The hardest bullet i have to get a good consistence is the 55gr 224 and the bigger the bullet the easier it is. Most wrinkles in a bullet is due to the mold being to cold and if the lead is solidifying on top the lead isnt hot enough in my expereince.
I have dreamed of casting.224 in 35 and 65. Dreamed. Never sought out the dies. Just converted 50 pounds of ww to 32 ingots have a few more to go.
Had best luck with 180 and 230 gr 45s. Need to try my BP 44 die.
Had best luck with 180 and 230 gr 45s. Need to try my BP 44 die.
Steel or aluminum mould ?
Aluminum, recent production from Lee, all of my casting dies.
Rick, who made your .224 die’s?
Interesting thread. I don't cast bullets, only fishing sinkers, but I've learned about some Issues with casting those from this thread.
I use all Lee molds
Get a casting thermometer they're not expensive from roto metals etc. I never cast over 800 perfect temp in my opinion between 725 and 750. I keep a cheap hot plate warm my molds up on it then pour 10-12 sets of bullets and let them solidify and dump them back in i don't even look at them. After those rounds I'll pour water quench a 100 or so usually have no issues. Just my experience take it for what its worth. As far as your issue with flashing as others have said loose grip on mold or something holding seam open.
I have both sizes of the Lee pots.
I have made hundreds of pounds of bullets and sinkers.
I keep the lead pot just hot enough to keep it liquid and pour well.
When casting big bullets the mold will get very hot and you will notice it takes much longer to get the lead to cool on top of the sprue plate so that means the lead in the mold is taking much longer to cool also.
That is when you may see lead smear across the top of the mold under the sprue plate.
Mold needs cooled off.
Sprue plate will get lead smear under it and start collecting a bit of lead in the hole.
Just a tiny amount.
Clean it out and cool it off a bit.
I use a carpenter pencil to apply graphite to the top of my mold and to the pivot and to the bottom of the sprue plate and down in the sprue plate holes.
This keeps things moving nicely while casting.
If my mold gets lead smear I have a rag that is dry I can wipe the lead off with while it is still hot.
And then cool it.
Another thing I do while casting is stir the molten lead with a spoon every 10 pours or so.
And about 10-15 pours I stop and set the mold on the concrete floor or a cold steel plate and scoop up all the sprues with that spoon and ease them gently back into the pot.
Some dripping will happen with the bottom pour pots at times and this has made me cast while that pot sits in an aluminum pan.
One of these cheap things.
I can drop my sprues in them also and make them easier to scoop up.
I have made hundreds of pounds of bullets and sinkers.
I keep the lead pot just hot enough to keep it liquid and pour well.
When casting big bullets the mold will get very hot and you will notice it takes much longer to get the lead to cool on top of the sprue plate so that means the lead in the mold is taking much longer to cool also.
That is when you may see lead smear across the top of the mold under the sprue plate.
Mold needs cooled off.
Sprue plate will get lead smear under it and start collecting a bit of lead in the hole.
Just a tiny amount.
Clean it out and cool it off a bit.
I use a carpenter pencil to apply graphite to the top of my mold and to the pivot and to the bottom of the sprue plate and down in the sprue plate holes.
This keeps things moving nicely while casting.
If my mold gets lead smear I have a rag that is dry I can wipe the lead off with while it is still hot.
And then cool it.
Another thing I do while casting is stir the molten lead with a spoon every 10 pours or so.
And about 10-15 pours I stop and set the mold on the concrete floor or a cold steel plate and scoop up all the sprues with that spoon and ease them gently back into the pot.
Some dripping will happen with the bottom pour pots at times and this has made me cast while that pot sits in an aluminum pan.
One of these cheap things.
I can drop my sprues in them also and make them easier to scoop up.
