The retumbo or the lack of gas check?
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The retumbo or the lack of gas check?
Yes?
I think Retumbo is a bit fast for 38 special. Try some WC860 for best velocity. And no check needed as long as the bullet is cast harder than woodpecker lips.
I suggest you search YouTube for loading and casting techniques to ensure you do this up right......
YouTube is the only place I go for reloading tips and data. No need for manuals here!!!
Meh, the guys on utoob are ok, but if I want real expert tips I get them from a guy named "Cooter" down at the local gun/pawn shop. He gave me the super-secret FBI .38 Special load one time.
Gear
Bet that load wasn't watered down by all them lawyers at the powder company.
I knew it!!! They make the manuals water down data so less powder is used. This allows the government to buy more powder to keep out of the hands of individuals and store at Doe Run...along with all the 22lr and billions of rds of 40S&W ammo...which allows them to force gun owners to use hand loads in self defense firearms...which we all know is a big no-no...unless you are using hard cast bullets with a bhn of 44.
Whew!!
I bet the NSA hacks the powder company computers and alters the data to make the loads less lethal.
Hey, did you hear the George Soros bought Marlin and Remington? Bet he does to them what he did to Doe run.
If I keep reading this thread, I am going to have to get my waders out.
Thanks Recluse,
I learned things about myself I never considered.
Silver Hand
Thanks for the reminder Recluse.
Maybe some of you can help me with following problem. What is this blue purple substance on top of the lead?http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/15/runa3y7a.jpg I am using WW Lead. Bullets looks good thouhttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/15/a4a4ypap.jpg
All of the real load data is kept at Doe Run.........The rest of us poor saps are left with "The Youtube guide to Reloading, casting, and beginners guide to basket weaving and bongo playing".
That and the rest of the reloaders out there are going to the LGS, Walmart and Gander mountain, and buying all of the good reloading data and hoarding it. You would think that someone would at least leave some of the good reload data on the shelves for others.. Greedy hoarders.....
The blue and gold colorations seen on the melt are oxides that appear for me every time I melt unalloyed lead. They disappear upon fluxing, but return if the melt remains exposed to air.
I was going to mention that the colors were from chupacabra blood found in wheelweights made in Mexico, but this is a serious site and we have no time for such foolishness. SERIOUS. ALWAYS.
I wish a professional metallurgist would chime in on this one... I don't think they're oxides... I think they're simply the normal color phase of shinny metal in the 400-600F range.
1) I can't find a Pb oxide that is blue or gold.
2) When I leave my pot to finish heating to about 650F the color goes away.
3) If the oxides are colored in this manner, why isn't the lumpy stuff I shove out of the way long after I begin my dipper casting session also pretty colors?
MJ
Whatever the colorations are, they haven't created casting issues for me. I was relating what my mentor said about the phenomenon. Sorry I said anything, now--as usual.
MJ, who said they are lead oxides? Might be tin or antimony. As for the lumpy stuff, it is different oxides.
I am to with Al, they are oxides that for on the surface of the hot melt.
I fnd the colors are far more pronounced on alloys that are closer to pure lead. Add more tin or antimony and the colors are less pronounced.
Al, never stop posting. Fight thru the noise.
"...but the pissant perfectionists and the perpetually indignant that hold sway here have largely killed this site for me." ...9.3x62AL
Pretty much says it all for a number of us, Allan.
What makes you think I was looking for an apology? I guess all forums eventually degrade to this point once all the little clicks are formed... it's kinda like high school, I suppose... I dunno, I barely went to high school. :lol:
Unfortunately, this forum has gone from one where ideas were freely exchanged to one where you'd better watch your step... and I'm not talking about the use of profanity. So which one am I? The pissant perfectionist or the perpetually indignant or both? That is very insulting as I have tried to observe objectively and and report factually. I suppose I'm wasting my time here.
Adious,
MJ
Wherever you eventually land, I hope they have a professional metallurgist on staff or at least on call to answer your questions adequately.
Now that's funny... congrats on your sarcastic wit :lol: (no sarcasm intended on my part).
Seriously though... this place has gotten very stale.
MJ
P.S. Perhaps a thought... ban me, censor me, I don't give a hoot. Perhaps there are too many here who are taking themselves too seriously? Who's to say who is right and who is wrong, given all the gray area involved in this dopey hobby... and what the heck is wrong with soliciting another opinion when one doesn't agree with what one reads? Man, I'm glad you guys aren't running the country. Y'all would be worse than who is runnin' the show now!
It has gotten stale because of the comprehensive array of disincentives to the making of text/content contributions that have reigned here for the past several years. I have received administrative assurances that work is under way to address those problems, but I've seen little progress to date. The negativity and confrontational tone continues unabated, so I respond in kind. When in Rome.....
It comes down to this--I get real tired of getting told by googins that I don't know what I'm talking about in fields of endeavor where I have 30+ years of ongoing experience. When I respond negatively and in kind to those disparagements, I get fanged by moderators while the googins emerge unscathed. It doesn't take a lot of that drag to instruct me on how to act in the public sections of the site--I shut up. There is no vigor in defending one's self or position here. Ask Bret in NY about that course of conduct, and how it worked out for him.
