rafterj
Guest
Jan 19, 2010
7:34 PM
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I'm using a Lyman Postell mould. I'm casting at 700 degrees (Lyman Thermometer). The bullet tends to hang up in the right half of the mould requiring several raps on the center piece of the mould handles to get it to drop. This seems to happen with or without mould prep spay. I notice occasionally all is right and the bullet falls out when the mould is opened. Anybody got the magic juju to have it fall out on opening most of the time???
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Lumpy Grits
1 post
Jan 20, 2010
4:35 PM
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What alloy are you using? How long do you let the mould set after your pour?
That may be just the "joy" of a factory production mould.BTDT
Bump your temp up to say 750* and see what happens.
Respectfully,
LG
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Sagebrush
43 posts
Jan 23, 2010
9:53 PM
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There is a number of things you can do. Unfortunately LG is right about the production mould.
First off take a brass brush and brush the hell out of the mould cavity, especially on the seams. When you are tired of brushing it do it some more. Spend about 10 minuts brushing.
Secondly: if you are using scrap lead that could contain unknown metals, (even wheel wieghts) can make them stick. To get you best results you need pure lead and tin alloy.
Thirdly: bump up your temp to 800 to 850 degrees. In my bottom pure machines I run the temp to 850 degrees.
Fourth: keep a very consistant timing on the casting method. If you delay 20 to 30 seconds after dropping a bullet and let it cool just a little will affect the consistancy of the bullets and how they drop out.
When it comes to bullet casting there are 3 things to remember, consistancy, consistancy and consistancy.
Lets us know how thing work out.
Harlan
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"Just Shoot...Exercise Your Rights!"
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rafterj
Guest
Jan 28, 2010
7:05 PM
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During the last casting session, I wound up starting to cast at about 695 degrees. The result was a good bullet, but now, the bullet hung up on the opposite side of the mould, and came free with only a very minor tap. I neglected to mention I ladle pour, even though I have a bottom pour pot. I lose about 3 to 4% to bubbles, in that I weigh and sort by weight.B8Wbyd
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Fairshake
Guest
Feb 26, 2010
1:34 PM
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I think that you are casting at too low of a temp. Both Harlan and LG advised that you bump up your temp and I agree. As far as ladle pouring I believe that's the best way to cast bigger slugs that are over 400 grains in weight. I use the Wagge pot and laddle for all my LR slugs. Harlan also gave you some great info in that your alloy has to be the exact same each and every time or your results will be all over the board.Don't get me wrong as there is a BPCR shooter who uses wheel weights but you can bet that they are all from the same source and not a mix of weights from different sources. When he tells you consistancy that does not mean only with the casting either. That means in each and everything you do. From case prep to trigger squeeze. Later David
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Sagebrush
47 posts
Feb 27, 2010
8:07 AM
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There is nothing wrong with shooting wheel weights, it's just a little harder to cast. You need to get the temp up to about 900 degrees. First of all you want to melt down a larger batch in order to keep any consistancy. Get a turkey frier and a cast iron pot and melt down as much as 100 pounds. Keep the heat on it and continue to skim the top until it stays nice and clean. It's also handy to have a lead hardness tester to test a few bullets to see if you need to add some pure lead to your batch.
In my commercial bullets, I DO NOT use unknown alloy lead. I use pure lead and tin. I have tried to use soft lead of unknown properties and struggled with it even though the hardness was right.
Another thing I run across and it is hard to believe. I melted some alloy lead for some round balls and after they cooled they were very hard. One day I tried to melt those hard round balls in a batch of lead to increase the hardness and those balls would float and not melt at all. I cut one with a band saw and it was like steel. I still don't have an explaination for that. I hope someone can help me out on it.
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"Just Shoot...Exercise Your Rights!"
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Don McDowell
44 posts
Feb 27, 2010
9:23 PM
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Harlan that does sound weird. Wonder if you got some zinc to melt and blend in on the first batch, or maybe got ahold of some weird babbot?
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rafterj
Guest
Mar 29, 2010
7:50 PM
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Harlan: this afternoon I went back to the pot for another session. Let the temp go to 825, but there was no difference on the bullet sticking in the right half of the mould; if anything, it was a little harder to get out. Also, I've always been told that lead begins to vaporize at 900 F. Best be extremely careful about ventilation when working lead at 900 or above. I'm looking real hard at a Brooks new Postell. Any recommendations?
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Sagebrush
50 posts
Mar 31, 2010
7:17 PM
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Most likely the mold needs a little polishing at the at the seam, but be careful of over doing it.
Harlan
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"Just Shoot...Exercise Your Rights!"
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Boson
Guest
May 10, 2010
10:23 PM
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I had the same problem with a new Brooks Postell mold. Nothing wrong with the mold.
We figured out to let the mold cool 4 seconds in front of a fan between pours. The bullets remained consistent and started dropping from the mold as they should. Temp of lead shot in pot - 825. With the mold too hot the diameters were not consistent, probably because the mold expanded (????)
Anyway, the 4 sec holding empty mold in front of the fan solved the exact same problem for me. Good luck.
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MikeT
2 posts
Jul 06, 2010
11:01 AM
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rafterj
For your own piece of mind you should look up the boiling point of lead. To get lead to vaporize, you first have to get it to boil.
Keep on hav'n fun!
MikeT
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