Hot Weather Casting

[JimT]

I noticed awhile back I was getting low on .375" round balls for my .36 calibers. Being so hot I put it off for awhile, but last night after the heat went down below 100 I went to the shop and fired up the lead pot. I drained all the hard alloy lead in it and made it into ingots. Then I put some of my pure lead stash into the pot and melted it. After it was ready I cast 100 or so and then shut it down.

This morning I got up about sunrise and turned on the lead pot again. Coffee and lead in the morning! Once it was heated up I cast a bunch of .375" and .457" balls. I was able to get done before the temps hit 90 degrees!

This is part of what I got done. I have enough to shoot for awhile now.

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[Tycer]

Do you tumble them or anything to smooth out the sprue cut?

[JimT]

Do you tumble them or anything to smooth out the sprue cut?

No. Never have. I try to load them with the sprue cut up. Sometimes I am successful.

[JDL]

Good thing you ain't in Kalifornia Jim, because lead causes birth defects there.

[6pt-sika]

Do you tumble them or anything to smooth out the sprue cut?

No. Never have. I try to load them with the sprue cut up. Sometimes I am successful.

When I first started making my own 0000 and 00000 buckshot I used to roll them between a piece of steel and a piece of aircraft grade aluminum , but I got over that . Wish I coulda gotten my two .495” roundball molds to you I could use a couple hundred for my air rifle LOL’s . I do however plan on smiting a whitetail with that air gun this season .

[6pt-sika]

When it’s hot and I cast outdoors I’ll take a pie plate put some water in it and set my hunk of aircraft aluminum in it . Then each time I make a poor and set the mold down to harden I put it on top the aluminum . I can’t say 100% but I’m pretty sure it helps draw a bit of the heat from the mold and help cutdown on frosted projectiles .

[Walt]

6pt, I use a section of aluminum heat sink I bought from an electronics surplus store years ago. I can put a fully heated mold on the aluminum for a few seconds, then take it off and put my hand on it with no ill effects. The aluminum feels cool to the touch. I normally cast with two molds and with a fan blowing air through the heat sink, I cast as fast as I can and my bullets don't frost.

[Bill in Oregon]

Got up yesterday, opened the garage, plugged in the pot and turned on the fan. Cast a few dozen bullets for the Swedish Rolling Block in 12,7X42 R using this custom Lee mold I just received from Oyvind Flatnes in Norway -- he is just south of Oslo and runs Swartkrutt.net. This is a modern echo of an older bullet loaded by the Swedish government in the 12,7X42 rimfire military cartridge. It is interesting in that it is sort of heeled. The "störste drivbänd" is 13,8 mm while the others are 12,8. These weigh about 418 grains from my range scrap alloy. I will have to hand-lube them, obviously. This design allegedly yields very nice accuracy for a 150-year-old firearm system. That slug on the right is of course the Lee 515-450.

[Ysabel Kid]

Seems like a great morning to me, Jim!

I can’t say 100% but I’m pretty sure it helps draw a bit of the heat from the mold and help cutdown on frosted projectiles .

Not wanting to hijack this thread, but what is the downside to frosted projectiles other than their appearance? Brittleness?

[Walt]

I don't think there's a significant downside to frosted bullets besides being an indication that the lead is too hot. I try to keep mine nice and shiny.

[Griff]

Anytime I've yielded frosted bullets they're generally quite brittle. But, I'm using an alloy that gives me about 18-21 Bhn. So, they're hard to begin with, and frosting just makes that worse.

[Bill in Oregon]

I haven't noticed a performance difference. Mine are often frosted because I don't pay a whole lot of attention to temperature, and I used mutant range scrap.

[GunnyMack]

Do any of you water quench when casting? For some reason years ago I started to quench and have continued to ever since.
Frosted never bothered me as I'm just plinking for the most part.

[JimT]

Do any of you water quench when casting? For some reason years ago I started to quench and have continued to ever since.
Frosted never bothered me as I'm just plinking for the most part.

I water quenched all my 300 gr. 457191 bullets years ago. Cast of wheelweights, they hardened up nicely. They went right through every critter I ever shot with them. I stopped shooting heavy loads back in my 60's and have not loaded nor shot any since. Or cast them either. But they worked well for me and I was happy with them. Used them in the .45 Linebaugh Ruger and the 454 Casull.

I never worried about frosting and can't say that I had a lot of it happen. They shined up when you ran them through the sizing die and handled them a bit.

[6pt-sika]

Do any of you water quench when casting? For some reason years ago I started to quench and have continued to ever since.
Frosted never bothered me as I'm just plinking for the most part.

I water quenched some when we damage control killed bear and I water quenched some 0000 and 00000 buckshot but I don’t think either needed it .

[Walt]

I water quench every bullet I cast. I float a couple of sponges in my plastic quenching bucket so that the bullets have a moment to cool before the sponges tilt and let them fall to the bottom. That way my bullets don't get dented.

[Ysabel Kid]

I used mutant range scrap.

Me too!

[otteray]

Good thing you ain't in Kalifornia Jim, because lead causes birth defects there.

Thanks for the warning!
Ill be casting one lb cannonball fishin' weights in a few days. Probably some 45 acp, too.
I'm 73 and sure don't want no birth defects!