Crappy casting today

BuckeyeShooter · Post by **BuckeyeShooter** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 6:13 pm

Gunny, glad to see you back on here. Well I'm ready to learn so tell me the secret to this. My casting has been very good mostly and the only thing I want to know is the bullet releasing from the mould comment. My only explanation I can come up with is the difference in bullet designs that I mentioned earlier, not sure that has anything to do with it or not, but only variable that made sense to me. I wasn't saying that I have to beat bullets out of the mould with any of my moulds, only that some required a tap or two to get them released, and then sometimes they drop out without any problem. So what's your take on this. To hot? Looking forward to your answer.

Gunny · Post by **Gunny** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 6:29 pm

BuckeyeShooter,

I went back and read your post, doesnt sound to me as if you are having any problems. There really arn't any "secrets" to this casting deal just good equipment and a little common sense and the ability to listen every once in a while. Probably the most important item is a good quality mould. Paul Jones and Steve Brooks both make very good if not great moulds. No shooter will ever go wrong with one of these two moulds, and these moulds alone are cabable of solving about 95% of most casting problems. The only other critical point in casting "I think" is temp, and by temp I mean both of them. Melt temp and mould temp both have to be taken very seriously. Neglect either one of these temps and you are not going to have good quality bullets and ease of casting. Get a grip on both of them and suddenly things start to get much better.

Gunny

Omaha Poke · Post by **Omaha Poke** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 6:36 pm

Buckeye, I would recommend going to Paul Jones web-site and printing out and reading his ideas on casting techniques, especially the part about pushing with your mould mallet or stick or club (whatever you use) against the lower right hand corner of the mould just as you open it. This practice and following his advice will probably cure your sticking problems. Gunny gives good advice too, so if you follow both, you should be able to make some great bullets. Randy

PS Gunny, good to see you posting again. Thought maybe you didn't like us anymore

Randy

BuckeyeShooter · Post by **BuckeyeShooter** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 7:18 pm

Thanks guys, I really feel comfortable with my techniques. Omaha I do follow PJ's suggestions, unfortunately I sometimes forget to use the stick against the bottom of the mould which may contribute to my release problems sometimes. Gunny I do have a PJ mould which I just think is fantastic, but sometimes I will have a bullet that will hang up and takes a few taps with my stick to get it to drop and was just wondering if I was missing something. Like everyone else here I have a growing selection of moulds and I find that each one just has it's own character but I'm always willing to listen to others suggestions to see if I can get better results from any of them. Again thanks.

Omaha Poke · Post by **Omaha Poke** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 8:12 pm

Buckeye, everyone has this problem of a bullet hanging up no matter what your procedure and meticulous care has been

I think it has to do with getting in a rush and maybe not allowing enough time for the bullet and sprue to fully set up before cutting the sprue and opening the mould.

I am going to start checking and see if the bullets that on occaision do hang also have a rough sprue cut off mark or maybe smeared. I think that might be a tip-off. This past week, I was in a hurry to get some bullets cast and loaded for a match and cut some sprues a little early. While I shot pretty well during the match I had a couple of unexplained fliers. I think that the smeared, early cut offs were the problem.

It won't happen again. Randy

Kelley O. Roos · Post by **Kelley O. Roos** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 11:42 pm

Omaha Poke,

I know why you had those unexplained flyers, you didn't elevate your mind.

Kelley O.

Omaha Poke · Post by **Omaha Poke** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 12:55 am

Kelley, my mind was just lowered on the other forum

You aren't supposed to bring things up that happened elsewhere, are you

If so, I will remember that

Randy

ERICH · Post by **ERICH** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 8:22 am

Randy,
Did you shoot the bench rest match at Machias... Sorry we missed it. The Hood Canal Hooligans were all tied up at Mike Mooneys. We plan to shoot Larry's ram bash. Hope to see you there.
Cheers,
Erich