grainy bullets

[casey]

My Lee C452-300 bullets are coming out a little grainy looking. Im casting with w.w. +2% tin. Bullets shoot great , 3/4 inch at 25 yards. Just wondering what im doing wrong. Im not complaining mind you, i just want them pretty like everyone else. This is the only mould that comes out like this. Can anyone tell me what im doing wrong? They are coming out at 314.5 graines with lube and g.c. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks to all that can help.

[Slow Elk 45/70]

Hullo Casey and welcome, well that isn't much info to make suggestions from. "Grainy"...but shoots good , well it could be worse.

I'm guessing new Lee mold, or new to you anyway. If it was me and this was the only mold I was having a problem with , all else being equal, alloy, heat etc. , if this is your only aluminum mold, you have to run them hotter than steel or brass. Try preheating the mold, if you don't already do this.

If the mold is new , I would back off and give it a good cleaning, I like to soak my aluminum molds over night in mineral sperits, give them a good brushing with dish soap and hot water, dry and then use them. If they don't want to act right then I "lement" them, there is a thread on the site on this procedure, but I don't do this unless I try all else first.

I'm just shooting in the dark here, best guess with the info you gave.

[fredj338]

I have the same mold. Like SE said, make sure it's very clean, I use Gunscrubber or sim. cleaner & a toothbrush. Then use a wood match & smoke the cavs. Preheat the mold by setting on the top of the pot when I turn it on & it throws good bullets after 2-3 fills.

[Tom W.]

Sounds like it's wayyy too hot. When mine start coming out like that I let the mold cool a bit and use another mold until I deem it cooler. I will not touch the mold to a damp cloth to cool it, no matter what the papers that came with the mold say....

[DLCTEX]

Sounds like it's wayyy too hot. When mine start coming out like that I let the mold cool a bit and use another mold until I deem it cooler. I will not touch the mold to a damp cloth to cool it, no matter what the papers that came with the mold say....

+1 on too hot. Sounds like frosting, which is not bad if only light frosting which will wipr off with a colth after loading if you want shiney. Reduce the melt temp a little or slow your casting rate.

[cajun shooter]

When you say pretty like every one else are you talking about mazgazine pics? Those are touched up for appeal and not shooting. The good boolit will have a light cover of frosting as the others have pointed out. When you have that you are in the correct area. The smooth shiney bullet in adds is pure lead for looks and not shooting. With any aluminum mold you will run at higher casting temps which will give you the "Tony The Tiger Look"

[44man]

Yeah, even a frosted boolit can be polished with a cloth to take pictures. As long as the boolit is filled out perfectly and shoots good, keep doing what you are doing.
Too hot can give you bands not filled, so just turn down the heat or slow down.

[jonk]

I run ALL my molds hot. I find I get best fillout that way, from pure lead to any wheelweight alloy. This frosts all or part of the bullet. Don't see any trouble from accuracy either, just takes a little longer for the sprue to harden up.

I run my WW alloy on an '8' setting on my Lee pot, and pure lead right at a max 10 for blackpowder.

[runfiverun]

having seen some of the boolits in the "magazines" i wouldn't strive to duplicate them.
a lot of the ones i've seen i woulda tossed back in the pot.
if by grainey you mean antimonial tendrils [looks like pine tree branches laid out in a pile]
then you have hit the grey stage which is about perfect for fill out and consistent boolit weight.
if by grainey you mean white colored on the driving bands and they are rounded that is frosting and things are either too hot or you need to either fill the mold faster or work on the venting some.

[casey]

I have decided that i need more water in my quench bucket. They arent grainy looking all over just where they hit the towel in the bottom of the bucket. They do shoot great so im not going to mess with them much. Thanks to all that replied.

[leadman]

The water will give them a different appearance depending on what is in the water.
I am going to fill my 5 gallon bucket with filtered water next time to see what happens.

Also do not leave the boolits in the water any longer than necessary. Some water, like the really alkaline stuff here in Az. can cause like a corrosion on the outside if left overnight.