Lead skirt around bullet base.

Boolit Mold Join DateMay 2013Posts4

I'm a newbie caster and have a 356-125r mold from Eric at hollowpointmolds.com. Very nice thus far, but I am getting a little skirt/overflow at the base of the boolit. Not terrible, but enough that I have to snip a little lead around the base on about 1/3 of the boolits before running them through the sizer. I've made sure my sprue plate is tight. I'm using a Lee bottom pour pot set on 6.5, casting straight wheel weights. I'm lazy by nature, so I leave my mold on top of the pot for plenty of time before casting, and after casting 30 or so, the problem is the same. I have thought of removing the plate, light sanding the base side flat, doing the same with the sprue plate, then putting it back on, but I don't want to screw up a mold because of a newb mistake. I've done my searches on here, but can't find anything. Any help?

Any advice? Thanks,
MattD.

Is it possible to post a photo of the boolits with the skirt/overflow?

Post photos of mould with sprue plate open and closed, top side of blocks, and bottom of sprue plate. That kind of behavior is usually caused by a too loose sprue plate with too much head pressure, something under the sprue plate causing it to lift, or a warped sprue plate.

Believe it or not, an overly tight sprue plate can cause the gap which allows for lead to flow between the mold and the plate. I have my sprue plates to where they can swing on their own with gravity. When I pour, I direct the stream onto the sprue plate and let the alloy flow into the cavities. This downward pressure of the stream is enough for the plate to seal against the mold blocks.

I use two cavity molds and fill both cavities at once and leave a decent sized sprue. As the alloy cools there is enough sprue to be drawn into the mold as it cools and shrinks. When things are running at temp the sprue generally solidifies within 3 to 5 seconds. The boolits are still firming up for a short while after that, depending on the caliber and size I'm casting.

Most of the time I cast with two molds at the same time so as I'm emptying and filling one mold, the other has that amount of time to cool sufficiently. When using a hollow point mold I cast that one by itself as this keeps the pin good and hot. I also cast the 225-415 mold by itself as 2, 55 grains boolits don't transfer as much heat.

The other day I was casting with an old single cavity mold I got in a trade. In order to get it going well, and to avoid the same skirting you have experienced, I had to carefully control the flow as pouring directly into the cavity didn't push the sprue plate down and the alloy pushed it up. The resulting gap caused skirting. I slowed down the stream, poured onto the sprue plate, and got great fill-out and no skirting. Try adjusting your sprue plate screw and the way you fill your mold.

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Boolit Mold Join DateMay 2013Posts4

Thanks. All I have right now have been trimmed up and sized. I'll try to cast some more tonight and post a few pics and try loosening the plate also.

hold the mold and plate up to a light.
if it is too tight you will see daylight at the end away from the sprue bolt.
just loosen it a tick at a time until you see it lay flat on the mold.
no more and no less needed.

the other thing you'll need to look at is if it is on one side of the mold.
sometimes the lee plates are a little warped.
and sometimes one side of the mold rides just a tick lower because of the alignment.

it's all an educated guess,,,, till the trigger is pulled.

the more i find out about shootin boolits, the more it contradicts everything i ever learned about shooting jaxketed.

I don't think it is a Lee mould. Are you holding the sprue plate against the spout of the pot? If so, try holding the mould away from the spout a little to lowere the pressure on the cavity

Post photos of mould with sprue plate open and closed, top side of blocks, and bottom of sprue plate. That kind of behavior is usually caused by a too loose sprue plate with too much head pressure, something under the sprue plate causing it to lift, or a warped sprue plate.That's about it in a " nutshell".

The answer most likely lies in the above remarks.

Ben

I have had a small piece of lead get under the sprue plate by the pivot bolt to cause this. Also the pivot bolt too tight can cause this. A loose plate and alot of 'head pressure" on the lead pour can also do it.
As noted hold the mold up to the light and see if there is a gap.

I had one Lyman mold I bought used that had the pivot bolt threaded into the block on a small angle. I opened the plate and gave it a whack until it closed flush.

