Tried it! I just cut a 1/4" wide strip and laid it across the pin holes and folded the ends over the edge (356402 mold).
I was wondering how often I'd be fussing with the foil trying to get it back in place. The answer was--not once!
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Just wanted to say thank you for this thread. About twelve years ago I looked at a new Marlin 336CB in 38-55. I did not put it down until I had it in my truck, hehehe. Found a double cavity mold on Ebay and figgered I was all set. Also bought brass and a box of .380 bullets (Lasercast). I've finally used up that box of bullets, and last week cast some from that mold. I did not realize, in all those years, that it cast .377/.376 boolits. Really poor accuracy. Dang. Turns out this was originally a .358 mold someone reamed out to .377/290gr and 260 ( more or less). Pondered using a boolit and some kind of abrasive to open the cavities up a little and then ran across this thread. So I tried it. They are coming out at .381 now, no seam crease, no leakage, and a bit heavier boolit, which I like. Have yet to load em up and try em, but I am feeling positive about results. I used an aluminum strip on each half of the mold, between and on both sides of each cavity. What a great idea this was. Thanks again. Just as an aside...I've studied firearms and ammunition for well over fifty years, and still, almost daily, i learn something new, such as Beagling. And the other day, saw in AR a Cooper, double action, percussion 1851 Navy. I did not know that double actions were being made that early....just goes to show, when you think you know even a lot of it, yer still ignerent of some things.
We are all born plum full of ignorance. If we're lucky enough to fill in some of the holes, we are still left with lots more hole than knowledge. One life time isn't near enough, to learn it all.
Thanks to this forum, we can collectively fill a lot of the holes, at the same time.
My 9mil.sized big for a .356 boolit. have to try this out! Thanks!!!!
I tried this technique the other night on my 6 cavity Lee mold and made over 500 bullets. about 2/3rds the way through, the tape below the cavity peeled off. The remaining strips in between the cavities stayed in place, however,and the bullets did not appear to be affected. Anybody have suggestions on how to keep the tape in place? Perhaps I need to wrap the tape around the edges so that it "hugs" the mold? Any suggestions would be helpful.
I tried it, the results convinced me to lap a 44 mold with valve compound.
Glad I did, fits better now.
Tape on one side wasn't enough to get the bands up to throat Dia. so I've added tape to the other side. Since this is a long .225 rifle bullet I'm concerned about the nose being .003+ out of round and the smallest side not coming up to bore ID and thus "sized" going down the bore. But as the old saying goes The proof is in the pudding ie; for you youngsters that =a trip to the range will tell [smilie=1:
I seem to be having a hard time finding the high temp flue tape in my area, will regular HVAC tape hold up for this process?
Also nothing local for me. Found some brass shim stock at hobby store. It has no adhesive. Might try some high temp silicone?
I beagled another one last night and got the typical, excellent, results.
Do you have an Ace Hardware or Hobby Lobby near you?
I got some copper foil tape which is used for stained glass window crafts at Hobby Lobby
Attachment 127665
This tape is 1.5 mils thick.
I heard, but did not check for aluminum high temperature tape at Ace works also.
Here ya go aluminum foil tape at Home Depot.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Nashua-Tape-1-89-in-x-50-yd-322-Multi-Purpose-HVAC-Foil-Tape-1207792/100030120
Attachment 127694
I use a foil tape from Walmart It is made by 3M , #3311 foil tape . after it gets hot it's hard to get off
That 3M tape is good stuff. A falling limb punched a small hole in my aluminum roof on the shed. Several layers made a temporary patch that held so well, it's still there 8 years later.
I've also beageled 2 moulds with it. They too are still holding after thousands of casts..
Well you guy's stole some of my thunder. Like White Eagle I use regular tin foil. But I use high temp gasket sealer to bind the foil to the mold.
To form the thinnest patch that I can. I will put my peases of foil that have a very lite coating of the gasket sealer on the mold cover the casting face of the mold with saran wrap. Put the mold halves together and place in a vice with pressure on the mold until the sealer is cured.
The foil hasn't come off in 4 or 5 casting sessions.
How thick is that foil tape?
Only the aluminum tape is allowed for duct sealing here, and it's the right stuff for beagling molds.