What causes "wrinkles"?

[lefty_red]

In cast bullets I mean? :castmine:

[Buckshot]

.......................Alloy temp is too low. The alloy is setting up giving up heat when it touches the cavity, while more is still flowing in. Try this:

Without adjusting your furnace, float the mould blocks on the melt until no alloy sticks when you slightly lift them out. Commence casting and look at the boolits. If they're wrinkled from the git-go, notch up the heat and repeat. The alloy is way too cool.

Or,

If you're getting good boolits for a bit, casting at a nice pace and then wrinkles show up, it is again too cool an alloy. Crank up the temp, or crank up the tempo. The blocks are sucking up and disipating the heat faster then you're putting it in.

.....................Buckshot

[NVcurmudgeon]

Lefty Red, another southpaw caster here. Besides low alloy temperature, neglecting to remove protective oil from the blocks will cause your boolits to look like raisins until it is burned out.

[Springfield]

"If you're getting good boolits for a bit, casting at a nice pace and then wrinkles show up, it is again too cool an alloy. Crank up the temp, or crank up the tempo. The blocks are sucking up and disipating the heat faster then you're putting it in. "

Actually it sounds like the mould is too low a temp. Maybe that is what you meant. Crank up the temp means the alloy, but cranking up the tempo means mould temp, not the same thing. You could up the alloy temp to as high as it goes, but if the mould is too cool you will still get wrinkles. I find mould temp affects the bullets more than alloy temp.

[lefty_red]

I am lead to believe that its a mixture of too pure lead and low temp.

I added some tin and raised the temp, the bullets seem to come out better.

I think the mold is bad also. THe pins came out of it after about thirty bullet. But MIDWAY is sending one out ASAP, their customer service is A1. I put the pins and blocks back together, but it doesn't line up right.

I am use to casting for my muzzleloader, this bullet casting is kind of more picky. I also think the TL grooves is real picky compared to the regulat grooves. Are, at least to a newbie, it is.

Thanks guys for you help.

LEFTY

[454PB]

I agree with the other guys, but I have had it happen due to alloy impurity. I once did some experimenting with unknown babbit and got badly wrinkled boolits at very high casting temperatures.

[Newtire]

I'm of the opinion that it would depend on if you are getting good bullets to begin with. It is really surprising how much oil a set of blocks can retain. Boiling them in detergent & water seems to get it all out. After that, I usually give it a shot of brake-kleen or two and swab it with some Q-tips. After giving it the butane lighter treatment, I face East, give the rosary beads a run-thru and let her rip!

[lefty_red]

I was getting REALLY good bullets in the begining. THen the pins holding the mold fell out and the blocks fell off. WHen I put them back together, they never really produced a great bullet, cause they wouldn't lock up right and I couldn't get into "the zone".

I went out today and got about thirty good bullets from about fifty. It was slow, due to the blocks having to be manually aligned, but steady.

I want to thank PAWPAW for helping me also. He took time out and responded to my PMs.

Well, I'll put everyting I learned here towards my new mold that is on the way to replace the broken one from MIDWAY. I'll let you kow what happens later in the week.

LEFTY

[454PB]

Is this a Lee mould?