Boolit Mold Join DateMay 2013Posts4

Loosen the screw holding the sprue plate until it will allow the sprue plate to swing freely, then direct the flow onto the rim of the hole when filling the mold. Unless the mold blocks are uneven, or the sprue plate is warped, that should solve your problem. Rather than snip the offending flange off, just run the skirted boolits base first into the sizer. It will "Iron" the skirts onto the body of the boolits and won't bother anything.

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Boolit Master Join DateNov 2006Posts970

Are you using Bullplate lube or something else on those molds, they look pretty roughed up on top...

Boolit Mold Join DateMay 2013Posts4

Just soothed, and lead smeared on top. I cleaned em up with a bronze brush and water an loosened the sprue. Seems to be working some better now.
Thanks.

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What is the best all around .38/.357 mold diameter?

I know in an ideal world you should get a mold that matches the slugging results from any particular firearm and there would be some overlap between guns. Never going to have a micro groove marlin so my question, is "What is the best all around .38/.357 mold diameter?" I realize that my single action revolver may not match my J Frame or Ruger LCR or the soon to add 1873 lever action or Blackhawk, or GP100 or whatever. Have two .357s now and I know the inventory will grow. Would like to keep the mold count down if possible and would probably get rid of a gun that fell outside the parameters of the molds I get, rather than the other way around and add another mold. Want to stick with .357 for all my guns and keep it simple. Thanks for your input.

"Had his shooting been as good as his running, he might have given a better account of himself."
James. C. Henderson

Boolit Mold Join DateJan 2013LocationMilan, MIPosts16

Not sure why you wouldn't want to increase your mold count............. but if it were me, I would keep molds that cast large and get a few Lee push through bullet sizing dies in .357, .358, .359,.........got it covered.

The determing factor for me is cylinder chamber not bore...my 357's won't chamber a loaded round with a .360 sized bullet unless it's been run through a LFCD. If I use the seater die to seat and crimp, no joy...so .358 is what I size to. The cylinder chambers on my guns measure .380...(throats are .358 bore is .357)

JM - If I had my choice in your situation, I would get a mold that dropped boolits at .359 anyway. That way, you can size down some, or not. Good advice regarding the cylinder throats. Small throats will wreck the whole program. Don't be afraid to accumulate a few molds. After all,
the 2 cav Lees are available for 20 some bucks. How bad is that ?? Good luck. Mike

I saw Elvis at 1000 feet. John Force

"Not sure why you wouldn't want to increase your mold count."

Money and simplicity.

"Had his shooting been as good as his running, he might have given a better account of himself."
James. C. Henderson

a good rnfp mold sized to 358 is what you'll want.
for all my revolver cartridges I have two molds, a rnfp and a swc of some sort.
I generally have one-two revolvers in that cartridge and a levergun or three.
358 for the 35's, 430 for the 44's, and 452 for the 45's.
I occasionally do something different for a special gun.
and if pressed to one mold only it would be a rnfp style with a fairly short nose.

it's all an educated guess,,,, till the trigger is pulled.

the more i find out about shootin boolits, the more it contradicts everything i ever learned about shooting jaxketed.

Too many to pick from. I have LEE and Lyman molds. LEE 140 gr WC is sperb so is the Lyman 148 gr WC boolit.
I have others that shoot well also. Mine drop at .358+. The largest is .3604. Tweaking the alloy would change that. I use .358 in the nines as well. How big are your cylinders miking at??

Shiloh

Last edited by Shiloh; Yesterday at 07:03 PM.

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I order molds, for 150 grains and up, that drop at .360, if possible, and size down to .359. My Marlin requires it and my 586 shoots that size just fine. I don't like having loads for only one firearm when I have multiples that take the same cartridge. I order .359 molds for lighter bullets so I can size them to work in 9mm as well.

I like the Lyman or RCBS 158 grain Cowboy moulds (these drop slightly larger). Bullets drop out around .361 from my RCBS cowboy version mould, and size easily to .358 using the RCBS Lube-a-matic. When using the Lee type sizer to size these .361 bullets down to .358 it will leave fins around base of bullet (not good).

