Lee 22 Bator mold caution

[1Shirt]

No problem with mine. Very early 2 cav, and it, casts, checks, sizes, lubes and shoots ok. Not the most accurate of my 22's however.
1Shirt!

[jmh54738]

1shirt, does your early 2 cavity look like the photo provided by Dutch, or is the gc area different?

[phaessler]

No I havent Doc, good thought, never crossed my mind actually, as few of these as I shoot, it would be nice to have them perfect.

Thanks
Pete

[jmh54738]

Leadman, I have the same Lee 44 cal 300 grain bullet mold. As my gaschecks were loose after sizing, I make up a mandrel a couple of thousands larger than the gc area of the mold. With the mandrel in place, I just squeezed the mold shut in a milling machine vise. I am using these bullets at .432 in a 444 Marlin. Tightened up the gc. This bullet has the same undercut in the gc area as my Bator mold.
John

[twotoescharlie]

I also recieved one from midsouth this week. same problem g/c shank about 2 hairs wide, almost nonw existant. shipping back to lee.

TTC

[johnly]

Johnly, be sure to let us know, as you will have the old and the new together in the same place at the same time.
John

Will do. The old mold had delivered some fine accuracy in several of my rifles, which is why I ordered the 6 cavity mold. Assuming the 6 cavity has the same flaw as reported by others, I can send them bullet samples from the good mold.

What is the contact point and address for returning the mold?

John

[jmh54738]

Johnly, sent PM
John

[johnly]

Not good news...

John

[Bullshop]

It looks to me like they just went to a stepped shank.
I even prefer the stepped shank to the straight taper shank.

[stubshaft]

I have one of the last ones produced in their prior run that has the tapered shank. Unlike most of you, the shank on mine is too large for the GC. I was going to send it back but was just waiting until the mould was produced again. Now I wonder if it is even worht it?

[Denver]

Thanks for the heads up on this. I was about to order one to use with my 218 Bee, but was pondering if it might be too heavy. I have an old Winchester model 43 that probably has a 16 inch twist barrel. I don't know if a 55 grain boolit would be stabilized with this twist rate or not.

[Bullshop]

Compare the length of the 22 Bator boolit at 55gn to the length of a 55gn jacketed spitzer bullet. The Bator will be perhaps 25 to 30 % shorter at the same weight.
It is length rather than weight that demands higher rotational velocity to be stable in flight.
I seem to remember but may be wrong in this but I seem to remember the 22 Bator being specifically designed to be stable at subsonic velocities fired from a 1/16" twist.

[felix]

Correct! Bator should be fine in anyone's 16 twist. Wally talked about that with me as one of his intentions for his TC gun with a custom 16 barrel. ... felix

[JIMinPHX]

This picture shows boolits from a 2-cav Bator mold that I got a year or two ago next to a Lyman 225415 that is a little older, but not that much. These boolits shoot well out of a 1:12 twist.

I actually kind of like the looks of that new mold. I kind of half wanted to get a 6-cav now that they are out, but I really could not justify it as I don't shoot them up that fast. A new profile may give me the excuse that I was looking for.

If anybody has one of the new style Bator molds that they want to get rid of, Please PM me rather than sending it back. I'll be happy to give you what you paid for it.

[Denver]

Compare the length of the 22 Bator boolit at 55gn to the length of a 55gn jacketed spitzer bullet. The Bator will be perhaps 25 to 30 % shorter at the same weight.
It is length rather than weight that demands higher rotational velocity to be stable in flight.
I seem to remember but may be wrong in this but I seem to remember the 22 Bator being specifically designed to be stable at subsonic velocities fired from a 1/16" twist.

Thanks for the info Bullshop. Looks like the Bator molds are sold out at Midsouth or they sent them back. I may try one of Ranch Dogs mold that he had made up for use in the 218 Bee. It's a 50 grain and I'm bettin they're on spec.

[Bullshop]

The Ranch Dog design is much like the Bator design in that it has a very compact length to weight. The RD may be even shorter than the bator. I have both but have not YET compared them.
The RD design has the largest meplate of any 22 design I have seen. I can testify as to its effectiveness on at least one coyote that came into hornet range. A 9.5gn charge of H 4227 under the RD boolit planted in the center of the shoulder broadside crumpled the young and too inquisitive song dog.
Another was used on likely my longest shot to date with a hornet at about 200 yards on a crow that lit on a manure pile.
Its funny that our F&G game regs say that there is no closed season on crow but there is no open season on Raven.
In the description section of the book if you look up crow it says " see raven"
and if you look up Raven it says " see crow."
If they land on the manure pile there all crows and susceptible to elimination by hornet.

[6.5 mike]

Try a pp'ed 200 gr in a 30-40 krag hiwall, takes bout 15 minutes for the feathers to quit falling. One was dumb enough to land on the crossrail on the 100 yd range, just couldn't help myself.

[Bullshop]

What a wast!!! I can get 4 lovely little 22's from the same lead.
I do love to see the feathers fly though. 22's dont put on much of a feather show.
On the other hand when I shoot them in a sabot from an 06 at 4000+ fps the feathers do fly.

[6.5 mike]

It was either the krag or a 405 gr pp'ed 45-70 from the sharps, LOL. I always look for one when I have the swift with me but no luck yet .

[telebasher]

It was either the krag or a 405 gr pp'ed 45-70 from the sharps, LOL. I always look for one when I have the swift with me but no luck yet .

Didn't you know crows are psyhic? LOL.