.358 RCBS casts at.358

So should I use a .358 sizing die? I'm using COWW and all are exactly .358 ( +.0002 because they are not perfectly round). Was hoping they would cast larger so I could use a .359 or .360 Should add that it is a 200gr fn design with GC. Just try them and see?

The problem we have in our country today is there are more who vote for a living than work for a living !

A wise man's heart is at his right hand, but a fool's heart at his left. Eccl. 10:2

the throat of the barrel would fix that .0002 difference. shoot them as sized and see how they roll. Then determine if you need the extra step of sizing them. How do you plan to gas-check them without sizing?

I Cast my Boolits, Therefore I am Happy.

if you put something besides lead in the alloy it will make slightly larger boolits.
I shoot 358 in my 358 rifle.
it however has a slightly smaller than that barrel and very close to that throat dimensions.

looks to me like you have 2 choices.
put some checks on them and try them.
or measure your gun and know.

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.

If you have a conventional sizer, try running them through. The lube might not squirt all
over the place. Put the gas checks on and see what happends. Often a "same size" boolit will seal enough for it to work out. Mike

I saw Elvis at 1000 feet. John Force

For a handgun, I'd say .358" is prolly good enuf. If you install a gascheck with a .358" die, no sizing should occur. You should know the dimensions of your gun just to be sure, and aid troubleshooting when problems occur, so slug the bbl. and cylinder throats...

There is a school of thought that no cast bullet is perfectly round and that bullets should be "trued up" by sizing. Nothing wrong with that. For others its the fastest way to lube. A couple of other ideas; sizing damages the bullet so the less of it the better and lastly shooting them as cast is the best way. As with many other things it is probably best to experiment and see which path is the best to follow. Your gun and the size of the group will tell you. A secondary thought is that the barrel of the gun sizes the bullet anyway. Its kind of a "can of worms" to contemplate so probably the best way is to try the variables and see which way works the best. LLS

Was hoping they would cast larger so I could use a .359 or .360

Try adding 2% tin to the COWWs.

Larry Gibson

You may not post new threadsYou may not post repliesYou may not post attachmentsYou may not edit your postsForum Rules

Abbreviations used in Reloading
Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt"

View the original article here

Need Feedback on 1st casts

First casting:
Mold : RCBS 35-200-FN
Lyman 61 furnace
Room Temp 45f
The pictures show some of the better casts, several dozen were put back to begin with. They didn't fill well at 700-750, so I started playing with temp and flow to the cavity. The furnace is an old one and to get the best looking bullets I had the temp up to 800+. Also opened the bottom feed to get a faster fill.
They all weigh 209gr +/- .5gr. Just got the mold yesterday and wanted to try.
Alloy : coWW

Last edited by jsteed; Today at 03:14 PM. Reason: added information

The problem we have in our country today is there are more who vote for a living than work for a living !

A wise man's heart is at his right hand, but a fool's heart at his left. Eccl. 10:2

I think you have some issues. The grooves/bands are not good at all. There are pits and/or impurities all over the bullets.

Was this a new mold or a used one?

Weight variation (.5 for a 200 gr bullet) is good!!! Load them and try them. Any idea why they look the way they do?

Did you preheat the mold? How long had you been casting with the mold before you casted these boolits? You may be cutting the sprue a tiny too early (divot in the base). Also the source (composition) of the Pb you use is pretty important. Did they (boolits) fall out when you :
1. opened the cavities
2. small tap
3. played the drums on the mold

Your mould is too cold, and your alloy contains impurities.

Clean the mould, pre-heat it (400-degrees?), flux the alloy, and turn the pot's temperature down (700?). The reason an 800-degree alloy produced better boolits than the lower temperatures is due to the mould starting to come up to its optimum casting temperature. However, the pictured boolits show that it never got there.

Toss those back in the pot and go at it again. Don't worry, with a bit more practice, it'll all come right.

Brand new mold! The bullets fell out at the lower temp. Really have to rap to get them out at higher temp. Preheated the mold on a hot plate. First time casting, first time with the new mold. Fluxed with sawdust, may be fluxing wasn't complete?
I cleaned the oil off the mold and then used a lacqure thinner and Q-tip.

The problem we have in our country today is there are more who vote for a living than work for a living !

A wise man's heart is at his right hand, but a fool's heart at his left. Eccl. 10:2

Those boolits in the pics would all be rejected by me.

Depending on the alloy temp, those should have been cast at no more then 700 degrees. If it's really soft, then maybe 750 degrees.

