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Posted: 9/4/2016 1:55:26 PM EDT
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I tried my first casting today using a Lee 4-20 melting pot and a 4 cavity NOE 311-230-FN GC BLKOUT mould.
I got the temp of the pot up to 675. I fluxed the pot and heated my mould using a hot plate. My first few drops were terrible. The bullets were not filled out at all. I figured out that I had to start the pour in each hold of the mold separately originally i was just starting the flow and dragging over each hole. I stopped at about 20 drops in case I have to start all over. I wanted some feed back from the hive on how these look. There were also 3 bullets that broke in half? Is that because I didn't let them cool long enough or did I do something else wrong? 
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Odd.. breaking apart means it was too hot when you dropped em out of mold. Normally hazy bullets mean too hot too. But temp you mention doesnt sound that hot to me.
First 5-10 (or more) throws are never good for me with Aluminum molds. You cleaned the mold well, right? Dont let oil or lube get in cavity. |
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Those mold lines look strange to me, like contaminated, or it this a cast iron mold?
Surface haze means too hot but those sorta look like cold mold lines or contaminant to me. Are you using a dipper or a bottom pour pot? If dipper is it a bottom pour dipper or a simple scoop? Bottom pour types will avoid the surface contaminants/cold spots. What is your lead mix, do you know? |
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I'm no expert... What I see and what you have written don't add up unless the problem is the alloy. What alloy are you using? I'm thinking the alloy has to much zinc... Edit: Did you weigh any of the bullets? I'm guessing they will come up light.. Bullet alloy should not have any zinc. |
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Quoted: Bullet alloy should not have any zinc. Quoted: Quoted: I'm no expert... What I see and what you have written don't add up unless the problem is the alloy. What alloy are you using? I'm thinking the alloy has to much zinc... Edit: Did you weigh any of the bullets? I'm guessing they will come up light.. Bullet alloy should not have any zinc. |
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Those mold lines look strange to me, like contaminated, or it this a cast iron mold? Surface haze means too hot but those sorta look like cold mold lines or contaminant to me. Are you using a dipper or a bottom pour pot? If dipper is it a bottom pour dipper or a simple scoop? Bottom pour types will avoid the surface contaminants/cold spots. What is your lead mix, do you know? The lead mix is supposed to be Lyman #2 i bought them from a local ar15.com that smelted them using wheel weights. |
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I used Frankford Arsenal Bullet Mold Release instead of smoking it. Quoted:
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Did you clean the mold and smoke it? I used Frankford Arsenal Bullet Mold Release instead of smoking it. Lee specifically says not to use the mold release spray.. You will lose too much diameter with the spray. I made the same mistake the first time I used a Lee mold. |
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Quoted: I used Frankford Arsenal Bullet Mold Release instead of smoking it. Quoted: Quoted: Did you clean the mold and smoke it? I used Frankford Arsenal Bullet Mold Release instead of smoking it. Mold release agents normally do more harm than good, especially if you use the "more is better" line of thought. Too much release agent will plug vent lines and create a barrier that will prevent proper mold heat transfer. Clean the mold with hot soapy water and a tooth brush, rinse then heat it up to dry. Lube the sprue plate hinge screw, bottom of the sprue plate and alignment pins(both sides) with synthetic 2 cycle oil. Do not lube the cavity or face of the mold. I've been casting for many years. In the beginning I smoked my molds because that's what the directions recommended. Now, I never smoke molds and NEVER use release agents, my boolits drop out just fine once the lead and mold are at the right temps  |
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http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm Read this free book to learn more about casting. Your bullet alloy looks contaminated with Zinc. That means all of it is no good. I don't care what lead alloy (that doesn't contain Zinc) you are using, but bullets don't break in half. Whoever smelted the wheel weights, didn't know to remove the zinc wheel weights. That's a real shame.  I suggest you get some lead from another source, and maybe return the batch you already bought if possible. Sorry for the bad news. edit to fix my link.
