RCBS "N/S Skirmish" Boolit in 500 S&W Etc.

[Andy_P]

I'm looking at the RCBS 82166 - an adjustable 50 cal mold, and thinking it might work well in the 50/70, 50/90, 12.7X44R Swedish and even the 500 S&W.

http://media.midwayusa.com/ProductImages/Large/562787.jpg

Now before I take the plunge, does anyone have one? If so, what diameter does it drop at, and what is its adjustment range?

I have succcessfully sized down 0.515" boollits to 0.501" for the 500 S&W (keeping sufficient lube capacity), and as it's plain based, I'd keep pressures down (unless I affixed a gas check after bevelling the base).

[idahoron]

I have that mould. I got it to play with paper patched bullets in my muzzleloader. The hollow base is thin and might not work that great in the 500 S&W. The flat base is an accurate bullet out of my gun but I have not tried it past 50 yards. My rifle seemd to like the larger bullet without the hollow base. Here is a report I wrote a while back after I got the mould it might be of some help. Also in the report I made a comment about needing a lock nut on the adjustment for the base. I added a stainless steel jam nut to lock the screw. That made a huge difference. Ron

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I got my Mould yesterday for the North South skirmish bullet. I decided since I have the week off I would make some bullets today to see how it goes. First off the mould is heavy, and fatigue is a real problem. My arm is sore from holding the mould to pour about 100 bullets.
The mould didn’t come with real good directions for assembly. It was fairly easy to put together but it would have been nice to have better instructions.
The mould comes with two base plugs, a hollow base and a flat base. The mould has two bolts that come up from the bottom to hold the handles on. Also the two bolts hold the base plug plate to the bottom of the mould. Here is a picture of the mould from the bottom and it is closed.
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/northsouthmould1.jpg

Next is the base plate from the bottom open.
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/northsouthmould2.jpg


Next is from the top open.
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/northsouthmould3.jpg


Next is from the front open to see how the base plug sits in there.
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/northsouthmould4.jpg


The set screw for the base plug has a flat screw driver slot in the bottom for adjustment.
I got the mould hot on the kitchen stove first, Then I took it out to pour some bullets. I poured a couple and weighed them. I had to adjust the mould a little longer to get the weight I wanted, 410 grains was the target. Soon I got the mould set and started to make bullets.
The first thing I found was the bolts that hold the handles on need to be tight. They will loosen up as you pour bullets, and change the weight. Another thing I think I will add a lock nut for the adjustment screw. I had it move on me a couple of times. Between the bolts loosening up and the base plug moving it was tough to keep it set.
What I don't like so far. The instructions were poor on setting up the mould. Also I didn't like the adjustment screw how it moved so easy. I will add a lock nut to stop the movement.
What I DID like. The mould after it was set was accurate. It was easy to get within +-.5 grain right out of the mould. Another thing I like is the thickness of the skirt and the depth. It was very easy to wrap the bullet with paper and then push the tail into the base.
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/NorthSouthbullet3.jpg

The bullet is 1.025” long at 410 grains.
The skirt is .090” at the bottom edge.
The diameter is .494 with very soft lead.
The depth of the hollow base was .250

All the measurements of the bullets were very close on the bullets I measured. Uniformity was very good, and. RCBS did an outstanding job making this mould.
The next thing will be to weigh the bullets and make sure they are in the weight range. After that I will wrap them and half will be sized to .501 and the other half will be lubed but not sized, and they measure .505
I hope to be doing some shooting this week with the bullets. Ron

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/Muzzleloaders/4-13-08-F.jpg
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/Muzzleloaders/4-13-08-E.jpg
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/Muzzleloaders/4-13-08-D.jpg

[Andy_P]

Excellent - thanks! This place never ceases to amaze me on how quickly and how well questions get answered.

A couple more about your post:

- did the bullet drop at 0.494" and when patched was made up to 0.505"? If so, since I want 0.502" without patching, I should look at the "520" version (#82170); and

- what do you estimate would be the max weight with the flat base all the way out? Would it hit 600grs?

[idahoron]

The gun I shot them through was a 1-28 twist TC Renegade with a peep sight. I was impressed with the accuracy at 50 and I think with some load tweaking I could see sub 2" groups at 100 yards with a peep sight. When I go out and shoot I document everything even bullet hardness. That way I can remember down the road what i did.
I think 560 gr is about all your going to get. With pure lead you might get 570 maybe. With alloy lead I am thinking you might get .500 dia but not anything over that with MY mould. Each mould is different. I checked a couple that I had on the shelf and some I get ass high as .497 dia.
Have you thought about paper patching up and sizing to .501? It would spring back to about
.502 no lead in the barrel and you could push the velocity zoom zoom. With the guns you are talking about I would be looking at at least 40-1 lead with a paper patch. The bullets I made were actuallyabout 7 BHN on my cabin tree tester. I would think that a starting point with a paper patch would be 40-1 and if you shoot it naked I would go a lot harder. Ron

[Andy_P]

Well now I can say for myself as I bought and tried the RCBS 520 "Skirmish" mold. It drops bullets at about 0.520" and its adjustment range is from about 580 grs (1.300") down to 340 grs (0.865") as shown. It sized down nicely in two stages (0.510" and 0.501") using standard Lee push-through sizers, and the lube grooves being at about 0.450", hold plenty of lube, even after sizing down 0.020". A chamfer of the base cleans up the ragged base that results from all that sizing. As these were designed for paper patching, I expect that the 580 gr might lead the bore due to lack of lube, but will only know by trying. I'll cover them with another coat of "40/40/10/10" (l add 10% beeswax to harden it up) before trying.

P.S. the mold now comes with a "set" nut as idahoron suggested was needed.

http://www.pridham.ca/Skirmish520_580gr_and_340gr_.JPG

[idahoron]

Cool, let me know how it shoots. Ron