Broken Boolit... Any ideas?

[OS OK]

OS OK I had never thought of using plywood and cloth like that before. Thank you for the idea. Queeg730, sorry for the hijack, I've learned from the discussion too. I've not had an issue with PC but I don't water cool and I tend to wait quite a while before dropping the bullets. Hope that didn't sound condescending, it wasn't meant to be.

In the picture I am just about ready to pick the drop ramp up and roll all the casts under it...then I'll have more room for them to roll off into the empty pan.

[mdi]

#4! I have been casting for only about 30 years and have had no need to water quench any of my cast (38/357, 44 S/44 Magnum, 9mm, 45 ACP, 45 Colt, 303 British 30-06 and 30-30)

[dverna]

#4! I have been casting for only about 30 years and have had no need to water quench any of my cast (38/357, 44 S/44 Magnum, 9mm, 45 ACP, 45 Colt, 303 British 30-06 and 30-30)

And I thought I was the only “fool” who has never water quenched.

[charlie b]

Nope, you can add me to that list too. I use the same kind of setup as OS OK. Doubled towel as a kind of ramp into box. My box has another towel in it and is a bit deeper to hold more bullets.

After powder coating I dump my bullets on a large cooking sheet with a towel on it as well.

If I want a harder bullet I just use a harder alloy. For rifles I use Lyman #2 alloy.

[oldblinddog]

I used to WD my bullets but stopped as it’s a waste of my time. I also use Lyman #2 alloy.

[JimB..]

I though that some learned member had tested water dropping followed by powder coating and found that the process of curing the finish annealed the bullet so the benefit of water dropping was lost.

Fwiw, I’ve had similar looking results when dumping an ingot mold with 6%+ Sb a little early.

[GregLaROCHE]

I can’t say this is what is causing your problem, but your casting temperature seems low.

[gwpercle]

There is such a thing as Too Hard and Too Brittle .

50+ years casting hangun boolits ... try it this way :
Alloy - 50/50 mix COWW and soft lead . Or 1 part tin / 20 parts lead ...
Or 1 part tin / 16 parts lead for heavy loads .
Cast at temperatures given in casting guide (see stickies) I like a temperature that casts them right at frosty ... a light frost is good .
Air Cool ... forget the water quenching .
If you powder coat ... air cool ...forget the water quenching .
Size trumps Hardness ... Hardness is way over rated , unneeded and unnecessary ... as are brittle boolits !
A softer boolit with a good lube or powder coat is more accurate and performs better than a rock hard boolit .
My alloy , 50/50 COWW - soft lead has a BHN of 8 , very accurate and doesn't lead when sized correctly . Slug your barrel so you know what you got .

I don't believe in water quenching ... 50 years of Air Cooling ...
Nice to Know I'm not Alone
Gary

[brstevns]

If they keep tearing in the same spot I would also take a good look at the mold and see if there is a rough spot or scratch on it. Causing it to tear the bullet when you open the mold.

[OS OK]

There is such a thing as Too Hard and Too Brittle .

50+ years casting hangun boolits ... try it this way :
Alloy - 50/50 mix COWW and soft lead . Or 1 part tin / 20 parts lead ...
Or 1 part tin / 16 parts lead for heavy loads .
Cast at temperatures given in casting guide (see stickies) I like a temperature that casts them right at frosty ... a light frost is good .
Air Cool ... forget the water quenching .
If you powder coat ... air cool ...forget the water quenching .
Size trumps Hardness ... Hardness is way over rated , unneeded and unnecessary ... as are brittle boolits !
A softer boolit with a good lube or powder coat is more accurate and performs better than a rock hard boolit .
My alloy , 50/50 COWW - soft lead has a BHN of 8 , very accurate and doesn't lead when sized correctly . Slug your barrel so you know what you got .

I don't believe in water quenching ... 50 years of Air Cooling ...
Nice to Know I'm not Alone
Gary

"Here here!" "Well stated, all fact & no fecies!"

[blackthorn]

Charlie b Said "My box has another towel in it and is a bit deeper to hold more bullets."

So, my question---Once there is a layer of bullets on top of that second towel---of what benefit is it?

[fredj338]

What is the alloy? I wonder if you got zinc in there.

My question too. I have never had bullets do that. I cast about 725deg, air cool, PC @ 400 & water drop out of the oven. My alloy is range scrap with a bit of clip ww. I tend to not sweat alloy for most of my handgun needs.

[Alferd Packer]

I would pay attention to fluxing the pot more and stirring the mix well.

[Ed_Shot]

Occasionally I start seeing broken boolits during a casting session. FOR ME..... its because I'm casting too fast and not giving the boolits time to properly solidify in the mold. Again, for me, a good indicator that I need to slow down is alloy smearing on the top of the mold/underside of the spru plate. Invariably, slowing down the casting pace solves the problem for me.

[Tar Heel]

At this point I would not do anything until you can identify what alloy you are using. There has been a lot of speculation, guessing, commiseration, and advice offered without first learning what the actual alloy is that is cracking apart. I suspect the alloy is the culprit and is either contaminated or way too brittle.

In the few years I have been casting, I have never seen this problem with common alloys used by bullet casters. My hardest bullets are (were) clip-on WW that were water dunked. There is no need for anything harder. If there is, then jacketed is the way to go. I have frosted bullets with too much heat and a high casting cadence but even with Lyman #2 alloy or WW, I have never seen bullets fall apart due to brittleness. I can cast pretty darn fast too.

As indicated, I believe the root cause of the matter to be your alloy.
Hope you get this resolved.

[dondiego]

Occasionally I start seeing broken boolits during a casting session. FOR ME..... its because I'm casting too fast and not giving the boolits time to properly solidify in the mold. Again, for me, a good indicator that I need to slow down is alloy smearing on the top of the mold/underside of the spru plate. Invariably, slowing down the casting pace solves the problem for me.

Same here, high antimony alloy and a hot mold opened too early. Add pure lead and tin as per Larry Gibson.

[blackthorn]

Occasionally I start seeing broken boolits during a casting session. FOR ME..... its because I'm casting too fast and not giving the boolits time to properly solidify in the mold. Again, for me, a good indicator that I need to slow down is alloy smearing on the top of the mold/underside of the spru plate. Invariably, slowing down the casting pace solves the problem for me.

I agree with this. If you are casting and dropping too fast the bullet can develop a crack without it being immediately visible. From there on the bullet can separate at anytime, but if it makes it into the chamber and is fired you will never know. It may also be the one and only bullet so effected in that casting run-----or not---

[brstevns]

If they keep tearing in the same spot I would also take a good look at the mold and see if there is a rough spot or scratch on it. Causing it to tear the bullet when you open the mold.

The only other times I had this happen was with a to hot temp with a to hard of alloy and not allowing the bullet to cool enough before dropping from the mold, Hope this is of some help.