What am I doing wrong?

[JohnDY]

Well my first attempt at casing bullets was not a complete success. I followed the instructions to the letter. I cleaned the mold, I smoked it using a kitchen match and I lubricated the mould using Lee's wax/alox bullet lube. I am using Lee's C309-170F mould.

I was using approximately 10 pounds of wheels weights and 1/4 pound of 60/40 solder. I fluxed it with Lee's wax/alox bullet lube. I had the lead furnace set at it highest setting and preheated the mould by dipping the corner of the mould in the pot.

Now the problem I am having is the head of most of my bullets have small wrinkles in them. Like the mould is not filling quick enough or the alloy is cooling too quickly. The base around the lube groves and gas check are prefect, nice sharp edges. I get good release from the mould. All the bullets mike out about the same.  Out of the 100 or so bullets I cast only 30 were good enough to use.

Is my alloy still to cold? The hotter I got the alloy and the mould the better the bullets looked. But still not perfect. Do I need more tin in the mixture? Or is something else?

Thanks.

[Castaway]

Two things come to mind.  Both of which you addressed already and that is cleaning and heat.  Even a little residual oil can cause wrinkles.  The other possibility is that the mould isn't staying hot enough.  That little bullet doesn't have the ability to heat the mould quicky.  Try heating the mould longer in the melt.  When I cast two moulds, one in 400+ grains and the other the same mould you have, I get bad bullets too.  My secret was to heat pot more, keep mould hot, spend less time between casting's.

[dakotashooter2]

Had the same problem with my lee mould for the 30 cal. Had to increase the heat.

[Leftoverdj]

The mould takes more cleaning than most people think. I boil new Lee moulds in soapy water for half an hour. Your symptoms are those of a contaminated mould.

The preservative will eventually burn off and it's common for people to believe that something else they did cured the problem.

I would also highly reccomend that you get a can of Frankfurt Arsenal's mould release. It's aerosol powdered graphite. a coating on the alignment areas, the top of the blocks, and the underside of the sprue plate eliminates most of the problems with Lee moulds. I don't use it as mould release often because it reduces the size of the bullet cast by about a thou.

[HWooldridge]

Clean it with acetone and smoke the mold surfaces again.  Do not get any lube in the cavity - just put a dot on the hinge points.  An aluminum mold will shed heat pretty quickly so you may have to cast more quickly or turn up the temp.  Try to cast at a speed where the sprue just solidifies before you cut it and drop the bullet.  A good mold should drop bullets with no surface treatment - the smoke soot acts as mold release.  With a bottom pour pot and an aluminum mold, you should really be able to rock and roll on bullet production.

[JohnDY]

First,  thank you everyone for your advice. It is really helpful to be able to get such quick answers to my questions.

I tried it again last night after boiling the mould as recommended by Leftoverdj. At first the bullets looked great then I started to get wrinkles again. I then became frustrated and just gave up. I turned the pot off, grabbed a drink and reread everything I had on casting and I think I found my problem. I bet ya I am getting the wax/alox stuff I am lubing the mould with into the bullet cavity.  I am using it as recommended by Lee but just maybe too much and it is melting down into the mould. Sound good to you?

Still I have enough bullet to load up a batch to see how they work.

[Leftoverdj]

Yup, John. It takes the barest touch to lube. A birthday candle or a crayon is good because you can get it into tight places. If you were getting good bullets and then got wrinkles without anything else changing, the cavities got contaminated.

I suggest the spray-on graphite because it lasts much longer and does not contaminate. It has the great merit of keeping the sprue plate and the top of the mould from galling, too. That galling causes semi-circular grooves across the top of the block, sometimes to the point of ruining the mould. You can simply scribble all over the underside of the sprue plate with a pencil if you don't wanna buy the spray-on stuff.