Quenched Wheel Weights?

[GARCIA]

I need a little guidance that will help qualm my fears.
I casted a bunch of pure WW boolits and they appear to me not quite right. What I mean is that they look as if they have an almost crystaline quality to them. Is this how they should look?

Tom

[waksupi]

I like frosty boolits!

[fryboy]

temp was a lil hot , the crystalline surface u see is the result of that , either the alloy was too hot or the mold or both , when one looks around at various fotos of cast boolits the mirror finish is about perfect ( and rare lolz ) most usually have a "satin" look to it , that's acceptable and is called frosting ( personally i like chocolate fudge frosting just not on boolits ;) )

[sqlbullet]

Those look fine to me. As fryboy says, the perfect finish you see in magazine photos is not all that normal, at least for me.

And I don't care one bit about frosted bullets. They all shoot better than I do.

[GARCIA]

Guess I will have to drop the temp and break down and buy a thermometer!

Thanks to all for the help!

Tom

[docone31]

Your temp is ok.
To check that, look at the corners of the lube lands.
They should be square.

[RobS]

Looks like your mold was a bit warm for that "perfect" looking boolit, however the ones I cast are frosty as well since I use straight WW most of the time. Achieving the desired fill out from WW alloy, the mold usually needs to be a bit warmer than an alloy with tin. Frosty bullets are not a problem............go shoot them and you'll see.

[Triggerhappy]

Garcia,

I wouldn't sweat it too much, frosty bullets are fine as long as you're consistent. If you change temps you may change bullet size and weight. I also had some strange white deposits on some bullets that I was water quenching and attributed it to some minerals in the water. If I air cooled them the didn't have it. Didn't hurt a thing.

Good luck

TH

[Dennis Eugene]

Good looking bullets. The thing to look for is good fill out on bases and driveing bands. Dennis

[geargnasher]

If you add just one ounce of lead-free, solid core plumber's solder to a ten-pound pot and do everything else as you have in the pic, you'll get sharper fillout. Don't run the alloy any hotter than you have to, but focus on keeping casting tempo up so the mould stays hot enough to make the aforementioned "satin" boolits. Throw one on a towel every few minutes when water-quenching, let that one air-cool for a minute or two and see how they look. Slow the tempo if they start getting a sandblasted, super-dull look.

Gear

[cbrick]

GARCIA, I would guess from 1, the question and 2, the number of posts you've made that your very new to casting.

Assuming that I'm right I would say those are some mighty fine looking boolits. Keep at it, experience is the best teacher and soon you'll be dropping bullets exactly as you want them and know why it happened. Ask any questions that come up, and they will. Lot's of folks here willing to help out. The only dumb question is the one you don't ask.

Rick

[GARCIA]

Guys, Thanks for all the responses.

Did go out and heated up the pot, mold and casted some at a lower tempurature. They do look a lot better.

I tried sizing them on my RCBS LM2 and then ran into another problem. Seems as if when sizing them in a .452 die its causing the lube grooves to fill in with lead.

Will try to post a picture tomorrow. It might help.

Yes, I am new to the world of casting and I Love It!

Tom

[Rangefinder]

Sounds like you're pushing 'em through a Lee sizing die? AND, it sounds like you have "fat" bullets too. How do they mic as-dropped? In other words, how much is the sizer taking down and smearing from the diameter? If you're running a high tin alloy, they can drop a little big in the waist. For a .45 you probably don't need to worry about water quenching either. WW alloy should be plenty hard to run through a .45ACP without running into problems. Try dropping some air-cooled, mic them, compare with the water dropped, then try the sizer again to see what each finishes as. One more thing--how are you lubing?

[WILCO]

I tried sizing them on my RCBS LM2 and then ran into another problem. Seems as if when sizing them in a .452 die its causing the lube grooves to fill in with lead.

You can't size them right away as they need time to harden up. If you're using a LEE Sizing Die, they need to be lubed before pushing them through or leading will occur.

[lwknight]

A fast, easy,cheap, and non messy lube would be to get some lanolin and mix it with 10 parts alcohol. Put it in a spray bottle and spritz the boolits. The lube will migrate all over them in a few minutes as the alcohol dries off.

Or you could buy some Dillon sizing lube. Same thing.

[GARCIA]

Well after reading the last of the replies it seems there is still a lot to learn and it will be a never ending quest.

Here is a couple of mistakes that I have learned from so far:

1. Buy a thermometer.
2. Cast at the lowest temperature needed to get a good fill.
3. Use a hot plate to warm my mold.
4. Let the boolits rest at least 24hrs before attempting to size.
5. Look for guidance from the board members!

I attached a picture like I promised. The bottom boolits were sized within a couple of hours from being dropped. The top ones were done this morning. These are 325gr LBT WFN boolits.

Tom

[Doby45]

I "can" and sometimes "do" size my boolits within the hour of dropping them. It makes no difference to my Star. The kicker is to have lube in grooves before you size as the lube will help maintain the lube groove thanks to hydraulic pressure. The boolits on the bottom row appear to have very little to no lube. But all this is a moot point because you said you were using a LM2. I would say you need to mic your boolits BEFORE you size them and see what size they are being thrown at. If they are being thrown for some weird reason at .458 or something like that then that is too big to size down to .452 in a single pass.

[lwknight]

You might be casting a little out of round. Make sure that there are no little bits of alloy on the mold face that prevents total closing. Also the alignment pins need to be lubricated to help ensure that the mold closes completely.

[lylejb]

What caliber / gun are these being loaded for?

I assumed ( and we all know what that gets us) that .452 was going in a .45 ACP, but 325 grs is way heavy for the ACP.

Is this going in a .45 rifle, like 45-70? If so, they may be .458 ( or more) from the mould and sizing down to .452 is a big step.

If in a rifle, .452 may not be the right size, and may be a good part of you lube groove problem.

[cbrick]

lylejb, could well be right.

I also "assumed" the ACP but after reading your post, getting hit in the head with a brick and then looking at the photos I wonder if GARCIA is trying to size down 45/70 boolits. We'll have to wait and see what he says but that sure sounds like a real possibility.

Rick

[GARCIA]

Guys this mold was purchased from LBT for the desire to cast heavy weight bullets for my 45 Colt. The mold is marked at .452 from LBT. It is a WFN style.

Tom

[onesonek]

I'm new at this, but my thoughts are,,,,,
load up a dummy round of a boolit that has not been sized and see if it chambers easily. If so I would shoot them as cast with pan lube or tumble lube.. Why size them if and work soften the driving bands if not necessary. The forcing cone and barrel will size them if they chamber ok. Or am i off base on this thought guys?
It's what I just did with the .454 Casull, and that alloy is running .0015-6" over slug and the boolit's front driving band is just slightly burnishing on the throat of my Encore's chamber. They shoot pretty good with my limited testing so far.

[sqlbullet]

I size only to lube, and for uniformity, not to make the bullets some arbitrary size. As onesonek says, if they will chamber, they are small enough.

[bigboredad]

I would size .454 if it were me. That's what all mine get sized to I did try a .456 just cause it would fit and it shot fine no weird pressure signs but all my .45's get .454 and my auto will chamber and feed a .453. I have always felt fatter is better but that's just me:lovebooli