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i tried my hand at casting my own balls today and i ran into a quirk. i cast 76 balls and only 30 of them measured at the .440 the mold was. can anyone tell me the reason for this?
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Hey Jax12,
I won't call myself an expert, but I do cast all my own roundball in various sizes. The onlt time I have had "shrink" issues was when I have cast with lead of dubious content. I use mostly pure lead for my rifled guns and smoothbore and I use wheel weight lead for our cannon. I have used wheel weight lead in the smooth bore but only after repeated fluxing and with the addition of about 1/3 pure lead. I always place my mould on the top of my pot to warm it up and when the lead is ready I start casting. I usually throw the first 8-10 balls back into the pot until I am sure the mould is warmed sufficiently. I use RCBS moulds for everything except the cannon. Don't know if I helped at all but there's my two cents.
Charcloth.
I won't call myself an expert, but I do cast all my own roundball in various sizes. The onlt time I have had "shrink" issues was when I have cast with lead of dubious content. I use mostly pure lead for my rifled guns and smoothbore and I use wheel weight lead for our cannon. I have used wheel weight lead in the smooth bore but only after repeated fluxing and with the addition of about 1/3 pure lead. I always place my mould on the top of my pot to warm it up and when the lead is ready I start casting. I usually throw the first 8-10 balls back into the pot until I am sure the mould is warmed sufficiently. I use RCBS moulds for everything except the cannon. Don't know if I helped at all but there's my two cents.
Charcloth.
Guest
i am using a lee mold in .440 and pure lead and a friends melting pot it is a small one holds about 2lbs of lead.
ButlerFord
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Mould and melt temperature variations. Thermometer for the pot and a consistant rhythm for casting.
But this is just a guess.
B.Ford
But this is just a guess.
B.Ford
Guest
i cast some today and took my time and kept a steady rhythum and it seemed to do better plus is scrubbed the crap out of it with a toothbrush.
My experience with casting is mostly with larger calibers, .610 and .600. My .610 mould is a Rapine made of steel and my .600 is a Lee aluminum mould. I used them both the same way and the Lee mould doesn't throw nearly as nice a ball as the .610.
I would recommend that you get some Rapine Mould Prep and coat not only the inside of cavity but also the inside faces of the mould blocks. After casting recoat the mould before putting it away.
The key to using an aluminum mould is speed. The aluminum doesn't hold the heat like a steel one does.
I got luck last spring and got a steel 4 gane .440 mould. I have yet to have time to try it out but I'll bet a dime to a hole in a dougnut that it will do better than the single .440 from Lee.
I would recommend that you get some Rapine Mould Prep and coat not only the inside of cavity but also the inside faces of the mould blocks. After casting recoat the mould before putting it away.
The key to using an aluminum mould is speed. The aluminum doesn't hold the heat like a steel one does.
I got luck last spring and got a steel 4 gane .440 mould. I have yet to have time to try it out but I'll bet a dime to a hole in a dougnut that it will do better than the single .440 from Lee.
