Okay,so I had a bad casting session,couldnt get a nose pour broken in,
and the 50 cal rapine needs venting...
So ,I busted out the trusty 40cal saeco and had filled out boolits almost immediately,tho some with sharper edges on the bases than others,but uniform and filled out all around,no wrinkles,which got me to thinking about the condition of the base,
and what Harry Pope said,
and wondering what are the feelings of all here concerning dead sharp vs radiused corners on the boolit bases,and how they may affect accuracy even
after they been weighed out/segregated.
How PICKY should I be??

thanks

B

And, unfortunately, each mould has its own idea about ideal casting temp...  I need to run my B&D quite hot and rather fast to get good fillout - but then it is very consistent too.  Most of my other .45 moulds need both lower temp and slower pace to do their best work.

Bases are the significant factor on target.  Other things far less important.

Boats

A thermometer in the mould is frequently a big help also.
Regards, Joe

Jim Borton turned me onto using a 1000 watt dimmer switch ( LUTRON NOVA N-1000-WH Incandescent Dimmer $62.00 in 2005 purchased from my local hardware store ) that controls the duplex outlet the pot is plugged into. This keeps the electrical current going to the lead pot at a constant which in turn keeps the melt at a constant and does away with the thermostat cycling on and off which creates temperature fluctuations. I have been using this setup since December of 2005 and noticed an immediate improvement in bullet casting consistency and consider it money well spent. You will have to spend some time finding the dimmer switch setting for your preferred casting temperatures which I simply marked along the side of the slide switch. 

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Interesting,truing up bad bases...
easier done on a lathe.
If you are casting already,you can cull before ejection-right back into the pot.
BTW, what weight tolerances do you control by 'lappin"?

Dave !!!

Did I mention my use of my Shop-Vac as a way to prevent lead absorption ? I use it for any and all my material removal. As far as testing goes, how many old time re-loaders have had themselves tested from handling lead for all these years ?? Have you ? 
Not saying it’s a bad idea, just funny it pops up now…

Bushka:

If the goal is consistency, then we must agree that its easier to visually accept a sharp edge base rather than try to compare round edge’s on a one to one inspection.

The weight is controlled by the stop position of the bullet in the collet as a max material condition developing a sharp edge and yes, a lathe would produce the same results, if one had a lathe. 

These are all good points and should be questioned as I am sure there are those younger and less experienced shooters not yet accustomed to the obvious “or” we older ones who have become complacent in our process.

Ed….