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I've been casting some 12g slug and 00 buckshot this weekend, the slug have casted fine but had problems with my buckshot as can be seen from the picture ive been getting loads of badly formed strings.

I'm using a Lee 18 ball mould and pouring from a Lee production pot with bottom pour spout. Last time I did them virtually all came out fully formed but these are just plain crap, probably got 40% fully formed this time, I tried heating the lead more but that didn't help, mould was pre heated by having it ontop of the pot while lead was melting and even tried dipping it in to no avail.

Just don't know what I'm doing wrong this time, please help.

You need to cast hot and probably with a hand pourer.

You also need to get the mould and importantly the sprue plate up to casting temperature as well.

Aluminium heats up quicker than the sprue plate so although the mould might be up to temperature the sprue plate might not and so cools the alloy as it enters the mould.

How are you heating the mould, there is a bit of metal in those Lee 18 holers?

What is the alloy?

It looks to me like your mould is not hot enough.

There is a bloody echo on this thread.

dromia wrote:You also need to get the mould and importantly the sprue plate up to casting temperature as well.

Aluminium heats up quicker than the sprue plate so although the mould might be up to temperature the sprue plate might not and so cools the alloy as it enters the mould.

How are you heating the mould, there is a bit of metal in those Lee 18 holers?

What is the alloy?

Just heating it on the top of the melting pot while it melts the lead. Can't remember if maybe last time I used a blowtorch to pre heat.

The alloy is range reclaimed lead that I melt down, skim the crap off, flux with wood shavings and mould into ingots then when required stick the ingots in the Lee production pot.

I was melting down a batch of range lead today and also tried casting straight from that with the lymans pourer but that was even worse, slugs and .38 sp were coming out fine, bloody annoying me about the buck as I want to build a load of different test/development rounds before a comp I have in 3 weeks.

Alpha1 wrote:It looks to me like your mould is not hot enough.

That's what I thought but ended up with frosted balls today after dipping the mould in the lead pan and they still didn't form right sign01

Should you not be using pure lead, as opposed to range pick up....

Unless of course it's a range where only pure lead is used!

Heat the sprue plate up, I use a hot plate to heat my moulds up to casting temperature with the sprue plate resting on the hot plate.

With something like that 18 holer I'd get it right hot first of all so that the sprue puddle won't cool then cast slowly till it gets to a working temperature.

There is nothing wrong with frosted boolits so long as the frosting is even not patchy.

Sim G wrote:Should you not be using pure lead, as opposed to range pick up....

Unless of course it's a range where only pure lead is used!

Depends on his application, pure lead needs to be run hotter than alloyed lead to cast well and a bit of tin helps too.