If .361 is too large then I would get maybe the Lyman 358477. These should drop smaller and size easily using both types of sizers.
http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/bullet-casting/mould-details.php?entryID=9

I would say a .358. That is what works most of the time and if you need one a little bit bigger, you can "beagle" the mold or change the alloy or temp to get a different diameter.
Also: what runfiverun said.

The RCBS 9MM bullet drops exactly .358" using 20/1 lead tin (i have this mould). Shoot as cast
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0004482077

I really appreciate all the replies. Every post was helpful in my quest to simplify my life and save some time and $$$. Thanks and God Bless

"Had his shooting been as good as his running, he might have given a better account of himself."
James. C. Henderson

Boolit Master Join DateAug 2009Posts693

I'd go .359" too and agree with runfiverun on getting a rnfp. It will work better in the leveraction and still do all you need in the revolvers.

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Ring around the noses.....

Ok, bought the NOE 230 RF HP for the .45acp/.45LC and my lyman seater die is leaving a ring around the nose. Anybody have a good solution?

Does it have the changeable seating punch? If so, swap it to the flat one if you have the curved one in it now. I'm not familiar with Lyman dies but my Hornady dies have 2 different seating punches with the die sets, one for RN and one for FN boolits.

Jeez... I'm not that much of a noob... YES, it is switchable, and it does have the flat on it it. However, the flat one has a shoulder. Which cuts a ring into the boolit's nose.

Chuck it in a drill press and take the sharp corner off the lip. You can use most anything that will round that sharp corner, even a the end of a small file will do it.

If you have access to a lathe, that's even better, but just form the punch to the nose and it will still work for other bullets, too.

Hope this helps.

Fred

After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn't do it. - William S. Burroughs.

Thats not really an option.... Knob on the end of the plug measures at .580ish... (It's knurled)

Maybe this will help you understand what I'm talking about...

It seems like slowly filling up the cavity in the nose punch with 5-minute epoxy could work. As long as the punch balances on its end, the stuff should self level and end up parallel to your boolit nose. Maybe just try a little, see how it works, add more if needed.

Obviously this solution has some drawbacks but it might work

What I have done is use JB Weld on the inside of the seating stem. Wash the seating stem with alcohol and put a small dab of JB Weld into the hollow nose of the seating stem and coat the nose of the bullet with a release agent like bullet lube. Now assemble it back into your press (you could even put a light coat of oil inside the seating die to work as a release agent) now put a case with a good bullet on top and bring the ram up enough to start to seat the bullet and leave it there while the JB Weld cures. After the JB Weld cures take the die apart and sand the edges of the seating stem and wipe out the inside of the die body.

If the bullet is a hollow point fill the nose with hard bullet lube before you try the JB weld trick

Tim

"...my lyman seater die is leaving a ring around the nose. Anybody have a good solution?"

Yeah; it's harmless, forget about it.

You can always use a Dremel Tool to open up the seating plug, too. You just have to be careful to make it relatively even around the edges. I've done them both ways, plus filling a seating plug with epoxy. They all work, and it really doesn't take very long to do any of them.

Hope this helps.

Fred

After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn't do it. - William S. Burroughs.

Go with the JB Weld. If you need to it can be removed with heat.

Go with the JB Weld. If you need to it can be removed with heat.I was going to suggest filling the seater up with soft lead, then filing it flat. Harder lead (HP boolits) being seated by softer lead (in the seater cup) should preserve the integrity of the HP boolits.

Above Reproach A novel in which a series of mass-shootings coordinated by anti-American officials inside the U.S. government threatens not only the Second Amendment, but the entire Bill of Rights until one armed citizen finds himself with his back against the wall and fights back.

Before I heard about the JB Weld trick a few years ago, I just stuffed a small wad of paper towel up in the die. As cheesy as it sounds, it has worked great for tens of thousands of rounds.

When it fails, I will go the JB Weld route.

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A guy in a gun shop in Victorville, CA once (about 17 years ago) told me to put a little ball of wadded up aluminum foil into the seater die. It worked very well. It took the shape of the bullet nicely and solved the problem.

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