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Thread: Need new .45ACP mold: Giving up on Ballisti-Cast

  1. #21
    Boolit Grand Master In Remembrance
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    I recommend the Accurate 453200H in aluminum 5 cavity
    One more endorsement for the 453200H, 5 cavity Accurate mold. Use the aluminum one with Bhn 15 alloy - casts 203gr perfect bullets and a pleasure to cast with
    Regards
    John

  2. #22
    Boolit Buddy
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    RG1911: you will love a mould from Accurate; Tom does fantastic work. I use a 4 cavity brass Mihec 200 grain SCW (H&G 68 clone, plain base) and it's a pleasure to use. I'm pretty sure that Mihec has them in stock now if you are interested. The brass mould blocks aren't light like Aluminum, but with a mould guide this isn't an issue ofr me (I have arthritis too)...the brass block are easy to keep in the right temp (for me) and more durable than AL IMHO. I have Aluminum blocks too but prefer brass. Good luck.

  3. #23
    Boolit Buddy
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    Hello RG1911,

    I received an e mail from Keith at Balisti-Cast this morning and he wanted to talk personally about the mold. We did that and the upshot is he is saying after aligning the pins the mold is producing good bullets no more than .0005" out of round.

    I told him to return it to me and that would end it one way or the other. Depending on how the bullets look I would either use it or trash it.

    FYI: I should also mention that according to Keith, Bill Sand doesn't actually run the business. It is Keith and the machinist who makes the molds who do.

    I'll let you know how it turns out.

  4. #24
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by youngmman View Post
    FYI: I should also mention that according to Keith, Bill Sand doesn't actually run the business. It is Keith and the machinist who makes the molds who do.

    I'll let you know how it turns out.
    Thanks for that information! I've sent a message to Keith asking if he received my mold from Bill. I certainly hope so.

    Appreciate you keeping me informed.

    Richard

  5. #25
    Boolit Man
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    Quote Originally Posted by youngmman View Post
    RG1911, I can offer some encouragement. I received a note from Bill Sand last evening. He said he worked with the mold I returned for quite a while yesterday and couldn't make a decent bullet either. Apparently the blocks are misaligned by .0015" so the bullets aren't round and adjusting the alignment pins didn't fix the problem so, he is going to talk with the machinists who actually make the molds today to see if they can diagnose the problem.

    In any event he seems to be doing his best to find a solution. Maybe it is something systemic to their manufacturing process. I did notice something regarding the alignment pins and that is they are not tapered as with the original H&G molds I have. They are straight so I don't see how the blocks can be drawn into alignment when being closed during a casting session. Oh well, I don't make the molds either but did notice with the hardline molds they have three alignment pins instead of two and they are all three tapered.

    We'll just have to see what the end game is here.
    FWIW, I have been using an MP 452-200, an exact copy of the H&G68. Miha offers it in both flat and bevel base. It is a brass four cavity and casts perfect bullets.
    Winchester1873
    Eastern Pennsylvania
    NRA Endowment Member
    SASS #4489

  6. #26
    Boolit Buddy
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    Balisti Cast.bmpLBT.bmp

    I'm having trouble showing the photos I want in the body of the note but they have attached and will open.

    As you all know there has been an issue with Ballisti-Cast regarding the quality of the bullets in the #34 mold I purchased. It has been sent back twice and this time both Keith and Bill told me it is fixed with a minor adjustment to the alignment pins. Bill even had me call him personally so he could explain what was going on with it. A few days prior to that I talked with Keith at his request and he told me about 50 bullets were cast after the alignment pins were adjusted and he saw nothing wrong with them.

    I received the mold back today and took a photo of the bullets that are "good bullets" according to Ballisti-Cast after adjusting the alignment pins. Honestly, I'll pass. Along side it is a photo of three LBT bullets that frankly were rejects from a casting session. Two are .358" WFN and the middle is a .452" 225 LFN.

    I'll leave it to you experienced casters to say if the Ballisti-Cast bullets are ones you would keep. I Won't and the mold is going in the trash (after removing the sprue plate and screws).

    Frankly I feel like I have been lied to or at minimum had this misrepresented. And, by the way, I asked about RG1911's mold he sent back. I was told "I don't know if its here or not there are so many that have been returned"

    Good Gawd, enough is enough.

    Mike
    Last edited by youngmman; 08-18-2014 at 07:17 PM.

  7. #27
    Boolit Master
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    the only pic I see is one with 3 round nose bullets looking like .452 round nose/ I do not see any defects... but then again, I do not know what they should look like. list it for sale on ebay and cut some loss... I would not toss it.

  8. #28
    Boolit Master
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    on a second note, I cast just for plinking ammo and I might not see what a quality cast bullet should look like, but if there are soo many unhappy bullet casters out there, I would be ******** too.

  9. #29
    Boolit Buddy
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    Click on the lbt and the second photo will show up.

  10. #30
    Boolit Master
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    OK, I am looking at the 2nd pic. what is it that is not to standards? I can see that they have not been sized.

  11. #31
    Boolit Buddy
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    The mold blocks don't mate on the first set. On the LBT you can hardly detect where they mate because they are as they should be.

    The difference is quality. My original H&G molds are the same as the LBT's, high quality.

  12. #32
    Boolit Master
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    what does LBT mean? I do see the base is not sharp and square. and on a third note........... how much bad P.R. would these guys need to see to fix the Q.C. and send a new mould that is correct?

  13. #33
    Boolit Master
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    Lead Bullet Technologies.

  14. #34
    Boolit Buddy
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    I said in my note the LBT's shown are rejects because they didn't fill out well but that's not the molds fault. Read my note and you'll understand. It was sent back to Ballisti-Cast twice so what you see is their acceptable standard of quality but it isn't mine nor anyone else I know.

  15. #35
    Boolit Master

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    I don't think those casts look bad at all and after sizing, they will shoot fine for my purposes. I will pay the shipping if you want to send me the mould blocks.
    "Is all this REALLY necessary?"

  16. #36
    Boolit Master
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    I see alot of reference to the H&G 68 clone. would like to know what it looks like.

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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