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I think the alloy is contaminated with zinc as well. Thankfully, I've never had to deal with this myself. Maybe this thread can help OP get rid of the zinc and salvage what he has.. |
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Well you can remove the zinc form the lead/ Or so i have heard. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?62957-A-possible-way-to-remove-zinc-from-molten-lead
A possible way to remove zinc from molten leadWhile researching the true meaning of 50:50 solder, I came upon some information describing how to make different solder mixtures. Part of the article mentioned how a very small amount of zinc will "poison" the solder and goes on to explain how to remove the zinc by fluxing with sulfur. Perhaps this has been brought up before but the information was new to me. There seem to be a good number of posters who have accidentally "poisoned" their wheel weight melts and if this helps clean up their alloy then I've done my good deed for the day. Most relevant passages: "From this it is clear that in making solder great care must be taken to exclude zinc from the pot. Zinc, lead, and tin do not alloy well, lead will unite with only 1.6 per cent of zinc, and above that proportion the metals are only mixed when melted, and on cooling partially separate. Sufficient lead having been melted in the pot, about ½ pound of lump sulphur, broken into pieces about the size of hickory nuts, is added, and the whole well stirred with a ladle, the sulphur unites with zinc and other impurities. The resultant sulphides are skimmed off in the form of a cake, more sulphur being added so long as sulphides continue to form. The bowl of the ladle, in the intervals of stirring, should be laid on the fire, to burn off any adherent sulphur. When sulphide ceases to be formed, a handful of resin is thrown into the pot, and the lead stirred. When the resin has burned, the lead is again skimmed, and a piece of tallow about the size of a hen's egg is put into the pot, the lead being again stirred and skimmed. In stirring the lead it is lifted up and poured back by the ladleful, a larger amount of lead being thus exposed to the action of the cleaning material." & "Zinc is the greatest trouble to the solder pot. Great care has to be taken to exclude it, or to get it out. It may get into the solder from a piece of zinc, having been put into the pot by mistake for lead, but more commonly brass, which is an alloy of copper and zinc, is the source of the zinc that poisons the pot, into which brass filings find their way whilst brass is being prepared for tinning. If the filing is done at the same bench as the wiping, splashes of metal may fall on the filings, which will adhere, and thus get into the pot. Solder that is poisoned by arsenic or antimony is beyond the plumber's skill to clean, but zinc can be extracted by stirring in powdered sulphur when the solder is in a semi-molten condition, and then melting the whole, when the combined sulphur and zinc will rise to the surface, and can be taken off in the form of a cake, the solder being left in good condition for use." Link to the whole page : http://chestofbooks.com/home-improve...ke-Solder.html Hope this helps some of you kind folks, Hugh |
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Quoted: I think the alloy is contaminated with zinc as well. Thankfully, I've never had to deal with this myself. Maybe this thread can help OP get rid of the zinc and salvage what he has.. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?63082-Zinc-Removal-with-Sulfur-Report |
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Quoted: Well you can remove the zinc form the lead/ Or so i have heard.http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?62957-A-possible-way-to-remove-zinc-from-molten-lead A possible way to remove zinc from molten leadWhile researching the true meaning of 50:50 solder, I came upon some information describing how to make different solder mixtures. Part of the article mentioned how a very small amount of zinc will "poison" the solder and goes on to explain how to remove the zinc by fluxing with sulfur. Perhaps this has been brought up before but the information was new to me. There seem to be a good number of posters who have accidentally "poisoned" their wheel weight melts and if this helps clean up their alloy then I've done my good deed for the day. Most relevant passages: "From this it is clear that in making solder great care must be taken to exclude zinc from the pot. Zinc, lead, and tin do not alloy well, lead will unite with only 1.6 per cent of zinc, and above that proportion the metals are only mixed when melted, and on cooling partially separate. Sufficient lead having been melted in the pot, about ½ pound of lump sulphur, broken into pieces about the size of hickory nuts, is added, and the whole well stirred with a ladle, the sulphur unites with zinc and other impurities. The resultant sulphides are skimmed off in the form of a cake, more sulphur being added so long as sulphides continue to form. The bowl of the ladle, in the intervals of stirring, should be laid on the fire, to burn off any adherent sulphur. When sulphide ceases to be formed, a handful of resin is thrown into the pot, and the lead stirred. When the resin has burned, the lead is again skimmed, and a piece of tallow about the size of a hen's egg is put into the pot, the lead being again stirred and skimmed. In stirring the lead it is lifted up and poured back by the ladleful, a larger amount of lead being thus exposed to the action of the cleaning material." & "Zinc is the greatest trouble to the solder pot. Great care has to be taken to exclude it, or to get it out. It may get into the solder from a piece of zinc, having been put into the pot by mistake for lead, but more commonly brass, which is an alloy of copper and zinc, is the source of the zinc that poisons the pot, into which brass filings find their way whilst brass is being prepared for tinning. If the filing is done at the same bench as the wiping, splashes of metal may fall on the filings, which will adhere, and thus get into the pot. Solder that is poisoned by arsenic or antimony is beyond the plumber's skill to clean, but zinc can be extracted by stirring in powdered sulphur when the solder is in a semi-molten condition, and then melting the whole, when the combined sulphur and zinc will rise to the surface, and can be taken off in the form of a cake, the solder being left in good condition for use." Link to the whole page : http://chestofbooks.com/home-improve...ke-Solder.html Hope this helps some of you kind folks, Hugh Good info, hope it helps the OP. You get sulfur from the plant section at a box store. It's sold as a Rose dust to kill aphids. |
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I'd melt everything down and start over.
