Removing sprue marks for slugs and round balls

This is what I do to rid my projectiles of that infamous sprue marks.

1. I snip the sprue has close as I can without taking a divot out of the main body.

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2. I take small hammer, or in this case, the flat side of my mold, and I tap the remaining clipped sprue down flat. I make sure I try to blend it in with the body of the projectile as much as possible.



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Looks like this after I’m done:

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3. I then use my cheap rock tumbler from Harbor Freight and tumble them in a squirt of dry graphite for a couple hours. Turns out this this:

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Hope this can help y’all out.


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I don't think I'd worry about sprues on slugs unless they were very large and ugly but for round balls a smooth ball is a good thing. I've manually tumbled to peen down sprues and that worked quite well but a rock tumbler is the way to go for sure.

Those look real nice!

Are those soft lead or wheelweights/range scrap? The as cast looks like an alloy, not pure lead. I'd think pure lead would get dimples if tumbled, though if they don't actually drop on each other maybe not.

Longbow

These are man sized sprue cutters, that might be of interest.
http://www.gqfmfg.com/breeding-pens/...utting-pliers/

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Originally Posted by longbow

I don't think I'd worry about sprues on slugs unless they were very large and ugly but for round balls a smooth ball is a good thing. I've manually tumbled to peen down sprues and that worked quite well but a rock tumbler is the way to go for sure.

Those look real nice!

Are those soft lead or wheelweights/range scrap? The as cast looks like an alloy, not pure lead. I'd think pure lead would get dimples if tumbled, though if they don't actually drop on each other maybe not.

Longbow

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LB,
Yessir, those are pure lead. Makes it easy to hammer out the sprue. I just run my pot a little warm.


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Those RB's must roll and rub a lot rather than tumble onto each other to get that shiny. I'd be harder alloy might get even shinier!

A smooth and shiny ball is a good thing.

Now what would be interesting (like I need something else to do) is to run some comparison shooting with as cast and nicely tumble balls to see if there is an difference in accuracy and if there is a distinct range at which as cast start to open up groups. I'm kinda betting the tumbled balls will be more accurate at longer ranges, if not at all ranges. It would take a fair bit of shooting to get enough data to be reasonably sure of results though.

I think my brain is rattled about loose enough currently... not that I won't be out shooting slugs and RB's again shortly, just maybe not 50 from the bench at a sitting.

Longbow

On mine, I've been able to take a pliers and just twist and pull the sprue off. I've noticed on castings that got too hot, have severe frosting, the sprue can produce a divot. On castings that are shiny, or lightly frosted, they break off clean. I finish with just a few swipes of a file, but I'm betting you could skip that, and just dump them in your tumbler.

They look beautiful

When doing #4 Buck from a Sharpshooter mould, I just cut the sprue with the recommended side cutter pliers (sewing department, Wally World, green plastic handles). Then I throw a big batch in an old RCBS Sidwinder tumbler tub, shake in a bit of powdered graphite, turn it on for about three hours and go somewhere else (the noise is worse than hearing a jack_ss in a tin barn). After about three hours, pour out on a screen and shake any loose graphite out and pour on a more or less clean towel and hand tumble a couple of minutes. They come out almost perfect and round. The bigger the shot, the more noise they make as well. 00 Buck is really loud./beagle

I put a couple pounds of 0.31" RBs and about two dozen 0.69" RBs in my dillon vibratory cleaner today. No media or graphite was used and as advertised it was LOUD. I removed the balls a couple hours later and they are smooth and dark gray in color. Balls were shiny before vibrating.. Also I didn't find any dust in the bowl. These balls are cast from 92-6-2 lead/tin/antimony alloy and air cooled. I used lee molds so no sprue to remove. I need to measure diameters and weigh them before loading. Probably should get a price on a new bowl for the dillon. Will post pics later.

BB

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Originally Posted by bikerbeans

I put a couple pounds of 0.31" RBs and about two dozen 0.69" RBs in my dillon vibratory cleaner today. No media or graphite was used and as advertised it was LOUD. I removed the balls a couple hours later and they are smooth and dark gray in color. Balls were shiny before vibrating.. Also I didn't find any dust in the bowl. These balls are cast from 92-6-2 lead/tin/antimony alloy and air cooled. I used lee molds so no sprue to remove. I need to measure diameters and weigh them before loading. Probably should get a price on a new bowl for the dillon. Will post pics later.