That right there is your main problem. It's difficult to maintain mold temp in a cold environment. A hot plate is your best friend to pre-heat the mold, and to keep it hot while you add metal.

Also you need to flux that metal a lot more than you are, assuming you are fluxing it at all . That dirt and crud in the lead won't do any favors to your barrel. Use sawdust to flux, if you can't find sawdust, then go to a pet store, get cedar shavings used for bedding for wabbits or other tame varmints. A big bag will last for years.

He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog.
You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart.
You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion."

?At the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat?--Theodore Roosevelt

Sometimes a brand new mold will need a few heat cycles to really start to work well. I suggest scrubbing it with a toothbrush and Dawn dish soap, preheat the mold and go at it again. There may still be some oils remaining in the mold. Flux some more. A good temp for that mold would be 725-750.

I would reject all of them, cold mold and dirty alloy. On the other side of the coin, I wish my very first bullets looked that good.

Follow the suggestions already given for pre-heating and fluxing. Fluxing isn't just adding some sawdust on top and giving it a quick stir, use a slotted spoon and bring as much metal up from the bottom and into contact with the charred sawdust as possible, skim off the dirty carbon and repeat.

The reason they were harder to fall from the mold at higher temp is because as they cool they shrink, higher pot temps means it takes longer for them to cool enough to shrink enough. You need higher mold temp, not higher pot temp.

I'll add the suggestion of using Bullplate on the sprue. Give the sprue puddle about a 3 count after it freezes & then open.

Rick

"The people never give up their freedom . . . Except under some delusion." Edmund Burke

"Let us remember that if we suffer tamely a lawless attack on our liberty, we encourage it." Samuel Adams

One side is for Liberty and the Constitution and they are called domestic terrorist, anti-American, nazi's and mobsters. Just what is the side using these terms for?

NRA Benefactor Life Member
CRPA Life Member

All the comments make sense, I probably need warmer casting room, plus look for contamination in the new mold and flux more. I'll try some more.

The problem we have in our country today is there are more who vote for a living than work for a living !

A wise man's heart is at his right hand, but a fool's heart at his left. Eccl. 10:2

You may not post new threadsYou may not post repliesYou may not post attachmentsYou may not edit your postsForum Rules

Abbreviations used in Reloading
Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt"

View the original article here

First casts, any recommendations?

Don't cast your first dozen bullets too fast either. Hold them in the mold for an extra few seconds and it will help the pins heat up faster.

I'm actually a little surprised that nobody mentioned he might try a "standard" mold as opposed to an HP mold to build his skill set and confidence level and work out the basics of temperature needs..... I used several different molds and cast several thousand boolits before I ever attempted using an HP mold- and I was glad I did.

Maybe that's the only mold you have? If so, the above advice is pretty darned sound.

The Government that robs from Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul.

Thanks, I agree. Wish I could have started with my other lee 6 cavity SWC I have, but both handles I have on order have been on back order for almost a month.

Another thing I forgot to ask, should I be quenching these HP's?

"We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone" -Ronald Reagan

Thanks, I agree. Wish I could have started with my other lee 6 cavity SWC I have, but both handles I have on order have been on back order for almost a month.

Another thing I forgot to ask, should I be quenching these HP's?

Depends on the alloy you're using and what you want to get out of 'em, speed, size, etc...... If you're just plinkin' away, alloy is not too hard and not too soft and you just want to load 'em to standard velocities, don't bother with the quenching. Now it might be different for you, but I don't quench ANY of my plinkin' rounds and there are some who believe a soft but malleable alloy is best for HP's to expand correctly at standard velocities.

As you see, there are many variable that canno be answered correctly without answers to some of these questions, but I get the feeling you just want to go out and shoot? So, just shoot away and you'll see.

The Government that robs from Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul.

I start pouring with the sprue plate open, leave the mold closed for a long time, then open. When they start to get good looking I close the sprue plate. Do one hole at a time on 6x mould. Yes I use a hot plate to preheat, but this does save me time and culls. My moulds are alum.

Boolit Master Join DateNov 2006Posts877

a.) Mold/pin not hot enough
or
b.) Mold not cleaned 100% initially
or
c.) prep. liquid found it's way into cavity/ies
or any combination thereof.

You may not post new threadsYou may not post repliesYou may not post attachmentsYou may not edit your postsForum Rules

Abbreviations used in Reloading
Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt"

View the original article here