About ready to give up on my MiHec 200gr...

[JesseCJC]

Be forewarned, they look sad and will make you laugh probably but I have tried every thing to get some boolits from this mould and failed. I have no problems with any aluminum mould I have, just this one which is my first brass.

I have tried dadgum near everything and I can not get this mould to drop anything worth noting to save my life. I have tried everything from 800+ temps, 20 minutes on a hot plate to bring the mould up to temp, switching pins, alloys, you name it and I am having the greatest trouble getting this mould to drop decent boolits. Granted, this mould could be too complex for this noob but i am seriously debating putting it up for trade for a LEE 6 cavity as it's of no use to me. What is the first and foremost problem boolit fill out. Main area obviously is the pins. The cavity cause by the pins will either be incomplete, wavy, or look collapsed. I will also get the stray that will have almost a hairline crack running in a spiral up the boolit itself.

Alloy has been straight clip on WW, WW/plumbers pipe, and WW+tin all have failed.
Mould was soaked in mineral spirits, pins coated with KROIL and cavities have been cleaned with a toothbrush all prior to getting started.
My process is this:

Warm up the hotplate with the mould on top on med/high setting on this hotplate
http://www.gehousewares.com/Browse_Product.aspx?category_id=33
For about 20 minutes as the alloy gets to temp in the LEE 20lb drip-o-matic. I start off at setting 5 until it starts to melt (usually 1/2 full of alloy) and then crank up to 7 which is usually about 750ish maybe a little less. The spout is about 1/2in from the mould, pour, cut sprue dump rejects as usual and keep trucking. Not much rest between to keep the brass mould hot which is obviously MUCH hotter than I need to run aluminum which I learned to cast with. I understand that even with a pretty lengthy pre-heat I will have rejects in the form of wrinkles and what have you, no big deal. But when that 1/2 the pot goes down to 1/8th of a pot with not a keeper, I am at a loss for words.

These were the last ones to drop after 1/2-1/8 pot

http://i46.tinypic.com/fan70h.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/2mh6hom.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/359fus6.jpg

You can see all around the cavities that it looks like they are sagging or even have a small crack. The rest of the boolit is fine but what good does that do me? :(

What am I doing wrong?

[AnthonyB]

Jesse:
I have had several mould who just needed to be taught who was boss, so don't give up yet. Looks like you still have some oil in the mould; try brake or carb cleaner before your next attempt.
Tony

[Maven]

What Anthony B. said, and try casting with a ladle. After cleaning the cavities and pin(s) again, smoke them with a few wooden matches when they're almost up to temperature. Are you using a casting thermometer, as I suspect your alloy may not be as hot as you'd like?

[fishnbob]

Jesse, I am waiting on my mold with bated breath. I only own aluminum molds. This my 1st venture into anything other than aluminum. I am scared s---less!
Allright guys, break out the brains & communicate!

[Heavy lead]

Try pressure casting, hold it right up tight to the spout and let it flow, count to 7 then drop in and lower it enough to make a good sprue, then go to the next cavity and repeat. I find if I do this a few times warming up a mould they go to pouring just fine after words not pressure casting.

[anachronism]

Start over, from the beginning. Clean & degrease the mould & pins like Maven suggested. Smoke your hollowpoint pins, preheat the mould & try casting at 800+ degrees. I usually preheat my hollowpoint moulds so that the first bullets are heavily frosted. When they freeze, I cut the sprue & toss both the sprue & bullets into the sprue pile. The second set of bullets will be less frosted, and the third set even less so. Cast quickly until the mould settles down & gives consistently good bullets, then I adjust my pace as needed. I think you just have a mould with oil in it, that you might be casting too slowly. Those aren't cracks you're seeing, they're wrinkles, and they're most commonly caused by oil in the mould or a mould that's too cool.

