The vast majority were very good and I had very little trouble thanks to what I've read here from the experienced. I cast about 200 .45 round nose and threw about 30 back in the pot for various reasons. One if which was, I was having too much fun and running out of lead so I got real picky about what to keep. Anyway here are a few pics of some of the rejects for your critiquing...
The first bullet was one of the very first out of the mold. I knew from my reading that's from the lead being too hot. Turned it down and no more the rest of the day. The second one is fine on one side and not filled out on the other. I also noticed some bullets that were nice on one side and (just) a bit frosted on the other. Is one side of my mold hotter than the other? The third is just not filled out, I turned up the heat a bit and that seemed to fix it.
Next...
I think I was getting these near the end of the day, pot low on lead. Is this from slag (dross) i.e. dirty lead getting in the bullets?
Here's what the other ~200 looked like, I was very happy!
And for the last question...
I slugged my barrel and it's 0.4515" The boolits are dropping at 0.4545. Do I HAVE to size these or can I lube and shoot as dropped?
TIA
The first bullet was one of the very first out of the mold. I knew from my reading that's from the lead being too hot. Turned it down and no more the rest of the day. The second one is fine on one side and not filled out on the other. I also noticed some bullets that were nice on one side and (just) a bit frosted on the other. Is one side of my mold hotter than the other? The third is just not filled out, I turned up the heat a bit and that seemed to fix it.
Next...
I think I was getting these near the end of the day, pot low on lead. Is this from slag (dross) i.e. dirty lead getting in the bullets?
Here's what the other ~200 looked like, I was very happy!
And for the last question...
I slugged my barrel and it's 0.4515" The boolits are dropping at 0.4545. Do I HAVE to size these or can I lube and shoot as dropped?
TIA