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Old February 18, 2013, 07:08 PM   #26
Beagle333
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Mine are brass molds. MiHec only rarely does steel, his specialty is brass and he does aluminum as well,.

I like some muzzleloading too, now! I cast about 700 round balls for my 1860 yesterday morning. That was with a DC Lyman (steel).
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Old February 19, 2013, 10:39 PM   #27
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Quote:
FrankenMauser: The NOE stickiness seems to be caused by temperature differences between the HP (or flat) pin, and the blocks. The slightly different cooling rates seem to make the crimp groove and/or lube grooves hang up.
The crappy thing about that mold, is that there isn't anything wrong with it. Its a good mold. It just doesn't get along with my style of casting.
I got a brass NOE 360-160WFN RG-4 mold that is absolutely my favorite bullet. But I haven't ever cast with it. (I always got a friend of mine to do it, but he threw in the towel finally, due to it sticking half the time. And I'm running out of the bullets that he made for me.) It's a 4 cav and I'm wondering if there is even any use in me trying it with my ladle casting technique, or just keep it mothballed until I can afford one of those new Lyman Mag 25's or some other PID controlled bottom pour?
I can cast fast enough to keep this 2 cav MP mold going (most of the time), but I'm wondering if it'll work with a 4 cav. Perhaps a 4 cav will hold more heat than a 2 cav and it will be friendly to me? Thoughts on this anyone?
(thanks!)
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Old February 19, 2013, 11:16 PM   #28
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It's a 4 cav and I'm wondering if there is even any use in me trying it with my ladle casting technique, or just keep it mothballed until I can afford one of those new Lyman Mag 25's or some other PID controlled bottom pour?-Beagle333

FWIW I use a Lee bottom pour and 6 cav Lee/RDO moulds. With the 30 and 32 cal moulds I keep the lead hot and the mould moving once I get it up to temp. Faster I go the better the bullets turn out. Bigger bullets like 35 cal are more my speed and the 45 cal moulds need a damp sock nearby to bring the temps down. I use a thermometer but no pid; low-tech redneck and proud of it.
I only ladle pour the big 1-2 cav BPCR and 45 Colt bullets, for some reason they appreciate the extra effort, can't get them to get along with the bottom pour furnace.
Short answer; go for it, adjust your rhythm and pour temp until your mould gets happy. If it doesn't work step up to a bottom pour.
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Old February 19, 2013, 11:46 PM   #29
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TXGunNut expressed my thoughts pretty well...
Quote:
Short answer; go for it, adjust your rhythm and pour temp until your mould gets happy. If it doesn't work step up to a bottom pour.
You should be able to get it to work.


(I ladle-pour everything. )
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Old February 20, 2013, 01:17 PM   #30
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Well, I didn't use the NOE today, I was a little short on time. - not that it takes longer to use a NOE, but I wanted to spin the pins in some 800# paper before I use it.
But I did use the MP 359640 again, and I put the hot plate on 9 (of 10 on the dial) and got it good and hot (left it sitting on it for about 20 minutes), then upped the lead to 8.5 on the dial (I was at 8-1/4 last time) and it went smooth as silk. The ̶b̶̶o̶̶o̶̶l̶̶i̶ bullets wouldn't hardly wait for me to tap the pins free from the blocks. A lot of them just slid out between the pin and the block when I'd open the mold. It was a wonderful experience. Perhaps a combination of extra heat and also the second time the mold had been used (or even heated). I had a pie pan heaped full of shiny, perfectly filled-out projectiles in no time at all.
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Old February 23, 2013, 08:55 AM   #31
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Learning as I go....

I got em a little hot this time! Only about 30-40 of them turned out frosty, but they're kinda pretty. 'Looks like they fill out good anyway, so I'm gonna lube em up and shoot em. When they go through the sizer, the driving bands shine right up like a regular bullet.
One thing about running the mold really hot..... nothing sticks!
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Old February 23, 2013, 10:10 AM   #32
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They look fine to me! For a couple of my moulds the line between "just right" and "frosty" is very narrow, probably 20-30 degrees but without pot PID's and mould mounted temp probes I'll never know. I'm getting better at judging them but it seems each mould has a favorite pour and mould temp. In most cases they get a coat or two of LLA so it doesn't matter much. I'd rather have sharp-cornered frosty boo...bullets than shiny ones that don't fill the driving bands.
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Old February 23, 2013, 10:47 AM   #33
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Old February 23, 2013, 10:53 AM   #34
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Quote:
In most cases they get a coat or two of LLA so it doesn't matter much.
I like LLA too. I use it quite a bit (or Xlox). I'll probably lube tumble some of these when I get tired of dip lubing. I like to use TAC#1 (from randyrat) for them. I dip em, and then cut em out with my cake cutter (which is just an expanded .357 case with a nail through the primer hole for a pushrod) It ain't fast, but it's cheap!
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Old February 24, 2013, 11:41 AM   #35
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I've learned you have to get a feel for each mold. I've molded a few thousand 900 gn .62 cal bullets and you have to run way hotter than my 440 gn .58 bullets. The same go's for my 2 or 4 cavity molds. The more lead they use the hotter and faster I need to go. The more you touch the lead the more heat loss you get. I've also found the larger the lead pot the more stable the temp. I use a home made 35 lb pot for the bigger stuff and my 20 lb pot for the smaller stuff. I also tried molding straight from a big spoon over a camp fire(just to see if I could). It's slow but can be done. Never used a brass mold though.
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Old February 24, 2013, 02:35 PM   #36
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I hope to start casting soon. I've been saving, and refining wheel weights. I've noticed the frosting at times. reading the prior posts is it correct that the frosting come from a higher heat? Does it affect the BHN much?
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Old February 24, 2013, 08:08 PM   #37
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Quote:
reading the prior posts is it correct that the frosting come from a higher heat?
Yes. That's it. Lots of heat, really just a tad too much. Just below frosting is where I was trying for, but I don't have a really stable pot and I wasn't using my thermometer.

