How do you remove your cast bullets?

[BJung]

I'm new to casting and have started with Lee molds. I clean and treat the molds with matches thoroughly. When casting, sometimes the bullets don't fall out so I give the mold a shake. Then, I tap the steel portion of the handle and the bullet falls out. If that doesn't work, I use the magic words, "Damn **!" and pull the bullet out with a pair of need nose pliers. Does anyone have any other suggestions or warnings?

[mehavey]

Rawhide and/or wood hammer (or just a piece of 1.5"x1.5" lumber)
and smack-smack-smack the mold handles hinge.

It'll always loosen up/fall out with that

[FrankenMauser]

Tappy-tap-tap is the most I will allow. (And I prefer avoiding that, as well.)
If I have to use a tool to extract a bullet, the mold gets set aside for inspection and deburring.

Deburring of aluminum and brass molds is done with a razor blade, gently run around the parting lines, in a manner that will not allow it to cause damage - but only remove a burr.
I haven't had to do a steel/iron mold, yet.

[dahermit]

Originally Posted by mehavey

Rawhide and/or wood hammer (or just a piece of 1.5"x1.5" lumber)
and smack-smack-smack the mold handles hinge.

It'll always loosen up/fall out with that

I have not seen a rawhide hammer in years, let alone one for sale.

[JohnKSa]

You can find them online from a number of sources.

[BJung]

My cast pistol bullets eventually fall out with a tip-tap-tap and I tap on the hinge too but with the wooden handle of a wire brush. For .45 and .38 the lead is range lead

This time I was casting 30/30 rifle bullets with 50/50 wheel weight/range lead and somewhere around 5-8 percent tin. The gas grooves are pretty sharp and maybe it's because it the lead alloy has filled out well? Maybe the sticking is the nature of cast rifle bullets?

[armoredman]

When it's heated up right it usually doesn't take more than a whack or two on the hinge. Nothing but a hammer handle only.

[Hawg]

I use a plastic screwdriver handle to cut the sprue and then a light tap on the mold jaw right behind the block.

[mehavey]

Plastic hammer works just fine too.

Pretty much anything non-metal/non-marring.
Hinge only/Don't fret about hurting anything
Tap, tap, tapping at my chamber door.

[BJung]

I tend to smoke my Lee pistol bullet molds after casting a pot of lead because the bullets stock more.

How do you heat your molds? I usually warm them up with a propane torch and then pour a few initial bullets to warm up the inside of the molds, then I'm ready to go.

This time, my propane torch ran out of gas so I dipped the mold on top of the pot onto the lead to heat up the blocks. I used a double cavity .311 and single cavity .309 mold. One bullet dropped out of the 2 cavity mold and one always got stuck. The single cavity mold bullet always required tapping to remove it. Even then, I think there's a bur in it because the bullet hangs off the mold and I have to swipe it off.

Sometimes a shake the mold as I open them so the bullets fall out. This method didn't work so well with rifle bullets

[FrankenMauser]

I ended up with a few oak balusters about 10 years ago, that were cut in half for some reason. Those are my casting mallets.
Tappy-tap-tap is on the hinge bolt.
I usually cut sprues by hand, but the balusters do that job, as well, if required.

[BJung]

I like to think that if I let the mold sit and cool for a few mintues, it will drop out easier. Maybe I'm wrong.

[TX Nimrod]

I have not seen a rawhide hammer in years, let alone one for sale.

Don’t get out much? Here ya go:

1" x 2" Rawhide Mallet Jewelry Making Repair Metal Forming Hammer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075TH8Q2Z..._1mfoFb1YJDFYG


FWIW, I always used the hammer handle that hits the sprue plate.....




.

[armoredman]

How do you heat your molds?

Would you believe on the stove? I turn a burner on 1/4 impulse power and rotate twice, so the sprue plate gets some heat as well. This goes on while the lead is getting good and melted in the pot, so both are ready to go at the same time.

[BJung]

Yikes. Don't you worry about lead poisoning by melting lead by the stove?

[mehavey]

For mould preheat: simple hotplate/"dutchoven" arrangement while leadpot heats up



While I never recommend casting inside a house proper (smoke from fluxing/irritated wives/lead splatters on the floor [& ceiling]), lead doesn't begin to emit vapor until 930° and above. Casting is done 150-230° below that.