BB

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I’ll give that a shot. To be honest brother, I’m not sure what the graphite is for. [emoji1]


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that is a huge sprue , my Lee round ball molds especially my 6 cavity round ball mold leaves a small flat hard to even call it a sprue

At one time a fellow explained how he smoothed the nub from the sprue..He snipped off the nub and then placed the round balls in a heavy metal pan in the trunk of his car. The round balls would roll around while driving. He basically would leave them in there until they were smooth.

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Originally Posted by randyrat

At one time a fellow explained how he smoothed the nub from the sprue..He snipped off the nub and then placed the round balls in a heavy metal pan in the trunk of his car. The round balls would roll around while driving. He basically would leave them in there until they were smooth.

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I like this idea!

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Originally Posted by RogerDat

I like this idea!

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I do the same thing with a rock tumbler. I got a thread on here on how I do it.


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do you make one cut with the dykes or two cuts, one almost through and another at 90 degrees to the first one? they look fantastic when you are done. thanks for sharing it with us. i also have several of the old DIXIE molds with out a sprew cutter.. i make two cuts with the dykes.

SMOOTH & SHINY Balls are a good thing.

If you leave some evidence of the sprue on the RB I'd bet you would find no dif. on the target or on performance.

Don't cut the sprues off. Grab them with pliers and give a sharp twist. They should snap off. I have done this for years with RB. It is someone I picked up from casting lead fishing jigs and weights.

I have been using a small Hf concreat mixer to roll dripped shot to good effect. I tried it with Lee 000 this am. The only rolling action took place on the edges of the 'pack'. I tried various amounts of shot with the same result. Some shot would migrate to the leading edge, but not enough turnover to get rid of the sprues in AS short a time as you say. Very noisy too. Enough to disturb the neighbors. Those of you using a rock tumbler are you able to get the graphite out once you are done?

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Originally Posted by jdfoxinc

I have been using a small Hf concreat mixer to roll dripped shot to good effect. I tried it with Lee 000 this am. The only rolling action took place on the edges of the 'pack'. I tried various amounts of shot with the same result. Some shot would migrate to the leading edge, but not enough turnover to get rid of the sprues in AS short a time as you say. Very noisy too. Enough to disturb the neighbors. Those of you using a rock tumbler are you able to get the graphite out once you are done?

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There’s none left. I use just a smidge of a squirt


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So the inside of the drum is clean when you finish?

It rained last night and a small amount of water was on the 000. So I turned the mixer on and observed that the action was the same, very little rolling or turnover except along the edges. So i decided to add the 00 i cast. Now the whole mass is turning over rolling on each other etc. The alloy is a failed mixture of RL, LINO & pure that is too soft for bullets but contains too much tin to drip into shot. So we will see what effect rolling has in a while.

BAGTIC, thanks that answers my query.i have sense tried it and yes it works.

#4 Buckshot

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#4 Buckshot: trimmed apart, tumbled and graphited

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#4 Buckshot

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For buckshot I just cut off the sprue with a pair of dyke pliers ground so the cutting edge is flat. I roll the shot between two stainless plates until they are round. Then I powder coat the shot.
Attachment 225407

HF $1.49 side cutters sanded down to cut buck shot
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[QUOTE=Grmps;4432332]HF $1.49 side cutters sanded down to cut buck shot

Good idea. I got some similar when I bought buckshot molds from SkiesUnlimited, but they are much smaller and require some force to use.

One of the tools left over from my working days is a 6" disc-1" belt sander. You've probably seen them in the Harbor Freight adds. If you go slow and easy the 1" belt does a pretty fair job of removing the sprue. Gp

00 buck

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Grmps - Do you know if they make that mold in "0" buck?

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Originally Posted by dondiego

Grmps - Do you know if they make that mold in "0" buck?

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I say in touch with the owner of Sharpshooter Mold son pretty regular. He’s a member of my Facebook page called Buck and Slug Reloaders. He said his father should be back in business soon, and yes, he does make a 0 buck mold.


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Originally Posted by Blood Trail

I say in touch with the owner of Sharpshooter Mold son pretty regular. He’s a member of my Facebook page called Buck and Slug Reloaders. He said his father should be back in business soon, and yes, he does make a 0 buck mold.


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Do they have a website that I could order one from?