Neophyte's first cast - and some questions

K

kkb

New member
First off let me say y'all are a bad influence on us lurkers! Shame on you :)

While perusing a yard sale I came across a Lyman entry level casing kit: 5# furnace, ingot mold, dipper etc. Ordered a couple molds to go with it and gave it a go.

Using Lyman 429244 (44 cal SWC, GC, 255gr):
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Q: The mold claims 255gr bullets. Mine weigh from 247.7 to 250.4 averaging 248.9 with an SD of 0.9gr. Are my actual weights reasonable?


Though the furnace only has two settings (plugged in/not plugged in) it was holding temp at 700*F. I noticed I occasionally would get frosting on part of a bullet.
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Note the right foreground bullet, frosting extends from the lube band to the base but on just one side. Looking at the base of the bullet next to it there is a frost ring asymmetric with the sprue hole which if expanded just a smidge would show a similar partial frosting like the first bullet.

Q: Is this a problem or just the nature of dipping?


I also gave a go with Lyman 429640. Same as above but a single cavity 250gr hollow point. HELP!
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Obviously way too cold. What are my options?
 

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The hollow point problems at the bottom look like a cold core pin(s). If the edges of the lube grooves are nice and sharp, but the nose/HP is bad like that, it's usually the core pin.
Preheat the pin (or just keep pouring at a furious pace).
 
Your bullet weights are normal.

The reason for the difference is the amount of lead in the mix.

Higher percentage of lead makes heavier bullets.

Lyman bases most of the bullet weights on using the Lyman #2 alloy. You never mentioned what alloy you are using.

With your weights weighing as they do, that suggests a hard bullet.

I cast the HP bullet the same as your's and my bullets weigh an average of 260 gr because I do not cast hard bullets. Got away from that many years ago.

You gotta get that mold plenty hot in order to drop good bullets. Since you have no control of your pot temp, use something else to heat the mold and then start casting as fast as you can to get the mold temp up. As soon as you see the sprue set, open the mold, drop bullet, then pour another. Once you get there, you will know it and be able to slow down just a smidge.
 
The HPs look like they just had cold pins.
For Lyman-style HP molds, I will sometimes just dip the HP pin in the melt until the alloy no longer sticks. But other members may have better suggestions.
 
Those are pretty doggone good 1st-cast products.
Actually... they're pretty good for old casters too. ;)
GOOD SHOW !:D (Addiction loves company)

Agree w/ the cold HP pin diagnosis, and with the heat-the-tip-in-lead solution.
As to weight/hardness: what was your lead source?
Ignore frosting. It has no functional effect.
And.... what did you get/use to size/seat the gas checks?
 
Single pin HP's are tricky, but fun. You have to be really careful to minimize the time that pin is outside the blocks while you are dropping the bullet, and don't lay it down on anything cool while you cut the sprue and drop the bullet. Work up a rhythm and try to keep up a really fast pace. Good luck with it! :)
 
Thank you for the comments.

The lead/alloy I'm using are some commercial cast bullets I'd bought by mistake a few years back. Couldn't return them and nobody wanted to trade for them so I put the box on my pack-rat shelf where they sat until the other day. Picked out their lube and tossed 'em in the pot to melt.

According to a hardness tester my bullets are in the 15-16 BHN range. Reading some articles on the 'net it seems the HP mold wants to be around 8 BHN. I do have a little pure lead, any idea what the mix would be to bring 15 down to 8?

As for seating GC and sizing, long story short is I discovered the joys of using a Lyman 4500 lubersizer to put a finish to commercial bullets about five or ten years ago. Yeah, that's the original moly lube that came with the sizer that finally got used here too! Never needed to lube anything before.
 
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If the bullets are (in all likelihood) Lyman #2/BHN-15, then you've never get than down to the 6-8 range no matter what you add. (The 5% antimony may dilute, but never go away.) Other other hand, Lyman #2 w/ a gas check will handle almost any you throw at it -- up to/including 44 Mag-type loads

But for the everyday-good-enough-to-take-anything-not-wearing body-armor-down, go to THESE GUYS and get some 30:1 (BHN 7-ish) and you'll never look back.
 
