Christmas Eve bullets!

[Beagle333]

It was a beautiful day for casting. 59° and not a cloud in the sky. I got out in the shed and fired everything up and ran about 25# of lead through the ProMelt. It was a great casting day. I just got a .41 BH and being new to me, I didn't have a single .41 bullet on hand. Now I should be good for a while.

Warming up the mold. I like to start mine at around 410° to get keepers from the first pour.

Then I got to casting. Here is a shot during a Dr. Pepper break.

And the first batch of bullets.

And the second batch. They are the Keith mold from NOE, the 412-237 SWC in 5-cav solid.

 

[USSR]

It was a beautiful day for casting. 59° and not a cloud in the sky.

Yeah, ya gots to rub it in.

Don

 

[Beagle333]

Got em sorted out. There were 597 keepers that came out perfect.

And 40 culls. This Keith design has a long nose and it is particularly susceptible to flaking right at the tip when the mold is opened if the lead is too hot. And I have a habit of casting a little on the hot side, because I usually cast HP's which do better if they are hot. So that's why I have 40 of them (or 6.5%) that go back in the pot for a do-over. This probably could have been cut way down if I had cast at 680° instead of 730°.

 

[Unclenick]

Doggone! You're using the same old Promelt plus PID controller setup I do!

 

[Beagle333]

Man, the Christmas holidays are keeping me busy with stuff, but I finally am getting some of them ran through the luber tonight while watching football. That's Carnauba Blue lube, but it just doesn't look too blue in that light.

 

[Barr]

Looks like you have your technique dialed in. I am waiting for my Lee furnace to die so I can upgrade to an RCBS or Lyman.

 

[Barr]

The biggest challenge I have faced is with some of the .30 caliber molds and 190 grain lead bukkets. Mold has to be very hot to pour all the way to the bottom of the mold for full fillout.

 

[Grey_Lion]

Barr - have you thought of getting a dorm hotplate to set & warm your mold on? I've done that or just set my mold on the top of my lead smelter for 20 minutes before doing my first pour. But even then, my first pour or two will still go back in for a remelt.

 

[Beagle333]

Yes, those 30 cal molds can be quite challenging, especially the HP ones. It has to be pretty hot not to wrinkle up before it fills those narrow cavities. And there is a very fine line between so hot that you're cooking off the tin (can't get a nice square edge on anything then) and not hot enough so you end up with wrinkles and voids.

 

[Mike / Tx]

Those are some great looking boolits there buddy. I know you're not going to run them up to the upper limits like I would. But then again my Redhawk has been christened with nuclear loads .

Those should do well over some AA 7 at around 1000 - 1150fps and be real sweet shooters.

 

[Old 454]

I am jealous... beautiful bullets..... I got to get some casting donr... but mine never look that good