frosting

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  • Last Post 05 November 2017
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Ross Smith posted this 25 October 2017

So, what, if any, is the problem of frosting? I can see no difference in weight or dimension of frosted vs. shiny bullets. Thanks in advance, Ross

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David Reiss posted this 25 October 2017

Nothing period, keep casting.

David Reiss - NRA Life Member & PSC Range Member Retired Police Firearms Instructor/Armorer
-Services: Wars Fought, Uprisings Quelled, Bars Emptied, Revolutions Started, Tigers Tamed, Assassinations Plotted, Women Seduced, Governments Run, Gun Appraisals, Lost Treasure Found.
- Also deal in: Land, Banjos, Nails, Firearms, Manure, Fly Swatters, Used Cars, Whisky, Racing Forms, Rare Antiquities, Lead, Used Keyboard Keys, Good Dogs, Pith Helmets & Zulu Headdresses. .

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RicinYakima posted this 25 October 2017

They are not pretty and shiny.

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David Reiss posted this 25 October 2017

Boo Hoo!

David Reiss - NRA Life Member & PSC Range Member Retired Police Firearms Instructor/Armorer
-Services: Wars Fought, Uprisings Quelled, Bars Emptied, Revolutions Started, Tigers Tamed, Assassinations Plotted, Women Seduced, Governments Run, Gun Appraisals, Lost Treasure Found.
- Also deal in: Land, Banjos, Nails, Firearms, Manure, Fly Swatters, Used Cars, Whisky, Racing Forms, Rare Antiquities, Lead, Used Keyboard Keys, Good Dogs, Pith Helmets & Zulu Headdresses. .

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Brodie posted this 25 October 2017

Frosting occurs when the bullet is a little hot out of the mould and cools in air too fast.  I get more of it when I cast in the winter up here (I'm in Flagstaff, AZ at 7000 ft.) last year it got to 24 F below zero, but that is rare for this area.  The garage usually runs between 45F and about 35F in the winter.  A good light overall frost is really a sign of a good bullet with good fill out.  If you cast fast enough that the mould gets a little too (?) hot your bullets will come out slightly larger.  Remember that old science experiment where the teacher had a metal hoop on a stick and a metal ball on a stick that would not pass through the hoop at room temp.  But, when Teach heated the hoop in a Bunsen burner and it got near red hot, the ball passed through with ease. 

Just lube em and shoot em, and enjoy yourself.

 

B.E.Brickey

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Ross Smith posted this 25 October 2017

Thanks all, Been doing it  fer years, just thought I'd check. Casted up some new pb 30's today and could't weigh or measure the difference tween frostys and shinys. Ross

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OU812 posted this 25 October 2017

Lee says a frosted bullet will help hold their tumbled Alox lube better.

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BigMan54 posted this 02 November 2017

I just cast some bullets out of a slightly used, but New to me mold. It was a 2cav .44cal mold. I was using #2 alloy at 700 degrees. Using only the one 2cav mold I started to get frosted bases almost immediately.  I slowed down, but still got some frosted bullets. Afterwards I measured them at .4315, frosted or not. They all measured in the same range. So I don't think frosting matters much at all. I'm going to lube/size the frosted one's & load/shoot them, same as the shiny ones.  

Long time Caster/Reloader, Getting back into it after almost 10yrs. Life Member NRA 40+yrs, Life S.A.S.S. #375. Does this mean a description of me as a fumble-fingered knuckle-draggin' baboon. I also drool in my sleep. I firmly believe that true happiness is a warm gun. Did I mention how much I HATE auto-correct on this blasted tablet.

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John Carlson posted this 03 November 2017

I have found that with just the right casting temperature and just the right cadence I can produce bullets with frosty bottoms and shiny noses.  Should make everybody happy.

John Carlson. CBA Director of Military Competition.

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Ken T posted this 04 November 2017

I have been casting lately with a mix of linotype and monotype.I melted the type and spacers myself.I have had frosted bullets in the past but haven't with this batch of alloy.I tried to get frosted bullets by using a single cavity mold at 800 degrees and all I got was nice shiny bullets?

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David Reiss posted this 04 November 2017

Ken T,

Be satisfied if they are filled out and shiny. In order to get frosty bullets you need the mold temp to get hotter and stay that way.

David Reiss - NRA Life Member & PSC Range Member Retired Police Firearms Instructor/Armorer
-Services: Wars Fought, Uprisings Quelled, Bars Emptied, Revolutions Started, Tigers Tamed, Assassinations Plotted, Women Seduced, Governments Run, Gun Appraisals, Lost Treasure Found.
- Also deal in: Land, Banjos, Nails, Firearms, Manure, Fly Swatters, Used Cars, Whisky, Racing Forms, Rare Antiquities, Lead, Used Keyboard Keys, Good Dogs, Pith Helmets & Zulu Headdresses. .

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Ken T posted this 04 November 2017

I am satisfied with the shiny bullets.I am just surprised that they don't get frosty.I had the pot at 850 for a while and still didn't get frosting using a single cavity iron mold casting fast.The mold was definitely hot.I had my only set of aluminum handles on the mold and handles were hot.Charred wood handles on the aluminum mold handles don't necessarily indicate that the mold handles were resting on the side of the pot.

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RicinYakima posted this 04 November 2017

Frosting requires a percentage of antimony in excess of 2 to 1 of tin. Frosting is really caused by dendrites of antimony crystals solidifying in a matrix of antimony/tin bimetal and tin/lead bimetal. The antimony is becoming solid while the rest stays liquid longer due to a hot/slow cooling mould. Linotype will never frost as it goes from all liquid to all solid at one temperature. Find and read Dennis Marshall's article in the 3rd edition of Lyman's cast bullet handbook for more details.

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GP Idaho posted this 05 November 2017

I agree with Ric's last post. The antimony balance in the alloy can be a bit tricky when using reclaimed lead. Not knowing any better, I tend to error on the side of too much tin. An allover nice frost doesn't worry me in the least, it's the antimony blush on one side that is troubling to me. I hear that comes from too hot of a mould and too much antimony but that's just what I read in the papers. lol  Gp

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RicinYakima posted this 05 November 2017

You are correct, Gp. The mould temperature is at a critical point only on one side! Since I almost always ladle cast, it is the right side for me, as I am right handed and the hottest alloy always hits the right side of the cavity.

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Ross Smith posted this 05 November 2017

Hmmmmmmmm..... Interesting stuff here. I knew that frosting meant hot, and if the bullet bent when dropped from the mold it was really hot and things needed to cool down but I didn't know the metallurgy of the situation. I do see some occaisional light frosting on my round balls, must mean that pure lead wasn't so pure?    Ross

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RicinYakima posted this 05 November 2017

That is correct. Frosting can be from any metal in the alloy that solidifies at a higher temperature than lead. Tin doesn't do that as it is lower  than lead and the great mass of lead traps very small amounts of tin within its form. Salvaged "pure" lead is almost always 22 RF bullets or cable sheathing with 1or 2 % antimony.

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