[JesseCJC]

I have a small thermometer I use in the pot and I keep it around 750-820 at max. When you say smoke the mould/ pins, can you elaborate a bit on that? Would something like brake clean be sufficient? Would I just let it dry out naturally or rise it off with water or what? Thanks

[Heavy lead]

IMO nothing works as good as dish detergent and almost (or boiling) water, then I further degrease after dry with denatured alcohol or brake cleaner.

[Digger]

Anachronism is on the money.... one more tidbit i have found with miha's molds is after preheating on the plate like a lot of us do , we also dip the mold into the pot to heat up more , mainly the pins .
Coming out frosted is the big clue and you work from there....up or down in dip time , once you have it , your rhythm comes into play from there.

digger

[Cord]

Others more knowledgeable than me will help, but here’s my .02 -

I would scrub the mould with denatured alcohol and a toothbrush
and then blast it clean with carb cleaner.
Put a bit of sprue lube or Kroil on the pin tips only after it’s hot.

Mostly, your mould and your melt do not appear hot enough to me,
because the metal is “freezing” and not “flowing” into the nose area.
If you have plumber’s pipe and tin, try a 20/1 or 25/1 alloy of those,
it may flow better into the cracks at high temperature.
25/1 flows good for me and will not frost at max temp on my RCBS.

Try to get both melt and mould as hot as you can until you start to get
“finning” around the pin tip and into the vent lines, then back off a bit.

IMHO, a brass mould needs to be almost as hot as your melt to keep
the metal fluid long enough to fill out the entire boolit cavity.

Joke On /
Glen Beck tells you the truth FAR more than your Drip-O-Matic will
/ Joke Off

.

[hoosierlogger]

When you say smoke the mould/ pins, can you elaborate a bit on that?


Open the mold and hold a burning kitchen match below the mold so that the smoke and soot settles in the mold cavity. Usually one match per cavity half. You should need 4 matches to do your mold.


You might want to check and make sure nothing is blocking the vent lines on the mold. That can lead to poor fill out.

[miestro_jerry]

I have many iron, steel and bronze molds from various times of my life. Aluminum ones are with in the last 5 years.

The one hollow point mold that I bought as a HP mold, I have to over heat it a little to make the lead flow thru out the mold.

My iron and steel molds, I keep them with dishwashing detergent, let them dry thoroughly, then smoke them with either wooden matches or an old fashion candle.

With some molds I cast with, I throw the first 20 or so castings back into the pot. Most of my molds have different personalities, many are very similar and others can be very different. When you have over 100 molds, remember which one acts which way can be difficult.

Here is a great resource for CB information: http://www.lasc.us/ArticleIndex.htm

Jerry

[pistolman44]

I have the same mold and it's the best mold I own. I degrease it with brake cleaner and use Bullplate sprue lube on sprue cutter and the sliding area of the pins and around the bottom of pins where the mold closes on them . Never put lube or anything on the top of the pins. Keep the hollow point part of the pins dry and hot. I use straight WW only. Once I get it up to tempt. I can go thru 18lbs. of lead in no time and all bullets are perfect. My next mold will be for the 41 mag from Mihec.

[MT Gianni]

Pm me if you want to swap for something. I think it's fixable given the solutions mentioned.

[BSkerj]

The only thing that I can add that has not been said above that I have done with mine is literally turn on my turkey / smelting flame and put the mold, opened up over the flame for about 5 min. I fill the mold and open the sprue plate to make sure the lead is still molten. I know that if I have to wait for the lead to harden up the mold is up to temp. Then I start pouring getting a few frosties and from there out great bullets.

[Edubya]

How about seeing what temp that you're hot plate is heating to. It seems that you're lacking heat in the mould and turn your pot up 'til you're getting frostys. You ain't gonna hurt the mould by getting everything hotter. Just stay cool yourself. If all of us can do it, you surely can!
EW

[Blammer]

What it sounds like to me is the pins are oily or dirty.

Clean it with carb cleaner, denatured alcohol, scrub in hot soapy water, what ever, just get that rascal really clean.

