I clearly did not do some thing right. I bought 2 barrels at an estate sale with a 98 Mauser action , the first one I started with was marked 308 Win. trying to head space it realized it was 30-06 cut long. So the second barrel I wanted to make sure it was what it was marked to be 8 x 57 (8MM Mauser to me) I was the only one to bid on it so I got it for $7.00 I have the reamer and die's for 8mm-06 and an action to build it on. So I attempted to chamber cast it. with a lee 4 lb. pot and cerrosafe from roto metal.
my first attempt I put 3 cleaning patches below the thought and pored the alloy in let it cool tell appearance changed and taped it out with a 1/4 inch rod, it looked like it was cast in a cold mold and came in too as it came out.
second attempt was the problem , I tried to do it the same way , when trying to get it out was a real problem, I melted it out with a small propane torch since the melting point is only 160 deg.
what did I do wrong here, was the barrel being warm from the first attempt a problem, or the alloy to hot. or some thing else ??