PBcastcoTitan ReloadingRotoMetals2Reloading Everything
Load DataWidenersRepackboxMidSouth Shooters Supply
Lee Precision Inline Fabrication
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 27

Thread: Good mold for a 577 Snider

  1. #1
    Boolit Mold
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Valparaiso, IN
    Posts
    4

    Good mold for a 577 Snider

    Hello everyone, I'm looking for a good mold for my 577 Snider. I tried a Lee 578 mold and the bullet dropped right down the barrel, I don't think it touched the sides. The bullet measured .577 and a few at .576. I figure I would need one at
    .590 and have not been able to find one yet. Any ideas please let me know.

    Thanks,

    oilcan72

  2. #2
    Moderator Emeritus
    dromia's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    UK. Sutherland & Co Durham
    Posts
    5,134


    For fine firearms and shooting requisites visit my Web Site by clicking the link below:

    Pukka Bundhooks

  3. #3
    Moderator Emeritus
    dromia's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    UK. Sutherland & Co Durham
    Posts
    5,134
    BTW welcome to Oilcan72.


    For fine firearms and shooting requisites visit my Web Site by clicking the link below:

    Pukka Bundhooks

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
    swamp's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Denver, CO
    Posts
    1,161
    I got a very nice one from Bernie at Old West Molds. He is in Fruita,CO.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master turbo1889's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Montana, U.S.A.
    Posts
    1,256
    Accurate Molds(.com) or Mountain Molds(.com) could hook you up no problem so long as you know what the critical dimensions for your gun are and can provide that information to them.

  6. #6
    Boolit Mold
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Valparaiso, IN
    Posts
    4
    Hello all,

    Thank You for welcoming me to the forum, I slugged the barrel last night and I got a .591 as my result. I think I should be able to get a custom mold made. Now I can start getting my cases made up, I have a handfull of jamison brass and a box of the magtech 24 ga brass to anneal and size. While I wait, I'll keep an update going.

    Thanks again,

    oilcan72

  7. #7
    Boolit Master Dan Cash's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Western North Dakota
    Posts
    3,325
    Swamp gave me some bullets from his Old West Mould which work quite well in my .577. At 60 yards, they were most certainly minute of vital zone even with my crude loading methods - no dies.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
    swamp's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Denver, CO
    Posts
    1,161
    oilcan72,
    I also have some oversizer minie molds that I got from Dixie. One is a copy of the Lyman 58 swc style.

    If you would care to try them in your rifle let me know and I could send you some. You just cover shipping.

    swamp

  9. #9
    Super Moderator




    Buckshot's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    So. California
    Posts
    11,833
    .............oilcan72, If you want a good mould, and one that may very well end up being the most accurate at fairly close range, I'd suggest the Lee .600" round ball mould. They cast very fast, and load easily.



    The Lee RB load would be the one on the right The most common Sniders were those built on the P53 Enfields, and as such have that very slow 72" twist (or is it 78", I forget?) Due to the slow twist they won't stand a very long boolit as they won't stabilize. In addition to the slow twist they also have progressive depth rifling (groove depth) with the grooves deeper at the breech then the muzzle. The land diameter remained constant throughout.

    I have a 3 band rifle and a cav carbine copy (shortened rifle). I've not done a whole lot with the rifle, simply because the carbine is shorter and "cuter" My most accurate loads in it have indeed been the Lee RB cast of WW alloy.



    On the right are 6 different loads of 5 rounds each, loaded with round balls. The 577 Snider likes LOTS of lube. The modern Snider cases (Jamison, Bertram, or MagTech 24ga) hold a BUNCH of powder and lube! In all those loads a .060" cardwad sat atop the powder/filler column, and then a .250" thick lube wad was thumbed on top of the cardwad. Then the RB was seated. Once they were all loaded some lube was melted in a double boiler and each RB was dipped into it.

    My most accurate load with the carbine produced a 5" group at 50 yds for 5 rounds. Compared to various loads in the rifle and carbine tried earlier that 5" group would be considered match grade You should be able to provide yourself with about as much entertainment as you can stand in the loading and shooting experiments, in your accuracy quest.

    ..................Buckshot
    Father Grand Caster watches over you my brother. Go now and pour yourself a hot one. May the Sacred Silver Stream be with you always

    Proud former Shooters.Com Cast Bullet alumnus and plank owner.

    "The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president."

    Shrink the State End the Fed Balance the budget Make a profit Leave an inheritance

  10. #10
    Boolit Master turbo1889's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Montana, U.S.A.
    Posts
    1,256
    Excellent info there from Buckshot. The only thing I would add is that if the round ball doesn't work out for you or you want a boolit with some meplat diameter for shooting actual game and getting good tissue damage I would suggest a short squatty boolit design.

    I have had some experience with boolits in guns that have a slow twist rate more suitable to a round ball (mainly muzzle loaders) and a boolit that has a length that is 1 to 1-1/4 times its diameter with a short squatty nose seems to shoot very well where as longer boolits won't.

