Mould questions, got 3 in a 'job-lot' to-day.

[Big Bunny]

WELL...Possibly making an error of judgement(yet again)- I bought some lead bullet 'bits and bobs' to-day sight unseen from a club-member to our north. It included Alox, handles and an enclosed type pourer-ladle by RCBS
The trouble is -I don't know what a lot of them are for!

Could a more experierced bullet-maker/moulder please help me? There is no-one locally who casts bullets, but I have just started with an old LEE electric pot and a slug-mould, as well as an old .45 one as well.

Well I hope someone can help and so here goes :-

1] Lyman double 429303AV (steel -Good Condition)Pointed.
2] Lyman " ' " 429348CH (steel- OK " " " )W/Cutter.
3]CBE 431(brass, distorted)3 cavity, SWC.

All are supposed to be for a 44Rem Mag(.42"?).

Other parts included- with no explanation- were:-

Lyman 'H&I' sizing die .429"
" " #303 top "G" punch.
" " #348 ditto .
...all for use on something called a "#450 Sizer-Lubricator"(which I do not have).
Also included was a LEE sizer in red plastic. A sort of tower in two pieces with a 7/8 " press screw-in attachment and a piston inside- which may fit into a shell-holder, maybe in place of a case? IU havn't worked this one out yet.

All the Lyman assessories are new and unused and in their packaging of little clear plastic boxesand a tube and if I cannot use them in the LEE, I would like to donate them to someone who can.

A further query is the fit of the mould halves. The Lyman are excellent to very good when closed and put up to the light after cleaning.
But the CBE is warped and some light can be seen due to(I think) the thinnest parts of the mould touching(the tops of the 3 cavities) - can I 'repair' this mould by e.g. a gentle lapping with a mild polish?

Any and all replies most welcome.

 

[Paul B.]

Big Bunny. I can tell you a little about the Lyman molds. #429303 is a 200 gr. bullet and #429348 is a 180 gr. wadcutter. I have trhe latter mold, and it's been a dog for me. Both bullets are usable in .44 Spl. and .44 Mag. BTW. Lyman molds are made of iron, not steel.
I'd save those sizing dies, as you may want to get the 450 Luber-sizer sometime down the road.
I've never used the Lee sizer systen you described, but from what I understand you mount it in your press and after lubing your bullets in a pan, and "cake cutting" them out of the lube, you size the bullets by running them through the die nose first. (I think that's the way it works.)
I've never used the CBE molds, and know nothing about them. I'd have to see them, before I could advise you on how to fix them, if it is possible.
A little history on #429303. A Carl F. Hudson was the designer. He wanted a bullet that could be used for targets at moderate velocities andalso for great penetration at high velocity. The first edition of the Lyman cast bullet manual has two pages devoted to the bullet. cast of ordinary softness, the picture shows one ragged hole shot at 25 feet. (I think 25 yards would have given a better idea of how good it was. They also show twp pieces of steel plate, one shot with #429303 and the other with a factory .44 Mag. load. The Lyman bullet punched on through, while the factory just put a big dent in the plate. I believe linotype metal was used on the steel plate. It might be an ineresting bullet to play with.
The wadcutter was a jinxed bullet for me. I found it hard to cast well. I don't know why, and it was erratic on targets with unexplained fliers. My .44 Mags would not shoot it at all well, and accuracy in my .44 Spl. was dismal, with unexplained fliers. (The mag looked more like shotgun patterns) Lee has a 208 gr. wadcutter that shot better in my guns.
If you have any more questions, give me a shout. Always glad to help out.
Paul B.

 

[Wild Romanian]

Mould questions, got 3 in a 'job-lot' to-day.

