MiHec 311410 - Brass Cramer HP

[AusJohn]

Mine arrived in Australia today.

Thanks Miha

[ballistim]

I received mine the other day, very nice! My first mold from MiHec, and man those deep pins look DEEP on this boolit design! I'll probably try the shallow pins first.

[wlc]

Mine were in the box today. Thanks!!!!! Now to find time to heat the pot up.

[YunGun]

Got mine as well. Cast with short pins on Sat. & long pins on Sun. & got several hundred keepers each, easy.
Once the mold was up to temp it just started raining bullets.

Weights avg ~125gr with the long pin & ~127.5gr on the small HP with my alloy. Still haven't tried the flat pin yet.

Here's the requisite boolit porn; a pic from Sat. night's sorting:

[LongGun1]

Here's the requisite boolit porn; a pic from Sat. night's sorting:

Outstanding & Inspiring Pic!!! :thumbup:

[Ramslammer]

G'Day
Got mine today. Now I think I might design a cartridge to shoot it.
Juddy

[Diegokid]

Although I have a mold I'm still waiting on 2 short and 4 long pins. Just filled out the info for this again! Anyone else still waiting for these?

[Dannix]

I have not gotten the replacement pins either.

Done. Thank you, sir.

Please go here and fill out the form for free replacment pins

http://www.mp-molds.com/index.php?pr...osessionkill=1

[Diegokid]

Finally got around to casting some ammo with this mold. Bullets are dropping at .309 instead of .311. Is this normal? My bore on the rifle I'm using this for is .310 so is this a waste of time?

Dannix I did fill out the form for the pins.

[cbrick]

Here is what ya get when ya have both the plain base mold and the gas check mold and pay no attention when putting them together. Actually it's quite a testament to Miha, one block from each of two different molds and they fit together perfectly. Only need to figure out to cut a gas check in half.

Rick

[cbrick]

Finally got around to casting some ammo with this mold. Bullets are dropping at .309 instead of .311. Is this normal? My bore on the rifle I'm using this for is .310 so is this a waste of time?

Dannix I did fill out the form for the pins.

First thought is what alloy at what temp? Mold up to a good casting temp? Both of my MP 311-410's drop "my alloy" at .3106-7".

Rick

[willie_pete]

How many did you make before you figured it out. Yes, the man makes a beautiful mold.

WP

[cbrick]

How many did you make before you figured it out. Yes, the man makes a beautiful mold. WP

Only one pour, four boolits. 3 went back into the pot and I kept one just cause it's a bit unusual. Ok, it's a lot unusual.

Rick

[tiger762]

Soooo, if I haven't been contacted by now, that means that there are no more? Could those of us on the "extras" list been fulfilled before any extras were given away?

[Diegokid]

My replacement pins came yesterday, I'll try them next weekend.
Cbrick this link will show the alloy I'm using. It's WW with 1/2 LB of the 111 bars like you suggested on this alloy topic. As far as tmpature goes I don't have a thermometer so I usually just turn the lee pot to the number 8. I have to make a Brownells order so If I ordered a thermometer what would be a good temp?

I only use the stick on weights for shotgun slugs so all the pistol and rifle stuff are clip on wheel weights.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...+lead+111+bars

This link will go to the conversation we had on the alloys.

[cbrick]

As far as tmpature goes I don't have a thermometer so I usually just turn the lee pot to the number 8. I have to make a Brownells order so If I ordered a thermometer what would be a good temp?

The purpose of adding tin to your melt is that it reduces the surface tension of the alloy allowing better fill out of the mold. The metallurgy of tin is that it looses it's ability to do this past 750 degrees, in addition the tin itself will oxidize much faster past that temp. I never cast any Pb/Sn alloy hotter than 715 degrees and only that hot for small boolits in large blocks or HP molds. All that's needed for getting and keeping the mold hot enough and excellent mold fill-out is about 100 degrees past full liquidus of the alloy

I completely ignore the number setting on any electric pot, they are meaningless. Haven't seen one yet that can give accurate repeatable readings. In addition as the level of alloy in the pot goes down the temp goes up, just the nature of the beast. The only way around this is a PID controller.

Rick

[Diegokid]

So if the alloy is too hot it will cast smaller? I'll get a thermometer and see how hot the lee pot is. Seems that you are suggesting around 715. Always something new to learn. As far as the mold goes I usually heat them on a hot plate before casting.

I've always had good luck using plain WW for pistol bullets, how do they do for rifle without the 111 added?

[cbrick]

So if the alloy is too hot it will cast smaller? I'll get a thermometer and see how hot the lee pot is. Seems that you are suggesting around 715. Always something new to learn. As far as the mold goes I usually heat them on a hot plate before casting.

I've always had good luck using plain WW for pistol bullets, how do they do for rifle without the 111 added?

I recently cast the MP 45 270 SAA & got the mold too hot in the pre-heat (well, hotter than I usually do) and the result was not so much smaller, maybe a couple of tenths but they were 3 gr lighter than normal with the same alloy.

I'm probably not a good one to ask about WW without the tin. I use clip-on WW almost exclusively but I've added 2% Sn automatically for so many years now I can't even remember just when I started doing it, 15-20 years ago. I would think it would work well based on the comments here from many people but I can't say that from my own experience.

Rick

[longbow]

Not sure if this will help a bunch as I do not use a thermometer.

I use a propane stove, cast iron pot and ladle cast. I learned to set temperature "by eye' so to speak. Mostly I guess lots of trial and error. I am not even sure if casting thermometers were available 45 years ago when I started casting but I certainly never saw one.

I use mostly wheelweights and range scrap for casting so nothing fancy and no tin additions. I heat up the pot until the lead melts, then flux and dross. I carry on heating until the "skin" on the surface of the melt starts to turn colour. Depending on alloy the colour will range from a blueish to golden. I start casting then.

I also pre-heat my mould too not far below the melting point of the lead by using a hot plate and pre-heating until the sprue plate lube just starts to smoke.

The first few casts will take a while for the sprue puddle to harden but the mould temperature will drop pretty fast so a constant casting rhythm is required.

Once the mould has stabilized and the sprue puddle is freezing in just a few seconds, I will start turning down the pot heat a bit until freeze time and casting cadence are all in sync.

I know that is a subjective description but it works for me and I cast a lot of boolits in Mihec brass Cramer HP moulds with no problems and no added tin. My most recent addition being the 316410 and first on the menu were the deep HP's. I did have a few with a rounded lip at the nose but once I got casting steady that disappeared.

FWIW

Longbow

[tomme boy]

Do you have any left