Tips for HP bullet moulds

[TedH]

The guy in the big brown truck just brought me a new Lyman 330 gr. 45-70 HP mould. This is my first hollow point mould and would like to know about any peculiararities with this mould. I have heard of some folks having problems with them filling out and wanted to get some expert advice before hand.

[Ricochet]

The only problem I've ever run into with it (my first mould) is getting off-center holes in the bullet noses. I think that had to have occurred from opening the mould too soon with the lead still soft, and pulling the hollow point pin to one side. Let 'em harden up a few seconds longer than you think you have to.

[TedH]

I did notice that the pin is not a real snug fit in mine. With the mould closed you can wiggle it back and forth a smidge. Is that normal?

[nighthunter]

Ted .... If you are talking about the Lyman 457122 HP mold you got a good one. Just keep your alloy a little on the soft side and cast with the mold and the pin HOT. I've used this bullet for years and it has accounted for many one shot kills on Pa groundhogs and deer. It is a very good mold and if you have some experience casting regular bullets you will catch on to your HP version very quickly. It is also a very accurate bullet at medium velocities in the 45-70's. But remember that a big HP bullet doesn't have to go that fast to make a one shot kill.
Please keep us posted with your results and experiences.
Nighthunter

[TedH]

How soft do you want them? I have wheelweight alloy and some pure lead. I was going to go with wheelweights air cooled for starters. Should I add some pure lead to the wheelweights?

[Lloyd Smale]

with hp molds i only run one mold to keep it hot run it as fast as i can with the lead temp a little higher then usual. Also about every five bullets dip the hp pin in your lead pot to heat it up. If casting with pure add about 2 percent tin to help fillout. Its not enough to change the hardness of the alloy.

[nighthunter]

Ted .... Half ww and half lead would not be too soft. You won't need a huge batch of alloy. 25 pounds of alloy will make about 500 bullets of 330 grains each. I use plain bullets for most of my practice shooting and save the HP's for hunting. I do shoot some HP's on paper to be sure I'm sighted right. You will figure out what suits you once you get going.
Nighthunter

[vp146b4]

I just bought the Lee 405g HB mold. I'm trying to find a combination of bullets and powders that will work in my Trapdoor at 100yds. With the sallow rifling I will use a pretty soft alloy, I was hoping the hb would work better then a flat base.
Everybody seems to recommend running the Lyman hp mold hotter, what about my Lee aluminum hb mold?
Thanks

[Bent Ramrod]

I find with HP molds it is best to get into a routine where I pull the HP pin out first, then knock the sprue off, then drop the bullet, then reinsert the pin as quickly as possible. This way the bullet is supported in the mold when the pin is withdrawn, reducing the possibility of enlarged or off-center holes. After reinsertion, I wait a couple seconds extra for the mold to reheat the pin before pouring again. I am able to turn the temperature adjustment on the pot back to my solid-bullet setting once the mold is fully up to temperature. If I have to set the pin down, I set it on the wood handle, rather than letting the pin dissipate its heat by touching the table surface. If that happens, I dip it in the lead to reheat it.

I have cast pure lead HP bullets for a cap and ball .44 out of a Lee mold with an integral hollow point pin, and did have to run it hotter than usual, but whether that was because it takes more heat to make pure lead flow or whether the aluminum mold was dissipating the heat faster (or both), I don't know. You have to find the ideal setting by trial and error.

[nighthunter]

Ted .... Talking about your new mold made me check my supply of these bullets and the supply seemed a little low so guess what I did last night. I dug out my mold and fired up the pot. I ended with about 400 beautiful hollow point bullets in about 3 hours. I cast more than that but I am more critical of the bullets in HP style and a few ended up back in the pot.
A couple of things I remembered while using this mold ..... If the front band isn't filling out with good detail you'll have to either cast faster or raise the temperature a tiny bit or a combination of the two. A small amount of tin added to my 50/50 mix helps an awful lot with mold fill out and uniformity.
I hope this helps you.
Nighthunter

[TedH]

Got a nice pile of bullets cast last night. The mould worked great and dropped the bullets easily. Had a couple burrs on the sprue plate that needed a bit of stoning, but the cavity was perfect. Bullets are dropping at 343 grains from straight wheel weights.

nighthunter, do you have a preferred load for this bullet? I tried the LEE 340 gr. mould and could never get that bullet to shoot worth a hoot, but the RCBS 405 GC bullet shoots like a house a fire in my rifle. I'm hoping it's not because of the lighter weight that the LEE won't shoot. Was thinking of loading this new bullet to 1600-1700 fps or do you think that is too fast?

[nighthunter]

Ted ... The speed ain't always the goal. My goal is hitting what I shoot at. What I shoot in benchrest competion is different than what I head to the woods with. With the 457122 mold I have had good luck with 40.0 gr IMR 4198. I shoot it in a Ruger #1 and a Siamese Mauser. It drops deer like a semi on the interstate and will group into 2 1/2 inches at 100 yards. I have loads that group less but velocity is a lot less. Sometimes we have to settle for a sweet spot in between the accuracy and the velocity. I have rifles that will shoot .250 groups at 100 yards but they are not deer rifles in my opinion. I have rifles that on a good day that will shoot 4 inch groups at 100 yards but I have killed a lot of deer with them. I hope you understand where I am going with this. The Lyman 457122 bullet will kill anything you put it into. You just have to hit it in the right spot. There isn't any more magic in cast bullets than there is in jacketed bullets. Cast bullets allow us to become more involved in a sport we love and" for your wife's sake" save a lot of money in the meantime. I've been shooting bullets that I cast for close to 40 years and my wife just laughs at the thought of saveing money because she knows that the money I do save is just going to be spent on something else shooting related. She is a good woman. She has never complained about any money I've spent on shooting or the tools to do it with. But she does know that I am not in bars or chaseing skirts at all hours of the night. She seems to accept this idea more than the idea of saveing money.
Nighthunter

[BruceB]

When I found that $6.00 462560HP mould at the gun show last weekend, it presented me with an opportunity to try making hollowpoints with my speed-casting method.

