Custom Sprue Plates

[Wayne S]

After looking at the very large holes in several of my sprue plates got me to wondering, is there anyone that makes custom sprue plates, wouldn't something with a nice small {.075 th .09} be nice for 7 mm & .30 Cal.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Hi, You did not mention which brand molds or designs you are considering to make or have made sprue plates for. For several of my Lyman and RCBS molds that are one and two cavity I made my own, following an article in an NRA loading handbook...out of 3/16th thick aluminum plate. I'm not a machinist, but the plate was cheap and I figured, what the heck..the worst that can happen is I mess up, so I gave it a shot. My "machine shop" consisted of a drill, a set of drill bits, a hack saw, a file, and a counter sink...and determination + patience. As expected, I did mess up a few pieces of plate, but eventually I succeeded. I got better at it as I went along. The sprue plates that made it to the blocks work great with the holes drilled and countersunk to whatever sizes I want(ed). In fact they work better than regular iron/steel plates....and look just like them except for being aluminum. A number of forum members here have done the same thing and if you do a search on the subject you will find a record of their work and related comments, mine included. I would suggest that if possible you also read the original article (might be able to be found with a search) in the NRA literature; it was done by Col. Harrison. the article was titled, "Aluminum Sprue Plate-Rated High. There are also several forum members who do excellent machine work, Buckshot being one of them, and they might/probably would be able to help you with either this project or exactly what you are looking for. Give it a try whichever way you want to go. Good luck and good shooting. LLS

[Wayne S]

L L S,
I did read that article and took an Alum. sprue plate from an NEI mold I had and worked it to fit an RCBS mold.
What I'm interested in now is 1. a couple more for the RCBS molds, maybe one more for a .224 RCBS mold I'm thinking about trying and, 2. 4 cavity Saeco molds.

I lost all my magazines with good info to hurricane Ivan, so I'll start the search
thanks again