CB
posted this
11 October 2008
Thats a good point George. I also have an extra layer of protection fixed to my glove to prevent the sprue from giving me another burn in the palm.
I have been using one of those “ovgloves” inside a standard harbor freight leather work glove that has an extra piece of leather from a previous glove stitched into the palm.
I went to popping the sprue by hand to reduce the “bump” in the base of the bullets and also to reduce the galling of the top of the aluminum molds by the sprue plates.
The only molds I swat with a leather mallet are the 6+ cavity models that are either Ideals or H&G and are mainly pistol molds. That is just more sprue than my old hands can break on their own.
On the sprue plates that I redesign I tend to make them similar to the configuration that Veral Smith of LBT uses because are easier to break by hand. I am a firm believer to a thicker sprue at least .250 simply because they are more resistant to warpage.
I cast hot, around 750 to 800 degrees so I can get by with a 1/8 for lino and up to 3/16 hole for higher lead content alloys. It is easy to start small and try it and then go a bit larger if it doesnt work just right.
I also try to cast only in the fall, winter and early spring. Sitting over a hot lead pot for 3 hours in 80 degree weather just doesnt do it for me, it is miserable. I would rather sit in the garage when it is 20 degrees outside and the garage gets up to around 50 with the lead pot going.
I cast around 10,000 bullets for competition each year and then 10 times that for goofing around with the pistols and other rifles I dont shoot in competition. With 3 people shooting competition you go through a goodly amount of lino and all of the goof around stuff I use reclaimed range scrap with some tin and a touch of antimony added so I keep pretty darn buzy casting.
Going through that many bullets each year it is easy to see why I work on my own bullet lube.