Casting lead balls...questions???

Skinny 1950

Skinny 1950

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I have cast conical bullets using a double cavity Lee's mold and it was suggested that the cavity be coated with candle smoke (soot) to prevent the bullets from sticking to the mold...does anyone know of other mold release sprays or coatings that might do the same job and not mess up the mold as much???? Also it is hard to get the smoke to go into the recesses of the mold and provide good coverage.
I had heard that parrafin can be used as a flux on the surface of the molten lead to cut down on oxidization (slag) but I found it made a lot of smoke and caught on fire...are there any other fluxes available which would work better???Thanks for your help with this....:confused:
 
Have you checked out the reloading section in the forum,there is one title "everything you want to know about casting lead" or somthing close to that.I haven't read through it but you never know?.
 
I just tap mine out I personally found it easier to do than having more steps to do. They fall out easy with a couple of light taps never had any that would not fall out.
 
Smoking blocks

When casting lead bullets, there is a difference between using steel blocks and aluminum blocks.

Lee moulds are made from aluminum. In order to get the bullet to release, it is recommended that you smoke the cavity. You can use a cavity, or a match.

I prefer to use matches. They are smaller, and you can get the match smoke to cover all the recesses. You can rotate the mould at different angles when you do this to fully cover the cavity.

To me, having a bit of discoloration on the mould is of very minor importance, as long as the mould will cast bullets correctly. I have been using Lee moulds for over 20 years now, and they seem to give me good cast bullets, but you have to read and follow the instructions.
 
I just use a barbeque lighter for making soot on the mold. If it gets sooty, you're fine.

For flux, a pea sized piece of wax is all you need. If you're melting lead you'll need airflow anyways, so smoke shouldn't be an issue - I made a little fume hood with a small fan and some big diameter hose when I was working in a shed - worked great.

As far as I know the wax serves to remove slag as well, forcing the alloys to better mix and break the slag free to come to the surface. I could be wrong, but I've observed more slag coming up when wax was stirred in than when the molten lead was stirred without it.
 
You can use a match or butane lighter or graphite mould release. When tapping the mould to release the bullets tap the hinge not the mould blocks themselves. I use the 12" end of a shovel handle but any hardwood dowel or broken broom handle will work.
Keep moisture away from molten lead. You would be amazed at how far and fast molten lead will go. I still have a spray of lead spatter stuck 10' up the vinyl siding of my house.
 
I don't put anything near the mold cavities, a little bullplate lube on the bottom of the sprue plate(esp. at sprue plate screw), smooth out your mold this way: Screw a wood screw into the nose of a cast bullet, cut off screw head, chuck it all in a drill, coat bullet with J.b. paste or other grinding compound, carefully close mold around bullet, have the drill spin the bullet in the mold with mold fully closed. Careful, too much will increase dia., make sure you clean out the mold of the grinding compound. Another thing to try is to give mold a good tap (rap) before you open the mold.
 
I take a new mould and using a razor blade knife (exacto) run it over all the edges that might have a bur on them from machining on the top of the mold and the underside of the sprue plate I spray graphite. It seem to work very well for me.

Ken.
 
Thanks everyone for the ideas...I have two new molds coming in a few days, one is for .375 balls for a Uberti 1851 Navy .36 cal. which is out for repairs. The other one is for .457 balls for a Pietta 1851 Navy .44 cal for which I have parts coming from Marstar. The Pietta I am fixing myself in order to save time and also fix a lot of small details like bugger'd screw heads etc. Not having a lot of luck with these reproductions but learning all about them inside and out.
When my molds show up I will cast a whole lot of lead for when my guns are back together and then head for the range.....:NAA:
 
Skinny - that's a heck of an oversize ball for the a Pietta .44. All the Pietta .44s in MY little club [about fifteen or so] use .451" diameter ball with great success. I should know, as I cast all the ball for the other guys...