DON'T add ANY release agent to the pins or the cavity. (I would use a Qtip with my choice of mould lubricant for the hinge pin and locking pins) Make sure it is very clean. I'd preheat the mould, get my melt to my normal running temp and then use a lighter or match and smoke the pins, ONLY A VERY LITTLE! So much so that you'll likely not see it.

I'd then start casting.

My observations on your boolits is that you have some oil on the pins that is preventing fill out.

Get your mould and melt hot enough that you'll have to count to 5 to wait for the sprue to harden, then count another 15 and crack the spure and dump. Observe your boolits, if they are filled out well, then you can lower the temp gradually until you come to a comfortable casting routine for you.

[MT Chambers]

My guess is that the pins are cooling too much, in between pouring the next bullet, the pins have to stay around the same temp as the mold. I'm not familiar with that particular mold but even the Gould can do that until you get a good way to minimize cooling of the pin in between casts.

[mooman76]

I'm with MT Chambers. I think your pin is not hot enough and it is cooling the lead around the nose. Crank the heat up all the way until you get major frost like someone stated and slowly back down util you are putting out good bullets. Don't fidget with the mould while you are doing this as it will be cooling off. Just keep cranking out the bullets as fast as you can to get the mould and pin up to temp. If your pin is seperate from the mould make sure you heat it too.

[fredj338]

Try pressure casting, hold it right up tight to the spout and let it flow, count to 7 then drop in and lower it enough to make a good sprue, then go to the next cavity and repeat. I find if I do this a few times warming up a mould they go to pouring just fine after words not pressure casting.
This is exactly how I cast w/ all my HP molds & many others as well. Fill out is much better, yeah sometimes you get fins, but those flick off. Getting the bullets to release has been a bigger issue w/ my Mihec.

[Bass Ackward]

Also bear in mind that heat rizes. Nothing wrong with cheating.

After you open and drop, close up the mold and hold the mold upside down for a few seconds so that heat that was built up by the base and the sprue plate now rizes to the pin / nose area. Then roll over and fill.

[MiHec]

Speed of pouring?? I think it is too slow.

Also run this one HOOOOT - i found 820F is the sweet spot (at least for me).
Preheat mold well

[JesseCJC]

The spout is open flow pretty much, I am cleaning the mould now actually hoping to try again today

[RugerFan]

Speed of pouring?? I think it is too slow.

Also run this one HOOOOT - i found 820F is the sweet spot (at least for me).
Preheat mold well

BINGO! Run it hot and use a FAST casting tempo. I have zero problems with this mould.

[JesseCJC]

Well, initial results are in and they do look better, but still not "perfect" I had to take the small butane torch to the mould to get it hot enough before the rain came but it worked a hell of a lot better than the hotplate did that's for sure. Still having inconsistencies in the cavities but not as bad as before. I will try again when the weather clears up

[whitetailsniper]

i have a very simular mold,its the lyman 180 grain hollow point 2 cav. it looks the same as yours except the hollow point design,,,its for my 45 acp..probally one of the best molds so far .i have 7 differant molds for my 45,,and at leat 7 for my 41 rem mag,, heres what i do,,,, when i turn on my melting pot,lee 20lb. i set it to 8 1/2 setting,,while this heats up i put my mold into a mold warmer box,ontop of my single burner plate,,,my mold warmer box is a electrical (metal) 4 gang box,i bought 3 flat covers, metal for the box,2 of them screwed on the bottom of the box so the constant high temp will not warp the box,or over heat the mold,,,i used a 3rd flat cover for a top,and installed a wooden dowl handle,then got a bbq thermomitor to monitor temp. and affixed it to the handle lid. i lastly used a dremil to cut out a square to allow the handles to stick out,keeping the whole mold inside the warming box. now when i turn on my melting pot,i turn on the mold warming box with the mold inside,i allso drilled a single hole for the hollow point pin as a holder,and to bring that up to temp as well. when my mold and hollow point pin reach 500f,and my led in my pot is ready,i back my pot down to 7 1/2 approx 700f,,,i grap my mold,and from the first to my last i get perfect bullets everytime. when you need to refile your pot,just put mold back into the warming box to maintain temp. also a note-try when filling getting closer to spout,and let it come at a heavyer stream.not to fast for overflow,not to slow as it takes awhile to fill. find your middle flow.,and control. also like others mentioned use brake cleaner on the cavities,,and pin.,also try #0000 steel wool on your pin only for a faster release.. i do mine this way,and less than a wk ago now i casted 500 rounds of these,and loaded 250 of them. the mold warming box is the ticket,and a nice trick to help maintain consistant temp of the mold,,and the pin.

