Lyman, Cast Lead, Bullet-458-535-Postell

[Larbin]

Hi,
I am just getting back into reloading after a 40 year hiatus. A buddy I had in Nam bought me a Browning Miroku, Winchester 1885, Highwall, in 45 70 Govt. caliber, brand new, never been fired, and he then died, hence I am back into this. My question is this...the above bullet...should this thing actually weigh 535 grains? I bought two boxes of bullets from a well known supplier, and after having other problems with seating them I threw some on my Lyman scale...many of them weigh in the neighborhood of about 517 grains, but some of them are as light as 512, and some heavier than 520 grains...what's up?

Thanks

[Djones]

The lower weight could be the mold is just a smaller mold or it could be an alloy that has less lead vs other elements such as antimony it tin. That is a small % of weight difference vs advertised weight. I wouldn't worry at all about the weight.

Got any pics of your bullets?

Welcome to the forum,

David Jones

[littlejack]

Larbin:
Welcome to the CastBoolits sir.
Wow, that sounds to me like the alloy used in casting the boolits was not a consistent mix. The boolits being light in weight,
could be that the alloy could be low in it's pure lead content. Usually, the harder the alloy, the lighter weight boolit it will drop.
There should be others drop by with their opinions.
Are you going to load the Holy Black, or the "passing fad" smokeless.
I just sold my Uberti 1885 Hiwall a few weeks ago. I have some Lyman 457125 Government boolits, cast of 20-1 lead/tin if you
are interested.
Regards
Jack

[country gent]

What dia are they? What inside diameter is your expander making the case mouths? How much are you belling the case mouth? Do you have any fired cases available from this rifle? if so see if one of your bullets will drop in the mouth neck freely to start with before sizing or doing anything else.WIth out the above numbers its hard to help you alot.

[Larbin]

Then the bullets should be 535 grains?

[Larbin]

Will have to figure out how to upload pics to this thing...

[littlejack]

Most of the time, the boolit will NOT drop the exact weight indicated by the manufacturer. The alloy used will have a definite
bearing on the boolit weight. There will be a variance in the cavity dimensions of the mold, depending on if the cherry was new,
used, or badly worn.
My Lyman 500 grain (457125) Government boolits I mentioned earlier, drop at about 522 grains with my alloy.
I do not believe I have one mold that drops as manufacturer states. No big deal.
Jack

[Tom Myers]

Hi,
I am just getting back into reloading after a 40 year hiatus. A buddy I had in Nam bought me a Browning Miroku, Winchester 1885, Highwall, in 45 70 Govt. caliber, brand new, never been fired, and he then died, hence I am back into this. My question is this...the above bullet...should this thing actually weigh 535 grains? I bought two boxes of bullets from a well known supplier, and after having other problems with seating them I threw some on my Lyman scale...many of them weigh in the neighborhood of about 517 grains, but some of them are as light as 512, and some heavier than 520 grains...what's up?

Thanks

Larbin

The castings from my Lyman Postel mold in 1/20 Tin:Lead alloy weigh 532 grains +- 1 grain.
If they were to be cast with Lyman #2 alloy the castings would weigh 115 grains.
It appears that you have some hard cast bullets that were poorly cast.

http://www.tmtpages.com/LinkSkyImages/Postel/Lyman_Mold_457132(New).png

http://www.tmtpages.com/LinkSkyImages/Postel/Lyman_Mold_457132(New).Sket.png

http://www.tmtpages.com/LinkSkyImages/Postel/Lyman_Mold_457132(New).Data.png

[Larbin]

Just Black Powder!

[nagantguy]

Welcome responses here can be overwhelming can't they? You came to the right place. If the good folk here at cast boolits can't get that old 45-70 shooting like a dream and the boolits dropping round and consistent from the mold than it just can't be done.

[littlejack]

You mentioned "Having other problems seating them".
Could you elaborate on that some. The small difference in boolit weight should not make any difference in seating the
boolits.
Do NOT compress the powder charge, with the boolit, while seating the boolit.
This is the first thing that came to mind, when you mentioned "seating problems".
What exactly are you having problems with?
If you expound on what is happening, or not happening, the members can be of more help solving the problem.
Jack