Check your mold and make sure there is no lead sticking to the sides of the molds, edges of the cavities or lead smears on to of the mold from opening the mold with it being too hot. Wash the mold with hot water and soap and then use alcohol to clean the cavities. Let it dry. To me it looks like you had your heat too low ( 675*) and din't either flux your alloy when it melted of didn't flux it enough. You bullets don't look like zinc contamination to me. They look like: You were not letting the mold/bullets cool long enough before opening the mold Didn't flux your alloy that appears to have an extremely high antimony%. Huge amounts of antimony in a lead alloy will look like zinc.if it's ran too cold. To get #2 alloy from ww's the easiest way is to do a 3 to 1 ww/linotype or linotype. This puts huge amounts of antimony in the alloy and makes the bullets extremely brittle, hence the bullets breaking in 2. You don't need anywhere near #2 alloy for what your doing. You have enough tin in your alloy because your edges of your bullets look crisp/sharp, If they were rounded it wold mean that you were casting with too cold of a mold or alloy. But you would also have wrinkles and voids in your bullets from being too cold. If everything is the right temp and you get rounded edges on your bullets it's from the lack of tin. If it was me I'd try to find some pure/soft lead and mix it 50/50 with your alloy. I've shot nothing but range scrap for decades (9bhn +/-) and never had a problem. Air cooled range scrap for everything and water dropped if I needed something harder. Sterp 1: Set your pot to 725* and fill the pot with your alloy. Let it heat cycle several times (5 minutes) after it's full and melted. Stir and flux your pot of alloy, I like to stir the alloy with a wooden paint stick (carbon) and any type of wax, paraffin, candle,handful of saw dust. Your putting carbon into the alloy and that will not only remove impurities. It will dissolve & bond all of the different metals in your alloys. When you 1st fluz your alloy a bunch of silver looking junk will float on the surface of your mix. You want to stir/flux all of that back into your alloy. It make take 2 or 3 tries with the fluxing/stirring. Step 2: Pre-heat your mold. I heat my molds hot enough so that the lead puddles/stay liquid longer than normal at 1st when I pour the lead into the cavities 1 cavity at a time. Doing this allows me to control how the mold cools bringing it down to a good operating temperature. I want to be able to pour the lead and wait for a 5 to 7 count (depends on the mold/alloy/temp that day/etc) for the sprue to harden and to sink in. After you see the sprue lead harden and sink in wait another couple of seconds to open the mold.. Once you've got the mold to a good running temp (5 to 7 count) and you've cast 10 to 15 sets of bullets. Look at the bullets for "frosting". Most of the bullets in your picture are frosted. Frosted bullets don't hurt anything but it is a sign that you are running the alloy (lead pot) hot. Running the pot hot ='s it takes longer for your sprue's to harden/sink/cool. Slowly work the pot temperature down 25* at a time. Turn the temp down 25* and cast another 10 to 15 sets of bullets and then check for frosting. You've already tuned your molds temp for casting by watching the sprue, now you'r tuning your alloy's temp by watching the surface of the bullet. You want to take some synthetic 2-cycle oil that you mix in weed eaters/chainsaws/etc and a q-tip. Get some 2-cycle oil on the q-tip and oil the alignment pins/holes of the mold. Also oil bottom of the sprue plate and where the sprue plate screw pivots along with where the mold handles pivot. A 4-cavity mold is a good thing to have but when you're pouring 4 bug bullets like you are it can and will make the mold's heat fluctuate allot more than a 2-cavity mold or a mold with smaller cavities/bullets. Add to that the metal the mold is made out of, metal like aluminum will have huge heat swings compared to brass. So keep your eye on the sprue's and how long the puddle takes to harden. I think you actually did pretty good for your 1st time casting. I'd try a hotter pot temp, watch your sprue's and get to where you can have a 5 to 7 count (1000-1,1000-2,1000-3,etc) and flux your alloy making sure everything is mixed. FWIW: The only time I've ever seen a bullet break in to was because it was too brittle from having too much antimony in it's alloy. I've cast bullets with strait mono-type and have had the break like that. Had to add some tin to get the alloy more pliable.WW's ='s allot of antimony. If the guy you bought your alloy from used mono-type or foundrytype instead of lino-type to make the 2# alloy. You'd have wwwaaaayyyyy to much antimony which ='s brittle bullet's that break in 2. Metal tin% antimony% arsenic% bhn ww's 1/2% 3% 1/4% 10 mono-t 4% 12% 0 19 lino-t 9% 19% 0 26 foundry 15% 23% 0 30 #2 alloy 5% 5% 0 15 hardball 2% 6% 0 16 Anyway, I'd try again and work on your temps. Once you have the sprue's cooling correctly and the alloy temp right. Then you can take a hard look at your alloy. Some bullets that I cast this weekend, 20# of 200gr hp's for the 45acp and 20# of 125gr hp's for the 9mm. Cast with nothing more than 9bhn range scrap with the pot set at 750*. I run the lead hotter when casting bullets with molds that have hp pins in them. The molds are 4-cavity brass molds that I pre-heat and work the temps down to where the sprue's take a 5 to 7 count to cool. Whern casting the molds will heat up more and every now and then I set them down with them open to cool for around 1 minute then start casting again. 
