I have always cast my own bullets and have a fairly good assortment of molds
I am not a purist but I think I may be getting there.
Some of you may remember that a used pistol I bought, a .44 1851 Colt from Euroarms was in extremely good condition but could not be loaded owing to a defect in the cylinder. Finish reaming had not been done and so even bullets of .451 calibre would not fit. I finally bought a replacement cylinder from the Winchester Sutler (Great folks) and am still shooting the pistol.
Anyway this experience lead me to want to know more about the size of the bullets I was trying to use, so I started measuring them, first with a digital caiper and then with a Starret Micrometer. Also bought a scale and started weighing them.
What I learned is that the bullets I get from my molds are consistently larger than the mold marking by about two to three thousandths.
I admit that my caliper and micrometer could be off but the oversize is really not the issue. Of greater concern was that the balls were not of a consistent size. Ball diameter woudl fluxuate during a casting run by about four thosandths. So out of a .451 mold (Lyman) I would get diameters anywhere from .451 to about .455.
This seemed odd so I checked some Hornady .451 that I got with the pistol. Guess what!. They were all over the place too. .449 to .453.
So now I am trying to get scientific.
I made myself a bullet rack with a hole for each bullet as it comes out of the process. I numbered the holes inthe rack so that I know the sequence that the bullets come out of the mold.
I also designed a set of mold handles for my Lyman and Ideal molds that are fitted with a spring that holds them shut. My thought is that perhaps the inconcistency of diameter was coming from minor differences in the pressure I am applying with my hand as the bullet cools in the mold. So the spring applies the same pressure every time. I don't know if it is the right pressure, but at least it is the same pressure.
Here are the results.
I have two .454 round ball molds
One is a Lee with the handles that are not spring loaded.
The other is an Ideal which is fitted to the new spring loaded handles.
I cast runs of 42 balls.
From the Lee with non springloaded handles I begin to get consistent castings after about half a dozen balls. They start at about .455 with excessive defects and by the seventh or eight bullet they are up to .457 average diameter. The come out plus or minus 1 one thousandth so I get balls as low as .456 and as high .458.
From the Ideal mold I get good castings after about 15 balls. From then on the diameter of the balls fluxuates no more than 2 ten thousandths.
I don't know if the consistency is coming from the more consistent pressure of the spring loaded mold or from the fact that the Ideal mold is made of steel and the Lee is made of aluminum. But I can say this. When I used the .454 Ideal mold with standard handles I was getting the same amount of variation as I got from the Lee mold. I have a .451 Lyman mold and I got no better consistency with standard handles.
It took me about four hours to make these spring loaded handles and they do not fit my Lee molds.
Any comments?
I am not a purist but I think I may be getting there.
Some of you may remember that a used pistol I bought, a .44 1851 Colt from Euroarms was in extremely good condition but could not be loaded owing to a defect in the cylinder. Finish reaming had not been done and so even bullets of .451 calibre would not fit. I finally bought a replacement cylinder from the Winchester Sutler (Great folks) and am still shooting the pistol.
Anyway this experience lead me to want to know more about the size of the bullets I was trying to use, so I started measuring them, first with a digital caiper and then with a Starret Micrometer. Also bought a scale and started weighing them.
What I learned is that the bullets I get from my molds are consistently larger than the mold marking by about two to three thousandths.
I admit that my caliper and micrometer could be off but the oversize is really not the issue. Of greater concern was that the balls were not of a consistent size. Ball diameter woudl fluxuate during a casting run by about four thosandths. So out of a .451 mold (Lyman) I would get diameters anywhere from .451 to about .455.
This seemed odd so I checked some Hornady .451 that I got with the pistol. Guess what!. They were all over the place too. .449 to .453.
So now I am trying to get scientific.
I made myself a bullet rack with a hole for each bullet as it comes out of the process. I numbered the holes inthe rack so that I know the sequence that the bullets come out of the mold.
I also designed a set of mold handles for my Lyman and Ideal molds that are fitted with a spring that holds them shut. My thought is that perhaps the inconcistency of diameter was coming from minor differences in the pressure I am applying with my hand as the bullet cools in the mold. So the spring applies the same pressure every time. I don't know if it is the right pressure, but at least it is the same pressure.
Here are the results.
I have two .454 round ball molds
One is a Lee with the handles that are not spring loaded.
The other is an Ideal which is fitted to the new spring loaded handles.
I cast runs of 42 balls.
From the Lee with non springloaded handles I begin to get consistent castings after about half a dozen balls. They start at about .455 with excessive defects and by the seventh or eight bullet they are up to .457 average diameter. The come out plus or minus 1 one thousandth so I get balls as low as .456 and as high .458.
From the Ideal mold I get good castings after about 15 balls. From then on the diameter of the balls fluxuates no more than 2 ten thousandths.
I don't know if the consistency is coming from the more consistent pressure of the spring loaded mold or from the fact that the Ideal mold is made of steel and the Lee is made of aluminum. But I can say this. When I used the .454 Ideal mold with standard handles I was getting the same amount of variation as I got from the Lee mold. I have a .451 Lyman mold and I got no better consistency with standard handles.
It took me about four hours to make these spring loaded handles and they do not fit my Lee molds.
Any comments?