What do I tell the mold maker???

[Southern Shooter]

I am planning on ordering a mold for my .454 Casull from Accurate Molds. A two cavity mold with one cavity for a plain-base and one for a gas check bullet. The bullets will be casting 360 grain from wheel weights.

http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_...=45-360C-D.png
http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_...=45-360D-D.png

I have slugged the barrel and all 6 cylinder throats of my Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan .454 Casull. The best I can come up with for the measurements are as follows:

Cylinder Throats: range between .455-.456

Bore: .452

My Question:
What do I tell Accurate Molds, in terms of measurements, that I want my mold to be?? Do I tell them exactly the measurements that I obtained and then they decide how to make the mold?

Thanks

[RobS]

The diameter you need you can specify when you order the mold. The ogive shape, nose length, meplat, boolit weight, drive bands if you prefer something special etc. is something you and Tom can talk about over the emails. If you are set with the above designs then it's just as simple as ordering and specifying boolit diameter and from what alloy you intend to use.

You have fat cylinder throats as well, my 454 Casull SRH has .4555-.4556 with a .452 bore............good job Ruger. If i were you then I would ask for the bullet to cast out at .455, maybe .456 if you like to size down, and then use a .455 sizer to catch any small out of roundness or over cast diameter. He guarantees his molds to cast at or a bit over specified diameter from the alloy of your choice.

[TomAM]

Revolver boolits should be made to fit the cylinder's chamber throats. If the chamber mouths are smaller than the barrel's groove diameter, they need to be enlarged. Obviously not a problem here.

You can never get a perfect fit, especially for 6 different chambers, so you go a bit bigger and they swage to fit when fired. If your biggest chamber is .456, a mold ordered at .456 will fit well since the boolits will be a bit larger than that. But if you plan to use a sizing die, which will be needed for the gas checks, you need to consider what diameter die you can find. You might need to go with a .457 die, but personally, I'd still order a .456 mold.

[Southern Shooter]

Tom,

I did not realize you are on this site. I sent you an e-mail this morning about this issue. Thank you for your guidance!!!!

I am thinking since I don't have any plans to load much more than 1,000 FPS that I may stay with a double cavity, 360 grain, Plain Base...the 45-360-C. So, a .456 mold would be a good choice in this situation?

Thanks

[RobS]

If you are planning on the 45-360 C then the bullet diameter looks like it will depend on your smallest cylinder throat diameter and in your situation according to your meassurements .455. The front drive band above the crimp groove from the looks of the design will probably stick out into the cylinder throats so with your smaller throat diameter at .455 on some of your cyliders you'll play like hell getting a .456 to chamber into those throats especially if it is a harder BHN boolit. A .457 boolit will doubtfully fit when seated in the case; the outside diameter of the brass will be too big and probably hit the chamber walls.

Alloy hardness is also a consideration when looking at sizing dies. A .455 die that sizes an air cooled WW boolit at that diameter will not do the same for a harder antimony alloyed boolit like a water quenched or heat treated WW boolit. I find that there is about a .0008 greater diameter with 45 cal boolits which are water quenched/heat treated at 20+ BHN coming from the same sizing die. Depending on what alloy you are using and method of casting those (air cooled vs water quenched/heat treated) will determine the needed sizing die. I have two different dies for the different alloys I use in my SRH, one sizes my air cooled WW boolits to .455 and a bit smaller die sizes my water quenched WW boolits to the same diameter.

[tommygirlMT]

Order a 456 and get yourself a 456 lubrasizer die and 455 push through press mount Lee style die --- lube them in the 456 die and load them that way and try them in your gun --- if they are too tight to easily chamber them lube in the 456 lubrasizer die and then push them through the 455 press mount die after they have been lubed and load them that way --- better a thous too big then a thous too small especially if you end up buying another gun later which if it ends up having even smaller throats like 453 or something then you just buy another cheap push thorugh die and again push through size them after lubbing them in the 456 lubrasizer die --- I like to set up so lubesizer die just lubes the boolits and hardly size them down at all --- then do the sizing down if need be with push thorugh press die where I have the full leverage of reloading press after they are lubbed --- works much better and doesnt put near as much wear on a lubrasizer