I water drop them anymore, it keeps them from getting banged up. When I powder coat them the coating process anneals the alloy bringing it back to it's original soft alloy. Air cooled range scrap ='s 9bhn, water dropped range scrap ='s 15bhn. The 9bhn/coated bullets doing 1050fps out of a 3.2" bbl's 9mm. Excellent expansion/weight retention. 
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I'd melt everything down and start over. Check your mold and make sure there is no lead sticking to the sides of the molds, edges of the cavities or lead smears on to of the mold from opening the mold with it being too hot. Wash the mold with hot water and soap and then use alcohol to clean the cavities. Let it dry. To me it looks like you had your heat too low ( 675*) and din't either flux your alloy when it melted of didn't flux it enough. You bullets don't look like zinc contamination to me. They look like: You were not letting the mold/bullets cool long enough before opening the mold Didn't flux your alloy that appears to have an extremely high antimony%. Huge amounts of antimony in a lead alloy will look like zinc.if it's ran too cold. To get #2 alloy from ww's the easiest way is to do a 3 to 1 ww/linotype or linotype. This puts huge amounts of antimony in the alloy and makes the bullets extremely brittle, hence the bullets breaking in 2. You don't need anywhere near #2 alloy for what your doing. You have enough tin in your alloy because your edges of your bullets look crisp/sharp, If they were rounded it wold mean that you were casting with too cold of a mold or alloy. But you would also have wrinkles and voids in your bullets from being too cold. If everything is the right temp and you get rounded edges on your bullets it's from the lack of tin. If it was me I'd try to find some pure/soft lead and mix it 50/50 with your alloy. I've shot nothing but range scrap for decades (9bhn +/-) and never had a problem. Air cooled range scrap for everything and water dropped if I needed something harder. Sterp 1: Set your pot to 725* and fill the pot with your alloy. Let it heat cycle several times (5 minutes) after it's full and melted. Stir and flux your pot of alloy, I like to stir the alloy with a wooden paint stick (carbon) and any type of wax, paraffin, candle,handful of saw dust. Your putting carbon into the alloy and that will not only remove impurities. It will dissolve & bond all of the different metals in your alloys. When you 1st fluz your alloy a bunch of silver looking junk will float on the surface of your mix. You want to stir/flux all of that back into your alloy. It make take 2 or 3 tries with the fluxing/stirring. Step 2: Pre-heat your mold. I heat my molds hot enough so that the lead puddles/stay liquid longer than normal at 1st when I pour the lead into the cavities 1 cavity at a time. Doing this allows me to control how the mold cools bringing it down to a good operating temperature. I want to be able to pour the lead and wait for a 5 to 7 count (depends on the mold/alloy/temp that day/etc) for the sprue to harden and to sink in. After you see the sprue lead harden and sink in wait another couple of seconds to open the mold.. Once you've got the mold to a good running temp (5 to 7 count) and you've cast 10 to 15 sets of bullets. Look at the bullets for "frosting". Most of the bullets in your picture are frosted. Frosted bullets don't hurt anything but it is a sign that you are running the alloy (lead pot) hot. Running the pot hot ='s it takes longer for your sprue's to harden/sink/cool. Slowly work the pot temperature down 25* at a time. Turn the temp down 25* and cast another 10 to 15 sets of bullets and then check for frosting. You've already tuned your molds temp for casting by watching the sprue, now you'r tuning your alloy's temp by watching the surface of the bullet. You want to take some synthetic 2-cycle oil that you mix in weed eaters/chainsaws/etc and a q-tip. Get some 2-cycle oil on the q-tip and oil the alignment pins/holes of the mold. Also oil bottom of the sprue plate and where the sprue plate screw pivots along with where the mold handles pivot. A 4-cavity mold is a good thing to have but when you're pouring 4 bug bullets like you are it can and will make the mold's heat fluctuate allot more than a 2-cavity mold or a mold with smaller cavities/bullets. Add to that the metal the mold is made out of, metal like aluminum will have huge heat swings compared to brass. So keep your eye on the sprue's and how long the puddle takes to harden. I think you actually did pretty good for your 1st time casting. I'd try a hotter pot temp, watch your sprue's and get to where you can have a 5 to 7 count (1000-1,1000-2,1000-3,etc) and flux your alloy making sure everything is mixed. FWIW: The only time I've ever seen a bullet break in to was because it was too brittle from having too much antimony in it's alloy. I've cast bullets with strait mono-type and have had the break like that. Had to add some tin to get the alloy more pliable.WW's ='s allot of antimony. If the guy you bought your alloy from used mono-type or foundrytype instead of lino-type to make the 2# alloy. You'd have wwwaaaayyyyy to much antimony which ='s brittle bullet's that break in 2. Metal tin% antimony% arsenic% bhn ww's 1/2% 3% 1/4% 10 mono-t 4% 12% 0 19 lino-t 9% 19% 0 26 foundry 15% 23% 0 30 #2 alloy 5% 5% 0 15 hardball 2% 6% 0 16 Anyway, I'd try again and work on your temps. Once you have the sprue's cooling correctly and the alloy temp right. Then you can take a hard look at your alloy. Some bullets that I cast this weekend, 20# of 200gr hp's for the 45acp and 20# of 125gr hp's for the 9mm. Cast with nothing more than 9bhn range scrap with the pot set at 750*. I run the lead hotter when casting bullets with molds that have hp pins in them. The molds are 4-cavity brass molds that I pre-heat and work the temps down to where the sprue's take a 5 to 7 count to cool. Whern casting the molds will heat up more and every now and then I set them down with them open to cool for around 1 minute then start casting again. <a href="http://s162.photobucket.com/user/forrestr-photo/media/labordayhps_zpsbbpsm9cl.