Lead Rifle Men

[Pitchy]

Picked up a vintage army man mold and gave it a go, couldn`t get any of the rifles to flow out, tried bullet wheel weight lead and pure lead with no success .
Anyone play with one of these old molds.

[Old No7]

Hello Lenn.

Those are really neat! It's pretty cool that you got them to come out of the mold all painted up like that...

Seriously, I don't cast bullets, but from all the articles or how-to's I've ever read on it, I'd check things like:
Air vents in mold?
Temp of lead?
Temp of mold?
Maybe try pewter?
Can you tip the mold L-R slightly as lead is poured in?
Any burrs in the mold? (can you wire brush them to get the inside surface "slick")

OK, I am out of ideas... Good luck! I hope some bullet casters chime in to help you.

Old No7

[gamekeeper]

That's cool Lenn I hope you get them right soon but at least the casualties can go back in the pot.

[Pitchy]

Thanks fellers, been sick for two weeks so something to do.
Tried everything seems like the lead should be thinner but i don`t remember how to do that.

[Trailboss]

Thanks fellers, been sick for two weeks so something to do.
Tried everything seems like the lead should be thinner but i don`t remember how to do that.

Pitchy, I suspect that your mold is not warm enough when you pour the lead in. This results in the heat from the lead being siphoned off before the rifle cavity is filled. Maybe set up a burner to rest the mold on while you're getting the next pour ready.

[Pitchy]

Thanks fellers, been sick for two weeks so something to do.
Tried everything seems like the lead should be thinner but i don`t remember how to do that.

Pitchy, I suspect that your mold is not warm enough when you pour the lead in. This results in the heat from the lead being siphoned off before the rifle cavity is filled. Maybe set up a burner to rest the mold on while you're getting the next pour ready.

Don`t know buddy i set it on top of the melting pot every time, so hot i can`t hold it with gloves on.
It works better than i expected but could be better.

[Leverluver]

I doubt it will ever fill to total perfection unless using one of the (perfect filling) alloys such as linotype.

[jnyork]

What a great old relic, those are WWI soldiers so mold is likely about 100 years old.

[black river smith]

Just a question first. You may have already done these but --- Did you soak the mold or wash the mold in acetone to remove any preserving oils? Did you soot the mold with wood matches or butane lighters? If you did all the above like for normal bullet molds then only one more possibility.

Can you add some 'tin' to your lead to make it flow better?

[Rockrat]

A bit of tin , maybe 1% should help and I believe you need the mould hotter. Just like with boolits, a too cool mould will give incomplete fillout and wrinkles.

[EdinCT]

Pitchy, I agree a little tin will help. I also clean my molds and put them in a toaster oven at 400 degrees while my pot is melting.

[Ysabel Kid]

So very cool!

[Old No7]

So very HOT!

There, I fixed it for ya Jay!

Old No7

[Glenn]

Pitchy, I'd say you need more heat and tin. A fellow I worked with years ago made a lot of lead soldiers and said the only thing that worked was lead/tin. Of course he was bending the soldiers into other poses but that's probably a good start.
I see the mold doesn't have handles, so probably should rig some up (piece of cake for you!). It will be WAY too hot for gloves when it's hot enough!
Glenn

[Bill in Oregon]

Hope you can get it sorted, Lenn. The machinegunners look great!
Best book I ever read on WWI was "A Rifleman Went to War," by Herbert McBride. Jeff Cooper often referred to it.

[Pitchy]

Thanks guys i`ll try and find some tin and linotype i do have a handle on the one half.
It doesn`t want to fill in the pads they stand on either i think that side of the mold is cooling when i set it down on a steel plate while filling.
There is no frosting and the detail is perfect it`s just the rifles that won`t fill, i`ll do some more experimenting today thanks for the ideas.

[Pitchy]

Well guys we tried everything suggested and probably cast me and only got one with a rifle.
Gotta give it a rest.

[Ysabel Kid]

So very HOT!

There, I fixed it for ya Jay!

Old No7

[Bill in Oregon]

Lenn, with bullets, sometimes I get better fillout if I cast with the mold further away from the pour spout so the alloy has more of a drop.
May be time to take a break and revisit pop-pop boats, ya think?

[Pitchy]

Ya could be right Bill.

[.45colt]

Don't be deterred You Old Geezer , I'm sure Your going to figure this out ......if the Hostiles don't overrun your position in the mean time.!! BE READY. .

[Trailboss]

This is a casting situation that could benefit from a Centrifugal Casting Machine.

[Pitchy]

Thanks, gave it another try this morn, had to heat on the mold with a propane torch between each pour.
Got some rifles and better detail.
I`m sure my mixture isn`t quite right also.

[black river smith]

Pitchy,

While I can see what you mean by, 'they are not perfect'. It sure looks, like you are making progress towards a completed figurine.
Keep up the experimentation. I just can't believe the people who did this years ago, had this much trouble. But I am not one of those people.

Good luck getting this to a satisfactory end state.

BRS

[Pitchy]

Thanks buddy, i might try setting the molds on a electric hot plate tomorrow but it only heats to degrees so we`ll see.

[Pitchy]

Cast some real nice ones today and made up a box for the whole kit.
Thanks for watching.

[Old No7]

Awesome! Now we can add "perseverance" to all of Pitchy's other positive character traits! (Too many to list! )

Like Churchill said "Never Give In!"

Old No7

[stretch]

RESULT!!!

Very cool!

And to think that back in the day lotsa kids did this.
Kinda normal, in fact.

Nowadays if word got out that the grandkids were casting lead soldiers at your house
you'd have DHHS, the Hazmat folks, etc.. at your door.

-Stretch

[black river smith]

Pitchy,

So, what was the trick/recipe for perfect molds? Just need to 'know' after all your work.

BRS

[Pitchy]

Thanks gents, i found a old instruction sheet on the web that said to use pure lead so tried that again.
Kept the mold reel hot with the small torch and made a tin trough to hold the mold while pouring and got some good results.
Yep persistence pays off most the time.