I know adding a little more tin will help fill out a mold better , but what about opening up the diameter of the spruce cuter plate hole ? Any thoughts . Thanks

Yes, fill base of bullet better for a sharper base edge .

westerner wrote on Oct 12^th, 2015 at 1:39pm:


Do what Joe says.

I pressure pour out of the bottom of the pot. It totally fills out the base band.

If you ladle pour, get a larger ladle, RCBS or larger. Pour with it in contact with the sprue plate.

There is nothing wrong with having the bases completely filled out. It will actually give you a better balanced bullet, if there is no fining. If your not very experiance in pouring, those rounded base bands can be uneven.

With pressure pouring, you have to watch your temp. If it gets to hot, it will flow into the vent lines.

With pressure pouring, I use as small as .086 sprue holes when I make my sprue plates.

Frank

If you are using a ladle I would raise my alloy temp and try turning the mould and ladle at different speeds. I have a couple moulds that like to be rotated much faster than recomended or I get a rounded base. I also dip the sprue ear into the pot to keep the sprue plate hot on some moulds.

One of the most common mistakes of new shooters when Molding is the paying of a lot of attention to the bullets as they drop them on the Towel or Pad they use. If you are stopping and rolling the Bullets around to see how good they are filled you are losing Mold and Sprue plate temperature. I have found that when  starting and having the Alloy up to a good temperature I just start casting and get a good rhythm going and only glance at the bullets as they drop out. When I see that they appear to be filling out nicely I then clean up the Pad and start looking at the Base as I push open the Sprue and if the base is filled out nice then start saving. At this point I just keep on going as quickly as I can just looking at the base as the sprue plate is clear. A good quick cycle will produce the most consistent weight and an accurate reproduction of the cavity. The other issue is bullet finish on the outside. Lots of people want bright shiny bullets and strive for that condition. I have found that getting a good cycle going that produces a slightly frosty condition also is a good indicator of good Mold fill. When you see indications of getting some vestige of Venting lines trying to fill you know you are getting the most complete fill of the Mold cavity possible. HTH Regards, FITZ

Keeping things constant is important in casting good bullets. Regardless of the type of base, or whether it's sharp or not. Some filled, and some not, makes for inconsistent bullets, and accuracy. It's more about them all being the same.
This applies to pouring your bullets. Do it the same way and continue at a cadence that keeps things at the same temperature. I don't stop casting until I either run out of space to drop bullets out of the mold, or I have enough cast. If I have to stop during the casting process for a couple minutes to make space on my towel, I leave the last bullet in the mold to retain temperature. Then drop the bullet and continue casting. Once I'm done, I sort bullets and drop the ugly ones back in the pot.

Enough already.