RCBS .475 mold question.

[doghawg]

The picture of this bullet makes it look like a very small meplat. Pictures of the mold itself make the flat look a little better. I want this for a 1200 fps hunting bullet and have no interest in what might be only a little better than a RN. Do any of you folks have this mold? What is the approximate size of the meplat? Opinions on the mold? Thanks

[Mack Heath]

0.330"

Nice mould. Makes very nice bullets.

[Heavy lead]

They shoot great too, only wish it were a two cavity instead of a one. Meplat is plenty big enough to do what you need to do.

[Tom W.]

I have one, and the bullets shoot just fine...they were very accurate from my SRH...

[Lloyd Smale]

shot a couple pigs and a deer or two with that bullet and it has allways worked great.

[44man]

.330 is a good meplat, one of my boolits has a little smaller then that and let me tell you, it thumps anything shot with it.
There just ain't no flies on the .475! :Fire:
My suggestion is to work for an accurate load no matter what velocity you wind up with. I think you will find it is best around 1330 fps or so. You will not notice much difference in recoil.
I use 26.5 gr of 296 and the Fed 155 primer for 400 gr boolits. If you work up to see what your boolit will do instead of trying to stay at 1200 fps, you will be amazed at how accurate it is. It will give you the confidence in the field needed for hunting.
I shoot a lot of paper for testing but would rather shoot cans at 100 or 200 yards for fun and practice. The .475 will outshoot a lot of deer rifles and the only reason I want accuracy above all---is for hunting.
Never say "it is only for deer."

[doghawg]

I dug up this old thread to report that I'm happy with this RCBS mold. With a 4 to 1 mix of WW to lino the bullets weigh 402 gr. with a dia. of .4765 to .477. This was my first attempt at ladle casting which produced much better results than bottom poured for me. Haven't loaded or fired any yet but hope to thump a whitetail with these loaded to about 1100 fps this fall.....

[44man]

I dug up this old thread to report that I'm happy with this RCBS mold. With a 4 to 1 mix of WW to lino the bullets weigh 402 gr. with a dia. of .4765 to .477. This was my first attempt at ladle casting which produced much better results than bottom poured for me. Haven't loaded or fired any yet but hope to thump a whitetail with these loaded to about 1100 fps this fall.....
Jump up to cast boolits and watch the video we made with my .475 WFN (Well almost a WFN.) about a .365-.370 meplat, on water jugs for fun.
I have shot a lot of deer with various boolits in the .475, just nothing like it! :drinks:
That RCBS boolit will do the same. It went through all 14 gallon jugs too.

[doghawg]

44man

Yep...saw the video and found it impressive. I would probably have been happier with the RCBS if it had a wider meplat....maybe a .380" or so...but at BHN of 14 or 15 the bullet nose will probably expand some on impact. I'm guessing no deer or black bear would ever be able to tell the difference anyway.

Now I need to solve another problem.......A .477" unsized bullet will not fully chamber in my BFR when seated in .475 brass. Using .480 brass would be one solution.... Or having Lee make a custom .476 push through sizer......Or getting ahold of Lathesmith and get a sizer for the Star which would eliminate the handlubing....Decisions....

[44man]

44man

Yep...saw the video and found it impressive. I would probably have been happier with the RCBS if it had a wider meplat....maybe a .380" or so...but at BHN of 14 or 15 the bullet nose will probably expand some on impact. I'm guessing no deer or black bear would ever be able to tell the difference anyway.

Now I need to solve another problem.......A .477" unsized bullet will not fully chamber in my BFR when seated in .475 brass. Using .480 brass would be one solution.... Or having Lee make a custom .476 push through sizer......Or getting ahold of Lathesmith and get a sizer for the Star which would eliminate the handlubing....Decisions....
I had Lee make me one at .476. It is cheap and works great. Make sure you check the size of a Boolit, Lee can get it wrong and make the boolit too small, it might need lapped.
For some reason I never got .480 brass to shoot accurate from my BFR.
Believe it or not I have made a few size dies from BRASS on my lathe for softer boolits used in the BPCR. They do not size much and have worked for years.
It is quite surprising to see 4 jugs explode! :cbpour:I have to wonder how many deer I could line up, end the season in one day! [smilie=w::bigsmyl2:
Naw, I like to hunt too much.

[cajun shooter]

Go with the die for the Star by Lathesmith. I respect 44 Man a lot and he knows of what he speaks. But the Lee die has a very small sizing band to where the Star die is made to perfect dimensions by Chris and it will give you a concentric slug to load and shoot.

[44man]

Go with the die for the Star by Lathesmith. I respect 44 Man a lot and he knows of what he speaks. But the Lee die has a very small sizing band to where the Star die is made to perfect dimensions by Chris and it will give you a concentric slug to load and shoot.
A good way to go too, I just can't afford a Star.
I will say one thing about the Lee, it is hands down better then my RCBS or Lyman that can't turn out a round boolit no matter what.