The Art of Bullet casting

[CLP]

So, I finally got around to buying the CD from Wolfe Publications that's a compilation of articles on casting dating back to the 60s. It's made for really interesting reading so far and I feel like I got a steal of a deal since there's hundreds of articles.
I'm posting this to share some old info in there that I found humorous...

One article suggest waiting until the wife has left the house (presumably to shop for groceries) before you flux your pot of molten lead with grease because of the amount of smoke that will be generated. And while you were waiting for your kitchen stove to melt that pot of lead, you should've cleaned your mould of oils with a solvent or gasoline- they do suggest that if you use gasoline that you do it outdoors.

Made me chuckle, but the one that puzzled me was how the writer cooled his moulds when they were casting too hot. Now, what I do is just open the mould and wait a few seconds, and maybe lower the temp of the pot. What he proposed was dipping the mould in a bucket of lukewarm water. He did emphasize that the mould should have a cast bullet in the cavity while you do this. It's evident to me that's to avoid water from becoming trapped in the recesses of the mould only to later have molten lead mix with it and the resultant steam bomb from throwing tinsel all over the caster's face like a Christmas tree. However, it struck me as violating one of the cardinal rules with bullet moulds and that's doing something to the mould that rapidly changes its temperature, risking warpage. Not to mention the thought of what could happen from the steam and splatter from dunking a 400-500 degree mould into a bucket of water. Does anyone here still use this method for cooling your moulds when they're too hot?

 

[Englishmn]

I use a wet towel and set mould on it a few seconds when it gets too hot.
I have dipped the bottom of a mould in water before, never immersed the whole mould.
As far as rapid temp change what happens when you pour lead into a cold mould.

 

[LUCKYDAWG13]

IDK when my mold starts to get too hot I just slow down

 

[CLP]

I use a wet towel and set mould on it a few seconds when it gets too hot.
I have dipped the bottom of a mould in water before, never immersed the whole mould.
As far as rapid temp change what happens when you pour lead into a cold mould.

I totally hear you there- but there's at the very least a myth that mould blocks can be warped- I always assumed it was from cooling the blocks in water (sort of like how you're not supposed to take a hot pan and stick it in the sink of dishwater).

 

[jmorris]

I have a very strict no water around molten lead policy. I use a fan, if casting speed is too fast to allow the mold to sufficiently cool.

 

[Englishmn]

I should clarify I don't completely cool the blocks just enough to stop the frosting and let the lead solidify faster. When I'm casting with a 2 hole mould I'm not slowing down, it takes long enough to make 200+ without waiting on cool down.

I do also have a bucket of water on the floor for dropping bullets into but no water on the casting bench.

 

[dgod]

When mine get to hot, I open the mold, place it on the nearby 6" Vice to cool down some. At my age, I probably need to go to the bathroom anyway.

 

[armoredman]

Yep - I usually run out of lead before the mold gets too hot.

 

[Hillbillyz]

I've set my mold in the nearest snow bank (when casting in the winter time) never had any problems.

 

[rsrocket1]

I water drop most of my handgun bullets simply because it starts to become difficult to scoot over piles of bullets when casting them 6 at a time every few seconds. Only with my TL451-230-TC mold do I run into overheating problems. In the past I've used a sponge in a dish filled with water, the towel hanging from the bucket and actually dipping part of the mold into the water to cool it when I start running into overheating of the mold.

After the dip, open the mold and let the steam out. Hopefully you didn't dip it long enough to get down below 212F (not good). My mold is definitely quite above the boiling point of water so when I open it up, the insides are bone dry with no water inside the cavities. I don't dip the mold far enough for water to get up into the cavity anyway and the Lee Aluminum molds conduct heat very quickly and don't warp.

I would not do this with steel or brass molds. I only have one steel mold for a ML Minnie Ball bullet. First of all, they hold heat much better and longer so pacing the pours would be the most important aspect of casting with those types of molds. Second, they probably will warp if cooled with water on a sponge or dipping.

 

[Schwing]

I've set my mold in the nearest snow bank (when casting in the winter time) never had any problems.

LOL. I missed this comment my first time through the thread but I have done this too when casting by myself... Havn't warped a mold yet.

 

[Englishmn]

Supposed to be cold here this weekend. I'll be making ingots and probably casting some bullets.

 

[Armored farmer]

If my mould gets too hot, I switch moulds for a while.

 

[armoredman]

We don't have snow banks down here, suppose I could set it in a SnoCone....

 

[jmorris]

Depends on the conditions in the shop and what bullets I am casting but when it’s cool outside I can run around 5 cycles a minute on 230gn 45’s (~600 bullets/hr) without a fan or any other means of cool down, other than ambient air.

 

[Schwing]

Depends on the conditions in the shop and what bullets I am casting but when it’s cool outside I can run around 5 cycles a minute (~600 bullets/hr) without a fan or any other means of cool down, other than ambient air.

Hey! That's cheating! and I'm jealous.

 

[armoredman]

No doubt, very cool.

 

[jmorris]

Thanks, it’s only cheating if there are rules against it.

 

[Mike472]

When fluxing I light it on fire with a match to burn up the smoke.

 

[Englishmn]

Melted some lead yesterday.

 

[jmorris]

Don’t break that neat box.

I built a little steel cart with casters for my ingots.

 

[BigBore45]

Towel or spong wet and set the mold on it for a couple seconds to cool it down.

 

[blue32]

I wouldn't worry about it warping so much as getting water into tiny crevices and then dropping into the pot before it had a chance to vaporize. Then again, there's a reason some practices that raise a red flag today didn't make it to modern times. I'm curious to know who wrote that suggestion.

 

[Elkins45]

When fluxing I light it on fire with a match to burn up the smoke.

I will offer two suggestions that will make your life better and easier. For fluxing I have tried all the suggestions and have settled on these two as my favorites:

1) Rosin. Works fantastic, smells good when it melts, leave a slightly gummy protective film on the exposed metal. Does a great job with both cleaning the metal and also in reducing the oxides back to base metal. You lose very little metal to dross with rosin.
2) Cheap partially hydrogenated shortening. Seriously, but the cheapest off-brand tub of shortening you can find. It smells a little like chicken frying. It's a second choice to rosin because it is just a bit smokey, but nowhere near as bad as waxes or sawdust. Not quite as effective as rosin but easier to find. Low residue.

Both of these are much better choices for indoor casting IMO. Now if you're casting outside in a good breeze then you can use practically any sort of hydrocarbon. The Mountain Molds owner has talked about using corn meal.

 

[Pelo801]

Im with Armoured Farmer, when it gets too hot, I just switch molds