new member from wisconsin

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Last Post 07 August 2015

Standard Member

kennyz posted this 03 August 2015

hi all been looking through the forum for a while now and decided to start casting boolits,I see there are alot of knowlegable people on here that have alot of exp casting and loading boolits.so far my ezperience is reloading copper boolits with excellent results and decided it was time to move onto casting.my first caliber was is the 45acp which i used a lee 452-200 rnfp casted with about 50/50 lyno/lead unsized and tumble lubed with lee liquid qlox i experienced quite a bit of leading so i will try sizing them with lee 452 sizer to make sure they are round and go from there.But anyhow glad to be a registered member now and maybe someday i will figure out this cast boolit thing and be able to help other people on their adventure.

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CBA Member

LWesthoff posted this 03 August 2015

With that lino/lead mix you should be getting around 16 - 18 BHN, which is plenty hard enough for the .45 auto, so your bullet shouldn't be the cause of your leading. Next place(s) to look should be bullet diameter vs. bore diameter, and load. What load are you using? Also, what are you shooting them in? I shot Bullseye pistol competition for about 40 years casting mostly wheelweights and Javelina (50-50 Alox-beeswax) lube, and never did have much trouble with leading.

I bet with a little more info, someone here will be able to pinpoint the cause of your leading problem.

In the meantime, welcome! Your next step should be membership in the CBA.

Wes

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Standard Member

kennyz posted this 03 August 2015

im thinking that this load is 5.2gr of bullseye and as far as barrel dia i have not slugged it {i never slugged a barrel} the gun is a hi point and the bullet dia is 452 but i havent got my sizing dies yet

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Standard Member

onondaga posted this 04 August 2015

http://castbulletassoc.org/view_user.php?id=9183>kennyz

The cause of leading is bullets too small for the gun allowing hot gas blow by and bullet wobbling or the wrong alloy for the load level.

Your soft lead/Lino at 1:1 is the ideal alloy for 45ACP and nearly identical to commercial “Hardball Pistol Alloy".

First try no sizing at all and just lube the bullets. If they will load and shoot, there will be little to no leading. Sizing only makes bullets smaller. Don't size them at all unless they are too big to load and chamber and then only size the minimum amount that will allow loading and chambering. People that refuse to believe that usually give up on cast bullets because their guns lead up badly and shoot all over the place.

That is a simple rule but difficult to follow. I custom hone all my Lee bullet sizing dies to size my bullets to chamber throat diameter for all my firearms and get zero leading ever.

Lee has tumble lube design bullets that are excellent in 45ACP un-sized and simply tumble lubed. Those mold numbers for 45ACP begin with the letters “TL".

The TL 452-230-2R is the easiest bullet mold ever to get shooting well in 45ACP. Just cast, tumble lube lightly once and seat deep enough to feed reliably. Determine the lightest load that will function the semi auto action with that bullet.. Bang, you are done. Just shoot.

NOTE if your un sized TL bullets are small and lead up your 45, the most realistic reason is that your casting method does not allow maximum drop diameter of bullets. That is a long subject to discuss and diagnose but generally very curable. I am a retired casting analyst. A full listing of every step you use casting, your timing and temperature controls will be necessary but you can learn to get your bullets as big as the mold is capable of dropping them. The TL molds do not drop bullets too small for caliber if you use them correctly. Actually “too big” to feed is the most common complaint and that is easily remedied. Gary

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CBA Member

LWesthoff posted this 04 August 2015

I'd suggest you bring that load down to around 4.2 Bullseye, maximum. That's a very accurate load for 200 gr. bullets, and one which is very common among bullseye competition shooters.

Let us know how things go.

Wes

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CBA Member

Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 04 August 2015

also you really should ” slug ” your chamber and a half inch just in front ... usually called the * throat * area ..... i think that is the single most important thing to do when trying for success ... it really isn't that hard to do ... soft lead helps ... i use pulled bullets from cheap rimfire 22 ... lots of new casters go through a dozen molds and 5 secret lube recipes when they should have done a chamber slugup in the first place . ...including me ... ( g ) .

fit is 87 per cent of the key ...

ken

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Standard Member

kennyz posted this 05 August 2015

ok well i casted some 45-200gr with lee mould 452 dia 50-50 lino-lead water quenched them and lubed with liquid alox after they dried i loaded them with 4.4gr of bullseye and shot 25 boolits still had some leading issues.now if my boolits are undersize how do you make them bigger since 452 is the biggest mould i have seen,could the water quench shrink them.I have never slugged a bore sucessfully before

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Standard Member

onondaga posted this 05 August 2015

http://www.castbulletassoc.org/view_user.php?id=9183>kennyz

I recommend concentrating on maximizing bullet diameter for the mold you have first.

Aluminum Molds from Lee are pretty easy to hone larger with the cast slug/ hex nut and pumice with dish-soap liquid method. Myself and others have posted the method on this forum.

A mold fully up to working temperature casts bullets larger. Preheating helps. Sprue puddle size also effects bullet diameter. The largest puddle you can balance on the sprue plate will make your bullets larger.

A build up of mold release will make bullets smaller.

Your 50-50 mix has plenty of Tin so adding more Tin will not make your bullets larger.

Watch for signs to identify incomplete fill out of the mold. Lube grooves that have square edges should show square edges even under magnification. Rounded edges are cured with higher mold temperature by casting with a cadence of at least dropping bullets from the mold 3 times a minute. If you can't cast that fast, you need to work on that.

Watch for even small wrinkles on your bullets, Wrinkles with smooth surfaces are from mold or alloy too cool for your cadence. Wrinkles jagged under magnification are from excess heat of the alloy or mold or from opening the mold too soon.

I am a retired casting analyst. Good close pictures of your bullets with no lube on them, including good views of lube grooves and how the sprue cutting mark on the bullets look will tell me a lot about your casting and I may be able to help you further.

A good caster can generally cast with Lee molds for 45ACP and drop bullets .001 to .002” larger than Lee specifies with an alloy like you are using.

Gary

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Standard Member

onondaga posted this 05 August 2015

http://www.castbulletassoc.org/view_user.php?id=9183>kennyz

Your problem of leading up your gun from your cast bullets may be from a reason not related to your bullet size at all.

You mention drop chilling your bullets to harden them. Your 50/50 Lino : Lead alloy easily drop chills way too high in hardness for the load level of a 45ACP handgun. Try dropping bullets onto a soft dry towel and allowing the bullets to cool of their own accord. Air cooling your alloy will be about BHN 15 and be correctly matched to a 45ACP load level, Drop chilling your alloy can bring the hardness up to BHN 25- 30. That high of a bullet hardness is way out of line too hard for the load level of a 45ACP.

Bullet alloy either too hard or too soft for your load level is prone to leading up firearms even if the bullet fit is perfect. Your bullet fit can be fine, but the wrong alloy will lead up your pistol.

Gary

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Standard Member

onondaga posted this 05 August 2015

http://www.castbulletassoc.org/view_user.php?id=9183>kennyz

Consider starting a new a new post in the “Bullet Casting” topic on this forum with close ups of your bullets for evaluation. I won't put you in the fire, but can offer constructive criticism and suggest remedies for casting symptoms.

Gary

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CBA President

John Alexander posted this 07 August 2015

kennyz, Welcome to the CBA forum. We have a lot of knowledgeable folks here who like to help and offer encouragement as you are already seeing. We will also look forward to you answering some of our questions when we get stumped. We have a standing offer for a couple of free issues of the Cast Bullet Association's journal “The Fouling Shot". if you are interested in taking a look just PM me your email address and I will send them right out -- no obligation or future bugging you. John