new caster learning

[scion19801]

Well been quite busy and finally got time to put up pics of the new mould. Had a few gun issues as well. Got things all sorted now. Changed from the 25.4 gr to the next heaviest at 27.2 gr. Couldn't be happier with NOE mould and Al Swede did a great job helping me take care of the original mould issue.

[scion19801]

Wayne and others,
Here is some of my pellet porn for you all. these are the new mould 27.2 gr pellets which is the second pin in my set.

[triggertreat]

Those are looking really good Dan!  Those skirts even look pristine.  I should be receiving my new .30 cal mold shaped like these today.

I wonder why they have flat tops instead of having round heads.  Seems the round heads would buck the wind better in my thinking.

[Wayne52]

Those look fantastic Dan !!! Well done indeed !!!  Keith the meplat head design is pretty much the closest you're going to get with a mold for anything close to what the round nose (swaged) pellets are going to be. 

[Back_Roads]

Wayne and others,
Here is some of my pellet porn for you all. these are the new mould 27.2 gr pellets which is the second pin in my set.

Ah yes just like mom used to make Nothing like fresh baked pellets

[Wayne52]

I was out shooting my slugs again today, I am really enjoying how accurate they are !!!
 

[Back_Roads]

 As always Wayne great shootin !

[scion19801]

Ty guys. I'm happy with my results. I just got some of avs's new .2503" slugs and they are showing promise. 34 and 36 grain. Also I did take a chipper at 66 yards again. Same spot at my other one at 66 yards. With the 27.2 NOE Hunter pellet.

[Mark Davis]

I have on of the .25 cal molds that cast pellets .017 short and a bit light.

I painted the cavities of some white. Then took them to the rifle range.  Up in one bay during sunset
 the berm cast a shadow on the impact area while the pellets flight is through bright sunshine.

The shadow is 101 meters from the firing line. the pellets seemed to fly straight with no spiraling.

[scion19801]

got my PID temp controller today and k-type probe. waiting for a few more parts to arrive. New lee 10# bottom pour pot should be here tomorrow. gonna try it out and see what happens.
I think pure lead should be about 700 fahrenheit to get good pellets out of a brass mould. should i go higher? I'm pretty sure there must be others trying this out.

[triggertreat]

got my PID temp controller today and k-type probe. waiting for a few more parts to arrive. New lee 10# bottom pour pot should be here tomorrow. gonna try it out and see what happens.
I think pure lead should be about 700 fahrenheit to get good pellets out of a brass mould. should i go higher? I'm pretty sure there must be others trying this out.

You'll appreciate that PID controller, especially on a 10 pound pot.  I know I do even on my 20 pound pot, especially when the lead supply drops low.

I just cast these at 725°.  They turned out fine, but for the first time I used the Lee dipper to fill the slots instead of using the gravity drop spout.  At 725° the spout kept clogging up.  At 825° it didn't do that.  I still prefer the dipper now.  Far more control.

[scion19801]

so it sounds like there is a window in the temps. somewhere between 725-825 degrees. guess once i get all setup, i'll have to see what works best for my situation.

[Wayne52]

Keith those pellets are excellent indeed!!!  The trickiest mold I have is the 217-17-WC, the sprue plate hole is tiny on that mold and the plates gotta be plenty warm or the nose of the pellets don't fill out good, I'm getting better at it every time I cast them and I'm over due for casting some more.

[Wayne52]

As always Wayne great shootin !

I was shooting my Airmax Dominator today with those same slugs, that gun is ultra quiet in comparison by far.  I'm not getting the power from it like I'm getting from the Sentry.

[triggertreat]

so it sounds like there is a window in the temps. somewhere between 725-825 degrees. guess once i get all setup, I'll have to see what works best for my situation.

My experience with temps is that the lower temps will produce slightly lighter pellets while higher temps will produce slightly heavier ones.  For example, I started this latest cast at 775°.  I kept those in a separate pile.  I then lowered the temp down to 725° for another pile.  Now that I have been able to weight sort both piles, there is on average a one grain difference in the average weights between the two piles.  I'll let the experts explain why that is, but my thinking is there is more fill out at the higher temps.  This may also be due to being able to pour all four cavities before the temps drop too low for best fill out using a dipper instead of the spout?

[triggertreat]

Keith those pellets are excellent indeed!!!  The trickiest mold I have is the 217-17-WC, the sprue plate hole is tiny on that mold and the plates gotta be plenty warm or the nose of the pellets don't fill out good, I'm getting better at it every time I cast them and I'm over due for casting some more.

