Reeder Custom Guns - I know there are not a lot of bullet

casters here. But those of you that do cast, how much, if any frost do you like on your bullets?

I personally want a cast bullet to be just starting to show a bit of frost, not a real shiny bullet nor a heavily frosted one. There is not a thing wrong with either side of what I want a bullet to look like, I have shot lots of both. It's just what I try for.

Just a little something I was looking at today and wondering what others do. Hope the picture will show it.
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frost doesn’t bother me, as long as I’m throwing consistent weights and dimensions.

I really don't give it much thought and I'm not picky about how "pretty" my bullets are. If the base is good I usually shoot it. If I get my alloy right I try to not go too hot on my metal as it takes a moment to solidify. A good iron mold really can get in a groove. I enjoy that.

I never water quench anymore and prefer air cooling.

You really make me want to get after it!

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When I use a harder lead, I let it get hotter before I start pouring, and they seem to cast shinier. I get more frost on heavy bullets like casting 525 grain 510’s as you use lead so fast, it is a little cooler. That’s just what I notice.

generally frosting is an indication of mould temperature, cooler shinier, hotter frostier. I don't have a pot thermometer so I can not tell you within 50 degrees of what I cast at. For my casting and the bullet look that I want I run my alloy and more importantly my mould at a temp that takes 3-4 seconds for the spur to solidify, hollow points a second or two hotter.

I think on your heavier bullets you are pouring more alloy (heat) into the cavities making your mould hotter thus frosting your bullets.

Must be “Too hot”...I would worry they were brittle but I honestly don't see a difference in accuracy. In a perfect world i want no frost at all but i cant prove it matters enough except aesthetically.

I just want them filled out but I’ll let a few nose defects through in the last pot. Even nose defects don’t seem to matter.

never worried about frost. I used to drop my 300 gr. 45's into water and I wanted the mould hot enough that they sizzled when they hit. I still tend to run them hot like that though I haven't tempered any in a long time.

In my simple mind I think I can see a difference between air cooled vs. water dropped bullets. So whether true or imagined I water drop. I am sure that one day I shot a really good group with a water dropped bullet and that is where my confidence is now.

proven by the hardness tester ..

I don’t worry about the frost, I just worry about a good fill out temperature that allows me to cast quick, quality boolits.

MQ1

SEPERATE ALL 9MM BRASS BY HEADSTAMPS. AFTER ALL THESE DECADES I CAN' BE SURE EITHER ONE MAKES ANY REAL DIFFERENCE.

I slow down a little, or change molds. Not that that’s the right way, but that’s what i do.

but it usually takes me months to have the time to sit down and size them. By then they have taken on a grey cast to them. Not shiny anymore. Like people I guess. After a while we are no longer all shiny, but have a grey film covering us, just waiting to be all shiny again.

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