That's what I'm loading, .44 Magnums, for a Win '94 Trapper. This rifle likes it's loads hot and heavy. Currently I'm pushing 240gr semi-wadcutters out the 16" barrel at ~1700fps.
 
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I don't think the BHN matters a whole lot for getting good fill out in the mold. I think people recommend lower BHN's for Hollow points since a hard bullet will not expand as easily. You might as well cast a solid bullet since that is how the bullet will act when it hits anything.

Those solid bullets look real good. I'm sure you can get the hollow points to look as good if you can get the heat up on those pins. The lead is solidifying before it makes it to the bottom of the mold. Are you preheating the molds at all? That will help. I bought a single burner unit a thrift store for $5.
 
According to a hardness tester my bullets are in the 15-16 BHN range. Reading some articles on the 'net it seems the HP mold wants to be around 8 BHN. I do have a little pure lead, any idea what the mix would be to bring 15 down to 8?
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Since you have some pure lead, I don't know what your casting habits are, I store my lead and alloy in the common ingots.

Your measured 15-16 BHN is above my max of 14 (which I rarely use).

I would take your alloy and mix 1 ingot to 1 ingot of lead and see where you are hardness wise. It is easy to adjust by adding one or the other. Take notes so you won't be in the dark if you try to duplicate the mix.

Of course in order to do this, you would need to cast a few bullets and test them.
 
I have the same mould from lyman, the non holler point one. Ive found a few, and I mean literally a few seconds of leaving the mould open after Ive dropped bullets will cool it juuuust enough tobkeep them from frosting but not enough to cause detriment to fill out. YMMV. :cool:
 
Rigged up mold warmer using a heat gun and had better success with that HP mold. Culls still run better than 9 in 10 but at least I have an idea what it takes to get a good drop. Now it's a question of practice, practice practice :)
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Thanks for the link to Rotometals. Just what this kid needs, a new candy store :D I've about used up what I had!
 

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I like the looks of those. Nice going.

Sometimes I cast maybe 30 or 40 before I get everything tuned in, but once I get there, every cast is a keeper.

I sometimes can cast maybe 60 to 80 bullets in an hour. Sometimes.
 
The key thing is keeping that pin hot and getting it back in the bottom of that mold as quick as you can. You also want to watch that pin as it will get you if your not paying attention. I have the same mold and found that every time I used it I at least got warmed up by it a couple of times per session. The bad part is it takes a few seconds for the heat to soak through the gloves, but once it does, it seems to stay hot on your fingers a lot longer....
 
Go to Cast Boolits web site and join. Then you'll have the ability to buy lead & its alloys advertised under: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?18-Swappin-amp-Sellin _at reasonable prices.

When casting with a ductile Iron or Iron made molds. Its not the same pouring technique as used with aluminum molds. Aluminum molds the faster there poured the hotter the molds gets the better bullet they make. Using the same technique with Iron molds will surely overheat your mold causing >frosted looking. Iron molds its caster needs to set a no hurry casting pace so to speak. In your case not having a pot with adjustable heat settings. When the molds starts to show frosted. Take a minute or three little break allowing the mold to cool a bit.
BTW: I quit making pretty shinny bullets many many years ago. I cast my bullets frosted for one reason.> I know my/the mold was fully filled with that technique.

Trivia: When buying bullets from a commercial caster. Why do their bullets always look dull or frosted? __Good luck & be careful kkb.
 
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Practice and experience are the only ways to learn. Your bullets are looking good. A little frosting does no harm, it just means the temperature is a little high. I like mine to have a light frost on them, that's good. I can't believe Lyman doesn't put a control on it....Lee does !
The bullet moulds you chose are excellent for 44 magnum in a rifle, that gas check will help get accurate loads with no leading.
Don't cast the HP's too hard, using straight clip on wheel weights the nose tends to be hard and brittle...the nose shatters instead of mushrooming.
A bullet that fits the bore (slug the barrel) and composed of 50-50 clip on wheel weights and pure lead works very well. Hardness is way over rated, cast them 50-50 and air cool, sized to fit barrel you will be just fine.
That heat gun pin warmer is a great idea...you going to do good at casting.
Keep on keepin' on .....

Gary
 
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