How to cure my undersized 311466?

[cropcirclewalker]

I have been looking long and hard for a Lyman 311466. I finally scored one and discovered that maybe it had some rust inside the cavity which made the surface of the boolit look sort of like it was frosted. (Not from high temp)

I miked them and at the seams they come in at .313 .315, but 90 degrees around the boolit they only came in at .308..310.

I took a bronze bore brush, chucked it up in my cordless drill and polished the heck outa the cavities figgering that the rust was making the boolit small.

Now they drop real shiny, but still on the sides around from the seam they are small. .310 My Lyman Cast Boolit information go to sheet

http://www.darkcanyon.net/lymancastbulletinfo.html

says that a 311466 should drop at .313.

I kinda wanted to shoot these in my .303s.

Is this mould a candidate for beagling? Is there another way to round it out?

[KCSO]

I have had pretty good luck with lapping on these. I center drill a bullet from the mould and put in a threaded shank from a wood screw. Coat the bullet with lapping compund and turn the shank with a drill. I used a breast drill with a wig wag setting. That way it laps even in both directions. A little lapping and you should round out and come up by about 1 or 2 thou.

[NVcurmudgeon]

Walker, If your 311466 casts .310 X .315, try sizing it in a .314 lubesizer die.
It may be necessary to pause and hold pressure on the handle for a few seconds before raising the handle to eject the bullet. Often, this will cause the bullet to "bump up" to the diameter of the sizing die. Should help with the out of roundness at the same time. If bumping up doesn't work, Beagling may help, especially if the skinny side is 90 degrees from the mould half parting line. It is not unusual for moulds to not cast exactly as advertised. Tool wear, differences in alloy, temperature cast at, can make a difference.

[Buckshot]

............KSCO mentioned lapping and that can work. Bear in mind that lapping will have a tendancy to blurr the sharp features in the cavity, as these will be most affected by the lapping. Needing a .003" change is a bunch, especially when the cavity is oval.

You'll need to allow the mould blocks to be seperated slightly as there is no way a piece of lead .003" OOR is going to make the transition from .310" to .313" as it rotates in the cavity.

There is a comparatively inexpensive brace as KSCO also mentioned, used for lapping in engine valves. Usually has a rubber cup on the end. When you crank it it rotates back and forth, but the stroke is longer in one direction so it's always advancing around the seat.

Your best bet may be Victory moulds. I know nothing about them other then their moulds are pretty expensive. A member here posted about having an exisitng mould turned true and/or opened up by them. A websearch should turn them up and I'm sure they'd respond to an e-mail. I have no idea what the cost would be but if you've been wanting this design, then whatever they charge might very well be worth it.

The member's post was on the Special Projects forum and had to do with shotgun moulds I believe. There is a sticky on the "Moulds, maintanence and design" forum by Oldfeller on lapping. Best of luck.

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

[Bass Ackward]

Is this mould a candidate for beagling? Is there another way to round it out?



CCW,

My 311466 measues .311 on the base band. You could have a problem with the alignment pins if you are out that far. Look at the alignment holes and see if they are round or appear oblong. If so, then you are going to benifit from a change in pin depth if they aren't too bad. But that is just going to round you out at a smaller diameter. But I would want this right before you begin any lapping.

If this appears to be the problem, say so.

[cropcirclewalker]

Mr. Ackward,

I checked the boolits. The seam on them is visable but only as a line, not with a step. Thus, I conclude that the alignment pins are OK.

I'm thinking I will try some beagling first. I bought the aluminum tape a while back and I just bought some valve lapping compound today.

Yes, Mr. Buckshot, I thought about rotating the elliptically shaped boolit in the mould and it's kinda scary, If I start with the moulds separated, the pins may not be lined up.

Yes, I will try the beagling first.

[SharpsShooter]

I"ll have to ask..what is "beagling"? I may have heard the term somewhere, but what is the process and it's intended end result?

[D.Mack]

Sharpshooter. Go to the top of the page, where it says " Check out the cast bullet articles " ( in bright red) and click on there. D.M.

[SharpsShooter]

Sharpshooter. Go to the top of the page, where it says " Check out the cast bullet articles " ( in bright red) and click on there. D.M.


Thank you Sir. Interesting stuff. I'd have figured shimming would cause finning of the boolit.

[cropcirclewalker]

Yes.

I put on the aluminum tape. It's a double cavity mould.

One thin strip down between the cavities. One thin strip above and below each side of the alignment pins. One side of the mould only (the side with the holes, not the pins)

Now she drops with the diameter at the seam still at .315 but the 90 degree dimension is now like at .312.

No flashing.

Yes, beagling works. [smilie=w:

I suspect that I will use the lapping compound to enlarge a Lee .311 sizing die out to like .313. I previously wrapped a quarter inch dowel with 400 emery paper and sanded the heck out of it to get it to like .3125

I will try to get it enlarged to like a .314

I had a .311 sizing die but bought another one on ebay with some other stuff. Why not grind it out to .314? My first die measures at .3114

I have a micrometer that reads in tenths.