HI EVERYONE I HAVE A ?,
i'm very new to casting so please humor me , when the bullets come out of the mold with what i call wrinkles (i'm using lee 45.70 mold ),,iread the insructions it came with and followed them to the letter ,well what i'm asking is why the wrinkles?. is my mold too cold ,or too hot ,or what,? thanks for listening to my rambling,adrians :hunt: :taz:
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Possible reasons for wrinkles: mold not clean, mold too cold, alloy too cold. There's others, but that's the big three. It's a very common problem, search here and read away. Get your alloy hotter, make sure you clean that mold good, and go to it at a fair pace, gotta get the mold heated up. Those big bullets should come out smooth pretty quick, it's a good one to learn on, more forgiving than a little bullet. Don't settle for less than perfect, you can do it.
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Just my take on this subject, same thoughts as above. The first say 10-20 you drop are culls. KEEP going as it takes the mold quite a while to heat up. Don't fool around between pours. As soon as the sprue is cool which is only a few seconds, cut it drop it and pour another. What is your alloy? If it is a dead soft lead, you will have to run a hotter pot than WW. If WW or a some what unknown alloy a bit of tin will help a lot. There are two types of CB's, perfect and culls. I know a lot of folks getting started figure if it drops from the mold, that is what you get. If the CB does not look EXACTLY like the inside of the mold, it is a cull. Plain pure and simple. Would one settle for buggered up jackets on their full length gas check stuff, I think not. NO reason to accept it with a CB either. Stay after it. jeff
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I usually dip mold in pot until it is hot enough for lead alloy to drip off before it hardens. Then I start pouring bullets and checking for the losers.
Bob D
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I do as Canalupo , heat the mold in the melt. This is with ALUMINUM molds.Iron or brass MAY warp. I use the “culls” for plinking and case forming. IF the base isn't perfect, it's a cull! If the wrinkles aren't too bad , it's a cull. Target bullets are as perfect as I can make them. This means I get about 2/3 of a batch of target quality and the rest plinkers! I will send a few back to the pot IF the wrinkles are REAL bad.
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thanks fella's i was kinda thinking my mold was a little cold and i was waiting too long in between casts. my lead was gotten from e-bay(good deal)and it claims to be soft lead from old plumbing and fluxed and put in ingots ,it's soft cos i can make it “shine” with my thumbnail. i will be casting for a 1873 trapdoor so soft is good ,right?, and also plenty of .323 and .318 mauser loads ,but do you think i may need to use g.c on the “hotter “8mm's .? thank again for all your sage advice i need more .... :hunt: :taz:
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look fella's i think i did it !
not perfect but i bet they make it out the end of the barrel,lol.
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Adrians, give this a read: The Eight Phase Casting Cycle. Should improve your casting skills appreciably ...
Good Luck
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I shot BPCR Silhouette for about fifteen years. I settled on 30/1 lead/tin. Tin is very important for perfect fill out.
I pre-heat ALL of my moulds (aluminum, iron, and brass) on a solid burner hot plate. I set mine just over medium (YMMV). The idea is to have the mould just slightly under perfect casting temperature and let the first couple of moulds full of molten metal complete the cycle.
It is EXTREMELY important to maintain a relatively quick moulding cycle. The size of the bullet varies depending on the mould being hotter or colder from cast to cast. Find a rhythm that you can maintain and-d-d, maintain it:D.
I have heard experienced bullet casters state that it can take one to two years before you can cast perfect rifle bullets. It DOES take a while, but it is certainly worth the endeavor.
Dale53
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Adrians, lookin' good! That wasn't so hard, was it? Be sure to let us know how they shoot. Dale's point about a little tin is a good one. By the way, what's the diameter of those beauties? My Lee .457 mold is just that, I have to 'beagle' the mold to get a useful diameter. (You can search 'beagling' here.)
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Way to go Adrians
Heck I'd shoot them slugs with out reservations. Thanks for the pictures, we like pictures. I can feel your excitement. Just wait till you hit your target with the first one, nothing better.
When you switch over to casting smaller bullets, bring the temp up just a smidge and you should do just as well. You will want to research water quenching for the higher velocity cast projectiles. There are many opinions on gas checking vs alloy modifications vs heat treatment, mine doesn't count since I do it all.
You are on the path my friend, your progress is enjoying to observe.
Roy
Shoot often, Shoot well
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thanks for the kind words guys . tt53 the dia from my 'measuring stick' is .458.5 but thats after i lubed them,so take off the thickness of a thin alox lube and oh i don't know (how thick is a thin lube ,lol?) maybe measures right at .458. my lee mold number is 457-405-F single cavity. john boy i'm gonna go to your link after dinner it looks like i might gain some useful insights into the bp side of things being as mine is a trapdoor. thanks again yall have a great nite.:hunt::taz:
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Have you tried coating the mould cavity with botox?