tac
 
tacfoley said:
Skinny - that's a heck of an oversize ball for the a Pietta .44. All the Pietta .44s in MY little club [about fifteen or so] use .451" diameter ball with great success. I should know, as I cast all the ball for the other guys...

tac
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I use the .457 size balls in my .44 Pietta. It's a Lee mold , if you are wondering. They work great, leaves a little ring of trimmed lead not unlike a thin fingernail trimming. In truth I'd have gone with a smaller mold, but all Hillfolk had was a .457 and I figured I'd rather take the chance and support the small guy's than go to supporting Wholesale or Cabela's.
But using straight WW isn't recommended; too hard with that size of ball. A little common sense when selecting WW's from the bucket helps. Scatch them with a pocketknife and you can figure out which are softer; hence purer lead-wise.
IMO.
Stay safe.
 
I just checked the invoice for the Lee's mold that I ordered and it is actually a .454 double cavity. I got 30 balls with the gun when I bought it and they measured out at .457 which caused the confusion over size. I use lead from a scrap yard and always make sure it is soft buy scratching it with a thumbnail. Thanks again
 
Skinny 1950 said:
...does anyone know of other mold release sprays or coatings that might do the same job and not mess up the mold as much???? Also it is hard to get the smoke to go into the recesses of the mold and provide good coverage.
Click to expand...

I use a coal oil lamp with the chimney removed. Works like a hot damn. The soot does not appear to stick until the mold starts to get warm. I also find that I occasionally find molds with a touch of oil in the metal which leaves a dimple in the casting. I pour a small amount of acetone over the hot mold then resmoke and all works well.

I had heard that paraffin can be used as a flux on the surface of the molten lead to cut down on oxidization (slag)
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I think the purpose of the flux is to get the slag on the surface to separate from the molten metal so that you remove just dirt and crud when you skim the surface of the molten lead

cheers mooncoon
 
Wheel Weights for Casting

tokguy said:
I use the .457 size balls in my .44 Pietta. It's a Lee mold , if you are wondering. They work great, leaves a little ring of trimmed lead not unlike a thin fingernail trimming. In truth I'd have gone with a smaller mold, but all Hillfolk had was a .457 and I figured I'd rather take the chance and support the small guy's than go to supporting Wholesale or Cabela's.
But using straight WW isn't recommended; too hard with that size of ball. A little common sense when selecting WW's from the bucket helps. Scatch them with a pocketknife and you can figure out which are softer; hence purer lead-wise.
IMO.
Stay safe.
Click to expand...

You have to watch out when you are using Wheel weights. The older ones were all right, but the newer ones and the coated ones are of a different metal.

If you mix them, you get a very poor casting material, and it looks much like a soft frozen piece of slush. Then, you have to REALLY clean out your melting pot, or you will still have trouble casting good bullets.

Older wheel weights contained about 90% lead, 1% tin and 9% antimony. Too much antimony content for good bullets.

Black Powder firearms should use close to pure lead for bullets.

Revolvers - no softer than 1 part tin to 40 lead. They can be as hard as 1 part tin to 10 parts lead or 1 part tin, 1 part anitmony to 20 parts lead.

Rifle bullets - a good alloy is the Lyman Number 2 alloy, that is 1 part tin, one part antimony and 10 parts lead.

Scrap lead really varies in composition, depending upon what the original use was for.
.
 
buffdog said:
When casting lead bullets, there is a difference between using steel blocks and aluminum blocks.

Lee moulds are made from aluminum. In order to get the bullet to release, it is recommended that you smoke the cavity. You can use a cavity, or a match.

Tho I agree with the above statements Tapping aluminum blocks works as long as you control the temp, at least it works for me.
Click to expand...
 
For a flux I've used parafin but I didn't like the smoke so I started to use "Marvelux". It's made for casting, can be purchased at Ellwood Epps(one of our sponsors and REALLY nice people to deal with.) and is very cheap. I've got a container (1 lb.?), have casted many 1000's and still have enough to last me several years. I've smoked molds with candles, matches, lighters, name it, easily done.
 
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