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I've always water dropped my cast bullets, slugs and round balls out of the mold. Just read "wolfdog's" last post and he and several others mention air cooling cast bullets. How are y'all capturing your cast bullets out of the mold to prevent them from being damaged???
Thanks for the info
JAMES
JAMESGR
Drop them in a 5gallon bucket with cotton towels
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I use a rumpled up worn out cotton shirt. I don't worry about dropping them on each other from a couple inches above. Don't think it is any worse than tumble lubing or shake and bake powder coating? Mostly casting for pistols now. hc18flyer
Layers of soft cotton cloth , I use old worn towels with some old shipping mesh cushion underneath , just let them fall out from close not dropped from distance .
My own set up I use the above with a sloped incline for them to roll slowly down to a cushioned catch basin , drop on flat and as they cool roll them down out of way .
I drop in a 3 gallon sieve in e 5 gallon bucket of water. No real reason other than convenience.
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I've always used a stack of newspaper. About the thickness of the old Sunday editions. The layers tend to separate and hold air between them to some extent and provide more cushioning that you would think. Also it makes for very easy cleanup of small lead chunks that get mixed in with your bullets when you are done. It's very easy to just sweep them up with your hand to dump back in the pot. I chose newspaper since I really started casting in college and there were always piles of the free campus paper laying around.
Try dropping some on each other right out of the mold.
They cool so fast you kind of have to work at dinging them up.
Or, drop a few a short distance apart, then when ya get several, push them off to the side.
Back in the old days, everybody air dropped onto a towel or something.
Then all of a sudden, a fad came along, (before the powder coating fad:bigsmyl2:) and you had to temper them.
So, after you were done with your batch, you had to put a couple into a oven.
Run the temp up slowly until they 'slumped'. Then back the temp off a little.
Put all your boolits in the oven for awhile, then dump them into a bucket of water- tempering them.
Some of us just started dropping them out of the mold into a bucket of water to get to the same place.
For the shooting I do, I don't know if it matters if they're tempered or not.
I still drop them in the water because it's convienent.
I always short drop n a folded towel or into a bucket of water, which ever tempering I need. -06
I should clarify. When I say drop them in a 5 gallon bucket. I have a wadded up towel in the bottom and a towel stretched tight across the top. Bucket is elevated on a stool where I drop them 4 to 6 inches at most. When towel on top starts to sag, I dump them onto the towel in the bottom and repeat.
I ALWAYS water dropped everything before I started powdercoating. Now I try to run everything as soft as I can with plain old range scrap. Waterdropping is way easier. Drop out of the mold and done. I get eaxpansion on game with air cooled softer alloy, but I darn sure hate air cooling. Nothing gets Dinged too much btw.
I have a plastic tray from an old tote box that is about 12x12 with 2" walls. I simply place an old folded up towel over it and drop into that. Sure, I might get the occasional ding. But realistically, I drop on a clear area of the towel, and scoot the boolits over once they've had a little of a chance to cool down a bit. Creating a mound of bullets on one side, and a open spot for them to fall on the other. This isn't rocket science. And for the record, I've NEVER water dropped my boolits. I have water quenched them after heat treating in an oven, or after powder coating. But ever water quenched straight from the mold. In my experience with 50/50+2% it has never been needed.
I just drop mine in a old wood box. I'm only casting for hand guns and my alloy is around 14 BHN. At one time I dropped them on a damp towel but I'm not seeing the need any more.
Thanks for the replies, a lot of good info here. I like the idea of the inclined towel and will fix some way to try this. This will be a new experience as I've always dropped into a 5 gal bucket filled with water and towels in the bottom. I though I'd try a softer BHN. I've always used WW lead, but I bought some pure lead from BIGOX and though I'd try different ratio mixtures.
Thank you,
James
Cardboard box with a cut off folded up leg from a wore out pair of jeans. Not a problem.
I drop mine on a worn out pair of blue jeans folded up in a beer flat.
My understanding is that the increase in BHN is lost in fairly short order. I cast for boolits I may load - but not fire for a year. Hence the reason I drop into a water filled sieve. What's incredible is the amount of slag I apparently drop while (of course casting perfectly.......) dropping boolits. I recover the lost lead when I empty the 5 gallon bucket.Quote:
Originally Posted by JAMESGR
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drop mine on a folded towel
works famously
the only trouble is getting out of the house with one
before the wife finds out what you are up to
I’m another one for just dropping from the mold straight to bucket of water. Not really for any other reason than it’s convenient. I have a sifter that I used to use with my tumbler for separating brass from media, that sits in the top of the bucket. Makes recovering bullets from water much easier. Prolly got the idea on this forum years ago.
Two thicknesses of red shop towel. I put a pencil under each edge to try to prevent the boolits from rolling off when the towels get full.
Jim
Where I cast, I have two paint roller pans cushioned with a towel. Let's me run two different molds and keep things sorted. Also, the angle of the pans has the bullets roll down to accumulate.
Now that is clever.Quote:
Originally Posted by cabezaverde
When this subject comes up again, and it will, I'm going to suggest that,,,,,,,,,
and since I have no shame,,,, I'll tell everybody I thought of it.:bigsmyl2:
I just drop them out of the mould onto and old folded towel, then ple 'em up. They come out fine. Here' the results of casting with two double cavity moulds at the same time; a 311291 and a 311466.
Attachment 322055
Another folded towel in a beer flat guy here! I only drop them about 6 inches or a foot and I fold the towel in such a way that I can drop them without them hitting each other. (approxmently in 4th's)
Old towel in a cardboard file box lid, scooting them off to the side. Wouldn't be had to work in a slight angle so they roll.
I use old cotton cloth from what ever I have around . Just let air cool and that is it. Like said in time some will loose the BHN .
I usually only air-cool mine right now. I Have a box setup beside me with a couple of towels to drop the boolats in so they dont deform, no real issues so far.
Towel drop for my 50:50 lead & ww air cooled hunting bullets and use water quench for range lead target shooting. The towel I use is a folded over once. I don't cast many hunting bullets at a time so there is plenty of room to drop them without dropping them on other hot bullets. I might have 50 when I'm done. After culling any that don't measure up I still have plenty for several years.
Thanks for the replies. A lot of good ideas here. I like the idea of using a paint roller tray. Why didn't I think of that?????
James
Old towel , folded and placed in shallow sided card-board box .
Cut sprues are cut and dropped into a seperate small box ...
mould handles are opened over box-towel and fresh boolits dropped onto towel .
When towel gets covered in cast boolits ... lift up one end and roll all the new boolits to the end of the box... that gives you room to drop more onto towel without dropping them onto each other .
I don't like having water around my boolits , moulds or pot ... One Drop of Water
and you can get a visit from the Tinsel Fairy !
I harden buy changing the alloy or sizing soft boolits first then harden by oven tempering and quenching .
Sizing water dropped boolits just work softens the lead surface back to square 1 and sizing hardened boolits is "harder" to do and "harder" on your sizer .
I prefer doing things ... the easy way !
Gary
I use small rectangle cake pans I got at Dollar Tree. I line them with a folded over towel. I cast with a 8 cavity mold. I usually lay the hinge end over the
Lip of the pan and the bullets might fall a couple of inches. The pile gets moved to the opposite end.
When we get back to some decent weather here in north Alabama I intend to try some of the ideas.
Thank all of you for the replies.
James