Got things started, got questions, open for comments

[Shadow9mm]

Don't even worry about the alloy or bullet lube at this point, it doesn't matter much. Frosty bullets are perfect. It takes an old hand to make perfect shiny bullets. You ask about the ogive being sized, and that's not only normal, it's desirable. That is called the front driving band, it determines how the bullet goes into the barrel. The base of the bullet is the steering end when it leaves the barrel, but the front is the steering end into the barrel.

You have one major flaw that doesn't seem to be pointed out. At least one of your molds is casting bullets very much out of round. They look very bad, I would not bother shooting them. They need to be melted back down. This could be caused by a few different things, but since the castings appear filled out, I'm going to say most likely is a mold that is not aligned properly. This could be caused by not closing the mold tightly, the alignment pins being pushed out, or maybe a little lead on the face of the mold blocks.

the 9mm mold seems to be dropping very round. I will have to tinker with the 38 mold to see if I can find the problem. I will probably load up a few to shoot and a few to save as it is my first batch and will melt the rest back down. Thank you!

[Minerat]

Close the 38 mould and look to see of you can see light between the blocks, if you do it means either the alignments are out too far or you habe something on the mould face. If you hold the blocks together there should be very little play when you try to rob them together if there is the the pins may be set too deep and need to be tapped out a little so they seat into the pin races.

[44Blam]

One thing you need is a thermometer.

I find that some molds I run hotter and some I run cooler. I have a piece of paper that I put in my box of molds that I make notes on so I can pick up the mold and know that I should heat up the pot to 715 and cast fast... Or 650 and cast slow, etc.

[Beaverhunter2]

A little addition to what has already been shared:
I'm shooting an NOE 126gr GC PC out of a 6.5 Grendel at 2300fps. COWW water dropped at the last coat of PC (2 coats - shake and bake) shot significantly worse than AC. 3"+ groups vs just over 1" at 100 yards. Replicated it 4 times before "annealing" the rest of my water quenched boolits. Hard is not always better- even at rifle velocities.

[Wayne Smith]

Are your molds Lee 6 cavity molds? If so holding the sprue handle when casting will open the mold slightly - more at the outside of the mold than close to the hinge. Try casting consciously keeping your hands off the sprue handle and see if it works better.