bullet diameter question

[Fomdiddle]

I am fairly new to casting. I cast some for my 45 colt from a Lee TL452-230RN from WW and they mike from .442.5 to .443 after water quenching. Isn't that too small? Thanks in advance

[excess650]

If they're only .442" they'll fall through the barrel without touching the rifling. Surely you mean .452"? They should be at least snug going through the cylinder throats, and hopefully, that diameter is larger than the groove diameter of the barrel.

[SP101GUY]

Are you sure that's not a 44 mold? Those are pretty small #'s for a 45 mold.

AJ

[HammerMTB]

I think you need to recheck your data.
I doubt the mold made for .452" boolits is dropping .442"
and it's too big for a .44, which should be .430 or a bit bigger.
Likely just a mike reading error.

[white eagle]

you probably mean .452.-453
I hope .............
otherwise like the others say you got the wrong mold
anyway if they are 452-453
you are rite on the smaller end but
nothing out of cal..

[geargnasher]

I don't know of any mould that would cast .442, the next size down from .45 is .44 (.430ish), he did say 452-230 rn, tumble lube. Either a typo or the measuring instrument is faulty.

My money is on this: They were meaured with digital calipers, not a micrometer, and the calipers weren't zeroed before the meaurement.

A better question is what does the groove diameter and cylinder throats measure?

Gear

[btroj]

Like Gear said, let the gun tell you what size you want. Not a book. Not the instructions from the mold. The gun.
Fit bullet to gun and all is good. Fail at that and risk leading.

[Fomdiddle]

I checked the entire sessions boolits and they average .4435 to.444 with the smallest being .4425. I double checked them with my dial vernier caliper. This is from a Lee 90346 which is advertised as TL452-230 RN. Is is possible that my alloy which is supposed to be all WW is shrinking that much? Fom

[white eagle]

probably the mold is trash
if its supposed to be 45 cal and you are throwing .442
I would do the same with the mold (throw it)
do yourself a favor and buy a good mold

[OLPDon]

Beagle the mould. If unsure of how to do it, then do a search it will give you the info.
Don

[DeanWinchester]

It's your mold, do with it what you like. BUT, if it were me I'd just buy another one if it was in budget. Hang on to the one you have and list it for sale. The cast boolit world is strange place and a .443 boolit may be JUST what someone else needs for that godonlyknows bore they happen to have. You accomplish multiple things, you can certainly recoup your money, be rid of a mold that doesn't work for you, but you can save someone from the cost of a custom mold. Let Lee's mistake make someone else happy.

Just my two cent's, which at current inflation is worth about as much as the Zinc they're made from.

[Fomdiddle]

Thanks for the responses. I thought I might try to lap the mold. I did a search for beagle and it gave me this thread.:???: I am going to dig my gun out and see if even hit the sides or fall through. I haven't slugged a bore so I need to try that too. I have some .490 round balls that I also cast from wheel weights. Would that be OK to slug with? Fom

[MtGun44]

Send that mold back. If it is .010" undersized, it is defective.

Bill

[OLPDon]

Thanks for the responses. I thought I might try to lap the mold. I did a search for beagle and it gave me this thread.:???: I am going to dig my gun out and see if even hit the sides or fall through. I haven't slugged a bore so I need to try that too. I have some .490 round balls that I also cast from wheel weights. Would that be OK to slug with? Fom

Here's the link http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=98512&highlight=beagle

After you get the tape get a large roll of it. I will see if I can find the web site were I got it. I have found lots of other uses for it great for repairs shim tighten up loose rails ect. It is called I beleive 300 or 600 mile n hour tape (temp. repair of aircraft) Best of luck
Don

Did a quick search found name of tape 3M® ScotchTM Aluminum Foil Tape 425
also don't recall what I paid for it but it has become quite useful for lots of fixes great stuff.

[pls1911]

Send it back for replacement ... it should have never left the factory, and is very indicative of Lee's lack of quality control processes.

It's strange that I don't hear the same issues about the six cavity Lee molds.

Ranch Dog molds, which are made to order by Lee, also don't have the problems, inasmuch as Michael is very careful about any product he handles, and performs sampling QC for each lot of molds he recieves.... something Lee should do before they leave the factory.

[Fomdiddle]

Thanks for the link OlpDon. I believe I will try that before lapping. .008 seems like a lot to me. I may send the mold back. Fom

[Fomdiddle]

pls1911 I know I have several RD molds. Fom

[Down South]

You mentioned that you were somewhat new to casting. My questions are, Has the mould been cleaned and prepped? Are you getting good fill out on your boolits? What did you use to measure the booilts diameters with and are you sure that it is accurate?
I would be hard for me to believe that any mold manufacture would send a mold out that much undersized.

Can you post a picture of the boolits?

[rintinglen]

Send it back! I ran into a similar problem with a Lee 45-250 mold that also cast 7-10 thousandths undersize. After fiddling around with it for a couple of casting sessions and finally deciding to lap it larger, my advice is return it. You can fix it, I did, but I don't have enough time to cast with my good molds to waste time on a lame one.
What your time is most enjoyably spent on, well, that's your call. My wife asks me why I bother to cast at all. I say, "It's fun," she rolls her eyes.

[Fomdiddle]

It is fun. I will take some pics of the boolits. They look great but just measure small. I have this mold traded to another member who will either confirm my findings or not. Fom

[Fomdiddle]

I must admit my mistake. I didn't realize only the bottom band would be full size on the TL molds. I was measuring the TL grooves. So sorry. Bill

[OLPDon]

I must admit my mistake. I didn't realize only the bottom band would be full size on the TL molds. I was measuring the TL grooves. So sorry. Bill

For your pennance Make 50 Boolits and a Good Act of Sending Several to each who replyed, you shall be forgiven.

You did the right thing to ask for help on this forum, the knowledge on this forum is vast.. More important all are friendly as A Band of Brothers.

One thing to keep in mind is if you make a change make sure it can be undone.
Hope you didn't lap the mould.

Keep us informed on how the Boolits work
Don

[Fomdiddle]

I traded the mold to Dean Winchester and he helped me to discover what I had done. I would rather have the SWC mold anyway for my revolver and the RN should feed better in his ACp so win win situation.

[fredj338]

Send that mold back. If it is .010" undersized, it is defective.

Bill
I totally agree, THat is ridiculous, then again, it is a Lee mold.:takinWiz:

[redhawk44]

If one were going to cast a .45 cal bullet with the intentions of paper patching it. what would the approximate diameter be?

[Moonie]

If one were going to cast a .45 cal bullet with the intentions of paper patching it. what would the approximate diameter be?

Generally you want bore diameter +.001 and patch up to groove diameter +.001.

You need the cast diameter large enough for the rifling to cut all the way through the patch so you get confetti out of the barrel.

That is the theory anyway.