Shiloh Rifle Forums

Paul, haha! You have a Merry Christmas up there in the frozen tundra!
Mike

Paul, haha! You have a Merry Christmas up there in the frozen tundra!
Mike

Another question after 2 casting sessions today…
I get short whiskers on some bullets which I assume is alloy entering the vent lines. Easily rubbed off but what’s causing this? Alloy too hot? Something else I’m not doing correctly? It occurs no matter which mold I use so I’m thinking it’s technique.

Check the inside faces of the mold first and see if you don’t have a speck of land on my faces somewhere. Then you might slow down a little bit or cool down a little bit you might be running a little hot

You are pouring and flipping the mold to fast, slow down to a 5 sec. pour not 3.

Put your micrometer on a few bullets with this issue, and check diameter at different points to see if your bullets are round. If they measure different at 90 degree measurements, then your mold blocks aren't fully closed, and need a good cleaning.
Otherwise either your alloy is too hot, or your pace is too fast.

I was having that problem with one of my RCBS moulds and when I bought a set of self locking mould handles from BACO, my problem went away. They act like a set of vice grips and you set the tension to hold the blocks snug and when you look inside the cavity you can no longer see any light in the crack. A little heavy but I sure like them and use them most of the time with all of my moulds. Tom

I got the locking handles from Shiloh….very nice for casting and even with the increased weight, my hands don’t hurt as much because I don’t have to squeeze tight to keep the blocks together. Big improvement in my casting consistency.

And the results are…
NO MORE WHISKERS! Thanks Dean and Coltsmoke, I turned down the heat and slowed down the process. It didn’t take much but I was losing my mind. Feels good to have nice smooth bullets now.
I also like the locking mold handles.

While I’m pleased to have resolved the whisker issue, I thought I’d weigh my bullets out of curiosity. I use a Lee 20-pound pot and usually cast 60-70 bullets at a time. I’m getting a 2-3 grain variance with a 538.5 grain midpoint, which I consider good enough. In checking the temperature of the alloy after every 10 bullets with an RCBS thermometer I get a range of 30 degrees through each casting session so maybe that is the cause. I’m contemplating whether to replace that old pot or not.

That is a wide range, that don't sound right.

Not yet. I too use a Lee 20 pot, a Lyman thermometer, and a Lyman dipper. I remove the thermometer as I start a casting session and don't pay attention to the temp again. It's all technique and rhythm. I cast today and weighted the first 20 just to check my casting. Total spread was .6 grain after the first five. This is normal for my casting technique. I didn't weight the rest. Yesterday, I did an ammo test, (45-70), and again shot a 2.250-inch five shot group. Loaded 12 rounds for a follow-up test today and will wait for ideal conditions to retest. So, what I'm saying is to keep at it without changing anything. Understand what you are doing and only change one thing at a time and understand the new results. Don't be in a hurry and take baby steps.

Woody