Stupid question and I have read some other posts and everyone says that hitting the pivot bolt on the mold should release a sticking bullet but mine doesn't. I have cast 1000's of pistol bullets and they fall right out, once in a while a gentle rap on the bolt and out they come. Well I have never done rifle bullets and so I bought a 160 grn Lee 30 caliber mold today to give it a try for my 30/30. After what I thought was enough preheating with about 15 bullets cast and starting to look normal, the lead would still get hung up in the mold. If I smoked the mold then the next pour came out without a hitch and then it would stick there after till I smoked it again. It is so bad that I literally would have to dig them out with a sharp pointer on the base to get the bullet out of the mold. Since I have never tried rifle and only cast WW lead I mixed some Lyman #2 type lead with 9 to 1 ratio. Do I have to much tin in my mix? The bullets come out with good sharp corners, when they do eventually come out. Varied the temp up and down of the lead pot, and also casting speed and they stick unless I smoke the mold first. What am I doing wrong?
Lead sticking in bullet Mould
- Thread starter hunter64
- Start date
- Location
- Hillbilly shack in the boonies
flux the lead, and let bullet cool a bit before removing
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Get a good magnifying glass and examine the edges of the bullet cavety for little burrs--I had one set of blocks that was such a pain in the ass to get bullets out of I had to trash it. Sometimes it helps to polish the inside of the cavety with an eraser or little bit of oooo steel wool--assuming it is an iron or steel block--not to be done on aluminum or brass blocks.
44Bore
44Bore
Hunter64...I have a number of Lee molds including the mold you have and for the most part they are'nt bad except for one that is grossly undersize....after you check for burrs like 44Bore suggests order yourself up a bottle of NEI Mold Prep.....you still may have to tap the hinge bolt on the handles,but not near as much as if you did'nt use the mold prep......I have read that some guys can tune their molds so the bullets fall every time with out tapping but I only have a few that will drop their bullets that way....still learning after twenty years of casting ~ ~
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You can buy "grafite suspended in alchohal" type spray a tCrappy Tire and it is the same as most "mould preps" only cheaper.....also it provides some lubrication and rust protection for iron moulds! Do not spray it on as it is messy...spray some into a small bottle w/top and apply w/Q-tip...close lid when not in use as it evaporates quickly.
Mystic Precision
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Summerland, BC
I use a ZipO lighter and smoke the mold BLACK. No problems.
Just remember the reapply smoke when you start seeing 'white' areas.
Jerry
Just remember the reapply smoke when you start seeing 'white' areas.
Jerry
I have 25+ molds from 22 to 45 - lyman lee nei lbt saeco and cbe - and have cast rifle bullets steadily for 40yrs +. Not a single one reliably drops every bullet without encouragement although some are very good.
The alloys of lead/tin(no antimony) are a little better. Linotype metal casts very good bullets(9% antimony) is noticeably worse. The hard alloy I've used the last 20 yrs or so is wheelweights + 2% tin and works well for me, but it's still necesary to tap the mold every few bullets to make it release.
In my experince it's not necessary to use much more than 5% tin in lead/tin alloys. If you want harder bullets, antmony does it better and a lot cheaper.
Also, it OFTEN takes two or three casting sessions for a mold to start doing its best, manufacturers comments notwithstanding.
I have the best success running the mold hot, pouring lead ever the mold for a second or so after it's full, waiting for the sprue to harden, and twisting it off with a welders' glove or folded rag. This gives you a "feel" for the sprue cut and a lot flatter bullet base. For .30 cal bullets you should have a casting cycle of about 25 - 30 sec. per bullet and easily get 100+ good bullets(+/- 0.2gr) in an hour with a single cavity mold, which is faster than sorting bullets by cavity from multi - cavity molds.
Hope some of this helps.
Grouch
What others have said about burrs etc. is correct, but you can help yourself a lot with temperature an time
The alloys of lead/tin(no antimony) are a little better. Linotype metal casts very good bullets(9% antimony) is noticeably worse. The hard alloy I've used the last 20 yrs or so is wheelweights + 2% tin and works well for me, but it's still necesary to tap the mold every few bullets to make it release.
In my experince it's not necessary to use much more than 5% tin in lead/tin alloys. If you want harder bullets, antmony does it better and a lot cheaper.
Also, it OFTEN takes two or three casting sessions for a mold to start doing its best, manufacturers comments notwithstanding.
I have the best success running the mold hot, pouring lead ever the mold for a second or so after it's full, waiting for the sprue to harden, and twisting it off with a welders' glove or folded rag. This gives you a "feel" for the sprue cut and a lot flatter bullet base. For .30 cal bullets you should have a casting cycle of about 25 - 30 sec. per bullet and easily get 100+ good bullets(+/- 0.2gr) in an hour with a single cavity mold, which is faster than sorting bullets by cavity from multi - cavity molds.
Hope some of this helps.
Grouch
What others have said about burrs etc. is correct, but you can help yourself a lot with temperature an time
- Location
- Hillbilly shack in the boonies
To add to that , I use a wooden hammer handle to cut , its clean, don't hit the blocks though
Although you refer to smoking the mould in your preparations I didn't see a reference to cleaning the mould prior to smoking it. Give it a good scrub with dish detergent and hot water. Rinse and dry. Then, clean the cavities with acetone or rubbing alcohol on a Q-tip. Then smoke the moulds. Rub the underside of the sprue plate and the tob of the blocks with a soft lead pencil. Some sources advocate a tiny touch of high temp lubricant on the screw that passes through the sprue plate. Don't let any of that lube get onto the tops of the blocks or the bottom of the plate.
The Q-tip will quickly let you know if there are any burrs in the cavities as the cotton will snag on them. If you find any carefully remove them.
The Q-tip will quickly let you know if there are any burrs in the cavities as the cotton will snag on them. If you find any carefully remove them.
Here is what I did to fix it. On one side of the mold there was a small nick in one of the grooves and this is what was making the bullets stick and also I was smoking the mold with a candle and not a match which is not clean burning. With a huge magnifying glass I removed the nick with an exacto knife and washed the mold in acetone after washing it with normal soap and water. Now I simply open the mold after cutting the sprue and out drops the bullet, no banging at all. Thanks for all the tips guys, never happened to me before with about 10 different molds that I have purchased this is the first one that gave me grief.
