GTA
All Springer/NP/PCP Air Gun Discussion General => Projectiles => Boolit and Pellet Casting => Topic started by: shamu25 on December 19, 2020, 03:22:56 PM
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Cast some 200 grain (SAECO Mold) and some 136 grain (NOE Mold with Hollowpoint) and 45 grain pellets (NOE Mold). Slugs are 357 and are for my Extreme. Does anyone know how to get rid of the nose flashing on the pellets? The sprue plate cuts them off and leaves a ridge. Does affect accuracy. Have never been happy with this mold.
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Ray the only time I get a smear like that on pellets is when I have the sprue plate too tight, other than that those all look fantastic.
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I was thinking the opposite Wayne. I figured a tight plate would slice cleaner
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Another thing make sure the sprue plate holes are clean and sharp/ polished like. That or make a jig and sand the noses smooth ??? :-\
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Those look easy enough to swirl around on an old towel laid flat to polish off. I agree, loosen the plate and slow your roll a little more to give them more set time, or lower the temp more to even help with the flashings.
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I will try buffing the noses on the pellets to see if that makes a difference. The top of the mold is very smooth and the sprue plate clean, flat and polished
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Clean up the nose opening of the pellet mould using a small wooden dowel (even a round toothpick will work) to remove any burrs (folding them outwards towards the sprue plate).... Then sand off the top of the mould with 600 grit paper to remove the protruding burrs.... While you are at it. do the same for the parting face in the mould.... Work gently and carefully, you want a sharp corner, but without any roughness or burrs....
Take a look at the holes in the sprue plate with a magnifying lense.... It the cutting edge is not sharp (sometimes the countersink is not quite deep enough), then countersink them a bit deeper, until you get a knife edge where the countersink meets the bottom surface (that rubs against the mould).... Do NOT make the holes bigger, just bring the edge to a sharp point.... Then sand off the bottom of the sprue plate with 600 grit to remove any burrs.... When sanding the top of the mould or the bottom of the sprue plate, have the 600 grit paper on a flat steel block, to maintain a flat surface on both....
When you adjust the tension on the sprue plate, back off the lock screws in the sides of the mould that lock the hinge pin and stop pin.... Adjust the hinge pin tighten until you feel resistance when you move the sprue plate, then back it off until it ALMOST falls open under its own weight, then tighten the lock screw against it.... Close the sprue plat against the stop pin, and run it down until it just touches the sprue plate, and you can JUST feel resistance when you fully close the plate, then retighten the lock screw.... These adjustments insure that the sprue plate is sliding smoothly across the top of the mould, with virtually zero clearance, and only light resistance.... Combined with the sharp edges on the sprue holes, this should cut the nose of the pellets off smoothly and flush with the top of the mould, with no burrs.... Make sure you follow NOE's instructions on using the sprue plate lube, and keep the surfaces clean, of course....
BTW, you have the HP pins for the short BBT slug set too high, you should lower them in the mould by bending the brackets downwards a bit.... There should be no ridge on the nose, around the hollow point....
Bob
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Thanks Bob. Looks like very good advice. I will see how that works out.
Is that your boat tail design? I thought that groove was cool but sounds like I need to get rid of it.
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This is what my 217-30-FN hollow points look like, I love these slugs in .22.
(https://i.imgur.com/zO4PliF.png)
I've harvested many critters with these BBT's and Bob I gotta hand it to you, you designed an awesome airgun slug when you designed these 8)
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Bob, you did again with your advise! I have not worked my sprue plate holes before. I just assumed the sprue plates were good from the factory. I polished the tapered sections and cleaned up the holes using 600 grit. I am now seeing some of the best filled out pellets to date. I can't believe how much better as the skirts and heads are filled out fully and are cutting much cleaner. I have been polishing the plate faces and the bottom of the sprue plate, but nothing done to the holes in the plates before. Thanks Bob!