[giz189]

All of these ideas probably work, but I have found if I run my alloy between 850 - 900* I usually get perfect boolits every time. Some don't like to run that hot. my .02 worth.

[warf73]

All of these ideas probably work, but I have found if I run my alloy between 850 - 900* I usually get perfect boolits every time. Some don't like to run that hot. my .02 worth.


This is what I do, run that puppy HOT I run molds like that at 900* +.

[gefiltephish]

Both of my Mihec molds respond well to pressure casting. A tiny bit of bullplate on the pins allows bullets to drop fairly easily from the 9mm as well as the 45 mold. Pressure casting seems to allow for less tin needed in the alloy. This technique also works well with a Lee 6 cav. Don't know why I waited so long to try it.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I have the Mihec 256 gr .44 cal mold in brass HP cramer style. I love it. It is first just a joy to behold. Well made and fits like a bank vault.

I cleaned mine with dawn and boiling hot water and a toothbrush and boiled it some more and did it again.

Then I set my Lee 4-20 on max until the spout unfroze and I could get a decent flow of alloy.

I then stuck the end of the mold into the pot about 1/2" just so the corners were below the surface. I kept that baby in the melt for about 4 minutes. I was surprised to see smoke coming off that mold. It still had oil on it somewhere.

I then cast a few dozen boolits with it. They were hanging up on the HP pins until I inverted the mold after removing the sprues and tapped the end of the HP positioning pins with a hickory handle so the boolit and the HP was out and away from the mold itself. The boolits then fall off into the bucket of water.

After I had made about 30 boolits I cast another set and removed the sprue. I then lubed the top of the mold and the underside of the sprue plate with Bullshops Sprue Plate lube and wiped off the excess with the clean end of the q tip. Then I shook off the boolits after I opened the mold. I then lubricated the locating pins on the mold and the HP's.

After all this and keeping the alloy REALLY HOT (825-850) I went to town and cast up over 1000 of the boolits in a couple of hours. This mold is a joy to use but you hafta keep it hot and lube the pins and such as listed above.

Try as I might I could not get a frosted boolit with this mold. The brass loses heat to fast for that. Oh but they are really nice. 131 gr average with ww's including the stick on's and water quenched.

[JesseCJC]

http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a429/Goobax/DSCI0390.jpg

this is from just now, only have my phone so I can't get any decent pictures. Cavities are much better but still seem asymmetrical as just one side is thinner than the rest.Could just be expecting too much though, I dunno.

[Wayne Smith]

I don't kno, Jessie. I'd be tempted to load those suckers and see if they shoot straight. If they do, you got it. I'd guess that you are expecting too much. Become a realist, if they shoot they are good.

[Glen]

mooman76 is right -- your HP pins aren't hot enough. After you pre-heat the mould, then just start casting, and cast as fast as you can comfortably and safely. DO NOT stop to inspect your bullets, just keep pouring hot metal into those cavitites as quickly as possible. Different moulds heat up at different rates and cold pins will ALWAYS make HP mouths come out wrinkled and with defects.

[Moonie]

I cast some up in my new 200gr 45 Mihec HP mold last night. The boolits are beautiful however I am having some issues getting the boolits off the 5 sided pins. I pressure poured most of them, complete fill out and beautiful castings. The inside of the HP seems to have a burr, like the pin pulled some lead with it as it released but not all the way off. I cleaned the mold with boiling hot water with Dawn and scrubbed well with a toothbrush. No lube on the pins...yet. Was thinking I might need to polish the pins up. Took alot of pounding to get the boolits off the pins.