[Heavy lead]

Think about having the boolit cut to .457 and specify maximum nose diameter (the band in front of the crimp groove) be .455, you'll get the best of both worlds, size to .456 and the nose will fit in all the chamber.
Tom has done this on a mould for me (not the same specifications, but the same concept) and it works well.
Wow, them are some huge holes in that gun, my SRH came .451 and I opened it to .4525. Also it has a very short throat, and when I had Tom cut a 300 grain boolit for it the front band was only .5, fits perfect and shoots great.

[TomAM]

Your revolver's chambers have a tapered portion inside that begin at the case mouth location, approx .48" diameter, and tapers to approx .456" diameter, in about 1/8" length. Because of this taper revolvers can have a full diameter driving band north of the crimp groove. Mass produced molds usually have a very narrow front band because the geometry of the taper varies from one revolver to the other, and those molds must fit everything.

If you want a good fit for this cylinder, first decide on the desired boolit diameter. It must be at least .456. The diameter decision will be influenced by what diameter sizer dies are available, and by whether the boolit loaded in a case of the brand you will be using will still chamber. Fat boolits make fat ammo.

Then, you need to find out how far the full diameter bullet body can protrude from the case mouth before it hits the chamber's tapered throat. Some clearance must be considered for dirty chambers, and that's also true when testing if the loaded fat case diameter will fit.

If you find that this outside driving band must be skimpy, say .07" or less, then Heavy lead's solution is a great one. Skimpy bands don't fill out well when casting.

All of this measuring can be done with a boolit OF THE DESIRED DIAMETER, loaded backwards to test front band width.

To get a test boolit, obtain the needed sizer die. If you don't have a 45 boolit that's fat enough, set any 45 boolit of the desired alloy nose up on an anvil and tap it with a hammer. Instant fat boolit. Run it through your sizer, and experiment with different loaded depths for fit. A backward loaded boolit is easy to measure.

When ordering a maximum sized band this way, I strongly suggest a shoulder. A tangential ogive does not get out of the way fast enough, and may prevent chambering. "Tangential" noses in my catalog like #45-360C have only .05 front band length, then a taper, before the radius begins. This ensures adequate clearance, but a better fit can be achieved with a measured shoulder. Be sure to add clearance for dirty chambers and diameter variance caused by alloy change as RobS correctly described.

[bigboredad]

remember after all that work to get a bullet to fit your gun you don't want to ruin the bullet by using a crimping die that is not fat enough to keep from swaging it down as you crimp. There are cheapo and easy ways around this as well. I highly recommend Tom's work and is customer service is way beyond anything you are used to to. He will build it right and you will get exactly what you ask for.

[white eagle]

Second that
Have always felt good about Tom's molds
My only problem is I can't make up my mind
but that give others a chance at a good mold
I have some molds of his that will go into the box with me
just to darn good.....
after you get one you will see what I mean
First Rate !!!!
don't get brass once you do its all over .............................

[Southern Shooter]

Well, I placed my order, yesterday. I ordered as I originally planned. A two cavity mold with one cavity for a plain-base and one for a gas check bullet. The bullets will be casting 360 grains from wheel weights. The diameter was set at .456 based on the largest cylinder throat measurements. The two bullets, those listed in the original posting, I hope will meet all my needs from target shooting to woods/mountains defensive purposes.

I am really looking forward to seeing what this Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan can do with these bullets and the right powder. These bullets, at 1,000 - 1,100 FPS, will hopefully prove to be a controllable force to reckon with.

We shall see.

[RobS]

Good to see you have hashed through things; it's been a while in your decision on the mold. With the shorter barrel of the Alaskan, AA#7 is a good option and should work quite well at around 14.5 grains. 2400 and #9 will get you the velocities you are after very comfortably as well but may have more muzzle flash, more so with #9. I think you did well in getting a .456 boolit diameter. Next will be to get yourself a sizing die.