I have the PH 58560 mold, and have been using that with the flat base plug , but I also have the old OHAUS mold from the original pic posted- with a cone-shaped base plug. Next batches of Minies will be from that mold and plug. I think it is basically same as RCBS or Lyman mold. Once I get enough I will do a trial of both types to see which my Musketoon prefers. What do you suggest for starting load of Goex Black powder? Was going to try 45 grains and work up from there.
Bullet casting
- Thread starter vinver
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I have the PH 58560 mold, and have been using that with the flat base plug , but I also have the old OHAUS mold from the original pic posted- with a cone-shaped base plug. Next batches of Minies will be from that mold and plug. I think it is basically same as RCBS or Lyman mold. Once I get enough I will do a trial of both types to see which my Musketoon prefers. What do you suggest for starting load of Goex Black powder? Was going to try 45 grains and work up from there.
I have found that "frosted" bullets shoot just as well as smooth and shiny ones. As for pre-heating the mold, I've tried casting and discarding multiple bullets (slow), setting the mold into the molten lead (can be messy), and heating the mold directly with a torch (fast and clean). You will be warned that you can warp your mold, but that's nonsense. I have Tempilaaq for annealing, and I use it on the part of the mold farthest from the heat source and that has worked well for me. Others have used Hot Plates and Heat Guns with good results.
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1% or 2% tin won't change the hardness enough to notice.
There's nothing wrong with frosted bullets. Running the mold hotter than you need is inefficient and slows down casting speed but if you don't mind going slower it's not a biggie.
Most people have casting problems due to the mold being too cold at start, so they crank up the heat. Once you start getting good bullets it means your mold temperature is good, and at that point you can turn down the pot temperature a bit and try to maintain the temperature. I usually start the pot at 800F and turn it down a notch so it slowly cools as I cast, then tickle it to hold when I reach the temperature I want. The thing to remember is that the mold temperature is what makes or breaks your bullets, and pot temperature is not the same thing. Mold temperature lags behind the pot temperature. Keeping that in mind solves most of the mysteries.
There's nothing wrong with frosted bullets. Running the mold hotter than you need is inefficient and slows down casting speed but if you don't mind going slower it's not a biggie.
Most people have casting problems due to the mold being too cold at start, so they crank up the heat. Once you start getting good bullets it means your mold temperature is good, and at that point you can turn down the pot temperature a bit and try to maintain the temperature. I usually start the pot at 800F and turn it down a notch so it slowly cools as I cast, then tickle it to hold when I reach the temperature I want. The thing to remember is that the mold temperature is what makes or breaks your bullets, and pot temperature is not the same thing. Mold temperature lags behind the pot temperature. Keeping that in mind solves most of the mysteries.
I seem to have good results with the PH mold once it's hot, I try not to overheat with the torch , once it's moderately hot I start casting. It takes a lot of heat to get up to temp. The original PH mold is huge, almost twice the size of the OHaus I am going to try next.
PH on left, Ohaus on right:
PH bottom plug on top, OHaus on bottom:
And for comparison- A Lee aluminum 500 grain mold on top , PH in middle, and O Haus on bottom:
PH on left, Ohaus on right:
PH bottom plug on top, OHaus on bottom:
And for comparison- A Lee aluminum 500 grain mold on top , PH in middle, and O Haus on bottom:
