Casting ??????????

harter66 · 02-13-2008, 07:44 PM

Istarted casting with my 357 an 45 colts and all went well with only 2 grns variance in weights and .002 in dia. Dia was attributed to the moulds (LEE) I had 453 s and 455s .and 357-359 . So thinking ... Self you can do this ...... I bought a 324 and a 309 . tried out the 324 out and had a terrible time getting good bullets I had to get the mould HOT like 400 degreesto get good bullets . So is this normal with the "smaller" dia bullets or just a quirk of this 1 mould ? I only got about one in 7-8 in the handle side cavity and about 6 for 10 in the forward cavity . These are Lee 2 cavity moulds "just to get into it" budget . Also how much "harder" are bullets that are water quinched than their air cooled counter parts ?

harter66 · 02-13-2008, 07:48 PM

Maybe an alloy problem had some battery posts and cabel ends and cell straps I was using for decoy anchors ???

HEAD0001 · 02-13-2008, 07:55 PM

I have a couple of suggestons to try.

1. Get yourself into a cadence. Count out loud at first. Try to do each operation at the same count. Try this-it really works.

2. Yes your mold needs to be hot.

3. Just pick one cavity and cast from it. Do not try to cast from both cavities. I am sorry to say that you will have variances when using more than one cavity in a Lee mold.

4. IMO water quenching just speeds up the hardening process. It does not necessarily makes the bullets harder, it just makes them harder-faster. I do not water quench-I size and lube my bullets. So IMO water quenching is just "WORKING" the lead too much.

5. If you are not getting a full fill out then try a little Tin in your alloy. Personally I do not have a problem with fill out once I get my mold up to temperature, but that is just me. And i think it has to do alot with my cadence. I really believe in the cadence. For reloading and casting-I believe consistency is KING.

6. I do not think it is your alloy, I think it is your technique. I have poured some pretty bullets from crappy lead. Tom.

mcawful · 02-13-2008, 08:27 PM

I'll echo what Tom said.
never had a problem with LEE mold filling as long as I had the mold and the lead hot.
I keep the mold on top of the pot to keep it hot .
The first couple are always sacrificed back to the pot, but after that, all is good.
I cast .309 bullets with the LEE C309-160-1R ( 160 gr Ogive).
I have not experienced the problems you are, but I only cast one cavity at a time.