Might not look like much...

[Whitespider]

...to you guys with bottom-pour pots and multi-cavity molds.
But each one of these little 40-grain jewels represent a carefully executed pour from my ladle into an ancient Ideal single-cavity mold in my 95° shop yesterday.
Attachment 197356

I noticed I was running low on yard vermin ammunition (.22 Hornet) the other day, and with yesterday's heat coupled with 30-40 MPH winds there weren't much shooting gonna' be happening. This is only the second time I've used this mold. The first time it was a real PITA... boolits stuck in the mold, many would have a small wing on the gas check shank that had to be removed, and I would occasionally get flanged bases. So yesterday morning I tore the mold completely down, pulled all the pins and trued-up the surfaces on a piece of glass using oiled 220 grit paper. Then I carefully de-burred, reset the pins, and scrubbed the devil out'a the mold in hot soapy water.

My efforts were well rewarded... good bullets from the the third cast. The hot day made it easy to regulate mold temp, I worked at a quick, but not hurried pace, cutting the sprues with a gloved hand just a second or two after pouring.
Something interesting I learned about this mold yesterday, and I have no explanation for it. I learned if I gave the handle hinge a light tap with sprue knocker after closing the mold, the next boolit would fall from the mold as soon as I opened it. If I didn't give the hinge a light tap on closing the mold, it required a little shake or tap to make the boolit fall (shrug).

Now the irritating part needs to be done... the checking and sizing of these little devils wears my patients as thin as it gets.
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[roberts1]

Its fun to get something old to work. Im going to guess the tap on the hinge bolt helps align the two mold halves so they can drop right out? I have one that requires attention to how it is closed or it'll make them out of round. Or, could just be magic...

[Whitespider]

LOL... ain't no magic, only trickery.
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[Littlewolf]

the attachment isnt opening for me, which old hornet mold are you using

[Bookworm]

Won't open for me either.
I wanna see too !

[Whitespider]

The attachment is the same as the picture posted... are you seeing the picture??
The mold is a Ideal #225438... I believe it's still in the Lyman catalog.
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[CraigOK]

I didnt see pic an attachment doesnt work for me either. But I'm glad your mold.refurb efforts paid off. Always nice when things go as planned/hoped

[Whitespider]

I didnt see pic an attachment doesnt work for me either.

That's strange...
Here let's try it this way...

[IMG][/IMG]

Can you see the pic in this post now??
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[charlie3tuna]

That's strange...
Here let's try it this way...

[IMG][/IMG]

Can you see the pic in this post now??
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Yes! Thank you. I've never been able to open any attachment. Maybe before I die....charlie

[Jack Stanley]

Since that mold is on your last nerve , I won't mention anything about weighing those tiny things

Jack

[Whitespider]

The pile weighed 2¼ pounds
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[Hickok]

Use the same mold/boolit in my CZ Hornet. Loaded to .22 mag speed. Great boolit. The gas checks are......

[frkelly74]

Casting those, I might have a lifetime supply of alloy.

[TCFAN]

Whitespider
If you really want to have fun get one of those single cavity Lyman 22 cal. molds in a hollow point.......

[frankenfab]

You guys are dedicated!

[Whitespider]

They drop 44 grains from my mold. I cast 'em from COWW with 2% tin added, and load 'em over 11.5 grains of Accurate 1680 at an honest 2300 FPS from my Handi-Rifle. They flat turn yard/garden vermin near inside-out with a solid shoulder hit, and a head shot is explosive. I even taken one deer with that load with a single shot at a touch over 75 yards (because of forced circumstances, not choice).

I gotta' believe a .22 hollow-point mold would put me over the edge... my wife would likely call the boys wearing white coats and carrying the straight-jacket. However, that don't mean I ain't willing...
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[TCFAN]

Whitespider
The 225415 HP pictured above I cast from straight Linotype and run at 2550 fps from a Rem. 788 222. They will explode on impact at 100 yards or less on Groundhogs shot here in the yard.Very seldom do I get a complete pass through unless it is a head shot.Never much left of the head.

[Whitespider]

You guys are dedicated!

LOL
Let me tell you the steps I go through to get those little gem checked, sized, and lubed. I can't just send them into the die in a "normal" fashion or the lube grooves get wiped out. So here's what I do...

1. I put all the gas checks on first, and make sure they're fully seated using the gas check seater on my Lyman 450.
2. Push the boolits into the lube-sizing die just far enough to crimp the gas checks.
3. Spray them with RCBS Case-Slick and size them nose first using a modified nose punch just a touch under sized diameter, the boolit nose is protected by a wad of aluminum foil in the sizing die that conforms to the nose shape.
4. Wash the boolits in hot soapy water to remove the Case-Slick, and dry on paper towels.
5. Finally run the checked and sized boolits into the lube-sizing die base first to lube them.

Currently I've just completed step #4 with this batch... and my finger are really sore.
I'm considering trying powder coating for the next batch... maybe installing the checks and sizing base first in one step (allowing it to wipe out the lube grooves), and then powder coat. I ain't tried powder coating yet... and these little PITAs would be a good candidate.
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