I Envy Your Freedom! Please Help

[waksupi]

Welcome aboard.

I wouldn't worry too much about keeping your location a secret here. Anyone who is interested all that much, can look at your ISP #!

[pdawg_shooter]

Sounds like kalifornia to me.

[armexman]

Hola, People not used Casting freely, have a hard time learning the ins and outs of casting. I have helped a person do just this very thing in a south of Texas country and you would have thought we were overthrowing the government. It was stressful for him but in the end he was NOT paying $5.00/round by the time we had him casting like a regular Cast Boolit forum member.Nough Said. Please help spread the Boolit Gospel.

[26Charlie]

All very helpful answers. I would also like to say:
1) I keep my moulds oiled with light household 3-in-1 oil, so I use Richochet's method to heat the mould until the oil smokes off. The first bullets will then be heavily frosted, until the mould cools a little.
2) I once ran some tests on wrinkled bullets, and they don't shoot that badly if there aren't large voids and folds as well as wrinkles.

[UweJ]

Like the good folks before said:
1:Get all residue out of your molds
2:Smoke the molds
3:Keep the mold hot
Good luck
Uwe

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Sounds like his country is treatening to go to war with Colombia.
Morgan

[leftiye]

Isn't Columbia an ally of ours?

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Yes, That's why Hugo Chavez is flexing his muscles. He's bent out of shape over Columbia shooting up a few of the terrorists he's been training and arming, and has moved troops and tanks to their border with Colombia. These are the thugs that kidnap and kill officials and influential people in Colombia, and elsewhere in SA.

We've got SA gangs here in the States. Here in North Carolina(Charlotte), the big one, is from El Savador, they call themselves MS13.

I think anyone who buys Citgo gas should have his head examined(or maybe stepped on).
Morgan

[quasi]

I live in a very arid area, and find that if I degrease a mold by boiling in water and detergent, the mold will quickly grow a fine coating of rust once it is dry. This is with iron molds of course, and only seems to happen to brand new molds.

[SHOOTER IN EXILE]

Thank You all guys for such valuable advice. Today I cast about 50 boolits, nearly half were quite satisfactory. The problem was the low temperature, not any more, thanks to my daughter's hair dryer, charcoal and a cast iron pot + some bricks. Messy but effective.

You guys are quite swift, and Morgan, You've been watching CNN. That's the guy who with his second hand, half a dozen Sukhoys and a very lonely WW II leaking submarine is defying the U.S.A.

Thank You also for the tip. If I ever take refuge in the U.S.A. I'll make sure to avoid California.

[SHOOTER IN EXILE]

No one mentioned this, so I will: SMOKE THE MOULD!!! Use a plain wooden kitchen match and put a good layer of soot in the cavities.

Should this be done before every casting session or only after cleaning the molds from oil and residues?

[tommag]

Should this be done before every casting session or only after cleaning the molds from oil and residues?

Smoking helps as a release agent, smoke before casting and whenever the mold gets reluctant to release the boolit, if it does get more reluctant than before.

Be careful of temps with the hair-dryer. You can get charcoal hot enough to melt iron with enough air-flow. I don't know if a blow-fryer will provide enough air to do this, but it's something to keep in mind.

A butane lighter will also do for smoking the cavities. The long barbeque ones are easier to use than a normal Bic lighter.

[Ricochet]

If I ever take refuge in the U.S.A. I'll make sure to avoid California.

Tennessee's not half bad.

[SHOOTER IN EXILE]

Smoking helps as a release agent, smoke before casting and whenever the mold gets reluctant to release the boolit, if it does get more reluctant than before.

Be careful of temps with the hair-dryer. You can get charcoal hot enough to melt iron with enough air-flow. I don't know if a blow-fryer will provide enough air to do this, but it's something to keep in mind.

A butane lighter will also do for smoking the cavities. The long barbeque ones are easier to use than a normal Bic lighter.

The hair dryer's exit goes in a plastic bottle's cutoff base. The mouth of the bottle in a bamboo pipe, the bamboo pipe in an iron pipe, the iron pipe in the charcoal.

The bamboo doesn't transmit heat. Some melting pot, ain't it?

[9.3X62AL]

Anytime I start thinking how bad I have it in California as a shooter/gun owner, I'll think of SIE and count my blessings. I greatly admire your persistence and perseverance, and the craftiness of your blowdryer-stoked charcoal casting furnace. YOU THE MAN!

[Sherlok]

All of the above recommendations are good.

Before casting degrease the moulds with alcohol.
Use a good alloy with some tin for filling out.
Make sure the mould is up to temp.
Flux the allow often.
It may take some time before the mould breaks in.
A few moulds never ever produce good bullets.

Good luck,
Sherlok