so waht ya doin today?

popper

Well-Known Member
Rainy day so cast a pot of 185gc & 170PB. Refilled the pot. Now to go get a meat lovers samvich at Jason's. Basically French dip.
 

JWFilips

Well-Known Member
Rainy day here also So it is mil surp's casting day!
First two batches were for my 6.5 Arisaka ( which needs a .275" bullet because of a worn throat) That is the Lee 277-135 bullet on left..
and my 1916 Spanish Mauser ( which need a .294" bullet because of a worn throat) That is satisfied by a somewhat rare single cavity Lyman 287 221
it is lightly beagled!...... not sized after casting and a PC coat of Smoke's Clear gives me the proper size These on on the right:
MilSurps2.jpg
Close up below 287 221 on left and 277-135 on right
MilSups1.jpg

Now on to My GEW 98 And It's NOE 326-130 FN and My JP Saure Mauser 98 ( which needs a .334" bullet!) Lee 338 mould
 
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Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Got a case size set done for Jim.
He wanted a .469-4695 case head and the final die gives .4690.
Case heads spring back a good .003 when sized down. The die won’t take a .456 pin but gives a .469 case head.
Now to get it boxed up and set off.
 

Mitty38

Well-Known Member
Well the diagnostic guy called and said that he found the problem with my F250 high idle.

Best $150 I have spent in a while. Not only found the problem but temp fixed it, for me, till I repair it.
Especially since myself with an associates degree in auto repair, and my brother a retired Ford heavy duty vehicle mechanic, could not find it.

Apparently the horn relay shorted out. This caused the horn to barley sound occasionally and kill the battery when the truck sat for a while. So apparently the previous owner, decided he would unplug the horns to make sure the battery did not discharge before I got there to look at the truck.
The circuit then back fed thru the fuse box and into the the air idle control selonoid.After the computer cut the voltage, it was still drawing voltage from the shorted horn circuit. Making it stay on high idle and run rich. No computer codes because the computer, and all the sensors,
Selonoids are good, adjusted and working properly
So untill I can get a new horn selonoid and run that circuit for shorts(which he gave me a complete map of BTW).
He basically just pulled the relay to the horn, no more problem.
 
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Mitty38

Well-Known Member
Rainy day here also So it is mil surp's casting day!
First two batches were for my 6.5 Arisaka ( which needs a .275" bullet because of a worn throat) That is the Lee 277-135 bullet on left..
and my 1916 Spanish Mauser ( which need a .294" bullet because of a worn throat) That is satisfied by a somewhat rare single cavity Lyman 287 221
it is lightly beagled!...... not sized after casting and a PC coat of Smoke's Clear gives me the proper size These on on the right:
View attachment 14126
Close up below 287 221 on left and 277-135 on right
View attachment 14127

Now on to My GEW 98 And It's NOE 326-130 FN and My JP Saure Mauser 98 ( which needs a .334" bullet!) Lee 338 mould
Boy them are some nice looking casts. Hope I can get that good some day. I would show you some of my cast bullets but then I would halve to stay off the forum for 2 weeks just out of shame.
 

JWFilips

Well-Known Member
Mitty,
the trick is Get your mould up to temp on a hotplate! I start my pot and hot plate at the same time the mould is already sitting on the hot plate!
When the pot starts to show some melting. I pick up the mould and ligtly lube the sprew plate and mould pins wiping off the excess! I have always used Bullshop's lube but a good 2 cycle oil is ok.
Place it back on the hot plate! When my pot comes up to about 625-650 I stir the heck out of it & start scraping the bottom with a metal scraper (I made) You should feel some sticky spots! This is crud! Got to get that suspended in the mix! Some times a pea size piece of Bees wax is a big help.
I do not use wood because I bottom pour....it always end up on the bottom under the melt!.

My ingots that go into the pot are super cleaned with sawdust in the smelting so They are only the thing that goes into my casting pot At that point I only need beeswax to reduce the oxides back into the melt

Once you feel the bottom of the pot is smooth. you can start a good whirlpool and scoop off the crud that may have floated up!
Now bring the temp up to about 725 730 deg Add a piece of bees wax to seal the top of the pot ( you can light it up to burn off the smoke) you will end up with a nice brown seal that prevents most oxidation.

I then cast until the pot is 2/3rds to 3/4 empty ....Then Clean it, then cool it , then fill it and start over! This works for me!
Every so often read the bottoms of you sprew cuts....if you see specks and inclusions on them they are also in your bullets Re-clean your alloy in the pot!
 

Todd M

Craftsman of metals...always learning.
Mitty,
the trick is Get your mould up to temp on a hotplate! I start my pot and hot plate at the same time the mould is already sitting on the hot plate!
When the pot starts to show some melting. I pick up the mould and ligtly lube the sprew plate and mould pins wiping off the excess! I have always used Bullshop's lube but a good 2 cycle oil is ok.
Place it back on the hot plate! When my pot comes up to about 625-650 I stir the heck out of it & start scraping the bottom with a metal scraper (I made) You should feel some sticky spots! This is crud! Got to get that suspended in the mix! Some times a pea size piece of Bees wax is a big help.
I do not use wood because I bottom pour....it always end up on the bottom under the melt!.

