ORIGINAL: harter66
I started 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 ?
I find that to cast good bullets, a mould has to be quite hot. Generally, the more massive the bullet, the harder it is to get to fill out well. I like my moulds hot enough that it takes three to five seconds for the sprue to harden in the sprue plate hole after removing the ladle from the plate. The more tin you have in your alloy, the lowwer the temperature that you can get away with & still have good filled-out bullets with sharp edges on the lube grooves and bases. The biggest bullet I have ever cast is the Lyman 57730 570-grain Minie bullet for the .58 caliber. But I plan on making some .735" round balls for my Jaeger soon.