[Themoose]

I cast some Mon night... my first time using the new mold... I had problems too until I upped the heat a little and got the pins hotter... when I got into sync it was very smooth.. opened the sprue cutter with a gloved hand, turned over the mold, tilted it, and most of the time the bullets fell off without even a shake.. occasionly I had to just give a little shake... but... in the beginning I had severe problems with the release.. even resorted to using pliers to remove one bullet from 5-sided pin... I guess I learned that heat is the trick.. at least for me.

TheMoose

[Moonie]

Yea, perhaps that is the issue, I noticed this morning some voids in the cavities. I had my lee 20-4 pot on 8 to 8.5. Perhaps it just wasn't quite hot enough. I'll polish up the pins and try casting faster/hotter.

[kbstenberg]

I'm using the 503 Cramer. Usually 2 molds at one time. With a temp. just above the spout freeze up point.
Don't you guyes over heat the molds with the high temp., an fast casting! Id think your bullets are very frosty, to the point of looking galvanized. Even useing the B.B. water dunk.
Kevin

[pjh421]

A clean mould and adequate heat are both essential but like Hoosierlogger said, check the vent lines. They can close-off slightly from normal use and will prevent fill out. If my mould was clean and everything was up to temp, this would be the next thing I would check. When the lead goes in, the air must come out and it can't all come out of the sprue holes. I would tend to use a propane torch to heat the hollow point pins (and carefully). I think its cool that the manufacturer (Mi-Hec) chimed in here.

Paul

[JesseCJC]

I am certain that the heat is sufficient last night it was 820 and there was no stop between cast to dump either. I am not sure of the temp of the mould but it was hot enough to lightly frost the first few casts. The rest did not frost but still had defects in the pins. Not as major but like I said they are not symetrical. I know it is vain but just what I was hoping for. Either way they look nice, just hope I can find the right lube/powder combo later on after I get enough money for a lubrisizer.

[fishnbob]

Just got my mold and have read all the comments and advice & hope to cast some soon. Can someone tell me what the round looking part that came with the mould and the small hex key is for? I don't have a camera to photo it but it is round on one end with a stem like on the other and frankly looks like a plug or bullet seater on the other. Can someone enlighten a newbie?

[Moonie]

That is the top punch for a lubesizer, believe it fits both rcbs and lyman

[fishnbob]

Thanks, Moonie. Not having a lubesizer, I would have never figured that out!

[fryboy]

i do the pressure casting as well after 3-4 times usually the mold and pin are running good ,this works wonders for my lyman 452374 dv mold , i also never set my pin down ( seeing as it's the removable pin kind) sadly however this doesnt work for my old ideal hollow base wadcutter but it does on the 3 lee molds i have with hp's

[Shooter6br]

I took the advice and pre heated my mold for 4 minutes by dipping the corner of the mold in my old Lee laddle pot filled with melted alloy. I find the this mold has to run HOTTER THAN ThE Hinges of H**. Works great making HP but boy its hot work.........Next buy is the 41 Mag version when available. The mold is made like a Swiss bank vault

[Shooter6br]

200 g HP 20-1 alloy shot in water filled milk jug at 5 yds. 6.4 g Universal in a Sig 250 compact(4 in barrel) About 970 fps. Did not go thur jug. 205 g as casted 201g recovered Not bad if i say so myself . Next I need a Milhec 41 mag HP mold!

