Minie Ball Problem

[Green Frog]

In preparation for my last couple of N-SSA skirmishes, I went down to the old casting bench to run off a hundred or so Minie Balls from my RCBS Hodgdon design mould. I bought it used several years ago and have always had good luck with it, but due to a good supply of bullets cast prior to the pandemic and of course the decreased shooting during the Woo Flu I haven't cast any bullets for perhaps three years. That's the background. Today I heated up the mould well on top of my Lee 20# pot and tried to cast some bullets. They absolutely would not come off of the hollow base pin! I've never had this problem before with hundreds (or even thousands?) of bullets I've cast in the past.

Never having experienced this before, I have no idea how to even begin dealing with my problem. Any and all suggestions will be appreciated... I've got to get some musket ammo ready for the Potomac Regional!

Thanks in Advance,
Froggie

[BLAHUT]

Smoke it> heavely < clean good before smoking >> run the heat up ??

[45workhorse]

Get it hotter.
Put some kroil on it. Then wipe it off.
Run a #2 pencil over the base plug.
Buff the base plug, maybe it has a slight burr on it.
Just a couple of ideas!

[gwpercle]

Something on the plug is holding onto the boolit .
Look at plug very carefully ... did it get dropped or something fall on it ...
did someone use it as a makeshift tool and put a ding or burr on it .

Take 0000 steel wool and polish the plug all over with some synthetic 2 stroke oil that you use as mould lube ... leave a light film of 2-stroke oil on the plug ... also you need to heat the plug ...the plug cools down as soon as you remove it from the mould / heat ...keep that plug as hot as the mould .
That's all I got ... hope something works Frogman !
Gary

[bedbugbilly]

I have one 575-213 with a removable base plug that sticks like that sometimes - for no apparent reason. I keep a small block of beeswax nearby and just touch the hot point area of the plug to the beeswax every ten pours or so and it solves it and they drop off like butter.

[Mk42gunner]

All suggestions seem reasonable to me.

The only other one I have is to pull the bottom plug before cutting the sprue.

It has been so long since I cast any HB boolits, I don't remember to exact steps I took then; but do remember having to pull the HP pin before cutting the sprue for hollows on the opposite end.

Robert

[Green Frog]

For those following along, this is the RCBS mould with what I’ve heard referred to as “Cramer style” captive base plug. It rides on a bar and never leaves the mould assembly. When it’s working right it’s a joy to use and very efficient, but trying to get between the blocks to fuss with it is maddening (not to mention likely to get you burned!) I’m hoping to get back on this later today and will report on my progress, but I plan to disassemble and clean the plug with 4-0 steel wool, then after I have the blocks hot on the melting pot hit the plug with heat from my propane torch. If that fails, I’ll try some of the other strategies.
Thanks to all who responded.
Froggie

[stubshaft]

I use the same mold and keep a propane torch handy to heat up the plug too. Usually once the plug is hot enough and I get into the rhythm I have no further problems.

[gwpercle]

Cramer style ... Okay , that makes a lot of difference in my answer .
Disassemble pins and make sure there are no burrs and everything is smooth .
Then lubricate all the pin parts with spray dry lube like Liquid Wrench Dry Lubricant L512 , you can also use the Liquid Dry Lube (I use both) apply a coat and let dry , then reassemble pins and mould ... the dry lube leaves a micro thin layer of Teflon ...lead will NOT stick to it and it doesn't contaminate the cavity . In Fact ...this stuff is a great mould release spray .
It leaves no nasty black residue or build up .
While you are coating the pins , give the mould cavities a light coat ... boolits want to jump out the mould when you open it ... it's truly Amazing !!!
Gary

[Green Frog]

Well, I just found a stash of Minie balls I forgot I had, so there will be time to putz more with the mould at my leisure. It’s odd that I’ve never had this problem come up before, but I’m hoping a good cleaning and heating will take care of it. Thanks again for all the suggestions.
Now all I have to do is cast a bunch of .451 lead round balls for the C&B revolver event, size and lube my Maynard bullets, and load all of my “cartridges”!
Froggie

[gwpercle]

Remember ...Liquid Wrench Dry Lube L512
works like an old VooDoo woman's black magic spell ... try it just once

[longbow]

I'm with the "more heat" group. I find that most of my HB or HP moulds require HOT pins or the boolits stick. I have several Mihec HP moulds and they cast beautifully if they are HOT and the HP pins are HOT. I cut the sprue while the lead is just harder than mushy (WW alloy) then the boolits drop off the pins if the mould/lead is cool or pins not really hot then I get sticking.

Same wiht my Lee shotgun slug moulds. If they aren't well pre-heated along with hot core pins the slugs stick (again WW alloy) but once up to casting temperature the slugs drop off the pins.

I consider good casting temperature when the mould is hot enough to have the sprue plate lube just starting to smoke... that is actually a bit hot but after a few casts the mould settles in and casting goes well.

A wipe of the core pin with sprue plate lube, very thin light wipe, or as suggested using graphite on the core pin will most likely help too but I find that casting hot works for me amost always.

That's what works for me anyway.

Longbow