.40 caliber RN or Semi-pointed Mould?

[sargenv]

I searched under several things and could not find an answer to my question anywhere. I'm interested in buying (having it made?) a mould for 40 S&W that is either a true Round nose or even a semi-pointed round nose useful for speed feeding into a S&W model 610 for IPSC/USPSA. I am not interested in a RNFP design since I can readily get those.. and I find that they do not drop into the cylinder better than a true round nose.

I currently use a 140 gr RN Moly coated bullet from Bear creek and would likely use a 180 if I could get them locally, but since none are available locally for a good price (the 140's are about $62/k delivered) I've been wondering if there is someone who might be able to make a mould for me. My interest would be something in the 170 - 180 gr range and sized to .401". Since the 610 is built on the 10 mm round, I have an ample space available to seat a semi-pointed bullet. I appreciate any feedback.. I am new to this board but have been on various other boards under the same nickname for years.. I've always thought about casting and I think I may finally get into it with the right reasons.. :)

Thanks!

[RogerWatsonfromIdaho]

sargenv,
Look in the Group Buys section.
See "40sw / 10mm lite HAS ARRIVED!"
It was not the bullet which you want, but it is an example of a group buy where custom bullet moulds were purchased for a group.
Read about group buys and you could post an interest thread about what you want.

I would like a 4 or more cavity iron mould casting a 175-180 grain (from wheelweights) plain base, single round bottom grease groove, round nose bullet for making major power factor in a .40 S&W.

So maybe you could get a group buy going.

Roger

[trickyasafox]

Yea I ran the 40sw / 10mm lite buy- I can say a lot of people wanted a heavier bullet- it might go if you made a thread.

title the thread something like 'interest in 180gr RN for 40sw? and put in a description of what you want. if enough people are interested, you might be able to get the buy going. If your not comfortable running it- someone else might honcho (or run the buy) for you. doesn't hurt to check.

[sargenv]

Thanks, I'll take a look.. I'd be more interested in something other than a RN.. Something more pointed.. Bear creek makes a 170 RN that is elongated and I was hoping to get something like that in a 40 cal, either 175, 180, 190.. etc.. I'm not really going for a mjor pf load, but something for 120 ish pf for ICORE. Heavy bullet, accurate and easy to drop into a cylinder.. I'll take a look at the other string.

[trickyasafox]

stonewall bullet co makes a reasonably priced 180gr really TC 40 cal bullet

http://www.marlinowners.com/forums/index.php/topic,23847.0.html

I've never shot their 40sw stuff- but I have used their 9mm, 38/357, and 45 cal stuff without a hitch. very friendly to deal with.

[sargenv]

Yeah, I don't really want anything with a flat point. Flat points, no matter how small, don't lend themselves to me loading them quickly. I'm trying to slick up my moon clip reloads to under 2 seconds.. if I have to fumble them into the cylinder, that costs me precious time on the clock. If I can't find what I'm looking for, I may as well continue to use the 140 RN's I use now. I know Billy Bullets out of AZ makes a 180 RN, so I know the molds are out there, but likely rare.. and their prices are close to that of jacketed.. so I'm stuck shooting what I have for now.

[jameslovesjammie]

The Lyman 403095 may suit your needs. It looks kind of like a semi-pointed round nose. Was made in 145 and 195 grains. Has lots of bearing surface which should make for an accurate bullet.

Go a little more than half way down the page, in the column second from the right.

http://www.three-peaks.net/bullet_molds.htm

[richbug]

The Lyman 403095 may suit your needs. It looks kind of like a semi-pointed round nose. Was made in 145 and 195 grains. Has lots of bearing surface which should make for an accurate bullet.

Go a little more than half way down the page, in the column second from the right.

http://www.three-peaks.net/bullet_molds.htm


I'd be all over one of those in the 145 grain version for my 610, that bullet screams fast reload.

I'd rather have the heavy one, but don't want the two lube grooves it would entail.