It works for san-fran-nan and jean francoise care--ree; reducing wrinkles, I mean.
RT
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nah way too exspensive for my wallet . i did beg the local millionair for a couple of “shots” to put in my lead but he said his wife would'nt let him donate cos she needs it more than my lead does ,,and she ain't lying LOL. have a great nite ,adrians :hunt: :taz:
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HI EVERYONE I HAVE A ?,
i'm very new to casting so please humor me , when the bullets come out of the mold with what i call wrinkles (i'm using lee 45.70 mold ),,iread the insructions it came with and followed them to the letter ,well what i'm asking is why the wrinkles?. is my mold too cold ,or too hot ,or what,? thanks for listening to my rambling,adrians :hunt: :taz:
I have had several new Lee molds that seem to need ” breaking in ” .
Wash it with liquid dish soap & warm water . Scrub with an old tooth brush . Rinse , rinse , rinse .
Scrub with an old tooth brush & tooth paste ( mild abrasive ) . Rinse , rinse , rinse .
Dry the mold 100&
Set your temp on your pot to max and cast as fast and furious as you can . I am talking about running it HOT .
When you start getting good bullets , experiment by gradually turning the temp down . Run the temp as cold as you can and still get good bullets .
The mold should work ” normally ” from now on .
God bless Wyr
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Hi Adrians, nice work with the bullets. Like your avitar: John Lennon almost got it right when he said 'happiness is a warm gun'... in reality happiness is a warm mould and a cool barrel...
And to add tin to help the fill out, get some lead/tin solder from a plumbers supply shop and add that to the mix in appropriate ratio.
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:coffee
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The container that is almost full was cast last Sunday , It is .358” 150 grain RNL and 200 grain .454” RNFP .
These were cast , alternating between 2 six cavity Lee molds .
The one that is about 1/4 full was cast last Saturday . It was almost full of 230 grain .452” RNL . I have already tumble lubed the other 3/4 of them . I started out on them Saturday AM & broke for lunch . Checked the results after lunch and many had wrinkles ( I was trying to cast as cold as would work in hopes of getting bigger bullets . I had turned the temp down too cold . :-(
All those got re-melted . I turned the temp back up and quickly got good bullets . These were cast with a six cavity Lee mold .
I started to add tin to try to to get the bullets to cast OK , but I decided to try more heat / higher temp first . Did not need to add tin , after all . :-)
God bless Wyr
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Two things are absolutely essential when using Lee or any other aluminum moulds. One is to smoke the mould cavities after thoroughly cleaning the entire mould with mineral spirits etc. The mould needs to be perfectly dry then smoke with matches or a Zippo type lighter. Two is that the mould needs to be lubed according to the instructions from Lee. This means heating the mould and lightly coating the mating pins with bees wax. The problem is that eventually the wax will migrate to the cavities and cause wrinkles. Wipe off the excess lube, re-smoke and run at about 850 degrees F. There should be smoke coming off the interior of the mould when opened. Work fast and keep the mould hot. After approximately 100 bullets the lube will form a teflon like coating and you are good to go until the mould pins get sticky again and need further lube. I also like to LIGHTLY polish the interior mould surfaces with green Scotchbrite just enough to remove microscopic burrs but DON'T CHANGE THE SHAPE OF THE MOULD.
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Two things are absolutely essential when using Lee or any other aluminum moulds.
One is to smoke the mould cavities after thoroughly cleaning the entire mould with mineral spirits etc. The mould needs to be perfectly dry then smoke with matches or a Zippo type lighter.
Two is that the mould needs to be lubed according to the instructions from Lee. This means heating the mould and lightly coating the mating pins with bees wax. The problem is that eventually the wax will migrate to the cavities and cause wrinkles. Wipe off the excess lube, re-smoke and run at about 850 degrees F. There should be smoke coming off the interior of the mould when opened. Work fast and keep the mould hot. After approximately 100 bullets the lube will form a teflon like coating and you are good to go until the mould pins get sticky again and need further lube.
I also like to LIGHTLY polish the interior mould surfaces with green Scotchbrite just enough to remove microscopic burrs but DON'T CHANGE THE SHAPE OF THE MOULD.
I quit smoking molds a long time ago . A new mold I wash with liquid dish soap and warm water . Then I take an old tooth brush and tooth paste ( mild abrasive ) and scrub it vigorously . Rinse as much as necessary .
Sometimes I have to cast several bullets with the pot set to Max to ” break in ” the mold . Then go back to casting ” normally ” .
God bless Wyr
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I have been starting to use Kroil in all my molds both steel and aluminum.Once up to temp,seems to work great.Also as I understand,the new lead free solder is mostly tin so I just put approx a 4"-6” piece in the pot when refilling.
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