Will alloy make that much of a difference?

[Mark Daiute]

I'm casting 31499's out of wheelweights and when I run them through a .313 sizing die the best I can say is that there is a film of lube on the shanks of my bullets. In effect the bullets are being lubed but they are not fat enough to be getting sized as well.

My 311299's run through a .308 die are sized nicely.

Is 2 percent tin going to fatten them up a thousandth or more?

Thanks in advance,

Mark

[wiljen]

I'd beagle the mold before I played with alloy changes to get a larger size. Adding tin will change the dimensions, but maybe not be enough to help. Beagling the mold typically gets you about .0025 over the initial size so it should fit your need.

[Calamity Jake]

Adding 25% lino to your WW will let it grow about .001, it'll also be about 15-16 BHN

If you add lino don't add more tin there's enough in the lino.

And as wiljen says, beagleing will help too.

[Springfield]

Might want to get a micrometer and measure them, bullets can be 2 thou under and still go through the sizer without you noticing. They might be smaller than you think.

[Marlin Junky]

Is 2 percent tin going to fatten them up a thousandth or more?

Mark

More than likely, no. Turn up you furnace to at least 750F.

MJ

[Mark Daiute]

All things being equal and in a perfect world should my mold cast .314's? with wheel weights?

[Marlin Junky]

All things being equal and in a perfect world should my mold cast .314's? with wheel weights?

Your not living in a perfect world, so who cares? Turn up the heat. Buy a thermometer and a 1" Micrometer so you'll know what's going on.

MJ

[runfiverun]

lyman's alloy is 5/5/90, yours is more like .05/3/96.5.
you aren't even gonna be close.
the mold might be capable of throwing a 314 boolit but you'll need to get it hot and use an alloy that is gonna fill it up better and not shrink as much.
or just beagle it.
or lap it out.

[lwknight]

Unless you are just not getting a complete fill out , adding tin will not make a larger cast.
Antimony will. I had a 215429 casting at exactly .429 with a 2% antimony mix and when I upped it to a full 6% , I started casting at .4305
I guess by that maybe you could get a 3 cal 1 thousandth larger that way. It would
definitely be harder.
The other side effect with using 2% tin and 6% antimony is beautiful boolits.

[462]

Mark,
Beagle it. It's easy to do. It's reversible. It works.

Lapping is easy but takes longer. It's permanent. It works.

PM me with your mailing address and I'll send you some aluminum foil beagling tape.

[Larry Gibson]

Adding 2% tin will help the bullet "fill out" better. However, I would also say to turn the temp up and to open the spout, assuming a bottom pour furnace, up and allow the hotter alloy to get into the mold quicker.

Larry Gibson

[Mark Daiute]

All-

Thanks for the replies. IIRC the furnace was turned all the way up. I was ladle casting. I have two furnaces and they are both old, tired Lees. One is the 4 pound furnace and the other is an old 10 pound furnace on which the bottom spout got plugged years ago. Almost definitely time for a new furnace.

I'll do a search for beagling on this site I bet the it's covered in detail.

[cajun shooter]

If you ladle pour then contact Wagge Electric. They sell a #4557 pot that holds about 20 or more lbs of lead and has a real thermostat not the rheostat of Lee. The cost was about $150 and the best deal around.

[cbrick]

Here's a link to make them easier to find. I haven't used a Waage pot but have heard some very good things about them, one is that they are made right here in the good ole USA. These pots for some reason are not on their web page, you'll need to call the 800 number and ask about them.

Waage Electric (http://www.waage.com/)

Rick