[sargenv]

I knew someone might come up with something from somewhere.. that's pretty much what I'm looking for. Thanks a bunch! Either weight would likely be good... the 195 at major would be a powder puff.. the 145 to minor would be in league with the 140 RN's I'm using now only slicker and faster by a hair. Hmmmmmmmm... :)

Though if the first 3 #'s tells me it's the caliber.. then is it too large? 403 would be .403".. would that be something I could swage/size down?

[45 2.1]

Something to look at:

[sargenv]

Is that a proposed design for 40 cal? Is there a thread started somewhere? That likely would be adequate, but it looks like the current 140 I'm already able to purchase... though it has a true RN as opposed to the very slight flat point on the one I use currently. That pointed one looked slick but appeared to be .403".. Thanks for the input none the less.

[Elk Country]

45 2.1,

If that bullet weighs 200gr. that is the exact bullet i've been trying to find for my 45acp. Do you know where I can find a mold for that bullet?

Thanks,
Elk Country

[richbug]

45 2.1,

If that bullet weighs 200gr. that is the exact bullet i've been trying to find for my 45acp. Do you know where I can find a mold for that bullet?

Thanks,
Elk Country

That picture is a 40 I believe.


45 2.1, can you draw up a bullet with a nose similar to the 40395, but weighing 170-190 grains, single lube groove.

I tried to do it on Mountain's site, but they want a .180 meplate minimum, which defeats the purpose of a slippery 40.

[45 2.1]

Is that a proposed design for 40 cal? Yes Is there a thread started somewhere? No That likely would be adequate, but it looks like the current 140 I'm already able to purchase... though it has a true RN as opposed to the very slight flat point on the one I use currently. That pointed one looked slick but appeared to be .403".. Thanks for the input none the less. I can draw about any configuration and applicable weight relative to the design. Pin it down so you can have a GB

If that bullet weighs 200gr. It doesn't its a 40. that is the exact bullet i've been trying to find for my 45acp. Do you know where I can find a mold for that bullet? See the above statement. You gonna be a Honcho for it?


45 2.1, can you draw up a bullet with a nose similar to the 40395 don't know that boolit. , but weighing 170-190 grains, single lube groove. Sure, provided I have some samples of it.

I tried to do it on Mountain's site, but they want a .180 meplate minimum, which defeats the purpose of a slippery 40. MM specs are a bit lacking in flexibility on quite a few things.

[Scrounger]

I might go for another .40 cal group buy bullet if it was 175 to 180 grains, either pointed like the Buy we just got in or a TC.

[Elk Country]

45 2.1

I may be interested in honchoing (is that a word?) I'm fairly new to Castboolits so I'm just learning the terms on this board.

A few questions first:

What is the role of the honcho?

Is there a minimum number of molds that need to be ordered before we get a new mold made?

Who makes the molds and what are the leade times for completion?

Are the molds 2, 3 4 or 6 cavity?

What is the going rate for GB molds? Does it depend on the number of participants in the GB?


Sorry to be a bother, but I'm just learning about the GB process.

Thanks,
Elk Country

[45 2.1]

I may be interested in honchoing (is that a word?) I'm fairly new to Castboolits so I'm just learning the terms on this board.

A few questions first:

What is the role of the honcho? Collecting money, running the GB, checking molds for dimensional correctness, sending out molds AND putting up with various things that happen when a number of people decide to do something.

Is there a minimum number of molds that need to be ordered before we get a new mold made? Any number of molds can be made, but with Lee, there is a setup fee of $100 (waived when you order 25 or more molds).

Who makes the molds and what are the leade times for completion? Lee at about $65 and 8 months, OWBM at about 2 months and $85 & up for 2 cav., NEI about the same with quality issues

Are the molds 2, 3 4 or 6 cavity? NEI 2 to four cavity, OWBM single to four cavity, Lee two or six cavity.

What is the going rate for GB molds? Does it depend on the number of participants in the GB? As above and yes.

[RogerWatsonfromIdaho]

Elk country,

NEI makes "Molds in 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 cavities". Also aluminum or iron.

http://www.neihandtools.com/mold_info.html

Roger

[richbug]

It looks like NEI lists a 205 grain round nose in .401 dia.

http://www.neihandtools.com/catpages/mold_pg8.htm

That is an expensive pill for my cheap self to swallow.