If you are going to get serious about casting sooner or later you will get around to buying a bottom pour 20lb. pot. When I am casting fast i use two pots. As soon as I empty one I fill it up and then start using the other pot. Always turn your mold upside down and press the mold sprue plate against a damp cold rag to help solidify the sprue so you do not smear lead across the top of the mold. If you are casting really fast and the mold overheats you can put it in and out quickly into a plastic milk jug with the top cut off that is filled with hot tap water of at least 120 to 160 degrees temperature of hot water. Be careful do not get any water into the lead pot or it will explode and I do mean explode throwing hot lead in every direction. If you want to increase the brindel hardness of the bullets and at the same time prevent the bullets from being deformed as they drop from the mold, drop the bullets into a bucket of cold water. Again be extremely carful where you set any container of water hot or cold because of the explosion possiblity if the water comes in contact with the lead in the pot. When dipping the mold put in in and out of the pot do not hold the mold underwater because you will cool it down to much. I have never warped a mold using this procedure. You do not need to do this if time is not of the essence. Simply pressing the sprue plate against a wet rag will cool down the sprue plate and sprue so you can open the mold with no lead smears. Eventually the mold will over heat and you will have to set it aside to cool if you do not want to dip it in hot water. Always flux your mix well before casting to mix the tin and lead together. You can use ordinalry parafin for this.
Put the mold on top of the pot as it warms up to melt the lead and your mold will then be preheated so you will not get so many wrinkled bullets. Do not set the mold on the unmelted lead,but put on the side of the top of the pot or straddled across the top of the pot. When storing the mold wait untill it cools down to dead cold and then spray it with WD40 and put it in a plastic bag and then into a G.I. ammo can. You can degrease using carburator fluid or boil it for 40 minutes in hot water and dish water detergent. If you always oil the mold with WD and put it in a plastic bag to prevent the evaporation of the WD you will never have a mold rust on you. Remember the metal in a mold is very soft and is easily rusted or damaged. Never strike the mold with any hard object. Buy yourself a good hammer with phenolic replaceable heads from Brownels to use when you tap the mold handle cross pin to dislodge the spruce and also free the bullets from the mold. Store cast bullets in an old milk jug to prevent oxidation and dust contamination. Use a good grade of bullet lube like 50/50 alox. Hope this helps, W.R.

 

[Big Bunny]

Thanks for the quick replies Paul B and WR, both much appreciated.Facinating stuff on the history of the 2 Lyman moulds too. All the other tips gratefully received.

I have cleaned up the 3 moulds and their plastic boxes now and they look good - except for the brass CBE(Cast Bullet Engineering) mould, which is still warped -but may straighten out when hot [-maybe.]I feel a gentle lap might not go astray, but it must have been really abused to be spoiled like that? I will seek advice from an engineering works locally.

All I need to do now is to replace the 500W electric element on my old LEE 10lb bottom pour leadpot with a new one($7USD) and all is 'go'with a good supply of lead on hand...if I can get it back together....!
Carb or brake cleaner might be OK for degreasing the heavier oil needed for mould preservation in this sub-tropical coastal zone? I may use 'carbon tet' and then alcohol on a cotton bud....

I wonder Paul B.- if the problem wadcutters would be possible to be cast in hardened linotype and [hypothetically] used in a RUGER semi-auto 44mag carbine at low velocity ? I am told the gas system will probably be clogged and the rifling will not 'take' lead projectiles -but I have an article where the author uses lead with few problems in one.

Thanks again.BB.

 

[snuffy]

no H2-0

I for one would never have any water around my lead pot for any reason. A lead plated face, hat, glasses, shirt and the wall behind me taught me that. It's amazing how fast 8 pounds of molten lead was emptied from that pot! Fortunately I wear a full beard most of the year so I only had a few small burns on my cheek bones. A drop of condensation from an overhead cold water pipe was the culprit. W romanian if you have to cool your sprue plate to prevent lead smearing, you are running your lead to hot. A lee bottom pour pot has a thermostat to keep the lead at a steady temp. I use 2 pots also but in a slightly different configuration. I have a 20 pound saeco melter that I use to melt ingots, rejected bullets and sprues. I then have a 1 pound ladle that I transfer the melted, fluxed lead into my lee botom pour pot. That way I can keep casting and not have to wait till the lee melts ingots.

I had the 429303 mould and had a lot of fun with it. I borrowed it to a friend who turned arround and sold it! The way I heard it Hudson wanted a 44 mag bullet that would penetrate 1/4 inch hot rolled steel. For what reason I'll never understand. I never tried to see if it would. It shot really well. I made mine out of linotype, harder that a whores heart! Used them to shoot silhouettes untill we discovered they were cratering the steel.

The lee sizer is made to size bullets after being tumbled in liquid alox, or as Paul said when using a cake cutter. I've been using bullets as cast from a lee 90342 6 cavity mould I just got. A tumble in liquid alox and load them up. They come from the mould real close to .429.

 

[Wild Romanian]

Mould questions, got 3 in a 'job-lot' to-day.

Cast bullets will work in a semi-auto. I fire thousands through semi-auto rifles. Just be sure and use a gas-check type bullet and put the gas check on it. Any type rifling will shoot cast bullets including polygonnal bore type rifling. There are many styles of cast rifle bullets and you may have to find the right style and diameter to make your gun shoot well. Most styles will shoot reasonable well if the diameter of the bullet matches the bore of the barrel. For velocities of around 2,000 fps and faster use a pure lynotype bullet. Any velocity less than 2,000 fps and you do not have to have as hard a bullet. Many of my fiends use pure wheelweights but I usually add a little lynotype to my bullets. It helps them fill out in the mold better. W.R.