First bullet cast

[WestKentucky]

I’d be concerned about damaging the mold doing that

So far it seems less damaging than shocking the sprue plate. The added momentum makes for a more gentle push through the lead where the mold-whacker approach is a very sharp and violent action all at once. The routine I got into allowed for pretty simple one hand operation and the other hand was free to fill the pot or grab the cup of mtn dew or whatever.

 

[Barbaroja]

I understand what you mean but the added weight of the mold would also make bending the sprue plate easier. It’s your mold do as you wish. Furthermore eating or drinking while casting might not be the best idea either.
Happy casting!

 

[KYregular]

Excellent work. With the consistency you are producing you've nailed it.

Are you using a gang mold? Try Lee's 6 cavity mold and you will produce good bullets fast.

Keep doing what you are doing.

MP 8 cavity

 

[Jim Bowie]

Once your mold is up to temperature you can just grab the sprue plate with your gloved hand and crank it right over...no need to whack on anything!

 

[bersaguy]

Tap the center bolt with a wood mallet to release any bullets that don't drop just by opening the mold, that way you're not whacking anything that may distort. To the OP, those look great to me. As mentioned, no need to water quench, as the powder coat process will take out any hardness gained thru water quenching, but no harm done either. Just make sure they're dry before applying powder. In any event, they're a darn sight better than my first run.

Oops


Little too hot


There we go

 

[bersaguy]

Just remember, there's no bad bullets when casting...just tiny ingots

 

[Jim Bowie]

And frosty bullets are just fine. Matter of fact it makes them a lot easier to sort out . I just toss all the shiny ones back in. The frosty ones have good fill in the shiny ones may or may not.

 

[forrest r]

Wear a leather glove on the hand you don't hold the mold with. Use the gloved hand to open the sprue plate. You will get a "feel" for how soft/easy the sprue's are to cut off when the bullets have set the correct amount of time hardening in the mold. Doing this will let you cast extremely consistent bullets.

MP molds quality sets the bar and you should take advantage of what they have to offer. After you cut the sprue's off by turning the sprue plate by hand. Keep the mold closed and put the sprue plate back to it's original/pouring position. Lightly press down on the sprue plate as your doing this. Keep lightly pressing as you open the spru plate again. Doing this will clean up the bullet bases making them flat.

This is the advantage of using quality molds with thick/heavy sprue plates. It's cave man simple to clean up/true the bullet bases. Doing this will show up on your targets. Accuracy starts with good bullet bases that are square/true to the body of the bullet along with no voids, lumps or high sprue cuts.

The heavy thick sprue plates make it harder to get tear out when cutting the sprues and are less affected by heat that will warp the thinner sprue plates on long molds like the lee 6-cavity molds.

Myself I never hit/tap a mold. I tap the screw that holds the mold handles together.

 

[KYregular]

After powder coating

 

[garandsrus]

How much did the powdercoat increase the bullet diameter? It looks like it is pretty thick. Did you "tap" the loose powder off the bullets before baking them? I use mostly HiTek which is a different process that adds almost nothing in thickness.

 

[lightman]

Nice looking bullets!

 

[hdbiker]

They should be sized to .356, melt might be a tad too hot... hdbiker

 

[mdi]

Your bullets look good! Not "frosty" enough to matter, IMO. Be careful of what you read as many suggestions are just personal preferences. Some may have had decent results with frosty bullets and report that, keeping that their standard for bullets. I don't get many frosty bullets anymore as I get good fill out and free falling bullets that are shiny. Some like water quenching, they read that was the way to go and it is also personal preference for many (I don't quench, if I want a specific hardness bullet, I'll mix my alloy to the BHN I want. I have run some 240 gr bullets to 1,300 fps, with a decent lube and my 12 BHN alloy with little to no leading). Some don't hit the sprue plate with anything as they prefer to open the plate with a gloved hand. I never tried that as I don't wear gloves when casting because I don't care for the lack of "feeling" and added clumsiness of leather gloves. Also be aware that there are 8,579 Old Wives Tales about lead and casting. For reliable info/data I'd suggest "From Ingot to Target" by Fryxell http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbooks, and for everyday real life discussions/info Castboolits.gunloads.com http://castboolits.gunloads.com/

Casting has opened up a whole new, fun world for me and sometimes I shoot my cast bullet loads so I can cast more...

 

[KYregular]

How much did the powdercoat increase the bullet diameter? It looks like it is pretty thick. Did you "tap" the loose powder off the bullets before baking them? I use mostly HiTek which is a different process that adds almost nothing in thickness.

Consistently to 360. They size easily to 357

 

[Reeferman]

These came out pretty good from a Lee mold