Using my .440 mold I pour .442 up to .444 about 9 out of 10 times .I am puzzled .I could understand smaller but not larger .I have a large rubber band around the handles to keep steady pressure on it.Has anybody had this happen ?
My balls are to big
- Thread starter Gary Kirk
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No. What brand mold are you using?
Are you using pure lead or an alloy? Alloys tend to produce a slightly larger ball that pure lead.
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do you get a mold line around the ball?
is there any fumunba in the alignment pin holes?
with what are you measuring the ball?
i have found over the years that no two calipers measure exactly the same. I try to calibrate them by using a micrometer first.
is there any fumunba in the alignment pin holes?
with what are you measuring the ball?
i have found over the years that no two calipers measure exactly the same. I try to calibrate them by using a micrometer first.
Brokennock
Cannon
There is a chart here for pure lead ball weight by size. What do the balls you are producing weigh in comparison?
It is a Lee mold and new .I am using wheel weight lead .There was a slight mold line until I put the band on.It’s not areal rubber band not a cross section of a bicycle inner tube
Banjoman
Hillbilly
How do they load and shoot?
Your mold just drops them big. The cherry might have been brand new when they cut the blocks.
Every mold can be different. Sometimes I have to search through molds of a certain size until I get one that drops a projectile I am happy with.
If you sell those molds, advertise the size of the ball dropped, not the size on the box.
Edit—didn’t see the wheel weight lead bit.
And: I didn’t know alloy bullets end up being larger. Cool, learned something new.
Every mold can be different. Sometimes I have to search through molds of a certain size until I get one that drops a projectile I am happy with.
If you sell those molds, advertise the size of the ball dropped, not the size on the box.
Edit—didn’t see the wheel weight lead bit.
And: I didn’t know alloy bullets end up being larger. Cool, learned something new.
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I think you’re on to something.when it warms up a little I’ll give them a a try.
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A few things:
1) I probably have around 50 molds. Very few molds drop the size that is stamped on them.
2) Alloy composition will affect ball size.
Also,
3) Mold temperature will affect ball weight.
When the mold is cold, you will get lighter bullets. When it is average, you'll get most of your bullets in that weight. When it starts running hot, you'll get heavier bullets.
The wheel weight lead appears to be the issue. Try pure lead and compare the results.
@Gary Kirk, I'm with @Tom A Hawk on this answer. Balls cast with wheel weight alloy will be larger than balls cast using pure lead.
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weigh those ww balls, bet even being over size they will be under weight.
WW is great for those other guns. can't remember the alloy but i think it is 95-3-2
with the 3 and 2 being tin and antimony. should have a hardness of 11-12 on the hardness scale. pure lead is @5 on the Brinell scale.
WW is great for those other guns. can't remember the alloy but i think it is 95-3-2
with the 3 and 2 being tin and antimony. should have a hardness of 11-12 on the hardness scale. pure lead is @5 on the Brinell scale.
You have probably already checked but make sure you do not have lead splatter between
the mold halves.
BTW wheel weights now vary greatly on the Brinell scale, I would not use them.
Barry
the mold halves.
BTW wheel weights now vary greatly on the Brinell scale, I would not use them.
Barry
This don’t make since.how do you put more of anything in a given space than it supposed to hold ,that would be an explosion.a rubber ball expands when you add mor air but the mold doesn’t expand .I think Dusty Traveller might on to something about the cherry being to big. Maybe I should contact Lee
stop braggin.
Different alloys exhibit different amounts of shrinkage upon cooling. The mold was sized to yield the correct diameter using LEAD.
This is probably most of your problem, the mold not being held closed strong enough. He does mean very tightly.
Use pure lead if possible as mentioned. The more antimony the bigger the ball.
I only have 6 or 7 Lee molds but I can tell you they all cast right on their advertised size. The variation in the sizes you’re getting leads me more towards the problem is with your technique. If it was a mold problem it would cast the balls all the same size, just not the right size. Same with the alloy, it could be contributing to the larger size but it won’t make the size vary.
The size you are getting sounds about right for wheel wieghts.
