Post by sixshot on Apr 26, 2022 0:02:28 GMT -5
Not sure but I think this was the first bullet mold I ever bought back in 1966, the famous Keith 357 slug from Lyman, #358429. I've probably cast almost as many of these bullets as John Taffin & that's saying something because John got a head start on me by several years.
I've taken everything from deer & antelope down to rabbits, ground squirrels & bullfrogs. Mostly I've used this bullet in 38 special cases but in 357 magnum six guns using either Unique powder or 2400. The bullet is too long to fit in many 357 magnums using magnum brass so early on I began using 38 special cases & never looked back, same as many others including my old friend from Boise, John Taffin.
I cast up a bunch of these today with my original mold & it's as good as ever although like anything that's over 50 years old it can be a bit fussy to cast with. My question is, what do you notice, if anything in the first photo of the 2 bullets side by side.
If you said the bullet on the right has some rounded edges you would be correct, but how did that happen? What caused the rounded driving bands? Well, it can be several things & how you correct it. As I said, this old mold still casts great bullets even after making tens of thousands of them but you have to watch things as you cast because it has a mind of it's own. Some is because of the mold & some can also be because of the melting pot. Sometimes the nipple on the bottom of the pot can get some dross in it & slow down the flow of alloy into the mold, so I use the piece of wire to run up inside of the nipple to clean things out. Also as the pot get low on alloy it will flow at a slower rate.
Another thing that can happen is the mold can cool down if you slow down so you need to keep an even speed once your mold & alloy are the correct temp. Also you might need to adjust the screw on top of your melting pot to increase the flow of alloy. With this mold that's what I have to do to keep good, square driving bands. Also with some molds you might find it necessary to pressure cast in order to get good mold fill out, you see in the last photo I'm holding the mold right up tight against the nipple, that is pressure casting, works great with some fussy molds.
Dick
I've taken everything from deer & antelope down to rabbits, ground squirrels & bullfrogs. Mostly I've used this bullet in 38 special cases but in 357 magnum six guns using either Unique powder or 2400. The bullet is too long to fit in many 357 magnums using magnum brass so early on I began using 38 special cases & never looked back, same as many others including my old friend from Boise, John Taffin.
I cast up a bunch of these today with my original mold & it's as good as ever although like anything that's over 50 years old it can be a bit fussy to cast with. My question is, what do you notice, if anything in the first photo of the 2 bullets side by side.
If you said the bullet on the right has some rounded edges you would be correct, but how did that happen? What caused the rounded driving bands? Well, it can be several things & how you correct it. As I said, this old mold still casts great bullets even after making tens of thousands of them but you have to watch things as you cast because it has a mind of it's own. Some is because of the mold & some can also be because of the melting pot. Sometimes the nipple on the bottom of the pot can get some dross in it & slow down the flow of alloy into the mold, so I use the piece of wire to run up inside of the nipple to clean things out. Also as the pot get low on alloy it will flow at a slower rate.
Another thing that can happen is the mold can cool down if you slow down so you need to keep an even speed once your mold & alloy are the correct temp. Also you might need to adjust the screw on top of your melting pot to increase the flow of alloy. With this mold that's what I have to do to keep good, square driving bands. Also with some molds you might find it necessary to pressure cast in order to get good mold fill out, you see in the last photo I'm holding the mold right up tight against the nipple, that is pressure casting, works great with some fussy molds.
Dick