Nice vid!
What sort of mold were you using? I only have Lee molds. Not the best but inexpensive and cheap to replace. The 2 bullet TL356-124-RN (9mm) crapped out on me after about a thousand rounds when the alignment pins fell out. I tried to drill and thread a screw stop hole but ended up breaking the threading tap in the hole. The alignment-pin-falling-out problem was exacerbated by my striking the sprue plate handle with a wooden stick covered with rubber. If I had to do it again, I would use a gloved hand to open the sprue instead. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that a thousand raps on an aluminum mold is not good. I ended up buying a 6-bullet SWC instead of buying another RN mold because I wasn't thrilled with the accuracy of the round. I opted for the traditional lube groove design just so that I could justify fussing with wax and bullet lubes.
I also picked up an excellent pointer on youtube that made the first drop easier on a 6 banger. If you preheat the sprue plate with a butane torch before pouring your first batch, cutting the sprue is easy. I broke a brand new sprue lever on my first pull before learning that trick.
I tried water quenching and throwing the bullets onto a damp towel before going back to water quenching. I've read articles that talked about water quenching as having no effect on the hardness of the lead so I'm not exactly sold on quenching for that purpose but discovered that by water quenching, you avoid dinging up the bullets when you drop them from the mold. Apparently, the lead is still too soft when you release them from the mold. Water quenching them hardens them quickly and avoids the problem altogether.
Bees wax...after posting my question about BW, I was given about 8 lbs of the stuff from a friend who bought it in another country. I'll have to mix up a batch just to see how it compares against my mixture of parafin and petroleum jelly (60/40).
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Well, I use a pair of 6 cav. Lee molds in 45-200 SWC. Alternating while casting to allow sufficient cooling time. Those aluminum molds get hot and frosty quick!
The 2 molds that I have are ever-so-slightly different, as one of them was new and the other a used gun show find. So I drop onto separate collection boxes.
You started out in much the same way that I did some 30+ years ago. I used a LEE 2 cav. 45-228 RN mold. But that bullet was not so accurate.
Over the years, I used Saeco molds which are wonderful. Then I found an H&G #68/ 6 cav mold. That mold throws great bullets, but it is an endangered species. So I stopped using it.
I always liked the casting qualities of aluminum, so when LEE introduced the 6 cav production molds, I jumped on it. They are cheap and repair parts are easy.
I also liked the cammed sprue cutter.
I used to subscribe to the "harder-is-better" philosophy, but it seems that is not the greatest idea in my case. I used to water quench the bullets and my tests showed that water does make the
alloy harder. But in order to achieve the increased hardness, you need to have a few percent antimony in your mix, or it won't work.
In recent years, commercial casters have started to soften their alloys with the reason being that the bullet would upset better and provide superior bore obturation.
So I stopped adding so much lino and stopped quenching too. FYI, the bullet continues to harden post-cast regardless of quenching. It takes about 3 weeks to stabilize.
So the hot tip is to size the bullet as soon as possible while it is still soft.
Now with the alloy being a little softer I do notice a little increase in accuracy. The only thing I worry about is meplat deformation as the bullet slams the feed ramp.
I suppose a hard alloy would have less deformation, but I do not know if it makes much difference in the 45.
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