My ingots that go into the pot are super cleaned with sawdust in the smelting so They are only the thing that goes into my casting pot At that point I only need beeswax to reduce the oxides back into the melt

Once you feel the bottom of the pot is smooth. you can start a good whirlpool and scoop off the crud that may have floated up!
Now bring the temp up to about 725 730 deg Add a piece of bees wax to seal the top of the pot ( you can light it up to burn off the smoke) you will end up with a nice brown seal that prevents most oxidation.

I then cast until the pot is 2/3rds to 3/4 empty ....Then Clean it, then cool it , then fill it and start over! This works for me!
Every so often read the bottoms of you sprew cuts....if you see specks and inclusions on them they are also in your bullets Re-clean your alloy in the pot!
That’s a great write up, thanks! I’ve been casting rug for several years but I have never been that diligent about my pot cleanliness. Thanks!
 

StrawHat

Well-Known Member
Finished painting the kitchen today, ceiling, walls and trim. Everything got two coats. And we had to keep the kitchen functional. Next up is the bedroom ceiling.

Kevin
 

L Ross

Well-Known Member
Spent about 6 hours today with the face mask pick up and delivery. More volunteers every day. People are really nice around here. Many want to help any way they can. My wife is spending so much time at her sewing machine I needed to massage the knots out of her back. Funny, when she needs a break she goes outside and does manual labor in her flower beds.
I took a little while this morning before my first pickups to burn 50 round of .22 at prairie dogs and 4" squares, only today I dug back in one of the safes a dragged out a Martine Famous 12 made by Birmingham Small Arms back when the Brits still had a had in their arse. Parker Hale receiver sight and a globe front featuring a pin head that subtends about 2 MOA. I've been cheatin' with glass sights for quite awhile, but I wanted to see if my 66 uncorrected eye balls could even see the sights and targets. I was delighted to shoot 60% on the dogs and 50/50 on the 4" squares. I found that if I really really focused on the pin head I could see it quite clearly after I fiddled with the aperture on the rear sight.
That darned old rifle really shoots! I cleaned the front of the chamber in case there was a carbon ring forming, then ran a patch with Ed's Red down the bore. Not even a cold shot/clean shot flyer when I touched up the zero on a swinger for an ammo brand change. Wonderful old rifle.
 

L Ross

Well-Known Member
Thanks Ian. Well, shoot, I will miss Bret. I love the trails and tribulations of his farm. I hope there is nothing seriously wrong with the old Trooper.
 

uncle jimbo

Well-Known Member
Week 3 Day 7

Sun is out but not warm. 29° this morning. Going out when it warms up a little and get the secondary water system ready for the year. Water comes back into the canal April 15.
Got the water system checked and ready to go. Can't check for leaks until they put the water in the canal.
It turned out to be a nice day, very cool but the sun was out so not to bad.
 

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
Nice bullets and write up Jim. A suggestion to the novice. Don't apply sprue plate lube, until the first pour. Remove the sprew, but leave the bullets in the mould. Apply the lube to the top of the blocks, hinge pin and underside of sprue plate. This will keep any excess lube out of the cavities. Open mould, to drop bullets and apply lube sparingly, to the mould locator pins and corresponding seats.
 

Ole_270

Well-Known Member
The other Grandson scored today on a Tom with 10" beard. 20 ga Benelli Youth with Federal #5 turkey loads put it right down at about 25 yards. 7th grader.
aOVHyMk.jpg

Big Sis and Dad are hunting on the other place about 12 miles east and haven't seen a thing.
 
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462

California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
Huh? What'd ya' say?

I wear V. A. issued hearing aids.
Those of you who are unfortunate enough to require them may know what I've been experiencing for the last two days. The right aid is working perfectly, but the left side's front microphone is working intermittently to most not, and the condition has become very annoying. My wife came up with one of her better ideas, and said to just remove them and that she would be very patient with me. So here I sit with hearing that's equivalent to having two of Mike Liddel's memory foam pillows covering my ears.

To make matters worse, I had a V. A. hearing exam scheduled for March 20, but the audiology doc called to say it was cancelled, and she wouldn't be making any appointments till at least April 16. I'm calling Monday, anyway.

That we are under house arrest may work in my favor, because I probably won't have to converse with anybody other that my wife and dog.
 

JWFilips

Well-Known Member
Well Not really a fun day...but spent a good portion of it cutting fabric and sewing up face masks! Had to drag out my old sewing machine...Man it is sure harder now to thread the needle then it was a few years ago!
Wife did the pinning and measuring I the sewing. Played with a few designs but on the 5th proto type came up with a winner!
We can't buy them anywhere so you got to make them . Here in PA we are not to leave the house without one! You know you got to follow rules because one could end up dead!
Probably will run with V5 tomorrow and make enough to share with family and friends!
( most stores here will now turn you away if you do not have a face mask!) and well as they should! This is not a joke anymore