I ordered some tooling to day to try to modify a Lee 401-175-TC. I did some measuring, and am pretty sure I can put a RN on the end of that TC bullet.

[sargenv]

I ordered some tooling to day to try to modify a Lee 401-175-TC. I did some measuring, and am pretty sure I can put a RN on the end of that TC bullet.

That sounds interesting..

I too am brand new to the board and casting in general. I'd thought about swaging bullets to my specs but wondered if casting would be more my speed. Some of those NEI molds look promising though, I think there was a 180 gr RN that they make that would be sufficient. While a 205 would be on the expensive side to shoot, it would certainly kick very lightly loaded to USPSA minor or even major.. and out of my 6.5" 610, it would likely be very light shooting the required 120 ish minor of ICORE.

I was looking at the web site http://www.pauljonesmoulds.com/40_caliber.htm and liked the pointed mold # 40002. If I could get a mould made with that kind of pointed design with a weight between 170 and 190 ish gr, I think that would be the ideal pointed RN bullet for my needs. A single grease groove would be adequate, but since I plan to moly coat them, I'm not sure I even need a grease groove. Thoughts?

[sargenv]

Here are some examples.. The copper coated bullet is actually a 155 gr Hollow based RN made by Berry's. I'd prefer not to have a hollow based projectile so that is the ideal look and shape of a RN for me.

I added the other two pictures to illustrate the 170 gr RN with no grease grooves that I would not mind seeing made into a mold. It is what I call a semi-pointed RN. This one is actually a 358 cal 170 gr RN made by Bear Creek. I thought about having a swage die made to convert that bullet to a .401 cal from .358 but then I'd still have to purchase the bullets first. I really would prefer to cast my own and moly coat them myself. What looks like a crimp groove really isn't. Since this is the only sample I had (since I recently traded a bunch of these away for 158's) I had to pull one, so the groove is actually where I crimped the brass into the bullet. They are normally smooth sided. Thanks for any input.

[45 2.1]

Both of these weigh about 180 gr., but could be trimmed to 170 gr. pretty easily.

[pstew]

It looks like this thread dropped off, but for me, it's a better design than the current 160 gr hollow point. Could this come back to life?

[sargenv]

I kind of let it go by the wayside after buying a custom mold from Veral Smith. It comes out at about 185 gr and has a very similar profile to the black colored 358 cal bullet in the picture above. I will see if I can post a picture of the mold and the finished product. Veral made it to drop the boolits at .401" so I need not size them, and they appear to be quite consistent. They are tumble lubed with Johnson Paste wax. They do not like to go too slow and prefer about 750 fps to stabilize from either my 3 7/8" or 6 1/2" 610. I'm currently using a mix of 50 % WW and 50% 92-6-2 for a BHN in the range of 20 ish after a week of curing. Recently I made an alloy of 45% WW, 45% 92-6-2 and 10% range lead that came out to 10 BHN and am getting about a 16 BHN out of that after a week. I have yet to try those out though. The latter allow is what is pictured below.

[pstew]

Those are nice looking bullets. I shot some 175 gr truncated cone bullets I have a mold for, but they are pretty slow on the reloads. (I'm pretty slow on the reloads) I was also getting a lot of bullet pull with .40 SW loads ~ around 170 PF. DO you have any issue, or does the crimp groove prevent that? Looking again, I don't see a crimp groove

[sargenv]

There is no crimp groove.. I size them to .401" and use Johnson paste wax as my lube, and tumble lube at that. I don't experience any bullet jumping the crimp that I can detect and the crimp that I use is a mild roll crimp since I shoot these in a 610.

If I were loading these for my Para P16, I'd put only enough taper crimp on them that I needed for feeding. The Truncated cone bullets I've used (Bear creek) can only be seated to 1.195" MAX or they bind the gun and do not completely go into battery. With these RN boolits, I can seat them out all the way to magazine length minus a few thousanths. I had Veral put the one lube groove in just in case tumble lubing wouldn't work and I had to size and lube them the other way. As it is, I haven't had to do that at all.