Bullets casting over size

[Cheesehead]

 I have been casting bullets with my Lee six cavity mold in .452 at 230 grains. In the past they have came out of the mold at .453-.454. Lately, they bullets have come out of this mold at .456-.457….. These larger bullets are too big to size.  I was casting at a fairly fast rate and was not monitoring lead temperature.  My lead mix has always been the same, 75% wheel weight and 25% pure lead. You can imagine my disappointment after casting nearly 1000 bullets only to discover I could not use them.  I drop the bullets from the mold onto blue jean material and let them cool for 24 hours. I blame myself for not monitoring bullet size throughout the casting process.  This has never happened before and has caught me by surprise.
 
Thank You in advance for any help.
 
Cheese

[45-70.gov]

i little sliver of lead where it is not supose to be ??

[quickdtoo]

Warped mold?  Index pins or holes need to be cleaned up?  Hold the mold up to a bright light when it's closed, any light showing at the joint?

Tim

[mauserand9mm]

i little sliver of lead where it is not supose to be ??

That would be my guess too.

[keith44]

wheel weight alloys vary greatly, and have differing shrink rates after being cast...re-melt and recast after adding some lead / tin alloy something with a fairly high tin content, but no other hardening agents

[mdi]

i little sliver of lead where it is not supose to be ??

That would be my guess too.

Me too. Also lube the locating pins and/or bars. Why can't you size .456" or .457" bullets? Down to .452"? I don't think .005" isn't a lot to size...

[Cheesehead]

i little sliver of lead where it is not supose to be ??

That would be my guess too.

Me too. Also lube the locating pins and/or bars. Why can't you size .456" or .457" bullets? Down to .452"? I don't think .005" isn't a lot to size...

The base of the most over sized bullets will not fit into the base of the Lyman sizer. The ones that do fit get the lead stripped off to the point of the grease grooves disappearing. 

[HL]

Save those cast bullets. Get yourself a Lee Push through sizer die that mounts onto your press and you will be able to size those to .452 with very little problems.
I use my Lyman for lubing only, and the lee dies for all my sizing.

Midway has them in stock for $18.99 and in 4-5 days you will have 1000 .452 bullets.
You will thank me later.

[stimpylu32]

Save those cast bullets. Get yourself a Lee Push through sizer die that mounts onto your press and you will be able to size those to .452 with very little problems.
I use my Lyman for lubing only, and the lee dies for all my sizing.

Midway has them in stock for $18.99 and in 4-5 days you will have 1000 .452 bullets.
You will thank me later.

I have to agree , save yourself a ton of re-work .
 
On a side note I run .459 - 45/70 bullets through my Lyman all the time to make 300g slugs for my 45 colt , if the lube groove gets too shallow just coat with some Lee Alox , about $4 a bottle and works good .
 
stimpy

[dakotashooter2]

I sizedown .410 bullets for my .41 mag down to .402 for my 40 s&w all the time and still have plenty of groove. They are actually the most accurate bullet I cast for that caliber.  I have read that if you lube them first, then size, the grooves are less likely to fill in but that will require an size die close to the size the bullets are dropping.