Resultd with Mihec's 147gr FP

[putteral]

Just got back from the range. I tried what has been my favorit load for all 147 gr lead FP'S, which is 4.6 grs of Power Pistol set at 1.13. I only brought my PT 111 Mll Pro with me and I am pretty pleased with the results. Target was at 10 yards off hand.
Next week I will bring my KP95 and my PT92 with me . I know I'll get tighter groups. I just cast these on Sunday.

[kamikaze1a]

Anyone else tried casting with their new mold?

[kamikaze1a]

For those of you who had bought this mold; I've done several sessions with this mold and just could not get boo's without wrinkles. I tried slow pour, fast pour, normal temp melt, high and higher temp melt, got the mold hot and hotter...just could not get rid of the wrinkles.

I've cast thousands upon thousands of boo's with other molds so casting is not new to me. We were told that we should not smoke this mold so I did not. Out of desperation, I decided, what the hell...what do I have to lose and smoked the cavities lightly....

The very next pour...NO WRINKLES! NOT A SINGLE WRINKLE!!!

So for those of you who are having wrinkle problems, smoke that sucker!

[redneckdan]

I'm working with a 5C copy of the 311041, I rant two pots of 50/50 WW/range scrap + 2% tin through it yesterday and the last couple pours on the final pot full the wrinkles started to disappear a little bit. The instructions say to heat cycle it a few times and that's supose to help. I'll play with it a little more on wednesday.

[lathesmith]

Yes, those wrinkles are a real bite, sometimes defying our best efforts. I guess I'm not the only one that struggles with this from time to time...solutions for me usually include more heat, spray mold release, and in some cases where the mold needs it anyhow, beagling usually gets rid of the wrinkles.
lathesmith

[kamikaze1a]

I did not have a single usable boo until I smoked the cavities. The wrinkles were really bad, not just a few wrinkles but severe wrinkles... I poured more than 30 sets before giving smoking a shot. I wish I had tried smoking sooner... By the way, I use smoke on all my other molds...

lathesmith, your comments making me wonder if this mold needs more venting? I would think beagling would be like adding a big vent...any thoughts to this?

redneckdan, did you try smoking?

[SwedeNelson]

I've had very good luck with a little smoke.
When we test cast our moulds we use a little smoke
to get things going.
Pour 5 or 6 times, to get blocks up to temp.
apply a little smoke then go to town.

Swede Nelson

[kamikaze1a]

I've had very good luck with a little smoke.
When we test cast our moulds we use a little smoke
to get things going.
Pour 5 or 6 times, to get blocks up to temp.
apply a little smoke then go to town.

Swede Nelson

So you feel it's better to smoke a hot mold rather than when it's cold? Thanks for your input!

[SwedeNelson]

Yes.
A hot mould seams to take less smoke.
I use as light a coat as I can.

Swede Nelson

[redneckdan]

redneckdan, did you try smoking?

Not yet, I'm going to give it another go when I get home this evening. I'll heat 'er up and see what happens. I too another look at the last couple pours and they do look pretty good. I was force feeding the lead from the bottom pour and the mould was definitely hot.

[rjbishop]

Here's the latest 250 bullets that I cast this weekend. I didn't smoke the mold at all- ran the temp at 775, and tried to keep the mold hot enough to stay right at the onset of frost point. It was hard to do- the temperature was under 40 degrees in the garage. Running .358 - 360, all cavities putting out identical boolits in terms of size. With modified Lyman #2, they range 144.0 - 145.0 grains- the vast majority of them run 144.6 gr.

I like this mold! (And they shoot great as well).

http://www.pervinco.com/Firearms/MiHec359147/ReplacementMoldFirstBatch_001.jpg


http://www.pervinco.com/Firearms/MiHec359147/First_Shot_Rounds_002.jpg


-Reid-

[dragonrider]

As this mold came without when I was casting with it for the first time I could not get a single usable boolit. Temps up to 900 degrees made little difference. I scribed some vent lines into it as shown in another thread followed by lapping each cavity, temps now 800-850 give perfect boolits. YMMV.

[rjbishop]

I'm finally narrowing down to a very consistent load with these. Last trip to the range, I chronographed these at 860fps, ES of 15, and SD of 4 (over 11 shot string). Load was 3.7gr Winchester WSF, COAL of 1.140". They are quite accurate with this load.

Getting leading under control- I dipped these in a thick-ish mix of 50/50 Lee Alox & Johnson Paste Wax. Just dipped them to the top of the lube groove. Ended up with very minor leading after 50 rounds. My alloy is modified Lyman #2- 6% Sb, 2%Sn, 92% Pb- air dropped.

[GabbyM]

I'm working with a 5C copy of the 311041, I rant two pots of 50/50 WW/range scrap + 2% tin through it yesterday and the last couple pours on the final pot full the wrinkles started to disappear a little bit. The instructions say to heat cycle it a few times and that's supose to help. I'll play with it a little more on wednesday.

That's been my typical experience with every aluminum mould I've broken in. About an hour or two of casting before the oil finally burns out of the pours. I've some acetone for trying to degrease the next one. I've boiled them in soapy water used white gas and brake cleaner.

[sundog]

I know its not the same mould, but I cast for the second time yesterday with an NOE 4-cav 22-55-FN. First session was so-so. I smoked the mould with wood stick yesterday, and voila! My experience is NEVER use mould release on alumininium. If they work clean, that's the first choice. Smoke is second choice and always works, provided the mould is properly clean and set. My first choice for smoke wood is stick match (no paraffin) and second butane lighter. My favorite cleaning solvents for moulds are MEK and Coleman fuel.

added: btw, I have the RCBS 147 grainer for a number of years now. It is a fine boolit, very similar to the one in this thread.