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t242/forrestr-photo/labordayhps_zpsbbpsm9cl.jpg</a> I water drop them anymore, it keeps them from getting banged up. When I powder coat them the coating process anneals the alloy bringing it back to it's original soft alloy. Air cooled range scrap ='s 9bhn, water dropped range scrap ='s 15bhn. The 9bhn/coated bullets doing 1050fps out of a 3.2" bbl's 9mm. Excellent expansion/weight retention. <a href="http://s162.photobucket.com/user/forrestr-photo/media/9mmtaurus_zpsnlqcm8kg.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t242/forrestr-photo/9mmtaurus_zpsnlqcm8kg.jpg</a> Awesome thanks for the write up. I am currently on the back porch melting everything down to try again using your directions. I was giving the spure a 3 count so I will increase to 5-7 for it to harden. I will leave in the mould for longer too. I cleaned the mold with soup and water and an old tooth brush |
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First of all, it appears to me that your mould temp is too high, that is probably the most common cause of the bullets overall appearance. The base of the first bullet appears to show that the sprue was broken too early. The third bullet tells me you opened your mould and dropped it before it had completely frozen. The second pic shows different degrees of mould temps, the dull bullets were from a very hot mould, the shinier ones suggest the mould was cooler than the other casts. A few others suggest the pour for that cavity was interrupted before the pour was complete for that cavity (top center).
LEEs instructions suggest dipping a corner of the mould in molten alloy to heat the mould but if you followed this guideline, you let the mould get too hot. Your fillout looks okay, but you really do need to ditch the mould prep stuff, clean your mould thoroughly, and give it a slight smoking from a wooden match. The color of the smoked cavity should be about the color of a light carmel. BTW, dry spray from the mould prep could cause the uneven surface finish as well. NOE recommends against mould prep as well, & recommends smoking. I cast at around 725*, as controlled by a PID. I ladle cast most bullets, especially rifle bullets, and bullets with multiple narrow bands. Your mould should cast okay either way, I just prefer the control my ladle gives me. I'm assuming you already have a thermometer for your pot since you say you're casting at 675*. If you're basing this on the dial setting on the pot I must tell you that those are reference points only, and that the pot uses a bimetal switch to turn the heat on and off. LEE doesn't use thermostats in their pots. In fact, their temperature control sucks big time. The Cliffs Notes version of all this is to increase your alloy temp a smidge, slow down a bit between pours and let the bullets freeze fully before breaking the sprue, and work on keeping a consistent pace as you cast. Four cavity moulds can be a pain to learn to cast with because they don't heat evenly at first. and consistent temps give you more consistent bullets. |
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First of all, it appears to me that your mould temp is too high, that is probably the most common cause of the bullets overall appearance. The base of the first bullet appears to show that the sprue was broken too early. The third bullet tells me you opened your mould and dropped it before it had completely frozen. The second pic shows different degrees of mould temps, the dull bullets were from a very hot mould, the shinier ones suggest the mould was cooler than the other casts. A few others suggest the pour for that cavity was interrupted before the pour was complete for that cavity (top center). LEEs instructions suggest dipping a corner of the mould in molten alloy to heat the mould but if you followed this guideline, you let the mould get too hot. Your fillout looks okay, but you really do need to ditch the mould prep stuff, clean your mould thoroughly, and give it a slight smoking from a wooden match. The color of the smoked cavity should be about the color of a light carmel. BTW, dry spray from the mould prep could cause the uneven surface finish as well. NOE recommends against mould prep as well, & recommends smoking. I cast at around 725*, as controlled by a PID. I ladle cast most bullets, especially rifle bullets, and bullets with multiple narrow bands. Your mould should cast okay either way, I just prefer the control my ladle gives me. I'm assuming you already have a thermometer for your pot since you say you're casting at 675*. If you're basing this on the dial setting on the pot I must tell you that those are reference points only, and that the pot uses a bimetal switch to turn the heat on and off. LEE doesn't use thermostats in their pots. In fact, their temperature control sucks big time. The Cliffs Notes version of all this is to increase your alloy temp a smidge, slow down a bit between pours and let the bullets freeze fully before breaking the sprue, and work on keeping a consistent pace as you cast. Four cavity moulds can be a pain to learn to cast with because they don't heat evenly at first. and consistent temps give you more consistent bullets. You seem to be correct. I lowered my mould temp and I ended up with no broken bullets. |
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Ok I think this time looked a lot better. I got the mould up to a temperature where the top of the sprue hardened around 5-6 seconds which was not to hard with the hot plate between low and medium it ended up being the perfect preheat for 5 seconds to harden. I tried to keep the 650 this time.
