[Pintail]

If your weights come out too soft, you can toss in a few clean wheel weights with the melted lead in your pot. The wheel weights will stiffen up the pure lead. If you start to have problems with the weights hanging up in the mould, take a big candle and trim the wax till the wick is long. light the candle and allow the smoke to soot the mould cavity till its black. The lead will not stick fast to the soot.

 

[Rem Mag]

I see what you mean by mushroom .....this is actually what I thought were mushroom weights, and these are usually soft to mold around the keel......always new stuff to learn..