull it, stick it in the mould, and pour quickly.

[deltaenterprizes]

I have not checked but I may have to ladle pour if I use my Lyman Mold Master, I think the RCBS ProMelt has enough clearance.

[rintinglen]

I no longer fiddle with Lyman SC HP molds, having gone to NOE RG and MP multicavity HP molds, But heat and speed are your friends. You'll want to run the melt 20-50 degrees hotter than normal, and you want to cast as fast as you can manage. And another pal to hang out with is a large sprue puddle. You'll get best results when you hit that "just-starting-to-frost" condition. With larger boolits, 44 and 45 caliber 200+ grain, you may have to slow down a little or lower the heat after a bit, but take care not to over do it. Bright and shiny is not what you want if your goal is maximum production with minimum culls.

DO NOT slow down or stop to admire your handiwork--that boat won't float. You'll have wrinkles, cavities and poor fill out if you do.

[gwpercle]

The old way ... cast boolits just as fast as you can until the mould and pin are hot ...
toss all the warm up boolits back in the pot and ... keep on casting !
Gary

[cwlongshot]

No tricks. Esp with the lyman sung cav mold.

As the guys tols ya KEEP THAT PIN HOT!!!

CW

[justindad]

I have that mold. My way is to remove the locking screw for the pin, place the hollow point pin inside the sprue hole, and heat the pin & mold together on a hot plate. When up to temperature, I would insert the locking screw and cast away.
*
The sprue plate down method mentioned by Harter is more efficient, but my OCD forces me to sit the mold flat on the hot plate. If you’re a sane person, go sprue plate down.
*
Dipping the pin in lead gives me problems with lead &/or oxides sticking to the pin. Leave it in the mold on the hot plate.

[Tripplebeards]

I just keep my pins hot. When I first tried I heated the pins quickly with a torch. I also used a graphite pencil on them. I even sprayed them with dry graphite mold release. I just pour fast now and keep them hot. I also just put a patina on my new 10mm mold using salt and vinegar to try and keep the tinning at a minimum.

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

The devastator mold is steel I believe so not needed. I love my 44 mag devastator mold. Would love a 9mm and 10mm version!

I just keep my mold really hot and my lee 4/20 set at 8.5 when casting….like the ones I just sent you in .3595”.

[Tripplebeards]

I broke in my mold tonight...

https://i.imgur.com/SqTTVYx.jpeg

[deltaenterprizes]

I am not getting complete fill out around the nose!
I added some solder but still not complete fill out!
I am going to try pure Linotype.

[Mk42gunner]

You might just have to crank the heat up 25-50 degrees. It has been a few years, but I seem to remember needing more heat than normal when I was using the Lyman 457122 mold.

Good luck, it is possible to get decent looking hollowpoints.

Robert

[justindad]

Cast as fast as you possibly can. Do not look at the boolits. Do not put your sprues back in the pot. Just cast 50-100 boolits as fast as you can.

[Tripplebeards]

Also keep your mold as close to the drain spout as possible and adjust your pot to pour quicker. I held my mold about a half inch or so from the drain spout last night. If I held it about an inch and half or lower I wasn’t getting complete fill outs and wrinkles. I also agitate my mold a little from side to side till the alloy starts to harden on the sprue. It will work any air pockets out. Getting your mold and alloy REALLY hot will also fix the lack of fill out issue. If you you use linotype you might as well not cast with that mold because it will never expand at 9 mm velocities. If your running a lee pot I run mine at 8.5. I also wait till the alloy is so hot its oxidized and crusted on top before I start casting. I have the 44 mag version. I just get the mold hot to the point it’s almost to hot. It takes about 5 to 7 seconds for the lead on the sprue to start to harden and I’ll end up getting lead smears when cutting some times…but I get complete fill outs. I use 16/1, 50/50, and 100% COWW alloys with no issues in my devastator mold. I normally have the opposite. I get finning around the HP every pour.

[David2011]

I recently cast hollow points for the first time using two very different molds. One was the Lyman 457122E if memory serves me; the other was a Lee C358-158SWC. After all of the horror stories I’ve read I expected to have a lot of trouble. The Lyman was actually pretty was to use. Once the mold was hot enough to not wrinkle the boolits, the HP pin was a non-issue.

The Lee was a little crankier but again was easy to use after it got up to temp. Neither required a fast pace. In fact, the Lyman in particular was easy to get too hot so I had to pace myself. The alloy for both was about 50/50 scrap cast boolits and pure lead.

[Tripplebeards]

I got my HP mold too hot today. First pour it took about 30 seconds or more in front of a fan to get it try and harden. I then ran my mold in front of the fan to cool it down for a good half minute or more. It poured perfect boolits right off the bat needless to say.

[metricmonkeywrench]

I actually have 2 HP moulds,an original 358439 ideal and a more modern Lyman 358429. Unfortunately the -349’s HP pin was lost to time. I preheat the moulds on a hot plate as usual and the pin gets dropped in a large nut from a trailer ball to pre-heat up as well. The pin goes back and forth between the moulds and never gets a chance to cool down. About all of my hollow points are soft (BHN 9 or so) range scrap in a Lee 20lb pot and I generally run near the 800 deg range.

Wether I use just one or both its a cast fast and hot game bordering on frosting the bullets. No time to cull the bad ones until your done.

Good reference to take a peek at
http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell38KeithHP358439.htm

Good luck