Thanks Wayne!  They did turn out pretty.  Hopefully they'll shoot pretty, too.

All of the three NOE molds I have are with the drop pins.  They are more challenging for sure.  You should know I have picked up a lot from you starting out and I appreciate it.  I also use a dipper now while using a gravity drop pot, Lol...Your fault.

[scion19801]

My experience with temps is that the lower temps will produce slightly lighter pellets while higher temps will produce slightly heavier ones.  For example, I started this latest cast at 775°.  I kept those in a separate pile.  I then lowered the temp down to 725° for another pile.  Now that I have been able to weight sort both piles, there is on average a one grain difference in the average weights between the two piles.  I'll let the experts explain why that is, but my thinking is there is more fill out at the higher temps.  This may also be due to being able to pour all four cavities before the temps drop too low for best fill out using a dipper instead of the spout?

I wonder if that is why mine drop so light. I know i try to keep my pure led below 700° currently with the way my setup is. just about a full grain under. I'll have to experiment some once i get my pid setup up and running on the new pot.  Got my box made, power switch installed, and power in and out cable retainers in place. Just got my thermocouple connector, so i can now cut out the slot for that as well as my pid box. still waiting for the ssr and heat sink. then its just a matter of getting it wired up. lee pot should be here tomorrow.

[triggertreat]

My experience with temps is that the lower temps will produce slightly lighter pellets while higher temps will produce slightly heavier ones.  For example, I started this latest cast at 775°.  I kept those in a separate pile.  I then lowered the temp down to 725° for another pile.  Now that I have been able to weight sort both piles, there is on average a one grain difference in the average weights between the two piles.  I'll let the experts explain why that is, but my thinking is there is more fill out at the higher temps.  This may also be due to being able to pour all four cavities before the temps drop too low for best fill out using a dipper instead of the spout?

I wonder if that is why mine drop so light. I know i try to keep my pure led below 700° currently with the way my setup is. just about a full grain under. I'll have to experiment some once i get my pid setup up and running on the new pot.  Got my box made, power switch installed, and power in and out cable retainers in place. Just got my thermocouple connector, so i can now cut out the slot for that as well as my pid box. still waiting for the ssr and heat sink. then its just a matter of getting it wired up. lee pot should be here tomorrow.

Lead melts around 626°.  At 700° you're not much above that and it can cool too fast with any delay out of the pot for best fill out, IMHO. I start my mold out around 350° from a hot plate, then I put an extra amount of lead on the sprue plate to bring the mold up more.  Once the mold is up to temp, it's not as critical when working steady.  At 800° it flowed out of my spout with a lot more control.  I didn't have any trouble at 725° dipping out the lead from the top of the pot into the mold though.  I had the mold resting on the edge of the pot though to help level it.

[scion19801]

Well the new 10# pot showed up today. Got my temp probe mounted so it's angled and fairly close to the spout rod. temps were from 725- 825, with the dial between 3 1/2 and 4 1/2. After 3 hours of messing around and playing with different settings and distance from the spout. Casting didn't go too good. Ton of rejected pellets. I think I had too much air blowing, and had trouble with mould keeping temp. had skirt fill out, circle dimples in sides of heads issues. Then it would cast good for a few pellets and back to &^^&. Was trying to get pour directly into center of sprue plate hole the best I could. I did learn alot. Even tried to catch an edge and let it swirl into the sprue hole, that is a big no no. Always got bad casts doing that. Even tried different heights from the spout. Found roughly 3/4" below to be the best. Temps stayed quite stable and consistent. Was kinda surprised by that. Can't wait to get the pid running.
I even had the mold on a cast iron pan over propane burner to keep mold temp up. Basically a make shift hot plate, with tin foil over the mold to tent it and keep heat in. Gonna have to heat the mold more. Gonna give it another go tomorrow and see how it goes. Hate to give up too quick and go back to side pour ladle. Wonder if mine will even fit with the angled spout rod.

[Back_Roads]

 Yes air flow etc. can mess with you both on pot and mold, heck I have yo move the frying pan 10" off the burners down wind when SWMBO has the A/C on 
 
 One reason I went to the B a sement, a more constant temp and I can control the air flow. YBH if I had not started casting with bigger bore in an less controlled environment, I may have given up instantly if I started with the smaller bores, but there is much proof that persistence , and foremost planning does pay off.