If we could wait a few replies before bashing equipment, I am using Lee molds. I have the following:
Lee HG 68 clone 45 acp mold (6 cavity) & handles
Lee C309-200-R mold
I have only cast with these twice. I have a friend locally that casts but I haven't had a chance to meet up with him to help me yet. For the first batch, I only cast with the 45 mold. I dumped all of those bullets back into the pot as they were wrinkly. The second time I cast, my bullets appear nicer. I visually inspected and culled them. The ones that remained, I suspect, were cast after temperatures were appropriate. At any rate, I did mic some of them. I will add that when I culled them, some of them had fins on them. Well, I mic'd some that I didn't cull. I weighed some as well. I didn't spend a whole lot of time trying to vet this out, but I think my bullets aren't completely round. Weight varied as well. I don't know if the issue is specific to a cavity. I don't know which bullet came from which cavity.
Before I go down a rabbit hole trying to isolate the issue, I want to start out assuming the issue is operator error. I suspect that I am not closing the mold properly. Does that sound suspect? I wanted to find a video on youtube, or a description in a past thread, about this. I came up short. So I apologize in advance as I did try to search.
Appreciate everyone's help.