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Yesterday, a friend and I casted a ton of the Lee 12g slugs.
As my mold was starting to get hot, I used a stick of bullet lube to lube the joints and the sprue screw to keep from galling the aluminum mold by the sprue plate.

My friend and fellow handloader said he uses bullet lube to coat his iron molds when he puts them up for storage.
He said he pours lead in the mold as you would to cast a bullet and leaves it in there, then when the mold cools off some, he applies the lube stick to all the outside of the mold and lets it cool completely down. Then puts them into a cabinet for storage.

All his iron molds look great, he said when he is ready to use it again, he sits it on a hot plate and lets the mold warm up and wipes the lube off then lets it come up to temp and starts to cast his bullets....

Hmmmm...I never have done this for storage, but it seems to work by looking at his molds...


Just another idea.....

Don2

I used big kitchen matches for a long time and still do. But the torch method works well...plenty of soot to keep the mold from sticking for a long time.
I usually start with nothing and only use a match or torch if needed. It's not always needed for me.

I have also used a butane lighter...If it works, it works.

Don2

ghostrider wrote:

Depends what you mean by break-in - but iron blocks take longer to heat up than aluminum, so it takes a little longer to throw non-wrinkled bullets. I do what JumpingFrog told me, and that was to buy a single electric hot-plate to rest the blocks on and pre-heat them while the lead is melting down - saves a lot of time.

Rust... iron molds are typically blued, so they don't need a lot of care - just store them away from any humid environments and wipe the outer surfaces with a few drops of oil on a rag once in a while.

good info, thanks.
They did take longer to heat up, but the results look good.

I had to grind the Lee handles a bit before they'd fit the RCBS mould, but they work fine.

I have taken a set of large Lee mold handles and put them on a 2 cavity Lyman mold without any problem.
Guess I was just lucky???
But they are kinda strange looking with such long handles and short mold. But they work.

The RCBS and Lee handles fit my hand better than Lyman's handles.????
Don2

MoJo wrote:I don't know about the lead sticking to the outside of the mould blocks. It might work just be careful immersing them into the molten lead. I have gotten to the point that I even do this with my aluminium Lee molds.

By the way, a great way to smoke an aluminum mould is to use an acetylene torch with no oxygen the sooty flame really does the job quickly and efficiently.

I doubt if I will ever dip my molds in the lead, I thought about it some and thought they may warp if not done correctly...whatever that is?
If they get too rusted, I'll just do what I always do...steel wool, lite coat of gun oil or bullet lube.
( I got about 50lbs of bees wax I bought several months ago, going to try making some bullet lube again soon.)
Cool weather in Texas means, casting bullets...then you need plenty of lube.
Plus it's fun.

Don2

MoJo wrote:I don't know about the lead sticking to the outside of the mould blocks. It might work just be careful immersing them into the molten lead. I have gotten to the point that I even do this with my aluminium Lee molds.

By the way, a great way to smoke an aluminum mould is to use an acetylene torch with no oxygen the sooty flame really does the job quickly and efficiently.

Oh man...I thought I was the only insane person here that did that sort of thing.
One day I was getting stuck bullets in my Lee mold, took out a Bic lighter and smoked it. It wasn't working very well so I took it out of my shop and turned on the Acetylene torch and smoked it pretty well.
That did the trick...Been using that method for a while now and it works very good.

Very good tip..I forgot to mention it.
You're on the ball today.

I just happen to think about using the torch one day when cutting some plate I needed.
You know how much they smoke when you light them up with Acetylene.

Don2

Ps...I kinda got into the habit of leaving bullets in all my molds no matter which ones they are.
Plus you always have a few spares around.

MoJo wrote:FWIW An old bullet caster's trick to prevent interior rust is to leave the mould filled with lead when you are finished casting. It works, I don't know what the reason is. A couple of years ago I dug out a set of mould blocks my father had put away 20+ years ago, the outside was covered by a fine red rust the inside looked as good as new.

You beat me to it.....
Thats what I was planning to say.
I was told this many years ago and have been doing it without any interior problems.
I have had the outsides of metal molds rust some, but it's just a surface rust...and thats been over several years in a uncontrolled climate building.
Lately, my old Lyman molds are kept in an oil wet strip of T-shirt material...it burns off quickly when used. But I don't use them much at all. They are backups.
Even if they get a little surface rust on the outsides, it comes off easily with a little steel wool.
Insides is what I worry about, but the lead bullet inside keeps it safe.
( Pour lead in mold and leave it shut, don't open it. )

Don2

Say MoJo, just had an idea, I wonder if you dipped the whole mold in the hot lead to coat it all over, if that would keep the outside from rusting too????
I'm going to try it next time....Just re-dip it when wanting to use it???????
It works on the inside, why not the outside too? ( ONLY for long tern storage )