JonB
Halcyon member
Cast Rifle Bullets:Casting a good bullet isn't about how well you cull, but about how well you cast. If you're culling more than 5% it's time to figure out the problem and fix it.
I wasn't gonna comment on how good is good enough? Because I don't really cull very many. But in the big picture, I cull a lot, maybe more than half. Ian makes a excellent point here.
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When I am casting Rifle bullets, I keep them in chronological piles as the casting session goes along. There is a point that things start going great and they all have the same "look" and then when that period ends, I usually try to re gain that level of greatness, but rarely comes back. In the link I posted above (post #26) where I discuss my issue with long skinny bullets...those great periods can be short and stopping and getting the mold cooled or reheated "evenly" in the mold oven, seems to be the only way to get back to a great period. Anyway, I save the bullets cast during those great periods, and cull the rest, which can be a lot culled. Of the saved bullets, I have found there is so few to be culled from the great periods, that I found I don't need to visually inspect as a separate function, I will inspect and reject a rare few during GC/lube-sizing and or seating.
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Now, I kind of do the same with pistol bullet casting, but pistol bullets being easier to cast, there isn't much of a non-Great period of the casting session. But, while casting pistol bullets, I do dump hot sprues back in the pot, as I do with hot culls...something I don't do while casting Rifle bullets. So after a pistol bullet session, I rarely see how many are culled...so maybe it isn't as few as I think, LOL.
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