First Sessions w/ 6-banger–success

[Boolseye]

What I learned: smoke the mold, lube it (in other words, follow Lee's instructions) and get that sucker hot somehow–hot plate or what have you. I used a little campstove with an upsidedown frying pan over the burner. Alloy was 800+ (Lee 20# pot...I'm glad I bought it instead of the 10#). Alloy was old range lead with a little tin and rotometals superhard added. BHN 12-14...here's my first session. Thanks to everyone who helped get me started.

[RobS]

Good looking boolits..........let's know how they fly!

[Boolseye]

will do

[Buckshot]

............That's not your total output from your new 6 banger ...................is it?

.............Buckshot

[Bret4207]

Good, now scrub the smoke out of it an stop doing that. They'll be even better. Probably slightly larger too.

[Boolseye]

............That's not your total output from your new 6 banger ...................is it?

.............Buckshot

Naw. I can do probably 250/hr at my slow pace. No hurry here.


Good, now scrub the smoke out of it an stop doing that. They'll be even better. Probably slightly larger too.
Yeah? I smoked 'em 'cause I wasn't getting good fill-out. Wanted to cover all my bases early on–granted it was probably just a heat issue. Doesn't seem to hurt none...but thanks for the tip.
-jp

[GaryM]

have you tired kroil instread of smoking? It works for me.
BTW, those 6 bangers are awesome when you really want to crank out the bullets.

[Ugluk]

If I use two in rotation I get around 500 an hour without forcing it.
With just one good and hot half the time is wasted sitting around waiting for the spruepuddle to solidify.

Marvellous things.

[theperfessor]

You might want to consider trying some Bullplate sprue plate lube. If you use bullet lube or wax on the moving parts you will eventually get a baked-on mess that will make your mold hard to operate.

It makes casting in aluminum molds MUCH easier.

[MtGun44]

+1 on theperfessor.

Bill

[Boolseye]

thanks perfessor.

[sargenv]

only 500? um.. I'm in the ballpark of about 900/hr.. lead temp is about 725f and drops to 650-675 when I drop (ok, not drop but slide) a pre-heated ingot in to replenish the 4-20 pot about every 6-8 casts.. I bring the mold up to temp by pouring 4-5 times with the sprue plate out of the way.. who cares what they look like since it is promptly placed back into the pot.. then I cool the mold down when it becomes too easy to cut the sprue, usually about 12-15 casts.. with a damp towel placed on the bench about 2 ft from the pot and immediately to the left of the pile of bullets. I dab a drop of Bull plate sprue lube on the pins just before I heat up the mold to aid in opening and closing once it comes up to temp.. 6 cav 9mm 124 gr 2r mold... cranks em out quick!