Pritchett balls

[Rudy Thompson]

I have been casting bullets for my 53 enfield the base of the bullet does not fill out. the base on these are recessed. the nose of the bullet is closet to the fill hole . The base and the nose are filled out as nice as can be but the inside of the base cavity does not always fill out
I know this is due to shrinkage, I think . the pot is hot, 10lb Lee, and the mold is hot, 2 cavity, it has me scratching my head1 out of three is all I can keep.
Hope someone out there can point out my errors

 

[LawrenceA]

Any chance of a picture as I am a little confused.
The bullets you are casting are in the Minie style but if they are Pritchett then no lube grooves.
Is this right? What mold are you using?
Personally I divide the bullet into Nose, Body and skirt. If it is the skirt that is not filling then is the base plug also hot?

Are the bullets cast from Pure lead? Are they Shiny or Frosted. How many do you cast to warm up the mold? Are you bottom pouring or ladling the lead? Have you tried a little more heat?

Sorry I am no expert at Minies but this information is I think what is required at a minimum.

 

[bang]

I use same pot. Bottom pour. When I'm casting mini's I set temp on 8. Hot enough when I put in paraffin to flux it will flame Soot the mold real good. Heat the mold on top of pot as it melts pure lead. Still takes 15-20 pours before it is hot enough. Hot enough a good sprew takes up to 5 seconds to frost.
Sounds like you may need to clean the mold and resoot.

 

[bisleyjohn]

Lawrence,

If the bullets are frosty, mould too hot.

Assuming you are pouring from the base then the mould may not be hot evenly from top to bottom and the lead isn't flowing round the base plug.

The base plug needs to be the same temperature as the mould otherwise that,if it is reatively cold, will prevent the filling of the skirt cavity.

I usually stand my plug on the side of the pot while I take the bullet from the mould.

I also rest the mould, with the plug in, on the pot while it's warming up, this reduces the number of failures at the start. It takes me two or three pours to get a good bullet. HTH?

 

[LawrenceA]

Lawrence,

If the bullets are frosty, mould too hot.

Assuming you are pouring from the base then the mould may not be hot evenly from top to bottom and the lead isn't flowing round the base plug.

The base plug needs to be the same temperature as the mould otherwise that,if it is reatively cold, will prevent the filling of the skirt cavity.

I usually stand my plug on the side of the pot while I take the bullet from the mould.

I also rest the mould, with the plug in, on the pot while it's warming up, this reduces the number of failures at the start. It takes me two or three pours to get a good bullet. HTH?

Your experience reflects my own.
I suspect the base plug is cold, the melt is a little cool or the flow is slow.
It can also make a difference if you allow a gap between the pot spout and the mold or have the mold tight to the spout.
But I don't cast a lot of minies.

 

[mooman76]

Sometimes a tiny bit of tin helps. A tiny bit will help fill out without making the lead harder. Also clean the mould and pin good and like others say, make sure the pin is hot. Some moulds with a separate pin and hard to get/keep the pins hot.

 

[bisleyjohn]

I also find that the base plug is slighlt lose in the mould so I shove a piece of metal under the spout and rest the base plug. This does two things, keeps the both the mould and plug in the same position without effort and introduces some consistency.

 

[bang]

To make pouring large projectiles better I opened the hole to a #40 so it pours faster.

 

[bisleyjohn]

Me too!

 

[LawrenceA]

Good idea!!

 

[Davey Boy]

I don't hesitate to purchase temperature controllers and meters at a low price. I find them very accurate and unless you work in a calibration laboratory just as good as the expensive ones. You can easily test meters and probes by using an ice water bath for 32 F or 0 C and boiling water for 212F and 100C.

Some voltmeters include a type K sensor so you get a voltmeter and a temperature meter together.

The K and J type thermocouple probes react incredibly fast to temperature changes.

So the first thing I would do is measure your lead pour temperature. Accurately.