I see why people get mad at the lee pots. It just randomly started leaking like twice in an hour. I had to adjust the screw that changes the flow to stop it. I made some other mistakes such as not closing the mould the whole way. (Actually the screw holding the metal top in place got loose so i just had to tighten it and make sure i closed it the whole way). I plan to power coat these unless you guys see a reason I should melt them down again. 
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Much better, OP! I would PC and try them out. I got rid of Lee pot because of drip. There are lots of tips/tricks but wasnt worth messing with IMO. RCBS is much better but dang expensive. That was my plan to get a RCBS once I learn about casting and decide if i really liked doing it. So far it is enjoyable. |
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That was my plan to get a RCBS once I learn about casting and decide if i really liked doing it. So far it is enjoyable. Welcome to the addiction. You'll be saving so much money soon! At least that's what they tell me........ PS- the Lee pot isn't bad. I have mine in one of those aluminum steamer trays like you have "just in case". The whole thing is supported by an old cookie sheet for easy transport. Sure, it drips sometimes but a little fiddling with a screwdriver and it stops. I can fiddle a lot for the cost difference. Guessing you know about fit and all that, right? Don't let anyone tell you that PC is the "cure all". A powder coated bullet that is undersized will still lead. A $20 sizing die goes a long way for consistency sake. |
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Quoted:
Welcome to the addiction. You'll be saving so much money soon! At least that's what they tell me........ PS- the Lee pot isn't bad. I have mine in one of those aluminum steamer trays like you have "just in case". The whole thing is supported by an old cookie sheet for easy transport. Sure, it drips sometimes but a little fiddling with a screwdriver and it stops. I can fiddle a lot for the cost difference. Guessing you know about fit and all that, right? Don't let anyone tell you that PC is the "cure all". A powder coated bullet that is undersized will still lead. A $20 sizing die goes a long way for consistency sake. Quoted:
That was my plan to get a RCBS once I learn about casting and decide if i really liked doing it. So far it is enjoyable. Welcome to the addiction. You'll be saving so much money soon! At least that's what they tell me........ PS- the Lee pot isn't bad. I have mine in one of those aluminum steamer trays like you have "just in case". The whole thing is supported by an old cookie sheet for easy transport. Sure, it drips sometimes but a little fiddling with a screwdriver and it stops. I can fiddle a lot for the cost difference. Guessing you know about fit and all that, right? Don't let anyone tell you that PC is the "cure all". A powder coated bullet that is undersized will still lead. A $20 sizing die goes a long way for consistency sake. I started buying NOE molds in Feb... I just got an email saying I am now getting 10% off all future orders cause I have reached the "$1000 club"... I have saved so much by casting. ;) In my defense, a good portion was spent during one of the holiday sales. You can actually save quite a bit by only casting for expensive calibers only. For example, OP's 300BO mold.. great for subs. I am using it in 30-06 subs now until I run out of the expensive jacket bullet rounds in 300BO. If I start casting for 223 or 9mm, then you will know I am just an addict and not doing it to save money. |
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Glad I was wrong with the Zinc thing and you got your temps figured out. If the pot drips, turn the shaft with a small screwdriver....back and forth and it will stop. Also if your pot is dirty, the dirt will cause drips. I hold my mold up to the bottom of the spout and hold the lever open to the count of 5, then a 3 count for the sprue to harden. Very few drips this way. Do you plan to lube or powder coat your bullets? |
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Very nice!!!
