TROUBLE WITH PORING ROUND BALLS

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Ravensnest

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i HAVE ALWAYS HAD TROUBLE POURING BALLS. I GAVE UP AND STATRED BUYING THEM. THE BALLS I POUR ARE ALWAYS PITTED. I AM ABLE TO GET ONE GOOD BALL EVERY 12-20 POURS. NEED HELP.
 
My way may not work for others but, here goes : I use Lee moulds, a Lee 10lb pot & the purest lead I can find. Turn the temperature as high as it’ll go & pour as fast as I can open & close the mould & get it back under the spout.

Most people swear by iron moulds but I never could get the hang of any kinda rhythm usin’em.
 
Lets start over. What are you pouring? 45 cal? What kind of mould ? How hot( Are you using a thermometer?) What type of furnace? Do you preheat your mould?
 
MSalyards said:
Lets start over. What are you pouring? 45 cal? What kind of mould ? How hot( Are you using a thermometer?) What type of furnace? Do you preheat your mould?

What MSalyards said ^, if you can answer his questions above we can help ya :yeah: Pouring a PERFECT Roundball should be a very simple task.

Big keys to perfect Balls, And Bullets is a VERY VERY CLEAN Mold, And getting the Mold up to Temperature, Dip the corner of the Mold in the Molten Lead for 30-45 Seconds, Aluminum molds jump up to Temp QUICKLY, Steel/Iron Molds take a little Longer, With Pure lead i like the Temp to be 675-700 Degrees.
 
Idaholewis said:
MSalyards said:
Lets start over. What are you pouring? 45 cal? What kind of mould ? How hot( Are you using a thermometer?) What type of furnace? Do you preheat your mould?

What MSalyards said ^, if you can answer his questions above we can help ya :yeah: Pouring a PERFECT Roundball should be a very simple task.

Big keys to perfect Balls, And Bullets is a VERY VERY CLEAN Mold, And getting the Mold up to Temperature, Dip the corner of the Mold in the Molten Lead for 30-45 Seconds, Aluminum molds jump up to Temp QUICKLY, Steel/Iron Molds take a little Longer, With Pure lead i like the Temp to be 675-700 Degrees.

Ditto :yeah:
 
Soft lead, 45-60 cal, lee mold, I don't now how hot I use a eletric hand laddle holds about 3# of lead. Yes I preheat the molds, by starting out by pouring lead into thr mold. I was thinking about getting a heater with a dial for the heat adjustment.
 
I've seen people pour fishing weights with those hand held pots. Start from scratch. Pick up a Lee casting pot, a 10 lb will be fine. Next a good ladle . You want to cast from 750 to 800 plus. A thermometer is handy . If you want to spend more you can get a bigger pot, or a Lyman or RCBS or a Wagee. A good scale for weighing your bullets is nice and one for weighing a lead tin ratio is handy also. Bottom pour pots work good to about 250 gr, after that I prefer ladle casting. It is more consistent for me. I have one of each of the pots mentioned and each has its purpose for me. My larger bullets must be within .5 gr plus or minus . So 540.5 down to 539.5 gr on a heavy bullet. Not hard to do, still got your interest? Mike.
 
Ravensnest said:
i HAVE ALWAYS HAD TROUBLE POURING BALLS. I GAVE UP AND STATRED BUYING THEM. THE BALLS I POUR ARE ALWAYS PITTED. I AM ABLE TO GET ONE GOOD BALL EVERY 12-20 POURS. NEED HELP.
I'll add, when good bullets are being cast - lead will need to solidify on the sprue plate for a few seconds.
I'll admit, I've casted 1000x more conicals than RB.
Hang in there, it's not hard.
 
Is the lead pure or scrap lead? Did you use any flux prior to pouring. If not and it was scrap lead maybe it had dirt or other contaminants in it.
 
52Bore said:
I'll add, when good bullets are being cast - lead will need to solidify on the sprue plate for a few seconds.

As quick as i see the Sprue puddle Solidify, i count to 4, and Swing the Sprue plate open on 5

Like Rick said, Hang in there, you will get it down :yeah:
 
I have cast bullets and round balls for 40 yrs. I have a lee 10# pot, use pure lead and when I add more lead I flux with a bit of bees wax. Just stir it in with a small ladle to bring up the junk, then skim off the slag and what ever floats up. I put the ladle under the spout and pour some in it to make sure I get fresh hot lead avoiding the small amount of cooler lead next to the spout. Move my hot mold under the spout moving the ladle and filling the dbbl. ball mold. While I wait for the spru to harden I shift the ladle back to do the same for the next pour. I found pouring that small amount lessens the wrinkling I got because of cooler lead on the first ball, the second ball most allways poured great. I have used the lee molds since I started casting with care they last just fine I have a .50 that is 40 years old.
coupe
 
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