I cast about 780 .614 round balls yesterday. It also showed on the bullet mold. Instead of trying to get the lead off the old-fashioned way, I decided to use the Bald Eagle ultrasonic cleaner.
I have a 13 liter US cleaner because I reload a lot of brass for those new-fangled cartridge guns. Knowing how good it also works on firearms, I thought I'd give it a try on some bullet molds with hard-to-get-off lead deposits.
Here's the link to the US cleaner.
https://www.grizzly.com/products/Ba...ecision-Instruments-Jewelry-Auto-Parts/BE1233
I used Hornady's cleaning solution for firearms and mixed it 40:1 with water, according to directions. I found that dawn dishwashing detergent and citric acid are great on brass but wanted to use the gun cleaner to see how it worked.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1...cleaner-ultrasonic-firearms-cleaning-solution
I left the molds in the US cleaner for an hour about about 98% of the lead deposits disappeared. The most stubborn lead deposit was around the opening at the top of the mold where the sprue is. You'll see that later.
Here are the before and after photos of the .614 caliber mold.
BEFORE 1: Note the lead deposit toward the bottom of the cavity.
AFTER 1: Note the absence of the lead deposit at the bottom of the cavity.
BEFORE 2:
AFTER 2:
BEFORE 3: Note the specks of lead deposits, mostly on the half that I am holding.
AFTER 3: Note the absence of lead specks.
BEFORE 4: Note the lead deposit around the opening. This was the most stubborn to remove.
AFTER 4: After an hour, about half of the lead deposits remained. I picked at it a little with a sharp awl. I did so very gently to avoid scratching the mold. Then I put the mold back in the cleaner for another hour. This is the final result.
BEFORE 5: Note the arcing lead deposit from the opening of the spru cutter.
AFTER 5: Lead deposit all gone.
I'm probably at the limit for photos on this thread. I'll try to get Part 2 of this subject up as soon as I can.
Link to Part 2:
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/ultrasonic-cleaning-of-bullet-molds-part-2.113858/
I have a 13 liter US cleaner because I reload a lot of brass for those new-fangled cartridge guns. Knowing how good it also works on firearms, I thought I'd give it a try on some bullet molds with hard-to-get-off lead deposits.
Here's the link to the US cleaner.
https://www.grizzly.com/products/Ba...ecision-Instruments-Jewelry-Auto-Parts/BE1233
I used Hornady's cleaning solution for firearms and mixed it 40:1 with water, according to directions. I found that dawn dishwashing detergent and citric acid are great on brass but wanted to use the gun cleaner to see how it worked.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1...cleaner-ultrasonic-firearms-cleaning-solution
I left the molds in the US cleaner for an hour about about 98% of the lead deposits disappeared. The most stubborn lead deposit was around the opening at the top of the mold where the sprue is. You'll see that later.
Here are the before and after photos of the .614 caliber mold.
BEFORE 1: Note the lead deposit toward the bottom of the cavity.
AFTER 1: Note the absence of the lead deposit at the bottom of the cavity.
BEFORE 2:
AFTER 2:
BEFORE 3: Note the specks of lead deposits, mostly on the half that I am holding.
AFTER 3: Note the absence of lead specks.
BEFORE 4: Note the lead deposit around the opening. This was the most stubborn to remove.
AFTER 4: After an hour, about half of the lead deposits remained. I picked at it a little with a sharp awl. I did so very gently to avoid scratching the mold. Then I put the mold back in the cleaner for another hour. This is the final result.
BEFORE 5: Note the arcing lead deposit from the opening of the spru cutter.
AFTER 5: Lead deposit all gone.
I'm probably at the limit for photos on this thread. I'll try to get Part 2 of this subject up as soon as I can.
Link to Part 2:
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/ultrasonic-cleaning-of-bullet-molds-part-2.113858/
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