Saving a few pennies....Pics inside

[Ben]

I enjoy shooting all my .30 cal rifles ( about a dozen of them ) with cast bullets. I've noticed a steady climb in gas check prices during the past few months. The $8 gas checks of yesterday are gone....( so is the .32 a gallon gas )

A good bit of my shooting is at 50 yards with my cast bullets , so I've been experimenting with an alternative to gas checks. I took a Lee 312 - 185 RN single cav. mold and removed the gas check from the mold to cast a plain base bullet .

The "as cast" bullet weighs 155 grs. It is a little fat on the nose, but shoots very well for me. The as cast dia. on the driving bands offer all kinds of sizing options.

8 grains of Unique with this bullet in a .308 Win . is a fun and accurate load to shoot.

I've never tried to push these past about 1,100 - 1,200 fps., I figure accuracy would head SOUTH pretty quick.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/8%20mm%20Cast%20Bullets/7878.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/8%20mm%20Cast%20Bullets/7879.jpg

[MT Gianni]

What size bit are you using or are you using a lathe to remove the check indent? Gianni

[Dale53]

Ben;
You may get a surprise if you run this somewhat faster. I make no guarantees, but the schuetzen boys are shooting plain base lead bullets at up to 1550 with precision accuracy at 200 yards. Now, the schuetzen boys "breech seat" for the most part and there is a difference between "fixed" ammo and breech seating but I believe you might do a bit better (higher velocity) if you have a need.

Some of the guys are using "Soft Gas Checks". That is a wax sheet that is pressed over the case mouth which cuts a perfect wax wad. You seat the bullet so it is in contact with the wax wad. It reportedly sweeps the lead from the barrel. It is supposed to pretty much eliminate gas cutting, also.

I have not personally used "Soft Checks" but I have some samples and when I run into the need, I'll give her a try.

Dale53

[Old Ironsights]

From what I understand it's over-pressure/temperature blow-by annealing the lead to the bore anyway. Wax has neither the strength or density to "wipe" lead from the bore - it simply keeps the lead from melting/annealing, just like a check does.

I guess that if your CB is oversize enough that there can not possibly be blowby, then you won't get annealing, so you won't get the leading issues people see when trying to push near-bore-diameter bullets.

My plug nickle's worth...

[Ben]

I think you guys are on to something. The fat nose seems to guarantee good nose alignment in the bore and I'm getting a good gas seal ( based on the accuracy that I'm currently getting )....there seems to be zero leading in my barrels.

Cheap , fun , shooting....

To Gianni:
I didn't use a drill bit, I used the Lathe method to remove the gas check portion of the bullet.

Thanks for all your comments,

Ben

[Antietamgw]

Ben,
I've had the same idea with a couple molds for various reasons. I'd be interested in how you eliminated the GC shank as well - bore it to size or shorten the mold?

[Ben]

I'd think that " Buckshot " could do that for you. Seems simple enough for someone with his talents. Maybe the 2 of you need to get together .

A milling machine will " shave off " the top portion of the mold that has the gas check on it. Of course you'll loose some bullet weight. Mine went from 185 to 156 grains.

Ben

[Antietamgw]

Ben,
Thanks for the info. I have often wondered about modifying molds for various purposes. One is a 2 cavity LBT .332 220 gr. that is just a bit too long to stabilize at the velocities I care to push out of a #8 Ballard, another is an old LEE mold that I'd like to open up the GC shank to make a base band bullet that's about .010 over the the current body size. Like you, I want to experiment with these things without the cost of a custom mold. I don't mind "sacrificing" a LEE single cavity, the LBT is a different story. I want to know that it should work OK before the chips fall. I had figured to just chuck it it a 4 jaw chuck in my lathe. Setup to just face the GC shank off is pretty simple, opening the shank up is trickier, especially with a 2 cavity mold. I'm not a trained machinist, just have a gunsmithing hobby that got out of hand....

[Ben]

Yep.....ruining a $15 mold is one thing.........ruining a $75 mold is quite another proposition.

Good luck on your project(s) , keep us informed as to your progress.

Ben