    I would definitely try a 60-cal RB though first. They just cast so fast and easy and make your lead supply last longer due to their minimal weight for large bore sizes.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master rollmyown's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Posts
    928
    Buckshot, I love your work. There is a lot of fun to be had with a 150 year old rifle! (give or take)

  12. #12
    Boolit Mold
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Valparaiso, IN
    Posts
    4
    Thanks to all of you for the great info, I might try the roundball just to get some rounds down range until I can get a mold made up. I did see a mold by accurate molds that was .591 and had a .81 length, I figure that's a pretty good starting point.

    Buckshot, I like the looks of your carbine, how do the roundball loads work at longer ranges?

  13. #13
    Super Moderator




    Buckshot's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    So. California
    Posts
    11,833
    Quote Originally Posted by oilcan72 View Post
    Buckshot, I like the looks of your carbine, how do the roundball loads work at longer ranges?
    ..............The 'Carbine' is just a cut down 3 band rifle. A buddy of mine (retired RCMP captain) in Canada asked if I needed any Snider parts. I said yes and that's what he sent me, all taken apart. Only thing missing was the screw to hold the hammer on. That shiney spot on the barrel was where it was running in the steady rest when I went to fix the crown:



    The only problem was that the bore wasn't concentric with the barrel!



    LEFT: I had to turn a brass spindle to a mild press fit for the bore and run it in a live center



    I cut a wide-'ish' groove so I could get a tool in there to cut a new crown. In talking to students of the Snider on the British & Militaria board I found out it wasn't unusual for the bore to 'wander' a bit over it's length. They were made by forming a flat piece of hot steel around a mandrel. It was then forge welded into a tube. Next step was reaming. A reamer wants to follow the hole, but a reamer with such a long shank can be MADE to wander a bit even if the hole is straight by too much pressure causing the shank to flex.

    Round ball loads can be very accurate, if the rifle is capable. The one drawback to the round ball is it sheds velocity very fast, and is very suceptable to most any breeze. I've shot the carbine at 200 yards with RB loads. I'd say if there was a 4 x 4 foot piece of plywood out there I'd have hit it every time. I know they're capable of much better then that, but you have to work (experiment) intelligently at it. I really don't have the time for it, but even so just shooting the thing is pleanty of fun!

    ...............Buckshot
    Father Grand Caster watches over you my brother. Go now and pour yourself a hot one. May the Sacred Silver Stream be with you always

    Proud former Shooters.Com Cast Bullet alumnus and plank owner.

    "The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president."

    Shrink the State End the Fed Balance the budget Make a profit Leave an inheritance

  14. #14
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Location
    Iroquois Falls, Ontario Canada
    Posts
    113
    I recently got a Snider and am getting ready to take it out for a test run. After reading this thread I made a bullet mold that throws short 350 gr round nose. I figure that i'll try them short first and bore the mold deeper if necessary.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 100_2117.jpg  

  15. #15
    Boolit Master zuke's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Cochrane Ont
    Posts
    2,430
    Impressive,PolarHunter

  16. #16
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Location
    Iroquois Falls, Ontario Canada
    Posts
    113
    Looks like my mold is going to be good!
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 100_2126.jpg  

  17. #17
    Boolit Master zuke's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Cochrane Ont
    Posts
    2,430
    That'll hurt a bear

  18. #18
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Location
    Iroquois Falls, Ontario Canada
    Posts
    113
    Quote Originally Posted by zuke View Post
    That'll hurt a bear
    Probably his "last hurt",,,,,,,,,,

  19. #19
    Super Moderator




    Buckshot's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    So. California
    Posts
    11,833
    ..............Just saw this old thread resurrected, so I thought I'd add some new info I'd ginned up.



    .577 Snider Carbine off the bench at 50 yards. Group measures 1.875". The load was 24.0grs of Unique in Jamison brass. A .060" card wad was seated 1/4" below the casemouth and then a 1/8" thick lube cookie was seated atop the wad. The .600" OD RB (cast of WW type alloy) was then seated and crimped. Velocity was 1475 fps. A purist will most likely cringe at the idea of smokless being used instead of black powder in the Snider, but the idea wasn't mine.

    An article in an old American Rifleman magazine having to do with the Canadian Matches shot on their military range in Ottawa. Those matches require the traditional loading of BP and a Minie' type conical. However the author mentioned HIS use of the 'Unique load' for other purposes, but instead of the RB I used, he used a Minie'.

    ..................Buckshot
    Father Grand Caster watches over you my brother. Go now and pour yourself a hot one. May the Sacred Silver Stream be with you always

    Proud former Shooters.Com Cast Bullet alumnus and plank owner.

    "The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president."

    Shrink the State End the Fed Balance the budget Make a profit Leave an inheritance

  20. #20
    Boolit Master rollmyown's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Posts
    928
    Amazing group there Buckshot!!

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check