Has anyone tried to remove a Lee bullet mold from their handles for the purpose of setting it up in a lathe for reboring to a paper patch bullet? I know there are some excellent discussions of doing this using a drill press, however, I have access to a lathe and would prefer to use it. It appears the pins are staked and probably pressed in. If the pins are removed the holes could be drilled and tapped for screws. Thank you.
For the amount of trouble it would be to cut a cherry, then properly set up those Lee blocks which are a bit thin on the material to cast a lot of big bullets without warping, I would think a person to be better off just ordering a set of blocks from Accurate moulds.
Long range rules, the rest drool.
For THAT much trouble, wouldn't be a lot easier to just have Tom bore whatever it is you want?Originally Posted by Don McDowell
If you want to make your own bullet mold Lyman sells blanks that are ready to go in the lathe or mill and have the cavity cut. All the outside work is done, handle slots, drilled and tapped holes. Lees standard block would be "thin" for really the heavier bullets.
The article below uses a "D-bit or reamer" to cut the paper patch bullet. Grade 8 bolts are ground down to the profile of the bullet. I have a lathe and chucking reamers which could cut the body size easily, i.e. 25/64 would cut the mold to .3906 and it could be polished to .395 for a 40 caliber bullet patched to bore size. The nose profile would be another matter.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...+bullet+moulds
Last edited by BPCS; 08-15-2014 at 05:44 PM.
Another option that is interesting for a bullet mold is the old ideal "perfection" molds ( i believe that was the name given to this style mold) It was a round 1 piece body with bore thru of bullet dia and an adjustable ejector nose form punch. Ive only seen one of them. Would make for an interesting set up as once body is done diffrent nose form could be made to change bullet. Only one handle a body adjuster spring and nose form for the mold a sprue plate. Do a search for Ideal molds and a few pics will come up.
I did just what the OP is suggesting a few weeks ago, sort of. I originally was going to cut the blocks in the lathe. But when I finally got them apart, I found there wasn't a qualified surface on the whole thing. Trying to indicate in one of the cavities is a waste of time. So, what to do? Back to the milling machine! Set the bottom on parallels, take a fly cutter to the top, and used a "D" reamer made out of some 1/2 inch drill rod to cut two very nice cavities to make boolits for my 35 cal. muzzleloader. I located the holes with the point on an edge finder, and sort of averaged their locations since the two halves didn't line up. They do now! The metal they make those moulds out of is really soft and wants to gall, so go slow and take small cute - clean the chips out frequently and it is possible to make nice looking cavities in those blocks.
As for why to do this compared to getting one from Tom - well, I have an hour for lunch and normally can eat in 15 - 25 minutes and need something to do for the rest of the time. I had this 8mm Lee mould that was so oversize to be useless to me. I needed a 250gr, .342" slick. Seemed to make sense to me! But if I do another one, I am not taking it apart. There is no need - just clamp the whole thing in the mill and go at it. That would make it a very quick and easy job.
-Nobade
yup, I clamp them in the mill and make my profile out of mill end bits. Grind them to the profile I want. Only do 1 cavity so if I screw up I still have a good mould. I only ruined 1 hole and that was the first one. I like taking Lee's moulds with their goofy nose and but a real flat nose on em, or a little longer for alittle more weight. The whole key is set up! Make sure the chuck is centered in the hole.
Look twice, shoot once.
I see a lot of advice about what you SHOULD be considering, but this thread may answer the question you asked.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...-2-Cavity-Mold
CM
Retired...TWICE. Now just raisin' cows and livin' on borrowed time.
Again, thanks to all of you who have responded to my question. montana_charlie I appreciate your reference, as the molds I have all have the old pin style and not the newer one. I didn't even know that Lee changed this design.
Be careful with those old ones, it is easy to hit the pins if you go much bigger than it is already.
-Nobade
First reload: .22 Hornet. 1956.
More at: http://reloadingtips.com/
"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the
government take care of him better take a closer look at the American Indian."
- Henry Ford
In that case, there should be a discussion on this page which will help you.
http://www.google.com/cse?cx=0019512...lds&gsc.page=1
CM
Retired...TWICE. Now just raisin' cows and livin' on borrowed time.
ive drilled them out so it cast a slug to be used in makeing a swaged paperpatched bullet. ive just finishing 400 of these for a fellow shooter who does the same. if you have a castboolit mould that you like why not just get a push through reduceing die and reduce your cast bullet to the size needed to paperpatch. a patched grease groove bullet will shoot as good as a smooth sided one.
My intent is to go with a traditional paper patch bullet for use in a black powder cartridge silhouette rifle. Thanks again montana_charlie for the additional information.
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