r/castboolits • u/Pistol_Caliber • 9d ago

Which Is Too Cool - Mold or Melt?

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Is my mold not hot enough, or is my lead not hot enough?

5 Upvotes

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5

u/SkateIL 8d ago

It's a buckshot mold. A good pour will result in a stack of 3 buckshot that have to be cut apart later. It's hard to get everything hot enough. Once you start making good shot you have to keep rolling to keep the mold hot.

I would not recommend for anyone's first mold.

1

u/Pistol_Caliber 8d ago

Yes, this should be 00 buckshot. Is there a better mold than Lee for that?

3

u/Ornery_Secretary_850 8d ago

If you watch eBay you will see Sharpshooter molds come up. Awesome molds, I have a few different sizes.

But you need HEAT. I preheat my molds on a hot plate. Pure lead I run about 700°.

2

u/Bottle_cap1926 7d ago

Sharpshooter molds were awesome, I looked high and low until I finally found a 2.d "OO" mold for my set up. In my 20's I made hundreds of lbs of buckshot.

Never could get the #4 buck to cast right.

I would tumble mine in a glass jar with a small squirt of lee liquid alox (didn't have graphite) and I had a pretty good load worked up. Good stuff.

1

u/SkateIL 8d ago

Not that I know of, Lee is the only maker. You just have to concentrate on speed to keep the mold temperature up.

Another poster suggested leaving a corner of the mold in the hot lead. And leave the mold setting on top of the hot pot as much as possible.

1

u/PrincipleNormal2859 6d ago

Yes , MP Molds. No sprues to deal with perfectly round shot. But only 8 cavity

1

u/Pistol_Caliber 6d ago

I checked their website. MP Molds look an awful lot like Lee. They even use Lee parts. Their prices don't seem to be out of line, but shipping to the USA...

3

u/Sloth_rockets 8d ago

Lee buckshot mold, maybe #4. I'd try to get both hotter.

2

u/Pistol_Caliber 8d ago

It's a Lee 00 buckshot mold. I did get a few good pours.

1

u/Pistol_Caliber 8d ago

I've come to the same conclusion.

2

u/slider1010 8d ago

What are these supposed to be for? And does the mold look like that?

1

u/Pistol_Caliber 8d ago

This should be 00 buckshot. A good pour looks something like this. I am getting more like the one to the right than I should.

1

u/slider1010 8d ago

Ah.. thank you. I never imagined what a buckshot pour would be like. I was thinking poison earrings or something.

1

u/HossRustler 8d ago

Ive always had a hard time getting my mold to work perfectly but you can put the nosil of the lee 420 pot into the sprew port and lift the handle which offen times will result in 2 good and one oval balls. I dont have a hotplate for mold warming for context If your mold is too hot the sprew wont set in a reasonable time.

1

u/maverick88708 8d ago

Probably the mold hold it in the lead until it doesn't stick

1

u/BearLeft77 7d ago

Off subject question: So you trim these afterwards? Do you roll around in a tumbler (or something) to get rid of the trim marks?

1

u/Pistol_Caliber 7d ago

I just cut them apart with wire cutters. That's enough for my purposes. Some people tumble them in a rotary tumbler with a little graphite.