RCBS Mold 22-055-SP diameter problem? Boolits still usable?

[cpy911]

Hi,
I borrowed my friends, RCBS 2-Cavity Bullet Mold 22-055-SP 22 Caliber (225 Diameter) to make a whole bunch of boolits out of WW. When I got done processing them and starting putting the checks on, I noticed only part of the boolit was sizing in my .225" sizer die. I did some measuring and the boolit is mostly .225" sized, but the parting line portion is only about .222 or .223. Now that I have returned the mold and have hundreds of these cast, are they ok to still use? The base measures .225" due to the copper check, but will these lead my barrel?I am not looking for super accuracy, these are for plinking only.

Figuring out what went wrong will be a whole other topic.

Thanks.

[williamwaco]

The only way to know for sure is to try them

Load up not more than 10 and try them
(You don't want a hundred loads you can't use )

[runfiverun]

it'll be similar to a beagled boolit where at least some of the boolit fit's the barrel.
I'd do like William suggests and try a few of them.
grab a handful and weigh out 10 that are the same and give e'm a shot.

[Tatume]

At the same time load an equal number of known-to-be-good bullets for a side-by-side comparison.

[cpy911]

I am going to load a few up and shoot them.

[Gtek]

My brand new 22-55-SP that was on sale just arrived yesterday. Those sure are large blocks for those tiny little cavities, should be interesting finding sweet spot with this one.

[cpy911]

Loaded up qty 10 with the .222" parting line diameter problem and sized to .225". You could see where the sizer touches the boolit and then where it does not.

Anyhow, fired off the 10 rounds and ran a patch through the barrel. I saw no problems. Accuracy was fine for the 9" gong I was shooting at 100yds.
I suppose that I will load up the around 300 pcs I cast. My guess is that since most of the boolit is proper size, having that parting line dimension too small is not making a difference. The gas check might be making a nice seal to prevent leading? The check is right at .225 when sized and crimped on.

Then commenced to fire a bunch boolits my buddy cast. He measures .224" across the parting line and I have shot 100s of those to no ill effect.

[26Charlie]

You haven't said what the load is, or what gun you are shooting them out of. Cast bullets are quite soft compared to jacketed, even of harder alloy mix - it is about like shooting a plug of putty. They slug up and squirt out the barrel - I bet you would find barrel contact marks all around the circumference of the fired bullet. Unless your mix is brittle like pure linotype, I don't think you have to worry about it. With linotype you might get a little gas cutting, emphasis on the might.

[cpy911]

Here are the specs:
Rifle: AR-15 with 16" 1:9 twist barrel
Load: 20.2 gr of IMR 3031 @ about 2000-2200 fps
Lead: Wheel Weights

I usually can get 2-3 MOA with this setup and is fine for a plinking load.


You haven't said what the load is, or what gun you are shooting them out of. Cast bullets are quite soft compared to jacketed, even of harder alloy mix - it is about like shooting a plug of putty. They slug up and squirt out the barrel - I bet you would find barrel contact marks all around the circumference of the fired bullet. Unless your mix is brittle like pure linotype, I don't think you have to worry about it. With linotype you might get a little gas cutting, emphasis on the might.

[cstrickland]

Here are the specs:
Rifle: AR-15 with 16" 1:9 twist barrel
Load: 20.2 gr of IMR 3031 @ about 2000-2200 fps
Lead: Wheel Weights

I usually can get 2-3 MOA with this setup and is fine for a plinking load.

you could also DTPC them as that will add a few thousands to each one, then you could resize back to .225