Hollowpointed a Lee 150 single cavity

[45&30-30]

I am new to the lathe, so be kind, but here is what I did...

I have had this idea for about 8 years now and finally have had the time and some of the equipment to do it. I included a few pictures and a short video.

The C bracket mounted at the pivot point is 1095 I cut out with a hacksaw, drilled in the milling attachment on the lathe and heat treated with a propane torch and water. The base that holds the hollowpoint pin is aluminum. I used a tap that came with the lathe accesories for the screw hole. I filed three sides with a file. They turned out well. I had destroyed a 65 dollar bit a couple of nights before trying to learn how to mill, I didn't want to destroy the other one I had. A friend showed me how to use the 4 jaw chuck with a lathe bit to turn the other side. The flat that holds the pin was, lapped? Not sure of the term to use but anyway I put a piece of wet dry sand paper on a piece of glass and sanded the bottom.

I turned the hollowpoint pin from a large nail and was my first attempt at making threads. I read the tap and it said 10-24 NC. I thought ten was the threads and 24 the gear on my machine. :oops: I thought I was doing something wrong with the machine till above mentioned friend told me 24 was the thread count. [smilie=1: Hmm. Now I know what thread count is. So I've got that going for me, which is nice. The taper on the pin I did like I was using an etch-a-sketch. Three thousands over one thousandths in. It worked. Heat treated the pin with the torch and water dropped.

I made a drilling sleave to place in the cavity for center. All was goin well till I realized something was in the way. The alignment pin.[smilie=b: Well a triangle file and round file took care of that. Part of it is still in place and aids in alignment.

The lip of the hollowpoints are not turning out pretty but I have time to tinker and play with different pins and redrill the hole through the mould. The link to the video is at the bottom of the page.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee323/reo275/Latheandhollowpoint008.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee323/reo275/Latheandhollowpoint016.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee323/reo275/Latheandhollowpoint017.jpg

Link to video: http://s532.photobucket.com/albums/ee323/reo275/?action=view&current=Latheandhollowpoint006.flv

[45&30-30]

By the way the mould was a Lee 309-150F and bullets are dropping at 127.

[copdills]

Very Nice , good work

[45&30-30]

Thank you copdills, it was actually satisfying to see it work before I start to refine it. I am going to have a lot of wrinkles to work out as my skill increases with practice.

[Bret4207]

Hey! That's a nice idea you have there for the HP pin swinger. Good on you! I like it!

[45&30-30]

Thank you Bret4207. I like that name, a "Pin Swinger".

[Buckshot]

...............See, every little mistake is also a learning experience! Due to the vertical alignment pin Lee single and double cavity moulds are the only ones I won't HP. Your HP pin holder block may also serve as an alignment help. That swing down attachment is some pretty fancy thinking.

BTW, probably nothing had to be hardened, especially the HP pin as it's only touching aluminum, but since it probably didn't cost anything there's no problem. To aid in fillout around the nose, make the HP pin a bit smaller in diameter. The has to be a bit of room around it for some lead to cirulate as the cavity fills. If it comes down to a sharp point there will be fill issues.

Get yourself a re-print copy of South Bend's, "How to run a lathe". Lots of good info in it. Your system appears to work well and appears well thought out. Nifty!

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

[45&30-30]

Thank you Buckshot. I will turn that pin down. Having only seen pictures of hollowpoint moulds I really couldn't get the scale down for the pin. I was shooting with a friend today and he pulled out a couple of his late fathers old Ideal and Lyman hollowpoint moulds. I noticed the pins were very small in diameter, even on the 44 bullet. Based on your suggestion, I will visit with him again and get some measurements.

[leftiye]

Your hollow point pin is a little large. I was gonna say that that ought to hurt! BUT I'd just narrow the base of the pin (mouth of the hollow point) enough to get a little thicker rim around the hollow point (turn a shelf there on the pin). This isn't about who's right or wrong as far as I can tell, Buckshot's right that a little more metal there will cast better. I just like a more modern hollow point design I guess. That is, wider at the mouth, tapered, shallower, and with a rounded bottom (again for ease of casting) than the old ones were.

[HotGuns]

Good video. Its a pretty quick way to make a hollowpoint.
Like anything else, it takes a bit of trial and error to get everything right.

I like your hinge arrangement. I may have to make me a mold and try that sometime. I like that much better than the pin that you have to pull.

Thanks for the video. It got me to thinkin....

:drinks:

[45&30-30]

Thank you for the compliments and suggestions. With the design I suppose I could have several pins, since they screw in and out easily. When I get the hollowpoints done, I will consider a Lyman 311440 profile pin for the "swinger".

[Recluse]

Very slick! :drinks:

Has definitely got me thinking like all the others. . .

Excellent job and excellent solution-to-a-problem process.

:coffee:

[45&30-30]

Thanks, Recluse, I can't help but answer someone kind enough to compliment. If ya do something along the lines I did, let us know. There is lots of room for improvement.