I just moved to a damp area. I have never used oil on a mould back in West Texas, but in Central Texas it is a differenct story. I have found some light rust on my moulds and have began oiling them to prevent any further problems.

Do you apply oil to the mould cavities? This is my problem, that it is hard to get a mould to cast well after it has had oil in the cavities, like when you get a new mould. I have tried a lot of scrubbing with soap and water, but it usually takes an hour or more of casting to get it making good bullets. Any feedback?

LIVe in a very damp coastal area and do oil my molds for storage. I just degrease them with a solvent (lighter fluid...mineral spirits...carb. cleaner...whatever is handy) before use. Try hard not to set yourself on fire; some solvents are pretty bad about that. Normally, will degrease them and then pre-heat them befor use...hasn't caused me any grief yet, and as it takes a while for the lead to melt, may as well be doing something besdies watching the pot.

Wloudamy,

I've lived in damp regions for years, except about 10 years in southern California, land of the fruits n' nuts.

When I cast the last lead bullet, drop it out of the mold. Let the mold cool for a while and then apply RIG, rust inhibitor grease, and store the mold back in the original paper and box. If the mold is needed again, I've borrowed a pan from the kitchen, don't tell the other half, boiled the mold with some dishwashing liquid and water. It comes out squeaky clean and ready to cast.

A good coating of RIG will keep the mold preserved for years.

Hoopie,

I have mentioned this in a previous post; when I am through casting I rub a piece of beeswax over the mould while it is still warm enough to readily melt the wax. Pay attention to the cavities and mating surfaces. I never clean the mould off, just preheat it and cast a few bullets to get it to temperature and it cleans itself. Emery

I dip my molds in some "Ed`s Red" it`s a concoction of 1 part ATF; 1 part mineral spirits ;1 part kerosne; and 1 part Acetone. I use it to clean my gun bores and parts and to oil my molds before storage. Got the recipe from the boys over at Cast boolits and shooters.com a couple years ago. Seems to work great.

I just spray whatever oil I have on hand ( wd-40 etc) then go outside before casting and spray off the oil with cheap carb cleaner, works great! I hate using dish soap and water, didn't work well for me. Will never look back with my new method.

I hose my H&G68 mold down with WD-40 after every casting.

My moulds are put back in their original boxes after casting and the boxes are placed in a steel G.I. ammo can with two good sized bags of silica gel (desicant). The handles are stored on a shelf wrapped in rust preventative paper and placed in a zip lock bag. So far, I've had no problems with rusting and I live very close to open water. In mid summer, I place the silica gel in a warm oven for an hour or more and that will last me for another year. I degrease new moulds like any other caster but I'm too lazy to degrease everytime I cast.

AFter a casting session, all my molds get tossed in a container shallow tupperware container filled with kroil...when im ready to use them, just take them out, shake off the excess, spray liberally with brake cleaner, dry em off, screw em on the handles, put some graphite on the hinges and alignment pins, give em a light smoking, and im on my way. Ive got a few molds that are 40+ years old and have ZERO rust on them and look like brand new. The kroil not only keeps them from rusting, but keeps them spotlessly clean. Sounds kinda like a pain in the butt, but when you pay 50+ for a single mold that will last you a life time, its a couple extra steps well spent.