[Shooter6br]

Expanded 200 grain Milhec HP 45 ACP

[mroliver77]

I rum my Lee 20lb pot almost wide open when casting with the brass MP molds. I run as fast as I can without being sloppy and rarely get mold hot enough for frosty boolits. I have found that oil etc will burn out of a mold without cleaning. I do clean with brake kleen but have just used them till they cleaned themselves. After a half pot your mold should be clean! I have troubles with the 5 sided pin not releasing too. I also had the problem of pin not being centered or so I thought. It was from banging to release boolit when boolit was still too soft.I mostly use the round pin. I did not believe the 5 sided pin would perform as well as water jug tests show and bought it as an oddity. Just look at that expansion! Ought to be devastating on varmints!! I need a deer carcass to shoot an autopsy for real life testing. I cast some with a dipper and it was easier to make nice boolits but the speed is not there. I run spout very close on BP and get very nice boolits pretty fast. Try with the flat nose (no hp) setup and man does this mold drop them!!
Keep your expectations high as this mold will perform. Sometimes a breather and a study of the situation helps. Never die!!
Jay

[Jaybird62]

I've only read the first page of responses, so somebody might have mentioned this... but here goes. Clean according to others' instructions. then, spray the pins only with a mould release agent. I had the same problem with one of Miha's .44 moulds and this did the trick.

[fishnbob]

I have been casting a coupla times this week with my Mi Hec Cramer and I had a tough time getting the boolits off the penta points. As a matter of fact I beat 7/8" oak dowel rod to splinters trying to get them to drop off the pins. Finally after a couple hundred rounds and oiling pins and smoking pins, cursing and swearing, they started to drop like rocks. I guess they gave up with all the abuse, both verbal & physical. This was after I polished up the pins with a jewelers file & steel wool. They now fin around the nose especially when I get the heat up to around 900 degrees, but none have frosted. I can't seem to get the pot that hot! I hope my .40 mold works better. Just got it yesterday.

[Dale53]

I haven't had the serious problems that others have reported with the bullets failing to drop off the pins. However, mine did stick a bit. I used NEI or Rapine mould release on the pins (this is micro fine graphite in an alcohol carrier. I use a Q-tip to apply and apply just a light coat on the pins themselves. I don't put anything else in the mould. Now, no sticking whatsoever.

I also lube the pin shafts where they go through the mould body (a drop each on the pins outside of the mould blocks where the pins come through. I use sprue plate lube as the directions suggest.

Do NOT get any petroleum product inside the cavities whatsoever! Do NOT put anything other than graphite based mould release on the pin noses. Clean the mould carefully with toothbrush and liquid hand soap (or Dawn Dishwashing liquid). Pre-heat the mould. I run my alloy at 750 degrees. My alloy for hollow points is either 20/1 lead/tin (I am convinced this is the best of all) or ww's/lead 50/50 + 2% tin. Either alloy should give you good fill out and nice expansion without shattering.

I have MiHec's 200 gr H.P. .45 ACP mould, the H&G #503 hollow point (as well as the six cavity one), and the RCBS clone 45-270-SAA hollow point mould. These are amongst the finest moulds I have ever used. I have some other great moulds but none better than MiHec's.

Casting experience IS important. A world champion Shuetzen shooter told me he believed that it takes two years experience before an individual learns how to cast a good bullet (he regularly shoots well under an inch at 200 yards with a plain base cast lead bullet off the bench with his schuetzen rifle). I suspect his conclusions are correct. Do NOT lose heart if you are having problems. Just keep at it and it will start to work for you, one and all.

Dale53

[fishnbob]

Thanks Dale53, I scrubbed & cleaned up the new .402 Mi Hec today and plan on casting tomorrow. Where can I find the NEI or Rapine graphite based mould release? Also it looks like I may need to add a little Pb to my straight WW mix, eh?

[Dale53]

NEI sells their mould release direct:

http://www.neihandtools.com/catalog.html

Scroll down the page.

Auto parts stores sell aerosol cans of micro fine graphite. If you can find one that dries "dry" it should work fine (just use the spray can to spray a q-tip and apply with the Q-tip to the hollow points). You do NOT want any oily residue inside the mould, PERIOD. If the aerosol is just microfine graphite and alcohol - that's what you want.

