Leaving boolits in mould

[rustyshooter]

What are your opinions on cutting the sprue and leaving the last boolit pour in your mould and storing them that way? And if so is it different in steel, brass, aluminum?

[tja6435]

I leave the boolits and sprue in/on all of my molds. It keeps them from opening up and potentially getting dinged up.

[MT Gianni]

I have never seen the need for it.

[uscra112]

Harry Pope said to do it, so I always have, if the mould is iron.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I don't store molds with boolits in the cavities, I'd worry about Rust with Iron molds...and I'm not the only one.
https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...o-prevent-rust

[wwmartin]

If you leave the sprue on a Lee 6 cavity uncut good luck cutting it cold.
I usually cut the sprue and leave the bullets in the mold. For long-term storage I give it a shot of Kroil on iron and steel.

Bill

[canyon-ghost]

I don't bother with it, life is short.

Ron

[Bad Ass Wallace]

Stops little hornets building mud nests in them!

[rcslotcar]

I clean and oil them so no.

[414gates]

I had custom steel moulds made, and was told to store them with a bullet in the mould.

I believe it's to prevent rust on the mould surfaces.

I don't do that though, I spray the mould with oil and store wrapped in plastic.

[trapper9260]

I do not do anything to my. The paper that the steel ones wrap in. I keep them in that paper and I had gotten more in the past that was on something else and use that and so far no problems . I just lube the pins when I use them.

[Bent Ramrod]

I used to do that until I started buying used moulds at gun shows for souveniers. Some of them would have boolits in the cavities, left there for decades, covered with whitish oxidation, accompanied by an occasional slight etching on the cavities.

Well stored empty moulds of the same vintage did not show such etching. Of course, a badly preserved mould could have a lot of surface rust with the boolit-filled cavity relatively pristine.

So I’ve gone to storing my moulds in sealed ammo cans, uncoated with preservative, and the cavities empty, with a piece of VPI paper. But where I live, 20% relative humidity is max on a non-rainy day, so YMMV.

[uscra112]

I don't think finding a mould with an oxidized bullet in it is an indictment of the practice, given that it had been that way "for decades". Over that time the mould could have been subjected to conditions which would overwhelm anything but a heavy coat of Cosmoline.

[lightman]

I read about this years ago and tried it. I had some oxidation in the mold and quit that practice. Now days I spray my molds with whatever gun oil thats on hand and store them in an air tight container wrapped in an oily rag.

[Randy Bohannon]

Paraffin wax melted while the mould is hot when I’m done casting leaves a very nice hermetically sealed mould. I preheat my moulds and the wax melts off ,no muss no fuss.

[pworley1]

I only do it with steel or iron molds and I don't cut the sprue.

[Soundguy]

Stops little hornets building mud nests in them!

Exactly. On my last pour I cut the spruce and leave bullets in. Keeps everything out.. Dust.. Mud Dauber wasps..etc.

My molds live in a screened in mania..so protected from direct weather..but bugs try to go everywhere.

[popper]

It keeps them from opening up and potentially getting dinged up.

if the sprue isn't cut - otherwise it's just a loose bullet. So you have a bullet hanging on the sprue. Won't stop rust either. Lead shrinks as it cools so it is NOT attached to the cavity. Space between the bullet and cavity can't dry! If you leave them out in the open they might get some dust in the cavity, without a bullet.
Make NO sense to me. With OLD Ideal moulds in your saddlebag/pack, may make sense.

[Winger Ed.]

I don't.
If I think I'll need the mold anytime soon, I hose it off with motorcycle chain oil.
That stuff sticks like poop on a baby blanket.

It's hot and humid here. If I store them for a long time---
after having one rust & ruin, I seal the blocks in a full jar of cheap, car engine motor oil.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

How's about a completely honest answer (not that the other answers haven't been)-- I've become confused on the subject and just don't know the answer. I used to believe that leaving a bullet in the cavity prevented rust. Then I read, as here in this thread, that the opposite may be true and under certain conditions humidity will cause moisture between the bullet and the cavity's walls and result in rust. I've never experienced rust either way, but not knowing the truth of the matter for sure I spray them with Rem Oil and wrap the mold in VPI paper. No rust that way either, but one has to thoroughly degrease the mold before using it again. Acetone seems to work pretty well. But--there's some out there in the shop that haven't been used for a long time and still have bullets in them. Maybe the right answer is "depends on where you live, how you store them, and the prevailing climatic conditions.

DG