.45 LC...Starting the bullet into the case.
- Thread starter Doc Hoy
- Start date
Shotgun693
New member
Isn't your bullet a little larger than it needs to be for the bore of that gun? I use either a .451 or .452 and get excellent results.
Shotgun
I am using a Lee .452 mold. 90234. It was actually giving me larger bullets and bullets that were not very round. So I started clamping the mold tightly closed with a hand spring clamp.
Now I get bullets that measure much more consistently and are closer to the marked diameter of the mold.
Perhaps if I were more careful with the metal I am using, I would get better shrinkage and the bullets wold be closer to .452.
I think I recall reading posts from others who say that their bullets come out of the mold a bit larger than the mold is advertised to produce.
I know I have found that to be the case with round balls.
I am using a Lee .452 mold. 90234. It was actually giving me larger bullets and bullets that were not very round. So I started clamping the mold tightly closed with a hand spring clamp.
Now I get bullets that measure much more consistently and are closer to the marked diameter of the mold.
Perhaps if I were more careful with the metal I am using, I would get better shrinkage and the bullets wold be closer to .452.
I think I recall reading posts from others who say that their bullets come out of the mold a bit larger than the mold is advertised to produce.
I know I have found that to be the case with round balls.
Each gun can be a law unto itself. Even identical guns from the same manufacturer can vary some in barrel dimensions. Without slugging the bore of the individual gun, you don't know exactly what the grooove diameter is, and what to size it to for best results. Most feel .001" over groove diameter is best all around.
It sounds like you're on to the molds quirks some, but having round bullets should help. It shouldnt take a clamp to keep the handles together, but if that's what it takes, then who am I to complain?
Do the handles touch when the mould is closed? If so,try clearancing the handles till they don't, it should help if they are touching now. I've seen a few that touched, no good can come of that. The blocks need to be tightly together, not the handles.
Malamute
The handles do not touch. The problem is that I am not very good at applying the same force every time when I hold the molds closed.
Some may say, "You should not have to hold the molds closed."
But I have found this to be the case in every mold I have, be they Lyman, Ideal or Lee.
Some of you may recall a post about two years ago in which I described spring loaded mold handle for my Lyman and Ideal molds. Using these spring loaded handles I cut standard deviation of round ball diameters by more than half. I can easily beat the consistency of Hornady balls.
So when I detected inconsistency in the RNFPs I was casting I naturally looked for a way to hold the molds tightly together with the same force every time. Because of the way Lee molds are put together it is hard to get them apart to change mold handles. And because of the way they close, my spring loaded handle design won't work on them.
So I just use the hand spring clamp (kind of like an oversized clothespin) to hold them closed. The effect is the same as the spring loaded handles on the steel molds. The mold line virtually disappears. And the bullets come out closer to round. Also they are more consistent from slug to slug.
The handles do not touch. The problem is that I am not very good at applying the same force every time when I hold the molds closed.
Some may say, "You should not have to hold the molds closed."
But I have found this to be the case in every mold I have, be they Lyman, Ideal or Lee.
Some of you may recall a post about two years ago in which I described spring loaded mold handle for my Lyman and Ideal molds. Using these spring loaded handles I cut standard deviation of round ball diameters by more than half. I can easily beat the consistency of Hornady balls.
So when I detected inconsistency in the RNFPs I was casting I naturally looked for a way to hold the molds tightly together with the same force every time. Because of the way Lee molds are put together it is hard to get them apart to change mold handles. And because of the way they close, my spring loaded handle design won't work on them.
So I just use the hand spring clamp (kind of like an oversized clothespin) to hold them closed. The effect is the same as the spring loaded handles on the steel molds. The mold line virtually disappears. And the bullets come out closer to round. Also they are more consistent from slug to slug.
There are probably cheaper places but this is where I bought my lanolin.
http://www.nuscentscandle.com/
http://www.nuscentscandle.com/
Clifford L. Hughes
New member
Doc'Hoy:
To solve a problem like yours, for my three Smith & wessons: .45 Colt, .357 Mag and my .44 mag, I loaded my caseings with gas checked bullets minus the gas check. The gas check grove acts as an addiitional lub grove. In addition, it will permit the bullet to be held stright up while it is entering the case.
Semper Fi.
Gunnery Sergeant
Clifford L. Hughes
USMC Retired
To solve a problem like yours, for my three Smith & wessons: .45 Colt, .357 Mag and my .44 mag, I loaded my caseings with gas checked bullets minus the gas check. The gas check grove acts as an addiitional lub grove. In addition, it will permit the bullet to be held stright up while it is entering the case.
Semper Fi.
Gunnery Sergeant
Clifford L. Hughes
USMC Retired