Lee 00 Buckshot mold?

[DDRanch]

Finally tried out my new Lee 00 buckshot mold. Using a Lyman #2 lead mixture, running the pot at 700 degrees. Just can't seem to get lead flow all the way down, even after letting mold heat up. Any pointers would be appreciated.

[Faret]

Gotta runem hot and faster than anything.

[kungfustyle]

Don't try to use an aluminum mold under 60 deg without a hot plate to warm it up. If you can wait for warmer weather or try the hot plate or camp stove.

[DDRanch]

FYI Found a older thread on here. Cranked heat up to 725 and used the pressure method of filling mold. Works like a champ!

[megasupermagnum]

That works. I also find it helps to start hotter, even 800F isn't excessive. Once up to temp then you can back off. A hot plate only gets you so far. It's been a while since I casted with the Lee 00 buck mold, but I believe I was casting up around 760F with it. You can get away with less if you run at a faster cadence, but I like higher temperatures myself.

[barsik]

I have the exact same mold, I assume you've thoroughly cleaned the mold so now take some copper coat and lube the block pins and pivot points. wipe away any excess so you don't contaminate your cavities. get your pot up to temp and dip the corner of the mold into the lead. when the copper coat on the sprue closing pin starts to smoke a bit the blocks are ready to use. make sure you have good ventilation, don't inhale this stuff. first pour will give you good shot. as others have said speed is your friend with this mold, for whatever reason. i run my lyman furnace a bit past 7 on the thermostat control, it's a bit of a trick to keep the mold hot without smearing lead with the sprue plate. my 2 cents.

[JeepsAndGuns]

I just tried mine today and it was a complete fail.
I remember reading this thread about the temp.
I had my lee pot set to high, and I heated the mold up using the burner on my turkey fryer. Still can not get them to fill. I heated up the mold again and still no dice.
Do you have to use a bottom pour pot with this mold? I am using a ladle. Is that my issue?

[barsik]

I only use bottom pour and if your blocks are aluminum you can dip the corner of the mold into the melt. leave it there for a couple of minutes. if you aren't getting a complete fill on the first pour stop and put the mold back into the melt again for a bit longer and try again.

[Cap'n Morgan]

Bottom pour and pressure casting will definitely help. As will a bit of tin in the alloy.
Opening the nozzle on a Lee pot will also help. The trick is to get the HOT lead in there FAST.

I casted an awful lot of different buck shot sizes when testing molds for a group buy.
Those molds had very small gates to facilitate easy separation of balls from the sprue/stem.
Sometimes the topmost balls would fail to fill properly, but when everything came together the balls were quite good, at least good enough for buckshot.

To cast perfectly round balls, you need a fairly large sprue hole so that the solidifying lead can draw from the sprue.
(lead will shrink about 5% going from molten to solid and then another 1% when cooling down to room temperature).

This is the result of a quick session with a #4B mold:



And this is from a somewhat larger size (I forgot which) Notice how some of the balls has "dimples", but it will drop sixteen balls for each fill,
and they can be stripped from the stem using just a pair of gloves instead of a pair of snippers!



This is another mold I made . It has 3x2 cavities on either side for a total of twelve balls.
Again, the gates are quite small (it's for slingshot ammo!) but with a larger sprue hole, the design should work just as well as a "normal" two-cavities mold.

[longbow]

It took me a bit to get sorted out with my Lee 00 buck mould but running lead and mould hot worked for me using range scrap which seems about the same as ACWW.

I cast with hot alloy and fast cadence. I cut the sprue as soon as it freezes but is still soft. The shot is soft enough when dropped from the mould that most break apart when dropped on a wet towel.

Until I cast that hot and fast I had trouble with fill out of the bottom cavities.

I did not add tin or smoke cavities, just cast hot and fast.

Longbow

[bangerjim]

FYI Found a older thread on here. Cranked heat up to 725 and used the pressure method of filling mold. Works like a champ!

Just what I was gonna say. Glad you found your sweet spot.

I cast them all the time with no problems by using a hotter pot temp, pressure casting from the Lee 4-20 nozzle, and preheating the mold on an electric hotplate to almost full casting temp B4 ever starting. You will spend more time "dipping the corner of the mold" in the pot and waiting for it to heat than you will actually casting! Just buy and use a hotplate. For ALL your molds! And preheat your feed ingots to just below liquidous temp of your alloy. Saves lots of recovery time in the pot when casting.

[Sitzme]

I think that it is the same mold I have with a flange around the back. Fill the pocket formed by the flange with hot lead first to heat it up, then dump back into the pot. It speeds up the heat up.