Back in the game, with mixed results

[BKB]

Been lurking around a while, but decided to join up. After several years of very little shooting and loading I picked up a H&R Buffalo Classic that rekindled the old flame. It begs to be shot with cast boolits, so I dusted off the old equipment, ordered a couple molds and dies for 45-70. They all came in except the dies. Being really impatient, I lathe turned a few basic tools and prepared 10 cases, prepared my new lee 405 grain mold, heated the pot, and got to business. Those first bullets went straight to the RCBS LSII then the case without touching the micrometer. As the last daylight faded away I shot those ten cartridges and was ecstatic. Today I took the time to mike those boolits and was disappointed by what I discovered. This no way intended to be a slam on Lee, most of my equipment, molds and dies came from Lee and I consider them a good value. In past years I loaded many rounds on my red toys, because it was all I could afford and the alternative was fishing. My boolits are running .4565 across the parting line and .4595 90 degrees to the line . My bore slugged out .458. A closer look at those bullets coming out of the die proved that two sides were touching nothing. I am going to lap them out and see if I can round them up some and maybe, bring it to .460. Well, it was only $22 after all. This evening I cleaned up my new Lee .358 148 gr wad cutter mold and cast some with it. They measured as cast .3595 with only .0005 out of round and after the a trip thru the sizer they are .358. Some faith restored, at least. I have been at this long enough to realize that perfection in loads and bullets is more a journey than a destination, but I really was let down by that mold. Thanks to the many knowledgeable folks here, there is yet hope for that mold. BTW, if there is an introduction page, I failed to find it. Please excuse me if I breeched proper forum etiquette by posting before introductions.

[Artful]

Welcome back - so what kind of group did you get with the 10 shots and your oval boolits?

Anymore I mainly get my molds from NOE - cost a little more but the quality is worth it.

[cbrick]

Welcome to CastBoolits BKB,

I suggest your next step in the journey to be load those boolits without any sizing & pan lube, that or a larger sizer die. Should help with results on target and with any possible leading.

Rick

[Lead Fred]

Me thinks they be small. NOE makes RancDog's .460 molds. Good mojo there

Now that I siad that, I shoot only holy black and round nose 405 Lyman's thru me buff, and they work dandy.

[farmerjim]

Welcome to Cast Boolits from a fellow Louisianan.
I also load 45-70 if I can be of any help.
Jim

[BKB]

[QUOTE=Artful;2914745]Welcome back - so what kind of group did you get with the 10 shots and your oval boolits?

Minute of bucket at 25yards, it was getting dark and I just wanted to hear it go boom.

Definitely need a larger boolit to begin with and I will try lapping this mold out some before giving up on it. If I fired many of these eggs thru my bore there would some lead removal practice in my future.

Thanks farmerjim, good to know there are a few "local" shooters on here.

BKB

[TXGunNut]

Welcome to the forum! What took you so long?
May want to make sure the alignment pins are fully seated and the mould halves come together completely before you lap the cavities. I'm hearing some of the new Lee moulds have that issue. I'm a Lee fan myself but sometimes I'm disappointed.

[BKB]

With a few hours to kill today I took a good look at the mold and made sure that the blocks close completely. There is a slight gap in the center that shows a little light that increases slightly when heated, but not enough to leave a fin when I cast. After a little review I cast some bullets and made some laps that I chucked up in the lathe and coated with fine valve grinding compound. I ran it on about 200 rpm 20-30 seconds each then clean, cast, measure, repeat. Three times was the charm, the boolits now drop at .460-.461, a thousandth run out is acceptable to me. Now to start shooting some sized, some as cast........

[AR15Buffer]

BKB...welcome to the forum. I live in Baton Rouge. If you ever need anything, look me up.
Bryan

[35 shooter]

Welcome BKB! I started, casting a couple of years ago after a many years lay off, so i know how it is to get everything going again.
Sounds like you did a great job on lapping that mould out.

[Artful]

With a few hours to kill today I took a good look at the mold and made sure that the blocks close completely. There is a slight gap in the center that shows a little light that increases slightly when heated, but not enough to leave a fin when I cast. After a little review I cast some bullets and made some laps that I chucked up in the lathe and coated with fine valve grinding compound. I ran it on about 200 rpm 20-30 seconds each then clean, cast, measure, repeat. Three times was the charm, the boolits now drop at .460-.461, a thousandth run out is acceptable to me. Now to start shooting some sized, some as cast........

Good job! Here's hoping it will give you clover leaf groups now.

[BKB]

When my dies come in, maybe tomorrow, some proper loads can be assembled. Thanks for the support and listening, I really have no one to bounce my ideas, loading issues, etc. off of. The old crew I shot with some years ago in Tallulah have all left the range, one reason I been out of it a while. This site would have been really helpful 25 years ago. Every time I log on there is new information that was known to only a few as the common shooter had only his small circle of friends to share it with back then. Guess a computer really is good for something after all.

[TXGunNut]

Guess a computer really is good for something after all.-BKB

Computers and custom mold makers have probably made a world of difference in this game while you were out of it.

[Artful]

Computers are just tools - like cars, guns, knives, etc.