Buffalo Arms has Mould Prep for less money than NEI:

http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/4,1973.html

I recommend an alloy of WW's/Lead 50/50 + 2% tin for excellent expansion at velocities below 1000 fps. Above 1000 fps, then WW's/lead 80/20 + 2% tin.

The tin is important for malleability. WW's by themselves embrittle the alloy. Tin modifies that in a good way.

I have had excellent results using 20/1 lead/tin, also.

You might want to read Glen's excellent information on hollow point bullets, here:
http://www.lasc.us/ArticlesFryxell.htm

As far as I am concerned Glen is THE expert on using hollow point bullets. Reading his articles on this subject (there are several) will be time well spent.

Dale53

[whitetailsniper]

I have this same exact mold,,i recieved it this past sat. like my other molds from mihec i just had to get to it right away. heres what happened,and what i did,, i took the mold down to my casting bench, i turned up my pot to max,and also started up my warming plate and put my mold into my mold warmer. went back up stairs for about 15 min. returned back down,pot was ready,and mold was at 400 * knowing full well as learned from in the past with other molds,i missed a step ,,and told myself ok,,back up . i took my mold out let cool somewhat,,then took it outside and sprayed it down heavily with crc brake cleaner. ,and every not to miss anywere. then returned back down,and used mihec white bottle using just a few drops on the pins sliding rods if you will.,and also on the spruse plate bolt. then i returned the mold to my warmer plate ,and put it back into my mold warmer. i returned to it about 13 min. and temp was at 500* when i took the mold out of its warmer,,i could feel the heat,and see it,knowing it was ready to start. i then started off with the 5 sides hex pins hollow point,, i just love there looks,and its my favorite so i started there. i must have dropted approx. guessing about 30 bullets before mold started to give me keepers. dont try to inspect the boolets every time you cast,your loosing temp this way,,just keep casting,and dropping the fastest you can=keeping those pins hot. THE KEY IS RUN IT HOT as much as your mind will keep you wanting to look at what your casting,dont worry about it,keep your rythem and dont stop,dont look. just keep dropping them,,after approx 30 bullets then take knotice on how you drop the next ones so you can keep your rythem,and look at the condition of your 31,or 32 ,or 34 bullet,,you should see less ,and less put backs,and see more and more keepers,,i casted 180 of these same exact bullets,same mold type in no time,and after my first 30ish i was off and running,they all dropted out without issues,not a one,,,and before i knew it i had a pile of them. i figured this was plenty to get me started to load,and sight in for this year hunting deer with them. i am planning on using and starting with w296 powder starting at 20.0 grain,then a few at 20.1,,,20.2 and so on untill i find the sweet spot. im exspecting it to be 20.3 for this bullet and my gun. i will size them to .411 and might try a few at .412
when i was done casting i threw back my first 30 ish,and from there the rest were keepers.everyone of them. i also pourd closer from the spout and when full made a puddle on the top of the spruce plate,,my therory is for the puddle to give more downward weight at the end of my pour/cast. i hear of guys using mold release,,smoking the pins ect. and if that works for them ,then great,,but i see no need for it . with my other 45 270 mold from mihec,,,my first run i did over 500 first time with no issues. like the man said the key is runem hot! and keep casting .IT WILL COME LIKE ANOTHER MEMBER SAID KEEP GOING ,,SHOW IT WHOS BOSS. I OWN over 34 bullet molds and i have them all from lyman, rcbs, lee,nei,lbt mp
i have many hp molds,but to be honest ---mihec are my best,and favorites! bar none. after all were else can you get a single mold that will give you 3 differant weights from the same mold for the quality,and price?? you cant. hang in there keep going. if youd like,,pm me and i will send you pics of my custom mold warmers..you can make these yourself,,and they really help hold the mold temp. while refilling your pot,to getting your mold to casting temp. and by the way, i am casting ww lead.

[fishnbob]

whitetailsniper, are you just using wheel weights alone, no other additives?

[fishnbob]

Thanks Dale53 for the info. That's darn good reading, I really appreciate it!

[whitetailsniper]

you are correct,, straight up ww