Casting with a six hole?

chris in va · September 18, 2011, 11:10 AM

I've cast thousands with my two holers, but really have no idea how to do it with the longer ones, if someone could give some tips.

GP100man · September 18, 2011, 11:56 AM

Chris

The best advise I have is pre warm the mold after cleanin it good , if ya don`t & have a small pot your gonna run out as it comes to temp.

Pour 2 cavitys until they cut easy then 2 more etc. even after pre warming .

Always have the sprue handle closed completely when pouring !

Turn ya heat down after it comes up to temp so it does`nt cook the tin off & cause voids, frosty is ok .

My recommendation is at least a 20# pot slam full of alloy .

Also I recommend just puttin the mold in a boiling pot of water for 10 min. to get all the machining lube from the pores of the aluminum . well most of it anyways .

TXGunNut · September 18, 2011, 01:18 PM

Just got my first sixbanger as well so can add little to GP100man's excellent post. My Lee seemed to take awhile getting up to temp so I'm looking for a hot plate to add to my casting setup. These moulds seem to like to run pretty hot but need cooling down from time to time also, I keep a damp towel around and press the bottom of the mould against it when it gets too hot.

Rifleman55 · September 25, 2011, 08:33 PM

I am using cast iron moulds, I have found that if you heat the mould with a propane torch you will get usable bullets a lot quicker. I use an old 10lb pot and You don't get many over a hundred before the pot gets low and has to be refilled.

shootniron · September 25, 2011, 08:39 PM

I use a hot plate to get the mold warmed up and then start with the first 3 holes for the first few times and then add one hole per trip at which time the mold is about up to temp.

Also, you need a big pot to keep that thing going once it gets up to speed.

Rangefinder · September 25, 2011, 09:09 PM

Prewarming is key. I use a coleman camp stove during casting and prewarm right in the flame. Run your melt a little on the "cool" side and your mold HOT with plenty of the heat on the sprew plate. Lots of pretty boolits quick that way.

snuffy · September 25, 2011, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Also I recommend just puttin the mold in a boiling pot of water for 10 min. to get all the machining lube from the pores of the aluminum . well most of it anyways .

The above WITH some dawn or other dishwashing soap.

Also, start with the two cavities nearest the hinge bolt for the sprue plate. Cast those a couple of times, then go to 3 a couple more, then to 4-5-6. If your mold is not up to casting temp, pouring all 6 cavities may result in breaking the cam lever of the sprue cutter when trying to shear all 6 at once, ask me how I know!?

Now, It wasn't me, I borrowed the mold to a buddy, he didn't know it would do that. Lee replaced the cam lever, in fact they sent me 2 of them.

Be real careful with using a propane flame on an aluminum mold. You could easily melt the al.

Mike / Tx · September 27, 2011, 05:24 AM

Well like the others I have found out there are a few things to getting a 6-banger up and running.

I usually set the mold on top of my pot while it's heating up, then start out by pouring the first three holes, then allowing the boolits to sit in the mold and spread the heat a few seconds after cutting off the sprue. Then as mentioned move a hole at a time until everything is up to a good temp.

Speaking of temps, I purchased a pot thermometer as well as a little digital one that inserts into the end of the mold via a drilled hole. This has helped out dramatically in the consistency of my boolits, in both less numbers of throw backs but also in weight. It took a bit of playing around but I have the temps for my alloy and mold recorded so it only takes a couple of pours and it's a done deal.

Here is a link to my simple temp/weight testing,
Analysis of cast boolit weight variences
THis one is to the digital thermometer I am using,
NOE Digital Casting Thermometer

The first link is a to a pretty informative thread. It did show me that the temp will effect the weights, and that a constant pressure on the handles will as well. Nothing overly scientific, but it has helped me to narrow down a few things I was not paying attention to.

Yep, broke a handle as well, and it wasn't hard to do, it went with very little effort and I was pretty much like ***. But like mentioned Lee was understanding and shot me two new ones to replace it ASAP. Luckily I had several so I simply pulled off one of the others and went on with my business.

Rifleman55 · October 8, 2011, 05:41 PM

I bought a six cavity bullet mould from lee and cast my first bullets with it, before I got it figured out I was about ready to loose my religion. I finally found that if I ran the alloy a lot hotter than normal it worked well.
They are supposed to be tumble lube but mike at .358-359 and for a 9mm that is a little large, I am looking for .356 so I will order a sizer, I haven't made up my mind which way to go Lee or Lyman, I have an old 450 lubesizer.

Vance · October 8, 2011, 07:51 PM

Rifleman55,
You might want to slug the barrel of the gun you are casting those boolits for. For my Ruger SR9 9mm, I found that I needed to size to .357 instead of .356. Accuracy got better.

Another bonus for me is I just bought a Ruger GP100 357 mag, and after slugging the barrel and cylinder, it turns out I can use the same sizer for those boolits also.

TXGunNut · October 9, 2011, 10:42 AM

I really like the Lee sizer, figure it and the TL boolits are made for each other, bottle of LLA included makes it pretty hard to beat!
I still use my Lyman for BP stuff but really like the TL process for smokeless.

September 18, 2011, 11:10 AM	#1
chris in va Senior Member Join Date: December 26, 2004 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 13,806	Casting with a six hole? I've cast thousands with my two holers, but really have no idea how to do it with the longer ones, if someone could give some tips.

