MiHec 10mm/40s&w - 170gr / 150gr WFN/HP, 4-cav, Brass

[nighthunter]

I've been to the range 3 times with this bullet loaded in my 40 S&W. Accuracy has been good but I am still experimenting with powders and charges. Expansion is what has surprised me. With my alloy of 50% WW and 50% range salvage it is very difficult to find a complete bullet from the backstop. I'm going to try a different range that has a different medium in the backstop. I have found a few bullets that are expanded to around .65 inches. A large percentage have completely shed the front end of the bullet. I'm going to slow them down a little and see how much that helps.

Nighthunter

[Oreo]

Which hp are you using?

The deep round one is intended to be nothing more then a water-jug grenade like a frangible. So if you're using that it's no wonder. The penta point on the other hand was designed to have a rounded tip so as to not be as deep and to reduce the stress risers at the bottom of the cavity that would otherwise encourage shedding of the expanded petals. So, if you can't improve boolit integrity with alloy adjustment alone you've got a few alternate options.

The first being to chuck the penta pins in a drill and round off the point to be more like the design blueprint. The second is to turn the deep round hp pins down to whatever profile you think best. there's plenty of metal to work with on those pins and allowing them to be a customizable option was part of my design thinking. The last, but definitely not the least option is to just use the blank pins for a wfn boolit. You could even go all fancy and make soft-nose boolits.

[Digger]

finally had a chance to try this one out ....
Excellent ! ... This mold has raised the bar by which I judge all others by ! ..
Yes , it likes to be hot , frosty boolits .. once it gets up to temp , I can cut the sprue with a gloved hand and pop the hp pins out and most of the time the boolits drop with no effort , if they happen to stick on occasion I can give the mold a tap with my gloved hand and they are off ! ,I already have a number of Miha's molds to compare.
A simple pleasure to be sure .
They come out at 402.5 or .403 and they size to .401 perfectly in my Lyman 45 , evenly all the way around.
They drop out at 135.6 or 136 gr , round HP , all with range lead .
Time will tell now when I go to load .. accuracy and all that
This Four holer brass can get a bit heavy after a while !
Thanks much Oreo and thank you Miha for a top quality piece.

digger

[RED333]

This Four holer brass can get a bit heavy after a while !
Thanks much Oreo and thank you Miha for a top quality piece.

digger

The only down side to these molds.

[nighthunter]

Made it to the other range today and was able to recover a fair amount of my bullets. The different backstop media deffinatly made a difference. Here are pics of my recovered HP's, both round and penta.

[harley45]

Got mine today Can't wait to try it!

[Oreo]

It seems only right that I be the one to post a family photo:

[Oreo]

Someone please try the 150gr w/round hp pin (135gr hp). Tell us how it shoots and how much velocity the design can withstand. I love the looks of that little shorty boolit but I won't get a chance to play with these myself for quite some time.

[Digger]

Am also some what time restricted with work schedule ....
Have casted up a bunch of the 135's hp,lubed with Ben's Red and want to see how they will work in my toys ...
Wanted this particular little piece at that weight as this seems to be what my little Keltec P-40 likes very much.
Been using Hornady's 135 hp plated on occasion .... but now that this is here .
The real possible twist in the story will be what I just picked up recently, a Keltec Sub 2000 in forty ...

been using some 150 gr in it at fifty yds .. not bad , but will have to work up some loads with WST and the 135 hp , looking forward to it .
Beautiful pics there by the way Oreo !! , wish I could do that well .

[Oreo]

Thanks. I've dabled in photography as a hobby but those are just taken with my S4 phone by the light of a computer monitor. The phone does all the work.

I think that if the 135gr hp can be driven to good velocity without requiring a gas check it will be a fun little boolit.

[B.C.Jay]

Someone please try the 150gr w/round hp pin (135gr hp). Tell us how it shoots and how much velocity the design can withstand. I love the looks of that little shorty boolit but I won't get a chance to play with these myself for quite some time.

Just got my mold the other day and that is my next task with the 10mm.
Thanks for the group buy Oreo, I think it's been well worth the wait.

[harley45]

I just ordered some PB gas checks for my 135s to play with but who knows when that will be.

[Oreo]

Where'd you order them from Harley45? Maybe I'll order some too.

[timberhawk]

Well I figured out how to use this.
The Lee push thru sizer is out .Just too much lead to move.
I size nose first in my RCBS sizer until the first driving band and a little of the second is sized. Then I turn the bullet over and size base first until the bullet is sized. That way all the excess lead goes into the lube groove and I don't crush the nose trying to size the whole bullet in one trip.
I then Dry Tumble PC the bullets.
If I try to size base first, the bullet always comes out lopsided due to the irregular shape of the original bullet.
This method seems to work out fine. A little extra work, but that's the fun part anyways.

[RED333]

Well I figured out how to use this.
The Lee push thru sizer is out .Just too much lead to move.
I size nose first in my RCBS sizer until the first driving band and a little of the second is sized. Then I turn the bullet over and size base first until the bullet is sized. That way all the excess lead goes into the lube groove and I don't crush the nose trying to size the whole bullet in one trip.
I then Dry Tumble PC the bullets.
If I try to size base first, the bullet always comes out lopsided due to the irregular shape of the original bullet.
This method seems to work out fine. A little extra work, but that's the fun part anyways.

You must have the only oversized mold out there, all mine (10 now) have been spot on.

[timberhawk]

Yea, I cleaned up the molds flashing and it didn't make any difference in then dia of the bullets. I have several more MiHec molds and they are great. This one just had a problem.
If it will shoot okay, then I'll use it as stated. If I can't get it to shoot, I might contact Mihec and start a conversation.
It sure casts pretty bullets!

[Oreo]

If its not right Timberhawk reach out to MiHec. He'll make good.

[Oreo]

Hey guys, please check out my thread in the discussion section about what group buy to do next. I'm considering all kinds of variants to this WFN profile but I'm open to making a whole new design too. Link to discussion thread.

[jayjay1]

You must have the only oversized mold out there, all mine (10 now) have been spot on.

No, he doesn´t, mine throws to big too.
I do have an average dia of 0,4039", going from 0,4031" up to 0,4051", but mostly - like said - 0,4039"

I have casted yesterday and will wait one day more to sizelube them, to see what happens.

A fine piece of metalworking, but oversized.

[jayjay1]

Well, I downsized some of em, but it is no pleasure to do.

I have to push and pull very hard on my LAM II.

The bullets look like scratched and the lube grove becomes very small and thin.
I will do some more with another alloy (more lead) and hotter casting to take a look how small I can throw them.