HP'ing Your Own Mold without a Full Machine Shop

[Boogieman]

Great post, but I've got to ask how many molds did you send to the bone yard? I killed two this past year both 30calls

None this was my first try. Did a 252 Lee SC for my 45Colt SA but haven't loaded any yet It came out better maybe because I hadn't "improved " it before hollow pointing

[pra2]

Very nice write up. I am going to try,but I have a question.
Mold is lee TL452-200-swc. The brass bearing is to long to be flush with mold block. Do you guys cut your brass bearing down length wise or what? What size drill bit are you using?

[petroid]

Tried it. Mediocre results. Firstly, I didn't get the hole centered. And my HP pin doesn't have an even bevel but that can be fixed. Hard to keep the HP pin hot.Attachment 107352Attachment 107353Attachment 107354Attachment 107355

Edit
Shot some today. Accuracy on par with the parent bullet at least considering my skills. I'm shooting a 3" XD40 so sighting is tough at 50 feet but they grouped more or less the same with approximately the same poi so next step is terminal ballistics testing

[petroid]

Update! Cast few from SOWW. PC with HF red. Loaded and shot at 950fps into sand. Here are the results

I'm grinning from ear to ear!

[500MAG]

Update! Cast few from SOWW. PC with HF red. Loaded and shot at 950fps into sand. Here are the resultsAttachment 108542
I'm grinning from ear to ear!

attachment not working for me

[petroid]

try again. I had to reupload the pic. works on my pc and phone so i think it should work

[Michael J. Spangler]

wow i really need to find a range that will let me shoot bullets at things other than paper.
i need to see some of my HPs after they hit some water.
awesome pics!

[petroid]

wow i really need to find a range that will let me shoot bullets at things other than paper.
i need to see some of my HPs after they hit some water.
awesome pics!

I just made a bullet trap in my garage. One five gal bucket of sand with another bucket on top. Top bucket lined with old carpet and a two inch hole in the lid. Close up the garage and put on ear pro. Muzzle down in the hole and voila! Really not loud outside

[yondering]

Good work, however, sand really does not tell you anything about how well a hollow point really works. Sand packs down on impact, and doesn't move fluidly. You need some sort of wet test material. Water is easiest.

[Rangefinder]

Several things work very well. I use water-soaked magazine stacks or jugs crammed tight with water-soaked newsprint or water-soaked sawdust. You need something fluid with something fibrous to give a better simulation of tissue. Then you can add different covers to test penetration through light cover or clothing and how it effects your expansion in different ways. It gets pretty interesting and eye-opening when you run those kind of simulations. Some of the "best" factory defense ammo turns out to be pretty disappointing in the expansion department when you add even a heavy denim or leather jacket.

[PalmettoProjectiles]

i would destroy my molds, guaranteed.

[fps_bill]

Well I effectively turned a 2 cavity lee into a single cavity. I couldn't find a bronze bushing that'd work so I used an aluminum spacer with a roll pin inside. The hp'd cavity is still usable, just not perfectly centered. Oh well I'm only out 20 bucks.

[autopilotmp]

okay finally got around to doing the mold that I intended to do this to 2yrs ago. I spent the afternoon trying to get everything lined up and still managed to get the hole just a tad off center. Considering what they will be used for I don't see that it will be much of an issue. The mold I drilled is a 356120 TC old style lee mold. I also have a new style that I picked up in a trade so no worries if this was a failure. I used an 1/8" drill for the hole then actually used a second 1/8" drill that mic'd just a tad bigger for the pin. I still need to secure the pin in the handle, but I do have a brass weight that the pin is press fit into so I can get the depth where I like. Depth is currently just below the front drive band. I have no taper on the pin, I think that may be why it takes a bit of effort to get the pin pulled out. Anyways I fired up the pot and dropped a few just to see how they were.

Begin weight: @ 125 gn

HP weight: @ 115 gn

[berksglh]

Thanks to the OP for sharing the idea!

However I do have access to a lathe, so I made the bushing for drilling on the lathe and the pins as well. Worked super easy and true after that.

Heres the drill guide bushing I made


Using it to drill a lee 0.356"-124 2R mold


Ready to test.


Ready to load


Thanks for the GREAT idea!
Dave. (berksglh)

[brettb75]

I have a nice Lathe and precision measuring instruments so I think I might try a Cramer style because I'm pretty sure I can do it. Great post. If anyone has done one Cramer style please pm me if you don't Cate to share details and help

[brettb75]

Good post berksglh, appreciate the picturesque

[drac0nic]

Wow, this is awesome. Makes me want to convert my Lee 158 SWC to produce bullets for Treasury Loads.

[ReconJohn]

This is an outstanding thread. Will be trying it soon.

[LSCG]

been looking through this thread and would really like to give this a try with a couple of molds!

I had an idea and was curious as to what others thought. rather than trying to find a bushing to center the drill bit, why not take a boolit that was cast from the mold you're fixing to hollow point and drill a center hole through it. using a micrometer or calipers you should be able to see if the hole was drilled straight. if it was then put it back in the mold and use it to center the bit when drilling through the mold.

I suppose since lead is soft there would be a chance that the bit could ream out the hole in the boolit and allow the bit to wander but I would think that if everything is lined up right it wouldn't be an issue.

[yondering]

How are you going to drill a bullet perfectly straight without a lathe?

Seems that if you have the capability to drill a bullet straight, you could use that same capability to drill the mold.