Drop out

[Tad Houston]

Iv'e been using midway's Drop out release spray, and the other day i noticed my lead round balls were'nt filling out nicly. Do most of you guys like to smoke your molds better? Thanks-Tad :-)

[Lloyd Smale]

i try not  to use anything if i must use something i smoke them. Usually a well made mold doesnt require it. ANything you put in the cavities to coat them is going to in some way take up the room of the lead and make your bullets smaller.

[Lloyd Smale]

ps tad if your just casting round balls your mold should have no problem dropping those without coating the molds. Once you get going ill have to lend you the mold i had moutain molds make for me for mine. It cast a 230 grain wfn and a 240 grain swc at .457 with no crimp grove and two lube groves. You can shoot them unsized but have to bump the bases in a .451 lee sizer die to make them start a little easier. Should make a good whitetail bullet in the old army.

[Tad Houston]

Sounds cool Lloyd, think you could get enough powder under them? I'm casting with a Lee mould. I also bought a Lee conical for the old army to try out. At $16.50 apiece,these moulds should be worth a try. I cast the Lee 310 gr. .430 FP for my SRH, and they work really good! I even made some soft points by pouring plain lead over WW, I bet that would make a good bullet for the lower velocities of the old army. :agree:

[sundog]

When I use drop out, which is not all the time, I spray it on a qtip, and then paint the cavity.  With a good technique, you'll be able to 'buff' it while drying and notice no change in boolit diameter.  It does help on some moulds.  sundog

[Turbo]

Sundog,  Thanks for the info on using a Q-tip to put on Drop out. I use Drop Out because I have a few molds that don't release bullets well. Usually, I have to Beagle them when using Drop out to get the bullet diameter back to normal. Your technique will save me from having to Beagle the mold, which often leads to bullets not being concentric.

You sure made my day! Thanks!  Turbo  aka PhotonII.

[sundog]

Turbo, you're welcome.  About nonconcentric boolits.  If they are out the same at 180d ( I think smart people called that diametric opposition), they may still shoot.  I've done this, and while it's not the desired state, the ones I tried shot well.  Not sure if I premember, but I think Veral covered this in his book.  Intentionally 'beagling' a mould will produce a similar situation and any beagled boolits I've ever shoot were actually quite good.

Back to the drop out.  If I do use it, the coating may last several sessions, wherein I will clean the mould with brake parts cleaner, and then redo the drop out with a qtip.  I have several moulds that really work well with this procedure.  More over than not I have more problems releived by improving venting than anything else.  Beagling improves venting.  sundog

[Turbo]

Sundog,  I am suspicious that some of my mold problems relate to burrs or improper venting. It makes sense that the Beagle process fixes venting problems because the entire mold is held open two or more thousands of an inch. The molds I cast with are almost all Lee 6 cavity. I think I need to look at the molds under very good light using a magnafying glass or loupe (spelling?).  It may show me where the bullets are hanging up.  Drop out has been a bandaid approach. I need to investigate further. You have again helped me tremendously. Just knowing where to start looking for the problem helps so much.

Thanks!

[sundog]

My results with Lee moulds have been better by smoking with a plain ol' wood match.  Drop out (qtip swabbing method) works best for me on iron moulds.  YMMV.  Ocassionally, I do have a new mould with a burr.  Sometimes a bear to find even in bright light, but when you do it can usually be removed with an exacto knife -- carefully.  I have a 10X loupe that works well in sunlight.  I have several 6 cavity Lee's.  Sure can make a pile of boolits fast, huh?  sundog