That's 1 heck of a turn-a-round, those are some excellent looking bullets. As others have stated, turn the lee pot's pouring stem back and forth with a screwdriver. It should stop leaking. If it doesn't screw the rod out and move the bracket out of the way. Put the pouring stem/rod in a cordless drill and put some toothpaste on the end of it and set it in the pour hole and turn the drill on to lap the 2 surfaces. It doesn't take much and it will end the dripping from the lee pot. Keep your mold lube handy, I keep a q-tip soaked with mold lube next to me when I',m casting. Keep the bottom of the sprue plate lubed (around every 20 sets/pours). Just lightly cover the whole bottom of the sprue plate, this will keep any lead from building up and galling the top of your al mold. PC'ing bullets is the way to go. Started coating bullets around 4 years ago and have never looked back. Good job with that 4 banger al mold, not the easiest mold to learn how to cast with. Enjoy your new hobby, it will take your reloading skills/knowledge to the next level. Something to think about: Use a expander designed for lead/coated bullets when seating/loading them. You don't want to scrape the coating off the sides of the bullet. I use a lee universal expander on my rifle cases (223/308/30-06) to flare the case mouth so the bullets don't get scraped. I use either custom made expanders or lyman m-dies to expand my pistol cases (9mm/38spl/357/44spl/44mag/45acp) to make sure the case mouths are flared enough. The m-dies are also made to expand the cases 1/1000th larger than their standard jacketed counterparts. You don't want to swage your bullets down when you seat them. If I use .311 bullets in the 30cal's I use a .310 expander ball (designed for the 303 british) that rcbs sent me for free. A custom expander next to a factory expander. The factory expander in most die sets are designed for seating jacketed bullets. The jacketed bullets are typically smaller in diameter and shorter than their cast/coated counterparts. You can cast a perfect bullet, put an excellent coating on it and get the perfect diameter for it only to swage the bullet down when seating it (more importantly swage/deform the bullet's base) ruining accuracy. 
Good luck |
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Quoted:
Very nice!!! That's 1 heck of a turn-a-round, those are some excellent looking bullets. As others have stated, turn the lee pot's pouring stem back and forth with a screwdriver. It should stop leaking. If it doesn't screw the rod out and move the bracket out of the way. Put the pouring stem/rod in a cordless drill and put some toothpaste on the end of it and set it in the pour hole and turn the drill on to lap the 2 surfaces. It doesn't take much and it will end the dripping from the lee pot. Keep your mold lube handy, I keep a q-tip soaked with mold lube next to me when I',m casting. Keep the bottom of the sprue plate lubed (around every 20 sets/pours). Just lightly cover the whole bottom of the sprue plate, this will keep any lead from building up and galling the top of your al mold. PC'ing bullets is the way to go. Started coating bullets around 4 years ago and have never looked back. Good job with that 4 banger al mold, not the easiest mold to learn how to cast with. Enjoy your new hobby, it will take your reloading skills/knowledge to the next level. Something to think about: Use a expander designed for lead/coated bullets when seating/loading them. You don't want to scrape the coating off the sides of the bullet. I use a lee universal expander on my rifle cases (223/308/30-06) to flare the case mouth so the bullets don't get scraped. I use either custom made expanders or lyman m-dies to expand my pistol cases (9mm/38spl/357/44spl/44mag/45acp) to make sure the case mouths are flared enough. The m-dies are also made to expand the cases 1/1000th larger than their standard jacketed counterparts. You don't want to swage your bullets down when you seat them. If I use .311 bullets in the 30cal's I use a .310 expander ball (designed for the 303 british) that rcbs sent me for free. A custom expander next to a factory expander. The factory expander in most die sets are designed for seating jacketed bullets. The jacketed bullets are typically smaller in diameter and shorter than their cast/coated counterparts. You can cast a perfect bullet, put an excellent coating on it and get the perfect diameter for it only to swage the bullet down when seating it (more importantly swage/deform the bullet's base) ruining accuracy. <a href="http://s162.photobucket.com/user/forrestr-photo/media/8121ce53-92ea-4a46-bdf0-b874c87f442d_zpsunjrpvqq.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t242/forrestr-photo/8121ce53-92ea-4a46-bdf0-b874c87f442d_zpsunjrpvqq.jpg</a> Good luck Ill have to do the mould lubing during the pours. What do I need to lube after I am done casting for the day? I got an lyman m die for 30 m1 carbine. I tried loading some cast palmetto bullets with the normal flare i use for normal bullets and it was scratching the coating off when I pulled the bullets. |
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Glad I was wrong with the Zinc thing and you got your temps figured out. If the pot drips, turn the shaft with a small screwdriver....back and forth and it will stop. Also if your pot is dirty, the dirt will cause drips. I hold my mold up to the bottom of the spout and hold the lever open to the count of 5, then a 3 count for the sprue to harden. Very few drips this way. Do you plan to lube or powder coat your bullets? I bought some orange powder coat to try this weekend. I hope HD Orange covers well 
