Lee Moulds

[Graysmoke]

Hi,

I was making some round lead balls for my revolver and some patched balls for shotgun this weekend, and was finding the lead balls weren't of a smooth finish, they looked like they were made of lots of layers, and giving a questionable finish.

I expected the 12 gauge balls to be a bit less uniform but the 454's were the same. I was lubing the mould with beeswax as I was doing it, is this a wrong thing to do? The lead was bubbling a little bit as it went into the mould... Any thoughts?

Cheers
-Tom

[tacfoley]

Hi,

I was making some round lead balls for my revolver and some patched balls for shotgun this weekend, and was finding the lead balls weren't of a smooth finish, they looked like they were made of lots of layers, and giving a questionable finish.

I expected the 12 gauge balls to be a bit less uniform but the 454's were the same. I was lubing the mould with beeswax as I was doing it, is this a wrong thing to do? The lead was bubbling a little bit as it went into the mould... Any thoughts?

Cheers
-Tom

Your lead is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too hot.

Not sure why you are lubing the mould, either. Some casters 'smoke' it before starting to cast - holding a match under the open mould so as to give it a fine coating of soot - but I've never done that except to see what happens if you do it. Couldn't see any difference, me. I cast 535gr Minié bullets and .457 ball and conical, using Lee moulds, for the last forty-something years without using beeswax as a lube - in any case, liquid lead IS a lubricative metal at that stage.

Get a pyrometer and use it - remember that lead melts at a temperature of 328Celsius/621F - bubbling means boiling - NOT good, unless you have unwelcome visitors trying to climb your castle walls...

tac

[loiner1965]

As above
I put the molds flat on a hot plate to heat up
Sounds like your molds are not getting hot enough and wrinkling the bullet
Do not put the wrinkly bullets back in as this cools your lead and can splash you lol
As tac I use no lube or smoke the mold

[tacfoley]

As above
I put the molds flat on a hot plate to heat up
Sounds like your molds are not getting hot enough and wrinkling the bullet
Do not put the wrinkly bullets back in as this cools your lead and can splash you lol
As tac I use no lube or smoke the mold

Well, I keep my moulds on the edge of the electric thermostatically-controlled melting pot - Greysmoke, you DO have a melting pot, don't you? That way they never get cold enough to be wrinkly. Remember - cold = wrinkly, hot = frosty.

Keep them in the 'frinkly' area...

tac

[dodgyrog]

Firstly - are your moulds CLEAN - and I do mean spotless - washed off all the oil that's on the mould when new?
Secondly, pre-heat the mould on the top of the pot to get it hot but not so hot the lead won't set when you cast into it.
Thirdly, don't run the pot at full temperature.
Grey finish to the boolit or ball usually indicates too hot lead pot. Wrinkles on the boolits or balls usually means cold mould/dirty mould/pot temperature set too low.
Good luck

[loiner1965]

Firstly - are your moulds CLEAN - and I do mean spotless - washed off all the oil that's on the mould when new?
Secondly, pre-heat the mould on the top of the pot to get it hot but not so hot the lead won't set when you cast into it.
Thirdly, don't run the pot at full temperature.
Grey finish to the boolit or ball usually indicates too hot lead pot. Wrinkles on the boolits or balls usually means cold mould/dirty mould/pot temperature set too low.
Good luck

Lol I got the lee drippy pot so now I use a stainless pan hence the hot plate