I've never had a run of 95% keepers , I throw more rejects than that back in the sprue pile . I hover around 70% . Better on big bullets 35&45 cal worse on 22-27 cal . That's kind of standard though .
I'd have to set aside all the culls
as I go and see how I come out after all the different stages of "passive culling."
I can't say it would be much different unless the lead pixies were sleeping that day. Agree on better success on bigger, less on smaller.
There re "those days" though, where it makes me wonder how I could go so long and still be so dumb. I fought one problem off and on for maybe a couple years - one session, I could do no wrong, the next - made me want to toss all the casting stiff into a dumpster. Using "questionable alloy doesn't help, but I've managed to roll with it regardless of whether I have perfect alloy or something difficult.
EVENTUALLY, and after a lot of frustration, I figured out that I'd finally worn the ID of the spout out enough that I was getting way too much flow. I wish mow I'd kept some of the photos of the bullets, but they were worse than any I've ever seen anyone post. Not to "outdo" everyone else on being the best at being the worst, but they had HUGE contorted voids on the sides of the bullets. Perfect nose. perfect base, but the center looked like someone held a torch flame to it for a while and melted 20% of the bullet away.
As an expedient, I have resorted to only filling my 10# pots half full, which is a pain in the neck when using a pair of 4C moulds.
@Ian suggested some time back that I can peen the nozzle to a smaller ID (with considerable effort,) which I have yet to do - you can't take the nozzle off the 10# pot. I've toyed with the idea of getting a new pot - a 20# pot, but I'm waiting out the scarcity factor for now.
Still, there is that something which drives us to continue to strive for perfection, which is a good thing and which is becoming a rare trait. Casting yields a lot of flexibility, the ability to shoot more, significant autonomy from normal supply chains, but also nurtures a lot of drive to do things better. Like shooting, high quantity does not make up for low quality.