Fill Out Problems at any Temperature??

[larrye44]

I’m having a fit with a Lee C312-155-2R 7.62 X 39 - 2 cavity mold. I can’t get it to fill out at any temperature. I’ve tried from 650 degrees to 850 degrees and the bullits are wrinkled like the mold is too cool. I have the mold hot. I’m using straight wheel weights. They were smelted, fluxed and cleaned and put into small ingots so as not to cool down the pot when I go to pouring bullits. I have the Lee Pro 4-20 Melter. I even flux again when I put it in the melter. Does anyone have some tips that will help me get some good bullits? I can’t figure this one out. Thanks everyone. Larry

[Dale53]

Wrinkled bullets almost invaribly result from oil or other preservative on the mould. When I get a new mould, I scrub the dickens out of it with a toothbrush and liquid hand soap. I rinse it VERY hot water, then do it again.

Then I pre-heat the mould on a hotplate while my bullet metal is melting. It will take a few casts but it normally starts casting good bullets quickly.

I suggest that you follow the cleaning process, rinse in very hot water, then pat dry with plain facial tissues (no lotion on the tissues) or a clean towel.

Good luck!
Dale53

[That'll Do]

I would recommend that you try adding tin to your WW's.

It seems that adding tin is the first step when mold fill-out issues arise (aside from having a hot mold and hot enough alloy, which you do).
I add tin in the form of solder to my WW's when I don't get proper fill-out.

edit:

Insert foot in mouth...I would heed Dale's advice before mine. Giving the mold a good scrub down is a lot cheaper than buying tin...

[Bkid]

When you flux are you taking out metal ,that may be your tin that you are removing. I also keep a layer of sawdust on top of my lead to help maintain temp. I am just a beginner though . You may want tolisten to the pros first.

[larrye44]

Thanks, Dale and That'll Do , great advice. I will clean the mold again. Now that I think of it, I might have gotten a little Bull Plate in the cavity.

Bkid, thanks. I don't get the wheel weights hot enough to separate the tin from the alloy. I'm new to this too. But I have read on this forum that it is not that easy to separate the tin from the lead and other metals in the alloy. At least that is what I think I read. It's hell being new at something like this, but with help from all the guys on this forum, I'm sure me and you will be learning real quick. I cast 200 grain SWC boolits in .45 ACP and they turn out real good. I have a RCBS steel mold and cast at about 700 degrees. Boolits shine and the size and weight are perfect. Thanks again everyone. Larry

[Bkid]

Sounds good Larrye44. I also cast some SWC 200 GR 45 acp boolits. My boolits did not shine,but they are shooting good now. Lol. What mold do you use for the 45 acp boolits?

[skimmerhead]

mold to cold, get it hot! run your pot 800f. stick that mold corner in that pot get it hot. once that mold gets hot your wrinkles will go away. i have 12 lee molds and love every one of em. a boolit mold is like a woman, you have to get to know her before she'll love you! get to know your mold and it'll show you some love.

skimmerhead:cbpour:

[DLCTEX]

When you flux are you taking out metal ,that may be your tin that you are removing. I also keep a layer of sawdust on top of my lead to help maintain temp. I am just a beginner though . You may want tolisten to the pros first.

Actually when you flux you are saving metal by reducing the oxides back to the metal. Tin usually oxidizes before lead and the gray "ash" on the surface of the melt is tin oxide. Flux the tin back in and the gray ash disappears and only black carbon floats on top. The saw dust is flux, and it won't stay on the surface as sawdust long as it will burn into carbon (and smoke). Seems to me it would smoke you out.

[larrye44]

Thanks, skimmerhead, this woman is about to drive me crazy. I've been running the pot too cool (700 degrees). I'll heat the ol' girl up and give it another go.

DLCTEX, I flux with a wooden stick and stir the bottom of the pot real good. You are right the stuff on top goes back into the pot if you flux right. Sometimes I use a little wax from a toilet bowl ring ($3.00 at Lowe's). With a pinch the size of a pea, it last forever.

Bkid, my .45 ACP mold is the RCBS copy of the H&G #68. It is the 45-201-SWC. Sized to .452 and lubed with White Label BAC lube. No leading in the barrel.

[Bret4207]

The cool mould is a lot of your problem. Pot temp` is relatively unimportant, mould temp is. Either dip it or start casting faster. Remember- every second the mould is empty it's cooling. If you stand there looking at the dropped boolits, fluxing, moving around looking for stuff that mould is relatively cold as ice for the next poor. Get it HOT, hot enough that you have to wait a few seconds for the sprue to cool. THat's where whe'll get good fill out. BUT!- That's also the temo you can smear lead across the top of the blocks/bottom of the sprue plate, so at the first sign of that stop and clean it up. Lube helps there.

[qajaq59]

You could try soaking the mold over night in some denatured alcohol. I find that seems to get every bit of oil out of the metal.

[44man]

mold to cold, get it hot! run your pot 800f. stick that mold corner in that pot get it hot. once that mold gets hot your wrinkles will go away. i have 12 lee molds and love every one of em. a boolit mold is like a woman, you have to get to know her before she'll love you! get to know your mold and it'll show you some love.

skimmerhead:cbpour:
How in the world do you get to know a woman??? Molds are easier by a million %! :bigsmyl2:

[Calamity Jake]

NO one has said anything about VENTING!!!! Check the vent lines for blockage, use a sharp pointed tool to clean the vent lines drag the tool away from the cavity toward the outside.

[44man]

Not much you can call vent lines on a Lee.
The mold might be one that needs ladle poured.
I would break the inside top edges though.

[whopist]

“I’m having a fit with a Lee C312-155-2R 7.62 X 39 - 2 cavity mold.”

Me too, Larry, until I polished the mold cavities with Simicrome Polish.

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii165/whopist/PolishMold.jpg

Bullet on left is before polish job and the one on the right is after.

Good luck

[RICKLANDES]

You mention the lead temps from 650 to 850...a simple question...are you checking these with a thermometer or going by "temps" on the pot?

I only say this as I had a pot set where I KNEW I had cast bullets and it was too cool as the pot was going to pot. Recheck your temp by checking your thermo in boiling water if you think it is off (a simple calibration check).

Everything I can see points to too cool of pour materials; esp. since you have poured other boolits before this...

[docone31]

Take the mold, soak it in mineral spirits for two days, then preheat it and cast it.
I let the mold sit on the melt before casting.
When I use lee molds, I go by the six second rule.
Pour the lead, count to six to the sprue freeze.
Too long, too hot, less, too cool.
Works for me.

[larrye44]

Success at last. Good clean mold, good hot mold and found the right temp.

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/larrye44/762X39LeadBoolits.jpg

[Dale53]

larrye44;
Congratulations! That represents GOOD WORK!

Dale53

[qajaq59]

Ok, now it's onward to loading and the range..........

[chris in va]

Wow, those are beautiful. Haven't made up my mind yet about reloading for x39, even though I have two guns for it. Brass is just so hard to find. You should have seen me the last range trip, a guy next to me was wasting a couple boxes of Winchester x39 and I was Johnny-on -the-spot picking those suckers up.

[docone31]

Here is a site for folks who only can get Berdan primed cases.
http://users.ameritech.net/mchandler/primer.html
I was going to do this, but, cases became available.