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Quoted:
Ill have to do the mould lubing during the pours. What do I need to lube after I am done casting for the day? I got an lyman m die for 30 m1 carbine. I tried loading some cast palmetto bullets with the normal flare i use for normal bullets and it was scratching the coating off when I pulled the bullets. Quoted:
Quoted:
Very nice!!! That's 1 heck of a turn-a-round, those are some excellent looking bullets. As others have stated, turn the lee pot's pouring stem back and forth with a screwdriver. It should stop leaking. If it doesn't screw the rod out and move the bracket out of the way. Put the pouring stem/rod in a cordless drill and put some toothpaste on the end of it and set it in the pour hole and turn the drill on to lap the 2 surfaces. It doesn't take much and it will end the dripping from the lee pot. Keep your mold lube handy, I keep a q-tip soaked with mold lube next to me when I',m casting. Keep the bottom of the sprue plate lubed (around every 20 sets/pours). Just lightly cover the whole bottom of the sprue plate, this will keep any lead from building up and galling the top of your al mold. PC'ing bullets is the way to go. Started coating bullets around 4 years ago and have never looked back. Good job with that 4 banger al mold, not the easiest mold to learn how to cast with. Enjoy your new hobby, it will take your reloading skills/knowledge to the next level. Something to think about: Use a expander designed for lead/coated bullets when seating/loading them. You don't want to scrape the coating off the sides of the bullet. I use a lee universal expander on my rifle cases (223/308/30-06) to flare the case mouth so the bullets don't get scraped. I use either custom made expanders or lyman m-dies to expand my pistol cases (9mm/38spl/357/44spl/44mag/45acp) to make sure the case mouths are flared enough. The m-dies are also made to expand the cases 1/1000th larger than their standard jacketed counterparts. You don't want to swage your bullets down when you seat them. If I use .311 bullets in the 30cal's I use a .310 expander ball (designed for the 303 british) that rcbs sent me for free. A custom expander next to a factory expander. The factory expander in most die sets are designed for seating jacketed bullets. The jacketed bullets are typically smaller in diameter and shorter than their cast/coated counterparts. You can cast a perfect bullet, put an excellent coating on it and get the perfect diameter for it only to swage the bullet down when seating it (more importantly swage/deform the bullet's base) ruining accuracy. <a href="http://s162.photobucket.com/user/forrestr-photo/media/8121ce53-92ea-4a46-bdf0-b874c87f442d_zpsunjrpvqq.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t242/forrestr-photo/8121ce53-92ea-4a46-bdf0-b874c87f442d_zpsunjrpvqq.jpg</a> Good luck Ill have to do the mould lubing during the pours. What do I need to lube after I am done casting for the day? I got an lyman m die for 30 m1 carbine. I tried loading some cast palmetto bullets with the normal flare i use for normal bullets and it was scratching the coating off when I pulled the bullets. I use bearing grease on all my molds. I can store them with grease for a day or 10 years, doesn't matter, they stay protected. |
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Oh great now you guys really did it. I stopped by pep boys where i get tires and asked if i could have their old wheel weights. They said sure. I can see this becoming an obsession For many, casting is a winter thing. So, you started just in time. I shoot all year in TX but prefer casting when it is cooler out. Unfortunately, getting a new mold when its on sale or you want to do a new caliber doesnt follow the weather.. |
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Quoted: Oh great now you guys really did it. I stopped by pep boys where i get tires and asked if i could have their old wheel weights. They said sure. I can see this becoming an obsession So as to not hijack this thread, start your own thread. Thanks |
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I'm no expert... What I see and what you have written don't add up unless the problem is the alloy. What alloy are you using? I'm thinking the alloy has to much zinc... Edit: Did you weigh any of the bullets? I'm guessing they will come up light.. 228.5 on average. |
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I think the guys saying something about zinc are on to something. If you have zinc in the alloy the bullets will not "fill out" in the mold properly. Zinc increases the surface tension. You bullets look a little frosty.
Hopefully you didn't smelt and ingot up a big batch of ingots. I think you still have some "figurin' out" to do. Edit: well looks like you got your problem figured out and it might not have been zinc. You may have dodged a bullet, so to speak! |
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Ok another question. Will wheel weight clip on lead work to mold these 300 blackout bullets? My lead source sells $1 per pound of clip on WW and $2 lyman #2. Last time i bought the $2 lead but i wanted to know if i can spend less. Yes ww's will work for your blackout bullets. |
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