.22 NOE Hunter

[Franklink]

I was able to have a test run today with the new 20gr .22 from NOE. It came with the pins for the deepest skirts installed so that's what I cast.

Don, mine came with a little burr under the sprue plate too. I followed Bob's advice and used some fine grit sandpaper to smooth it up (I think it was 1200). Also took a little time yesterday evening to scrub it with a toothbrush and soap and water. I also cycled it up to working temp and back down a couple times using the top of the wood stove. Finally, I smoked the cavities and pins with a lighter.

The casting went well, but I learned that when it's 15 degrees outside, it's tough to keep the mould warm enough to get good fill-out into the skirts. I wasn't having trouble with pellets stickng to the pins like I expected to have with a cold mould, just partially filled out skirts.

I got around 115 that passed inspection and kept a few with some wrinkles to test out how picky I need to be to get consistent accuracy. Once I realized it was just too cold to keep the mould temp up, I called it a day. But, I'm fairly confident that a guy could cast a 500 count tins-worth in a short amount of time on a little warmer day.

I'm pretty happy with the mould and the pellets it produces-excited for a warmer day to get serious about it.

[Wayne52]

The biggest problem that I get from casting in the cold weather is my ladle plugging up.  I use an enclosed ladle with a nipple on it to pressure pour directly into the sprueplate.  Pouring through the air I've never had good results filling skirts on pellets.

[Back_Roads]

 Nice , bummer about casting in snow n cold, then again in the summer I end up sweating bullets 
 I have a 2 cav. brass in route, already have the first version in an AL mold, that works nice also, but figured brass might be better for the smaller caliber.

[Wayne52]

James I have a 4 cavity brass for the .25 Magnum Hunters and I feel it when I'm done casting 500 of those, I've been getting 2 cavity since in brass and they're very manageable that seem to cast nice pellets.

Frank I'm willing to bet those pellets you have pictured will probably shoot as good as they look, very nice looking pellets.  Are you using an alloy or pure lead, I've only used pure lead on pellets so far.

[Franklink]

I guess it'd be called an alloy. It's all collected lead from my rubber mulch pellet trap. I'd guess around 95% soft JSB, with the other 5% Crosman premier. I can easily scratch my "alloy" with a finger nail so it's fairly soft.

I'm using the Lee ladle and was pooring from about 1/2 inch above the mould to try to minimize cooling in the air. I tried your trick of rotating the mould with the ladle to fill but was getting lopsided pellets that way-must be the difference in ladle design.

[Back_Roads]

 I have been using a bottom pour pot, if i do a pour from over the sprue vs tight to it, I get poor fills, if tight to the sprue plate, the pressure of the molten lead helps to fill out the mold, similar as the side pour ladle method. I do have a sid pour ladle in route.

[Wayne52]

This is the ladle that I've been using for years now.