ASSRA Forum - Need some casting help

ASSRA Forum › General › Reloading the Single Shot Rifle › Need some casting help

(Moderator Group: Moderator)

‹ Previous Topic | Next Topic ›

Page Index Toggle

Pages: 1 [2] 3

Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies)

Need some casting help (Read 16501 times)

UtahDave Senior Forum Member Offline Posts: 396 Location: Heber City, Utah Joined: Aug 14^th, 2010	Re: Need some casting help Reply #15 - Jul 1^st, 2016 at 8:45pm	Print Post
	I will add my two bits. If you flux the lead pot with wax sometimes a bit of it end up in a mold. Nasty problem and hard to remove. I actually keep a charcoal cover on the lead melt to prevent tin loss and minimize dross formation. It has to be real chunk charcoal and not briquettes which contain all sorts of stuff including sulfur compounds. I don't have dross problems anymore. Also I'd be sure to check that the vent groves, really small cuts, in the mating mold halves are clean. If these get plugged up the mold won't cast properly. I use a brass pin or brass brush to clean them. I've heard of people using some fine abrasive, Bore cleaner, on a cast bullet stuck on a screw in a drill to "clean" the cavity. I'd be real careful about doing this with brass! I have several brass molds that cast just fine if the lead is HOT. Good luck! Dave


	IP Logged

Hiwall55 Senior Forum Member Offline Posts: 468 Location: west central Illinois Joined: Jun 30^th, 2012	Re: Need some casting help Reply #16 - Jul 1^st, 2016 at 9:05pm	Print Post
	Yes it does take 2 to 3 seconds for the sprue to set. I always count the sprue hardening then count to 5 to open the mould. The vent lines seem rather minuscule to me. It looks like a fly cutter went across the finished blocks at the parting line and only 2 of then are over the cavity, but I don't know what to do about that. I am going to try touching the corner of the mould in the pot And casting at 800+ degrees


	IP Logged

JLouis Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 10625 Joined: Apr 8^th, 2009	Re: Need some casting help Reply #17 - Jul 1^st, 2016 at 9:09pm	Print Post
	Who was the maker of the mould? JLouis

	" It Is Better To Now Have Been A Has Been Than A Never Was Or A Wanna Be "
	IP Logged

Hiwall55 Senior Forum Member Offline Posts: 468 Location: west central Illinois Joined: Jun 30^th, 2012	Re: Need some casting help Reply #18 - Jul 1^st, 2016 at 9:49pm	Print Post
	As posted in first post it's an Accurate


	IP Logged

Pentz Senior Forum Member Offline Funf und Zwanzig mit den Hut Posts: 435 Location: Vancouver, WA Joined: Sep 4^th, 2014	Re: Need some casting help Reply #19 - Jul 1^st, 2016 at 10:06pm	Print Post
	FWIW my NOE brass mold starts casting good bullets after the first 2 or three. It is a single in a large block and holds the heat well. It will cast about as fast as the sprue sets and not overheat.

	ASSRA Member Yoostabe # 11497
	IP Logged

Deadeye Bly Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 1146 Location: Stephens City Joined: Feb 25^th, 2011	Re: Need some casting help Reply #20 - Jul 1^st, 2016 at 10:09pm	Print Post
	I have a brass mold from CBE and I can get good bullets with 30/1 or other straight lead/tin alloys but I can't get any good bullet with anything with antimony in it. They go from wrinkled to frosted with no in between. I'll never buy another brass mold, steel ones work too well for me.


	IP Logged

JS47 Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 1265 Location: Arizona Joined: Oct 12^th, 2012	Re: Need some casting help Reply #21 - Jul 1^st, 2016 at 11:14pm	Print Post
	I have 4 brass molds from Accurate and they all cast beautiful bullets. I scrub the hell out of a mold with soapy water and a tooth brush before every casting session and smoke it with a kitchen match when it dries out. I also preheat with a propane torch. Some times it works better if I pour the alloy into the mold before I hold the dipper tight to the sprue plate. JS


	IP Logged

Schuetzenmiester Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 6707 Location: Cool Wet Side of WA Joined: Apr 27^th, 2008	Re: Need some casting help Reply #22 - Jul 1^st, 2016 at 11:31pm	Print Post
	Hiwall55 wrote on Jul 1^st, 2016 at 9:05pm: Yes it does take 2 to 3 seconds for the sprue to set. I always count the sprue hardening then count to 5 to open the mould. The vent lines seem rather minuscule to me. It looks like a fly cutter went across the finished blocks at the parting line and only 2 of then are over the cavity, but I don't know what to do about that. I am going to try touching the corner of the mould in the pot And casting at 800+ degrees I had a Paul Jones mold I couldn't get to cast. I talked to him a couple times and he said to send it back to him. Before I did, I made one last try. I got hunch when I saw a bubble come up through the sprue! I decided the problem was the air couldn't get out. Only bubble I ever saw coming up through a sprue I took an engraving tool, hand type with a sharp point. I finely traced out a few of the vent lines and it cast great after that. I started at the cavity and push out so as not to cause a burr in the cavity.

