Bonjour all,
a few days ago at the range, a friend of mine, shotgun fan, lent me a new #2654012 Lyman mould that casts 12 ga. hollow base 475gr slugs. He wished me to cast some slugs and see if they are better than his. I have cast a lot of these bullets of pure lead and of 5% tin alloy, but I must admit that they are not much better than his. The slugs are wrinkled, even after the moud and the molten lead have got very hot. Due to the amount of lead involved, it seems that air cannot escape quickly enough, or that the molten alloy cools too much quickly while it runs over and around the H B plug. I have thought of slightly enlarging the air grooves, but I do not want to ruin that mould.. :confused: . All comments will be welcome.
Thank you.
faber

Faber,

Try pre-heating the HB plug on the edge of your leadpot prior to inserting into the hot mold, it will make a world of difference in how those slugs turn out.

God bless,

Faber,

Try pre-heating the HB plug on the edge of your leadpot prior to inserting into the hot mold, it will make a world of difference in how those slugs turn out.

God bless,

Got to agree...that's the ticket with any obstinate HB mold. The plug just doesn't get as hot as the mold blocks...any kind of break is a fire-wall, and being a speperate piece assures it stays colder than the rest of the mold...so pre-heat that plug and you'll have little trouble.

Applying a small amount of heat transfer grease to the plug where it meets the mold walls will also help alot, just don't get any inside the cavity.

If this does not work, you can increase the size of the vent grooves using the handle end of a file ground to form a V shape point. Remove the blocks from the handles and carefully follow the lines already starting from the mold cavity working outward.

Bonjour all,
a few days ago at the range, a friend of mine, shotgun fan, lent me a new #2654012 Lyman mould that casts 12 ga. hollow base 475gr slugs. He wished me to cast some slugs and see if they are better than his. I have cast a lot of these bullets of pure lead and of 5% tin alloy, but I must admit that they are not much better than his. The slugs are wrinkled, even after the moud and the molten lead have got very hot. Due to the amount of lead involved, it seems that air cannot escape quickly enough, or that the molten alloy cools too much quickly while it runs over and around the H B plug. I have thought of slightly enlarging the air grooves, but I do not want to ruin that mould.. :confused: . All comments will be welcome.
Thank you.
faber

I have the sabot from Lyman, I have to cast 25 or 30 slugs before the mold is hot enough to cast good ones. As far as getting the air out, tip the mold and let the lead flow in from the rim of the hole, that should do it. Don't drill out the hole, it will only make it harder to cut off the sprue.

I leave the HB pin in the mould ontop of the furnace while melting my lead ! You may also still have some grease or oi9l inside the mould pours that need to be cleaned out ! Cast at 800+ degrees ! JAGG