Does anyone load for the Mini 14 with the 22 Bator

[brstevns]

I have a Mini 14 with the 1-9 twist and was wanting to try some cast bullets in it. Has anyone tried the Lee 22 cal Bator bullet in it with 4198?

[JIMinPHX]

Not yet. It's on the list of things that I would like to do, but haven't gotten to.

[JIMinPHX]

Are you planning to try it? Do you have any Bators? Do you have 4198?

[Moonie]

Keep in mind that the new style bator's have a nose section that is .226+ rather than the drawings .220. This has caused me issues in my AR-15 and the mold will be going back to Lee to get right.

[brstevns]

I got a bator mold back in Dec. but have not made any from it as yet. Yes I have some 4198

[JIMinPHX]

Mike Venterino wrote an article in Handloader magazine (#120?) a while back that covered cast in the Mini-14. I think that a copy of it is posted here on the board somewhere. I don't remember which boolits or powder he used, but that might be a good place to start. I do remember that he cast his boolits out of linotype at the time.

When you get some boolits cast up, the first thing that you will want to do is make up a few different dummy rounds with the boolit seated to different depths to see what feeds well in your rifle. You will also want to measure the nose diameter of your boolits to see if you got a new style Bator mold or an old one. Did you get a 6-cav mold or a 2-cav mold? I think that all the 6-cav are new style from what I've been hearing.

4198 should be a good powder once you find the right charge weight.

[brstevns]

I got the 2 cavity

[JIMinPHX]

The 2-cav is likely to be the old style. It is likely to work well as long as it feeds in your gun. If you cast from linotype, you should expect good results. If you cast from water dropped WW, you still have a pretty good chance of things working out. Air cooled WW with a GC is about where things start to approach the dividing line. Below that, I would start to expect trouble.

Please let us know how you make out.

Inquiring minds want to know.

[JIMinPHX]

Some interesting reading -
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=89181
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=26232
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=15363

This board's search function can be your friend.

[Moonie]

The 2-cav is likely to be the old style. It is likely to work well as long as it feeds in your gun. If you cast from linotype, you should expect good results. If you cast from water dropped WW, you still have a pretty good chance of things working out. Air cooled WW with a GC is about where things start to approach the dividing line. Below that, I would start to expect trouble.

Please let us know how you make out.

Inquiring minds want to know.

My 6 month old 2 cav is not the same as the drawing, has the stepped gs shank and the nose is .226 instead of the drawings .220.

[brstevns]

My 6 month old 2 cav is not the same as the drawing, has the stepped gs shank and the nose is .226 instead of the drawings .220.

Can I just measure the mold cavity? or is it a must to cast some bullets from it and measure them?

[JIMinPHX]

Can I just measure the mold cavity? or is it a must to cast some bullets from it and measure them?

If you take a look at some of the pictures on page 2 of this thread, you should be able to tell which version you have.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=102228

Keep an eye on that thread if you have a new style mold. I've been fooling around with different ways to make the new version more useful. Preliminary results look good. I should have pictures up soon.