Using straight wheelweight alloy at 870 degrees, I had no difficulty making consistent HPs.

While the mould is inverted and the sprue is being cooled on the wet pad, the hollowpoint pin is withdrawn and placed to the side in the bullet box. The mould is turned upright, opened and the bullet dropped in the box. The pin is immediately placed in the mould and the next cast is made.

I did find that this mould prefers to be pressure-filled, with the sprue plate firmly against the spout. When the pot is full, there's a distinct "click" felt when the alloy finishes filling the cavity ....sounds funny, I know, but it's true! The mould is then dropped away with the spout still open for a fraction of a second, which allows a good puddle to form on the plate.

How consistent? I weighed a sample of 20 visually-inspected boolits, and found they all fell in a range of 522.2 to 523.4 grains, and gentlemen, a 1.1 grain spread on bullets of this weight is good enough for me.

Sure is nice to have a boolit which has enough diameter to allow sizing to MY choice of dimensions. This one, in WW as mentioned, casts at .462"+/- and that is very nice indeed.

[nighthunter]

BruceB .... Wanna swap a few?
Nighthunter

[BruceB]

Nighthunter, pard;

No need for a swap; just send me a Private Message with your mailing address and I'll get some of these 462560s off to you. Might take a few days to get 'em in the mail, but they will get there.

I expect you'll want them unsized, so you can fix them up at your chosen diameter?

[LET-CA]

Using straight wheelweight alloy at 870 degrees, I had no difficulty making consistent HPs.

While the mould is inverted and the sprue is being cooled on the wet pad, the hollowpoint pin is withdrawn and placed to the side in the bullet box. The mould is turned upright, opened and the bullet dropped in the box. The pin is immediately placed in the mould and the next cast is made.

I did find that this mould prefers to be pressure-filled, with the sprue plate firmly against the spout. When the pot is full, there's a distinct "click" felt when the alloy finishes filling the cavity ....sounds funny, I know, but it's true! The mould is then dropped away with the spout still open for a fraction of a second, which allows a good puddle to form on the plate.


Great tips! I'll give the "pressure fill" a try with my 44 caliber 429640.

[Buckshot]

I just bought the Lee 405g HB mold. I'm trying to find a combination of bullets and powders that will work in my Trapdoor at 100yds. With the sallow rifling I will use a pretty soft alloy, I was hoping the hb would work better then a flat base.
Everybody seems to recommend running the Lyman hp mold hotter, what about my Lee aluminum hb mold?
Thanks


...............First of all welcome to the board! The Lee 405gr HB is highly recommended for the TD. They have a tendancy to run bigger then their plain based 45 cal Lee brethren.

Ditto comments made for the other makers HP or HB moulds, and that is to run them a bit hotter then normal with your Lee. It may be a bit tedious at first to reach an ideal tempurature. Once you find it record it on the mould box for next time. You'll have to check inside the HB to be sure you don't have a void above the HB pin.

Sometimes you'll be able to see the void, or tiny pin hole. Sometimes that little pinhole will hide a cavern inside. Also, when checking if the upper inside doesn't look EXACTLY like it should, probe it with a little jewelers screwdriver or small hexwrench. On occasion a mere skin of lead will hide a hole you could stick a fired 22 case in. If you don't check them you won't have to wonder why that one (or more) boolit hit 4" off yonder from the rest!

You may find you have to cast at a pretty good clip to drop good solid boolits. Lee moulds being what they are are a bit fragile and the HP and HB moulds are even worse. Be sure you keep it lubed, and close the blocks to align over that corepin 'gently'.

................Buckshot

[vp146b4]

Buckshot
Thanks for your thoughts. How much hotter should I cast with my Lee HB mold? I normally cast my Lyman 457191 at around 750. Should I try 775 to 800? I have good luck with 25:1. I think I should go softer because of the HB, but I would hate to use less tin, because I want it to fill out. Your thoughts.

[catboat]

Keep the mould hot, and the hoolow point pin. I have used a coat hanger device to hold the pin in front of a low propane torch flame to heat it up-or to maintain temp while I'm doing something else (when I get out of the sequence of casting. I shoot it in my Marlin 1895 with 13 grains of Unique.

[skullmount]

Whoever invented the "search" function was a very smart person :-D

This thread is what I needed, I just picked up the Lyman 457122 hp, and I have never cast a hp before.

Thanks for sharing your experience!

:drinks:

[IcerUSA]

I'll have to give the pressure pour a try with my HP moulds , the best luck so far has been with a laddle pour . Just seemed to run good with all that hot lead running down the side of the mould . I do use a hot plate to pre-heat the moulds and pin and it still takes a couple pours to get everything to temp but then it works well after that . And thaks BruceB for the pressure pour idea .

Keith

[GLL]

I ladle cast (pressure technique) at a fast pace with hot alloy. My ladle is an RCBS that has been bored out for faster flow. It is a major improvement. I also add 1-2% extra tin for fillout. The key for me is to keep both the mould and the pin hot. Do not spend time examining bullets as you cast.

Jerry

358627 mould modified to HP by Buckshot for .357Maximum:
http://www.fototime.com/764FE0DF38E319D/standard.jpg

[theperfessor]

GLL -

Those are some real pretty boolits. Looks like you got it all figured out! Nice job!

[LET-CA]

Great photography too! I wish I could do either as well.