Quote:
Does it affect the BHN much?
Not at all. As long as the mold stays roughly the same temp. The alloy can go from 750 to 950 and it won't matter.

But, if you let the mold temps go up and down crazy-like, it will affect not only bhn but size as well.
From what I've read..... up to 3 bhn numbers on the hardness scale.
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Old February 24, 2013, 08:45 PM   #38
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I keep a bit of the mold block in the lead between bullets to keep it worm. It's the only way my 900 gn .62 cal mold will stay hot without going very fast. It easy to go through 30 or 40 pounds of lead.
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Old February 24, 2013, 09:03 PM   #39
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'You got a picture of that 900 grainer? That must be one awesome hunk o' lead!!!
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Old February 24, 2013, 11:41 PM   #40
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I'll take a picture of one next to a few other bullets tomorrow. A guy I cast some for killed the big 5 with it. Stopped an 8 ton African elegant in one shot from his green mountain barreled cap lock. It went all the way through and stopped in the hide on the far side. It mushrooms to an inch and a half. The beast didn't take a single step. He said it dropped like you unplugged it's cord. It just dropped limp. My Dad got a dear with one at about 40 yards and it actually flipped over on it's back. Man what a sight. It takes 120 gns of FFF goex to get 1200 feet fps. 100 yards is really pushing the max range though. There's about 14 in. of drop at 100. Sure is neat though. I have a 1950's lay down freezer I filled with wet news papers. It go's clean through the 30 in. of new spaper and both sides of the steal freezer. It's really overkill on anything less than a grizzly.

Edit... oh I thought I'd mention it's over 2 oz. That's two 12 ga. slugs.

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Old February 25, 2013, 04:03 PM   #41
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Can't upload photo. If you want one Pm me your email. Sorry.
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Old February 25, 2013, 08:09 PM   #42
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You fellas shure turn out some nice work. Once in a while I luck up and make few nice ones. But that's the exception to the rule.
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Old February 26, 2013, 07:41 PM   #43
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Beagle,

I just got in two small white packages from Slovenija today, any guess's on what I'll be doing tomorrow afternoon?

You got me hankerin bad to whet up the 358 first, but I may just have to run the .452-200 instead since I need to load some of them anyway.

Aww heck, I'll just run half a pot through them both.

Just hope they turn out a purty as yours
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Old February 26, 2013, 07:44 PM   #44
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Man! I'm jealous! I wanted to be casting tomorrow. It's supposed to be 64° and sunny here. I even asked off from work, but boss said I couldn't.

Them little white boxes got some pretty stuff in 'em! And it's fun to use too!

In other news.... I made about 400 of these little fella's this weekend using my old single cav 358432 HP mold, and I'm currently loading them up for some Coke can shooting action this weekend, weather permitting.
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Old February 26, 2013, 08:13 PM   #45
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I sure wished you would quit showin those things, I sure am getting a weird feeling like I might have to work out a trade or something for some of them or worse yet try and find a darned mold to pour some similar.

I just got the other two molds so I could load up the wife some stuff to get her back into shooting again. She learned to shoot revolvers with my scope Redhawk running red lined 180gr loads. When I got her a .357, she shot the bull out free handed with the first cylinder full at 20yds. I gained a LOT of respect for her that day.

she shoots my 1911 like a pro as well, so I don't lip off too much, and I try to stay on top of the chores she passes my way as well. LOL
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Old February 26, 2013, 09:28 PM   #46
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It is an addiction. I just received a 358140 6 cavity aluminum mold from M-P yesterday. I will be casting with it soon and will start a new thread with pictures when they are ready. Soon.
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Old February 26, 2013, 10:50 PM   #47
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Pics posted from Boomer58cal

Left to Right.......44 mag for scale,
.619 900 gn.
440 gn. .571,
150 gn. .308,
53 gn. .223 V-max
900grainer.jpg
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Last edited by Beagle333; February 27, 2013 at 07:22 PM. Reason: Fixed it!
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Old February 27, 2013, 04:14 AM   #48
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Chuck, I'm getting the impression you favor that "turtle buster"! LOL Man, you're killing me with the visuals lately!! You're gonna force me to brave the Colorado cold to try to catch up, aren't you?! GORGEOUS boolits----I mean, bullets, BTW! Feed the need, Brother.

Speaking of which, I'm gonna try like heck to get some shop time first of next week. If you wanna throw a mic on the pin to that one and hit me with the measurement, I'll do my best to spin the pin cavity to match so they're all interchangeable between the two molds. You should have one flat for solid/adjustable and one straight with a radius? If this does a long cone, it would give 3 styles. Just thinking... Funny how that happens at almost 3AM
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Old February 27, 2013, 05:03 AM   #49
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If you wanna throw a mic on the pin to that one and hit me with the measurement, I'll do my best to spin the pin cavity to match so they're all interchangeable between the two molds. You should have one flat for solid/adjustable and one straight with a radius?
Will do! And yes, there are two pins on this one, a flat one and a round one.
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Old February 27, 2013, 10:15 AM   #50
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I messed the numbers up. The 900 gn is .619. The round ball I mold is .610 because I use a .010 patch. Thanks for posting them for me.

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