I've been casting my own bullets for a long time, with no problems. I get my lead by picking up wheelweights from tire dealers locally. I've recently started working on casting bullets to sell, hoping to start a small business so I can quit my job and work from home. I'm presently using mostly Lee aluminum molds, and have had little trouble in the past with them.
Now, all of a sudden, I cannot get the molds to fill out completely. Wrinkles, pock marks, rounded bases, and rounded driving bands are the norm more often than I like. I've added up to 1 pound of 95/5 tin/antimony solder to try to get the molds to fill out, but to no avail. I've turned the heat up as high as it will go (don't have a thermometer yet), with better results, but the bullets are heavily frosted (of course). I'm planning to get a thermometer to check my temperature, but I'm running out of ideas as far as solving this problem.
I am somewhat suspicious of one of the molds I'm using (Lee .44-200-RF) as it seems to be worse about it...the other is a Lee 45-250-RF.
At some point in the future I plan to buy a Magma Casting machine and the iron molds that go with it. I halfway wonder if switching to Lyman or RCBS iron molds will help.
Thanks for any help ya'll can give me with this...it's giving me more gray hair...
Kent White