A short while ago we just plain wore out the mold that Gary had made for us to produce .25 slugs for the guys shooting commercial guns. First of all, the mold would have lasted longer but we were pretty hard on it (learning curve stuff, I hope) and even though Gary refurbished it mid-life, it was worn out. We had probably cast somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 slugs through that mold but it would have lasted longer if we had been a bit more tender with it. Well, we're smarter now and we have a new mold made out of iron that will compensate for the extreme use and any remaining lack of skill!

The post office just delivered the new mold today and Chris took it for it's initial casting session. The pictures below show a little roughness to the smooth surface areas that is due to me putting a little drop-out on the mold. I did this to avoid having to tap the mold so much to get it to release during the seasoning process. The slugs will only look better and better as we go.


These are sized to .253.


The same slugs sized to .251.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/2009 02:03AM by Jerry.

the slugs are looks good. when we see this slugs ? want to go shoots. they have very good design. thantks for Gary.

Ali

Hi guys,

Looks like they turned out great. I hope you make a truckload of them.

Was an "interesting" experiment to make the cast iron mold. Hope that will make it a very, very long life mold.

That nine ring ... did you say it came out about 90 grains? .... ... now THAT is gonna leave a mark! hehehe

Good work. Where do I line up to order some?

Gary

Cast iron....

so Gary, did yo cast it, or machine it out of cast iron?

Is cast iron any different to work?

Hello Dan,

Machined out of cast iron billet.

Yeah .... it's grimy, gritty. Machined particles come away as "grit" that turns everything filthy black. But, it takes on a fine grain finish on the surface grinder. Mills decent on the milling machine. Drills and threads well.

It takes a fine definition. It's strong, takes compression well. Used where it doesn't have to flex much.

For molds, it holds heat well - takes a sharp detail. Not alot of fun to work with though.

Gary

What? And here I thought the only reason you even had a shop was that you LIKE to get filthy dirty! OOOPS!

Thanks for the mold Gary, it is going to turn out a bunch of great slugs!

So its a little brittle? which is why it holds crisp edges and such.

Just dont drop it?

When Jerry's around, I keep him busy by dropping stuff. He often gets it before it hits the floor.

Don't drop molds around Jerry though ... he's likely to faint (or punch you). ;?)

No, the cast iron isn't that brittle. It's just not something that will "bend". But, it's very tough. That's why it's suitable for so many tough applications like machine tool frames, engine blocks, etc.

Gary

Don't drop the mold!!!

That looks like a huge batch of dowel pins for assembling swedish puzzle furniture. I guess if you keep adding rings, you'll eventually get to the point where the limiting factor is the slug protruding too far out of the muzzle when it's loaded.