Made my first boolit(s)...have some questions.

[That'll Do]

I made my first boolit(s) tonight! I'm so excited!

The only thing that bugged me was that I was having mold fill-out issues.

Here's the equipment I am using:

• Lee Pro 4-20 Pot
• RCBS 44-250-K Mold
• CB Group Buy Modified Wheel Weight Alloy (Lead, 2% Tin, 4% Antimony, 0.25% Arsenic)

After melting the alloy and fluxing I started to cast (I had preheated the mold on the edge of the pot for about 20 minutes), no problems with filling the mold and cutting the sprue, and the boolits dropped out nice and easy, between .431" and .432".

What I can't figure out is that some of the boolits had fill-out problems on half of the boolit, and other had fill-out issues on both sides.

Here's a picture of the problem boolit (I had more than once, but Photobucket isn't cooperating at the moment):

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg286/BradE_82/boolit0001.jpg

As you can see on the left side, the front driving band is nice and sharp, but not so on the right side.

So what should I do? Crank up the heat? Clean my mold again? I don't know my exact casting temp (thermometer is on the way from Midway), but I had the Lee pot at "7".

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

[lwknight]

Colors in pictures are devieving and computer monitors compound the problem. You did not mention your alloy mix/ratio as to wether or not you added some tin. I would venture a guess that you might need more tin.
About 2% minimum should clear up the trouble.
You may not be getting the mold quite hot enough and there might be a venting problem with the micro vent lines not being clear.

It would not hurt to get the heat a little higher. When you get a satin finish on the boolit, you know for sure that everything is hot enough. Nothing wrong with shiny beutiful boolits either. The satin finish is like a test point. Once you get there if you still have fill problems, you can look elsewhere.

What I describe as "Satin" is probably what most call frosty. They probably have not seen a severely frosted boolit or they likely would not use the word so loosely.

Sometimes it just goes away after casting a few hundred boolits.

[ddixie884]

I could be wrong, but I beleive your alloy is too cold, or you are not running a large enough pool of metal in your sprue to alloy for shrinkage as your bullets cool. Others may offer their advice, and some are very knowledgable. My advice is worth what it costs, and you will learn fast.

[Rusty W]

I use a Lee 4-20 also and the same mold in a double cavity. I've had that same problem too. I cast with WW and found if I get the heat to around 750-800 the edges fill out nice and sharp. I have a RCBS thermometer and with a full pot about 1" or so from the top, the setting on the Lee is on 7. As the level goes down the temp rises. Once I get much past 800 I put a few rejects or sprue cuttings back in and flux to bring the temp back down, and run some more. It'll take a few to get the mold back to temp but so far it's worked.

[stubshaft]

Did you preheat the mould?

IMHO - both the alloy and the mould may be a little under optimum temperature. If you had frosted boolits with the same problem (one side not filling out) then I would suspect improper venting. L W Knight was correct in the presumption that a little tin would make the edges "crisper" but it is not necessary as long as you get well filled out boolits.

[Echo]

My vote goes for a touch more tin, AND more heat...

[chris in va]

Wow, I run my 10# pot at around 5.5 when everything is fully melted and have no problems with fillout. Anything hotter and things get weird. This is for 9mm and 45acp though.

[Dennis Eugene]

More heat and maybe run the mold a lil hotter. That's a very good mold and will make great boolits once you get it down. Step up your rate of casting and that will help bring up the heat of your mold. I like the Lee pot but just because someone runs theres at 6 doesen't mean a thing you may still have to run yours at 8. When I cast in winter time in my garage it is cold enough that I have to run my pot hotter than summer time. Dennis

[243winxb]

More heat is needed, pot and mold. Keep lube away from the cavity. Your alloy is good to go.

[WHITETAIL]

Like what was said, Hot and fast
untill you get to the frosting.
But what will not hurt your mold
is take a utility knife and go over
your vents.
What I mean is the blade point is
put in the line and try to recut it.
If the vent is blocked this will clear it.:cbpour:

[kbstenberg]

Another vote for hotter an faster. UNTIL you start getting frosted bullets. Then the heat can be reduced (in small increments) an speed reduced. Always take notes for later use. I have a small note book listing all my molds with all there little idiosyncrasies (spelling)
Kevin

[That'll Do]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.

I'll run everything hotter, until I get frosty boolits, and then start to back off the heat and speed.

I'll be casting again this afternoon, so I'll provide some updates in the evening.

[44wcf]

My vote goes for a touch more tin, AND more heat...

I aggree

[HammerMTB]

I see that your alloy has 2% tin, which should be enough.
I find that Lee molds sometimes need a hundred boolits cast thru them to kind of "straighten up" and cast better.
Turning up the heat will help burn the oils out of the mold cavities.
You're doin' the right thing(s), just do 'em some more and soon you will be making boolits by the bucketload..... :cbpour:

[mooman76]

Those bullets don't look all that bad. They will get better with time anyway and pistols are more forgiving when shooting cast because of the short distances you usually shot anyway.

[That'll Do]

Well, after heeding the suggestions everyone offered, I went back to the workshop, and started casting again.

Turns out I needed to let my alloy heat up longer, and I also needed to cast a little quicker until my mold was ready to go (even though I preheated it). Now I have completely filled-out boolits, with nice crisp edges.

Here's the fruit of my labor:

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg286/BradE_82/Boolit0003.jpg

They measure between .431" and .432" as cast, and weigh out at roughly 260gr. I now have a large pile that are awaiting a trip through the Lube-a-matic and eventual hand loading for my 44 Special Blackhawk. [smilie=w:

Thanks again everyone for all the help! I already have a strong urge to buy multiple molds for every caliber I own...

[snuffy]

Thanks again everyone for all the help! I already have a strong urge to buy multiple molds for every caliber I own...

Uh oh, you're hooked! Reel him in guys! It never stops, just give in, buy a bunch of molds.

Hooray!:mrgreen: Glad everything worked out for you. Those last ones look great![smilie=w:[smilie=w: That's the gray, satin finish LWK was talking about.

[Bob Krack]

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg286/BradE_82/Boolit0003.jpg

They measure between .431" and .432" as cast, and weigh out at roughly 255gr. I now have a large pile that are awaiting a trip through the Lube-a-matic and eventual hand loading for my 44 Special Blackhawk. ..
Just holler when ya want to start selling commercially! :mrgreen:

Bob

[That'll Do]

Uh oh, you're hooked! Reel him in guys! It never stops, just give in, buy a bunch of molds.

Hooray!:mrgreen: Glad everything worked out for you. Those last ones look great![smilie=w:[smilie=w: That's the gray, satin finish LWK was talking about.

Thanks for the compliment. I was able to get shiny boolits later in the batch as I dialed back the temperature, looking for a sweet spot.


Just holler when ya want to start selling commercially! :mrgreen:

Bob

Baby steps, baby steps! :smile::castmine:

[Dennis Eugene]

Very Nice,Very very nice, I have that same mold and it is one of my favorites and it looks like yours is going to treat you just as good as mine treats me. RCBS molds are hard to beat. Dennis

[GLL]

Looks very good !

The RCBS 44-250-K is a favorite of mine and one of the very best out there !

Jerry

[That'll Do]

Very Nice,Very very nice, I have that same mold and it is one of my favorites and it looks like yours is going to treat you just as good as mine treats me. RCBS molds are hard to beat. Dennis

I've heard lots of good things about RCBS molds. I have been quite impressed with their other reloading-related products I own, so I figured (rightly) that their molds would also be top notch.

I'll definitely be buying more RCBS molds in the future. If only they made 4 cavity versions...