[BJung]

I think the fumes are bad for you. Here is my homemade flu I made to direct fumes away from me and low enough to keep the neighbors from seeing what I'm doing.

[Grey_Lion]

I use lee molds and what works for me is to smoke the molds each time with a candle and then I tap the molds with a stick to get all the projectiles to drop out.

I use an electric hot plate to pre-heat my mold. I do all my casting in my back driveway outside as weather permits - usually in the fall and early spring.

I never cast when it's raining or even when it's very humid. Even high humidity can cause steam voids to form in your castings.

I usually do a few hours of casting at once and make large batches that I then use throughout the year.

As a rule - I do not eat or drink whilst casting. I don't do anything with lead or casting in my kitchen. I've had my lead levels tested twice over the years and no issue was indicated either time.

I pre-process my scrap lead into ingots using an old metal pot either on a hot plate or on hot coals in a fire pit. I flux the scrap lead, remove any brass or steel or bullet jacket scrap and pour that into small ingots using a small muffin tin - perfect size to go into my lee smelter later. Also easier to transport as needed in my garage.

I use whatever lead scrap I come across. Fishing net weights, wheel weights, fired bullets, roofing lead, plumbers lead, stained glass lead. The only thing I avoid is battery lead as the battery acid can damage all sorts of things and I don't have a safe means to dispose of battery acid.

[BJung]

Grey Lion, I assume you PC. Do you PC your bullets and water drop them a week or so before shooting? Or do you PC your bullets and water drop them, then just save them for later. Do you think there will be a noticeable difference in hardness, especially with rifle bullets?

[BJung]

Sometimes I've tried to open the molds with a shake or violent vibration (not pulling the mold handles apart violently). It's worked sometimes for me and I wonder if you guys have used this technique.

[gwpercle]

An excellent mould prep , better than smoking , is : clean the blocks and cavities with acetone and a Oral-B toothbrush (they don't melt) . let dry and give cavities a light coat of Dry Film Lubricant ( like Liquid Wrench or Crc Dry Lube ) they leave a thin film of micro- Teflon and it doesn't contaminate the lead and cause wrinkled bullets .
After tapping open the sprue plate , tap the handle hinge pin and the bullets will just about jump out the mould . After a few casting sessions the mould gets seasoned and broken in and you hardly ever need to use the dry film spray after that ...but I use it on the sprue plate , top and underside and on the top of the blocks ... helps keep lead from sticking to these places .
Sounds crazy ...but just try it once , I swear it works better than anything...lead will not stick and it doesn't cause wrinkled bullets .

As for opening I put some pressure to open the handles and tap the handle hinge (pivot) pin , lightly , once or twice , the mould will usually open right up .
If you ever buy a NOE mould it will ruin you for life ...they cast so easily you will be spoiled forever .
Gary

[Grey_Lion]

I don't water quench my cast rounds. I powder coat weeks to months after the bullets have been cast. After I powder coat the rounds, they go through the sizing die. The sized powder-coated rounds may sit for weeks to months before they are loaded.

I use a very wide range of scrap lead. I don't hardness test. Cast lead gets powder coated to avoid leading. My hollow points get a 9mm piece of annealed brass to make it's jacket.

Typically, those who care a lot about their lead hardness don't coat or jacket their rounds and monitor and manage the lead hardness in an effort to reduce barrel leading. Some claim no barrel leading.

My processes doesn't care what my lead alloy and hardness is which is what suits me as I don't have to agonize over it or measure it and I can take any lead inputs I trip across. Pure lead costs more. Would it be "ideal" if I used pure lead wire to a specific size for my JHP lead cores? - Sure - but then I couldn't make them as dirt cheaply as I do. I can make a box of 50 JHP's for as little as $5 in bought supplies. If I were to do that with pure lead wire, that'd cost me as much as $15 a box and the only thing I'd have to show for it is the JHP might open up a bit better with the softer pure lead. As I'm happy with the performance of my JHP's with scrap lead, the difference isn't worth $10 more per box.

[Rod47]

Try a good workout with a no. 2 lead pencil in the cavities.