I don't understand your point... are you referring to my metallurgist comment earlier? Are you a metallurgist? A "googin"? A fisherman who repeated does stupid things while fishing. Or a Fisherman who does not seem to be able to follow simple directions?? I'm really missing the context here... I guess I really stepped in it this time. :lol:
I don't frequent the board that often anymore so I really don't know what to say other than I'm sorry you thought I was just piling on top for a pound of flesh (so to speak). I mean, if you read my post again in an objective light, I think you'll find it's pretty darn benign. Nevertheless, I still don't appreciate the insults and as Rome met its fate... perhaps it's time to let 'er burn.
MJ
Yes. Al is a metallurgist, been working with metals for decades. One of many on this site. I don't know what field his degree is in but when he talks, I listen.
My point is far more general than your metallurgist callout. No, I'm not a metals expert in any form--but I do have 33 years of casting experience, and my observations made during that time could still potentially have merit, as unprofessional and unlettered as they might be. It doesn't take a metallurgist to make good roundballs around a friggin' campfire.
Am I a mite bristly? Yes I am. I sure as hell didn't arrive here in that condition in 1996 when I started, but in almost 18 years of increasingly hostile and confrontive membership behavior--it has grown into place. So, in the spirit of the OP's thread title on longevity and duration, here is a demo cut of over a decade and a half of membership development and growth.
No doubt the forum is sliding backwards, a lot of really talented people have left that had a lot to offer. I don't post much anymore in the way of testing and valid info, seems whenever you do someone will come back with the old wives tale and tell you your an idiot for not believing it or you don't know what your talking about because they have done it that way for years. Many of the old wives tales we had made good progress in eliminating, at least on this forum but a lot of them are back and trying to correct bad info seems pointless anymore.
Rick
Please don't stop correcting bad info! They say a lie repeated often enough will be believed. We can only hope that the same is true of the truth. I know that I really appreciate (and use) the good info relayed here. Keep it up.
Al and Maven, it is time to fight back.
I put up with enough BS in the lube quest. Lots of jabs, not much help. Sure dissuades one from sharing info in an open manner. Most of the work on that endeavor was done via PM to keep the trolls away.
I miss the days when there were potentially rancorous discussions but they were about what someone was actually doing at the time. It was people who were actually testing, observing, and doing things.
Theory only goes so far. I want to see the targets, here how you did it and why.
Man I miss the old days.
I do have some technical credentials which I will not elaborate on. I was wondering if the colorful sheen on the top of the melt might be something that separated out of the alloy and floated to the top as a liquid. Once there, it forms a sheen like oil on water.
Wow this thread took a wrong turn from the humorous drift we had going.
If your not willing to share results why even be a member? I read posts here for a year before I joined. Guess what... A lot of them went off on the same journeys folks are complaining about now. From recent to archived threads a lot of bickering. I was still able to get useful information and I still do and try to help where I can.
I wonder if-
Love life ya try the super secret 38 load I posted for you yet?
So would I. What I was told, regarding Marlin Junky's colors question, was that the blue and gold coloration was a product of surface oxidation of alloy or melt constituents. I have seen it most vividly while melting unalloyed lead at elevated temps (800*-850*) to decrease viscosity thermally during casting sequences. The 'colors' disappear upon fluxing, and return slowly if the melt remains exposed to air during the pouring. The colors have had no negative effect during dipper casting for me. I cast at far lower temps (675*-750*) with lead/tin and lead/tin/antimony alloys, due to those mixes being more fluid at those lower temps. This was instruction from 1981, followed by observation and consistent outcomes since that time. If it is metallurgically-unsound information, I would appreciate being instructed further and more properly.
Yep, Pure lead shows those colors the most. When I see them in a smelt I know I have pretty darn pure lead.
Yup...
The site has become a microcosm of the country where bickering is the norm, critical thinking is dismissed and conventional wisdom applauded. I never said anything because I knew it would ruffle feathers (even back then); however, the management is to blame for its recruiting efforts and lazy moderating techniques that followed.
Where's my apology?
MJ
BTW, I'm not discussing this oxidation thing anymore (it's been a gross waste of my time and I'm sorry I inserted input) so y'all just talk among yourselves.
Guys i have been casting for a month know and like to thank you all for your advice as the results are showing. Allot of people do not understand how rare this information your are share is. To find books or info on gun smithing and bullet casting is extremely difficult of you are not living in the USA or UK. Here in Africa you rely on the internet to provide. Thanks once again
OK, guys I'll try to explain what I THINK is happening. If you have liquid with a source of heat, you have convection currents bringing liquid up to the top of the pot. You can see this in grease heating up. The hot liquids are exposed to air and can oxidize. These reactions are accelerated by heat. A rule of thumb I heard was the reaction rates double for every 10 degrees Celsius (18 degrees F) you raise the temperature. So, if you raise the temperature to 540 degrees F you have increased the rate of oxidation by 2 raised to the 30th power which is a huge number. If you now raise the temperature to 720 F the rate to 2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2 times what it was at 540 F. These oxides are certainly lighter than lead and float on the surface and create sheen like oil on water. When you flux these oxides are reduced to the original metal if they are reducible by the flux. Lead and tin oxides are, calcium and zinc are not. I have no idea that alloys can not separete by gravity when solubility limits are reached. Somebody said that antimony seperation was the cause of frosting. Anyway these are my thoughts on the sheen on the top of my lead pot. I would love to here your thoughts and criticisms of my ideas. If you think I am an idiot you won't be the first nor will you be the first to think I am right smart.
No, I think you are correct that they are oxides. The blue color is found in pure or nearly pure lead only.