Bullet casting

[bpcrshooter62]

I hope there is others here that will chime in as i cant help with that now as i never use a bottom pour pot I use a ladle had no luck at all with bottom pour pots got ride of it and bought a top pot sorry

[Graybeard]

That’s ok. I’m sure I’ll figure it out. Might get a top pot.

[bpcrshooter62]

I bought a Lyman 20 some years ago and have poured thousands of bullets and fishing weights and it is still doing well always works for me cant remember the model not sure if they sell this type and size anymore it holds about 20 to 25 lbs of lead if i remember correctly

[bpcrshooter62]

you could plug the bottom hole and use a ladle out of the top as i did that till i bought the top dip pot
I am sure there are other that use them but i am not much help when it comes to them as i said i had no luck when using one of that type all kinds of problems sorry

[Graybeard]

IMG_6636 Medium.jpeg

. This is new mold. Temp is about 775. Still getting inconsistent lines and flaws. Pre heated mold cast about 15

[bpcrshooter62]

those pics tell me your close i think you need more heat or cast a few more and that might heat it up enough they look almost totally filled out you will know when it is right things will look sharp and smooth your doing well if this is your first time trying this it takes a while to get things in a grove as in working smooth and in a rhythm dont give up

[JonnyV]

Looks like your mold is not up to temp yet...try pre-heating on the hot plate for a good 20 min prior to casting. You're close, just need to keep at it!

[Graybeard]

Thanks. The other mold must be warped or something. Thanks again.

[Woody]

More heat either in the melt or the mould or both

I used a Lee bottom pour for years and got excellent bullets with a 25 percent cull rate. Didn't know any better. When others finally convinced me to be a ladle pourer, my cull rate dropped to almost zero. Who would have known.

I have known moulds from every maker to warp. They can be fixed, or you can just buy another. You can easily check by placing the blocks on a perfectly flat surface, (window glass), with a 600 grit wet/dry paper. One or two slides across the paper will show if the block is warped. If it is, lap it flat using a lot of lubricant, being careful to apply even pressure. Lap only until it is flat. Yes, now your mould cavity is out-of-round. So what. It will not make any difference in the end. Most moulds, unless they are lathe bored are. When you reset the locating pins, drive just enough so that the two blocks don't move when closed and no more.

Woody

[kwilliams]

After flattening the block halves, most will then benefit from a lap of the cavity.....properly done in a drill press and at slow speed.

[gunlaker]

Start with more heat. Remember that these thermometers are not generally precision devices. If you buy two and test them they will not likely agrees.

What brand mold is that? When I first started casting I had an RCBS mold that made parting lines like that.

Chris.

[Graybeard]

Lyman mold.

[JonnyV]

I was having a lot of trouble getting the mold filled out at 750 degrees on my Lyman 20 lb pot. Going up to 805 solved a lot of issues. I also ladle pour. Next time the pot is empty I’m taking out the bottom pour contraption and filling that hole with a machine screw.

[gunlaker]

Ladle pouring is definitely the way to go. I made the switch a long time ago. I think after my first day I was already getting much better bullets. I found that the bullets would fill out at a lower pot temperature too so that was a bonus.

I still have my RCBS bottom pour pot. I can use a ladle with it, but the linkage does get in the way a bit, plus it's on the tall side. Mostly I use a couple of cheap RCBS Magnum Melters. They are a lot better at holding constant temperature than my much more expensive RCBS pot.

Chris.

[Ray Newman]

I ladle pour from a Waage electric pot.

When I first started ladle pouring, I had problems with mould completely filling out and having nice sharp grease grooves on the bullets. Two things cured these problems:

1- Increase the pot temperature and thoroughly -- but slowly -- preheat the mould.
2- Drill out the ladle spout about 3 drill sizes larger to quickly fill out the mould, expel any air, and leave a generous puddle on the sprue plate. Let the puddle "cure" (cool) before cutting the sprue.

Also see the “8 Phase Bullet Casting” Parts 1 and 2:
http://www.longrangebpcr.com/Part1.htm
http://www.longrangebpcr.com/Part2.htm