Show & Tell

[BABore]

I figured I'd do a little show and tell of a couple of new moulds I had made at Mnt. Molds.

http://www.hunt101.com/img/370312.JPG

Both are poured from straight WW's at 700 F then oven heat treated. The moulds are both 2-cavity iron. While a bit heavy they casted beautiful bullets right out of the box.

The 480 Ruger is sized to my SRH's throats and has been delivering outstanding accuracy at 1,250-1,300 fps. I made the nose longer to use up some of the available cylinder space and increase case capacity. The loaded round has to be pushed in the last 0.080" as it's a snug fit in the throats. The meplat is 70%.

The 450 Marlin has yet to be fired. Just got it a week ago. Tomorrow I'll be working up loads. Planning to shoot for 1,700 to 1,800 fps in my guide gun using Hodgdon H322 and Federal 210M's. A dummy round shows the bullet's nose engraving for approximately 0.075" when chambered. Smooth loading and cycling, hope it shoots as well.

[bisley45]

very nice cant wate to do some casting of my own I like the boolt designs alot

[Dale53]

I REALLY like the bullet designs. I wonder if the .462/420 would function in the Marlin .45/70? In other words, wonder if it would exceed the allowable overall length for the Marlin .45/70.

I would like one exactly like yours (if it'll work) and it would also be nice to see a 350 grain in the same design....

If you could tell us the "nose length" (the length ahead of the crimping groove) we could figure ourselves if it would or would not be "overlong".

Dale53

[BABore]

The 462-420 is designed for my Marlin 1895M. Here's the specs.

420 gr from WW's
As cast Dia.: 0.462"
Front Band Dia.: 0.452"
Front Band Length: 0.200"
Nose Length: 0.425"
Crimp Groove: 0.045" long
GC Shank: 0.110" long, 0.425 step shank for Hornady/Gator
G to B Ratio: 0.7
Meplat: 74%
Body Bands: (2) 0.15" long
OAL: 0.975" w/o GC

I did a chamber cast of my Marlin prior to designing it. I also mocked up a dummy slug to try for cycling. The 450 Marlin usually has a decent throat. The 1895 45/70's sometimes do and sometimes don't.

[The Nyack Kid]

ahh the satisfation of having your brain-child come to life.
just wait till you kill something with it you be so proud you'll bout bust.

.425 nose length is about standard for 45-70 lever-action OAL it sould feel with out a hitch , weather it chambers is another story.

[Frank46]

Yeah I hope it chambers in a 45-70. With my ruger #1 and its non-esistent throat forget about it. With remington 300 gr j-word bullets I can only seat out the bullet even with the bottom of the cannelure exposed. Frank

[Dale53]

Babore;
Thanks for the data. I have saved that. Now, if I can somehow come up with a few sample bullets, I could determine if they would work in my Marlin 1895 and my Ruger #3.

Regardless, you should be extremely happy. Looking at those bullets, I will tell you that they will work on game just fine. I have shot all of my deer with handguns (one or the other of my .44 magnum revolvers) and your bullets will DEFINITELY do the job. Handgun bullets have definite power limitations (I am thinking particularly of the .44 magnum, for instance). I am leery of expanding bullets with this power limitation. I want COMPLETE penetration from any direction. However, the Marlin .450 and .45/70 do not have the same power limitation and can properly utilize an expanding bullet. I have no personal experience with the Ruger .480 but suspect it can use some expansion, also.

I would try the old "soft nose" plan with the .450 bullet. I am thinking of the old trick of floating an empty dipper on the surface of the molten metal, dropping a round ball of the desired size (say, .45) into the dipper, when it melts completely, pour into a HOT mould then immediately fill the mould on top of the pure lead, with your desired hard metal. This should make a really top notch game bullet.

The particular pure lead round ball you choose, will allow you to completely control the amount of pure lead in the nose of the bullet.

Dale53

[Beau Cassidy]

56.0 or so of H-322 should do you right. I have found it to be exceptional in the .450. You also might want to try Benchmark. Don't remember the charges off hand. Don't know how much you have loaded for your .450 but it becomes pretty rough off the bench after 1800FPS. I have found it to be a fairly accurate round.

Beau

[BABore]

56.0 or so of H-322 should do you right. I have found it to be exceptional in the .450. You also might want to try Benchmark. Don't remember the charges off hand. Don't know how much you have loaded for your .450 but it becomes pretty rough off the bench after 1800FPS. I have found it to be a fairly accurate round.

Beau


56.0 grs of H322 is 4 grains over max with a 400 gr Speer jacketed bullet in Hodgdons data. This bullet is very similar to JB Youngs 420 gr Crater Lite. In a previous barrel, replaced due to a bulged chamber, I was loading the Crater Lite to 52.0 grs of H322. Found out this was running much higher than the 43,500 psi pressure rating. Have an internet friend from Tenn. that is getting into commercial big bore reloading. He sent samples into Hodgdon's lab at 51 grs of H322 with Fed210M primers. They were at 47,300 psi, 4,000 psi over. He resubmitted the loads at 48.7 grs and was at 43,200 psi. Be real careful with lever actions and operating pressures in this range. They just do not exhibit typical pressure signs.

I'm working between 45.0 and 48.5 grs of H322 and looking for approx. 1,750 fps. Accuracy is more important to me than and extra 50 or 100 fps.