	"some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence
	IP Logged

shovel80 Oldtimer Offline Posts: 896 Location: Sonora,CA Joined: Jun 6^th, 2011	Re: Need some casting help Reply #23 - Jul 1^st, 2016 at 11:40pm	Print Post
	I shoot a .33-47 with bullets cast in a brass mold with NO vent lines.Mold casts Great! I think the problem not enough heat. Terry

	ASSRA Member # 11021
	Facebook IP Logged

Schuetzenmiester Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 6707 Location: Cool Wet Side of WA Joined: Apr 27^th, 2008	Re: Need some casting help Reply #24 - Jul 2^nd, 2016 at 12:16am	Print Post
	Obviously, your mold is loose enough air is getting out. He is casting 800+ and the cool time is reasonable. I have used brass before and never had a problem too. Going too hot has its own issues. I cast a couple hundred hollow .54 round balls in my early days casting days When the top of the pot has a bluish hue, trouble is near.

	"some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence
	IP Logged

Schuetzenmiester Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 6707 Location: Cool Wet Side of WA Joined: Apr 27^th, 2008	Re: Need some casting help Reply #25 - Jul 2^nd, 2016 at 12:21am	Print Post
	HiWall, I think I would try holding the mold loose enough you get a little seam along the mold halves. If air lock is the problem, you should have a pretty good, unwrinkled bullet at your temps.

	"some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence
	IP Logged

JerryH Frequent Elocutionist Offline ASSRA Member #10876 Posts: 1328 Location: Easton, CA Joined: Nov 9^th, 2014	Re: Need some casting help Reply #26 - Jul 2^nd, 2016 at 1:11am	Print Post
	shovel80 wrote on Jul 1^st, 2016 at 11:40pm: I shoot a .33-47 with bullets cast in a brass mold with NO vent lines.Mold casts Great! I think the problem not enough heat. Terry My two brass moulds were cut by the same person as Terry's, and they have NO vent lines. I guarantee the person that cut these moulds knew what he was doing. Wrinkles = low heat or contamination in the mould. Most likely low heat, or slow casting. My sprues take a very slow count of 5 or better to set. Run it hot, I do and nothing bad has happened yet. JerryH

	I'm not a complete idiot, some of my parts are missing.
	IP Logged

Schuetzenmiester Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 6707 Location: Cool Wet Side of WA Joined: Apr 27^th, 2008	Re: Need some casting help Reply #27 - Jul 2^nd, 2016 at 1:47am	Print Post
	Jerry, do you go over 875?

	"some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence
	IP Logged

JerryH Frequent Elocutionist Offline ASSRA Member #10876 Posts: 1328 Location: Easton, CA Joined: Nov 9^th, 2014	Re: Need some casting help Reply #28 - Jul 2^nd, 2016 at 2:20am	Print Post
	Schuetzenmiester, No, never above 835/840. I try to stay between 825 and 830. I'm on the end of the line out here and some days it's a struggle to stay in my temp range as the voltage fluctuates by the minute. Summertime is worse than winter. JerryH

	I'm not a complete idiot, some of my parts are missing.
	IP Logged

JLouis Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 10625 Joined: Apr 8^th, 2009	Re: Need some casting help Reply #29 - Jul 2^nd, 2016 at 10:06am	Print Post
	I was having trouble recently with one of my brass moulds. I finaly burned out all of the contaminents in the cavity with a propane torch and now all is well. I have also owned several brass or otherwise with no vent lines and found them to be the better moulds. The B&D moulds were all cut that way and a real please to use. On the other hand the ones with vent lines almost always produced whiskers and a real pain to use. JLouis

	" It Is Better To Now Have Been A Has Been Than A Never Was Or A Wanna Be "
	IP Logged

Page Index Toggle

Pages: 1 [2] 3

‹ Previous Topic | Next Topic ›

« Board Index ‹ Board Top

Top

ASSRA Forum » Powered by YaBB 2.6.12!
YaBB Forum Software © 2000-2026. All Rights Reserved.

Valid XHTML

Valid CSS

Powered by Perl

Source Forge

Page completed in 0.9725 seconds.