September 18, 2011, 11:56 AM	#2
GP100man Senior Member Join Date: August 1, 2007 Location: Tabor City , NC. Posts: 1,969	6 bangers Chris The best advise I have is pre warm the mold after cleanin it good , if ya don`t & have a small pot your gonna run out as it comes to temp. Pour 2 cavitys until they cut easy then 2 more etc. even after pre warming . Always have the sprue handle closed completely when pouring ! Turn ya heat down after it comes up to temp so it does`nt cook the tin off & cause voids, frosty is ok . My recommendation is at least a 20# pot slam full of alloy . Also I recommend just puttin the mold in a boiling pot of water for 10 min. to get all the machining lube from the pores of the aluminum . well most of it anyways . __________________ GP100man

September 18, 2011, 01:18 PM	#3
TXGunNut Senior Member Join Date: January 16, 2010 Location: If you have to ask... Posts: 2,860	Just got my first sixbanger as well so can add little to GP100man's excellent post. My Lee seemed to take awhile getting up to temp so I'm looking for a hot plate to add to my casting setup. These moulds seem to like to run pretty hot but need cooling down from time to time also, I keep a damp towel around and press the bottom of the mould against it when it gets too hot. __________________ Life Member NRA, TSRA Smokeless powder is a passing fad! -Steve Garbe I hate rude behavior in a man. I won't tolerate it. -Woodrow F. Call Lonesome Dove My favorite recipes start out with a handful of used wheelweights.

September 25, 2011, 09:09 PM	#6
Rangefinder Senior Member Join Date: August 4, 2005 Posts: 2,017	Prewarming is key. I use a coleman camp stove during casting and prewarm right in the flame. Run your melt a little on the "cool" side and your mold HOT with plenty of the heat on the sprew plate. Lots of pretty boolits quick that way. __________________ "Why is is called Common Sense when it seems so few actually possess it?" Guns only have two enemies: Rust and Politicians.

October 9, 2011, 10:42 AM	#11
TXGunNut Senior Member Join Date: January 16, 2010 Location: If you have to ask... Posts: 2,860	I really like the Lee sizer, figure it and the TL boolits are made for each other, bottle of LLA included makes it pretty hard to beat! I still use my Lyman for BP stuff but really like the TL process for smokeless. __________________ Life Member NRA, TSRA Smokeless powder is a passing fad! -Steve Garbe I hate rude behavior in a man. I won't tolerate it. -Woodrow F. Call Lonesome Dove My favorite recipes start out with a handful of used wheelweights.

September 25, 2011, 08:33 PM	#4
Rifleman55 Junior Member Join Date: September 23, 2011 Posts: 7	I am using cast iron moulds, I have found that if you heat the mould with a propane torch you will get usable bullets a lot quicker. I use an old 10lb pot and You don't get many over a hundred before the pot gets low and has to be refilled.

September 25, 2011, 08:39 PM	#5
shootniron Senior Member Join Date: April 16, 2011 Location: Georgia Posts: 1,599	I use a hot plate to get the mold warmed up and then start with the first 3 holes for the first few times and then add one hole per trip at which time the mold is about up to temp. Also, you need a big pot to keep that thing going once it gets up to speed.

September 27, 2011, 05:24 AM	#8
Mike / Tx Senior Member Join Date: April 8, 2000 Posts: 2,101	Well like the others I have found out there are a few things to getting a 6-banger up and running. I usually set the mold on top of my pot while it's heating up, then start out by pouring the first three holes, then allowing the boolits to sit in the mold and spread the heat a few seconds after cutting off the sprue. Then as mentioned move a hole at a time until everything is up to a good temp. Speaking of temps, I purchased a pot thermometer as well as a little digital one that inserts into the end of the mold via a drilled hole. This has helped out dramatically in the consistency of my boolits, in both less numbers of throw backs but also in weight. It took a bit of playing around but I have the temps for my alloy and mold recorded so it only takes a couple of pours and it's a done deal. Here is a link to my simple temp/weight testing, Analysis of cast boolit weight variences THis one is to the digital thermometer I am using, NOE Digital Casting Thermometer The first link is a to a pretty informative thread. It did show me that the temp will effect the weights, and that a constant pressure on the handles will as well. Nothing overly scientific, but it has helped me to narrow down a few things I was not paying attention to. Yep, broke a handle as well, and it wasn't hard to do, it went with very little effort and I was pretty much like ***. But like mentioned Lee was understanding and shot me two new ones to replace it ASAP. Luckily I had several so I simply pulled off one of the others and went on with my business.

October 8, 2011, 05:41 PM	#9
Rifleman55 Junior Member Join Date: September 23, 2011 Posts: 7	I bought a six cavity bullet mould from lee and cast my first bullets with it, before I got it figured out I was about ready to loose my religion. I finally found that if I ran the alloy a lot hotter than normal it worked well. They are supposed to be tumble lube but mike at .358-359 and for a 9mm that is a little large, I am looking for .356 so I will order a sizer, I haven't made up my mind which way to go Lee or Lyman, I have an old 450 lubesizer.

October 8, 2011, 07:51 PM	#10
Vance Senior Member Join Date: January 16, 2011 Location: North Bend, OR Posts: 743	Rifleman55, You might want to slug the barrel of the gun you are casting those boolits for. For my Ruger SR9 9mm, I found that I needed to size to .357 instead of .356. Accuracy got better. Another bonus for me is I just bought a Ruger GP100 357 mag, and after slugging the barrel and cylinder, it turns out I can use the same sizer for those boolits also.