Mould selection

[indian joe]

i messed around with production moulds for faaaar too long and for me, who's interested only in consistent accuracy as the bottom line. i finally ditched all of them in favor of a fair number of jim brannon (BACO) and tom ellis (accuratemolds) custom moulds. i can honestly say all the moulds before these were a waste of both time and money .... mostly time. a good custom mould will run $180/shipped or lots more, and the only exception will be tom's large block aluminum moulds for $81/shipped, they are superb. what's also important is that you get to work with the craftsman both before and after the mould is made.

I get you but the double money thing holds me back some - RCBS costs me almost $200 - Saeco lookin at $230 - $250 - Baco more again - they all listing outa stock or backorder on designs that interest me anyway - first order of business I need to figure out the why of whats going on otherwise I will just end up with a custom mold that repeats the same mistake.
I set my mark at 2MOA from my 76 Uberti - I believe I can get it - also believe I can not shoot 1MOA with iron sights no matter how good the rifle and load is - maybe that belief needs attention too?? Accurate molds looks attractive and I like working with aluminium molds so its likely thats where I end up - need to mess about more first though.

[rfd]

BACO lists almost all moulds out of stock, but contacting them will get jim building and inside of a month a mould will get made - been there and done that three times already.

tom takes between 2-4 weeks to build a custom mould. in both instances, these can be custom variations of existing mould models, so don't just think what you see on the website catalog is all that's offered. without a doubt, tom's accuratemold is a cheap but excellent way to start, and maybe even end without a need to look further. i have three of his moulds with a third on the way.

[Knarley]

Is there some reading material one could get to "educate" them selves with so one can make a reasonably good choice? A book or some thing?

[rfd]

prolly. then again, all of this stuff is fulla subjectivity and opinions, and rightly so.

when i was loading greasers for my .45-70's, i looked at bullet weight, alloy, cast diameter, shape, grease grooves and lube, as applied to rifle twist and distances to be shot. short 200 yard distances i use a 400 grain RN bullet with a meplat, medium distances to 600 yards is 480 to 500 grain RN with or without meplat, and over 500 grains and elliptical shape for distances far beyond. then it's off to do a buncha testing which includes bullet casting and all the parameters and components that make up a load. there is a valid starting point, however.

[Lead pot]

Knarley.

Just what exactly type of bullet do you have in mind? I have drawers full of moulds that I could start a retail store. Maybe if I knew what you have in mind I could cast some and send them to you to see if you can make them fly before you ordering a mould. Maybe we can meat if your not to far from I 90 west off of 35. I will be making tracks for Baker Montana I hope leaving Friday morning in the Gypsy wagon. I even might still have some cast.
Kurt

[Knarley]

Knarley.

Just what exactly type of bullet do you have in mind? I have drawers full of moulds that I could start a retail store. Maybe if I knew what you have in mind I could cast some and send them to you to see if you can make them fly before you ordering a mould. Maybe we can meat if your not to far from I 90 west off of 35. I will be making tracks for Baker Montana I hope leaving Friday morning in the Gypsy wagon. I even might still have some cast.
Kurt

Give me a shout when you get back. One of the ranges I belong to is in Kimball.

[indian joe]

yes, both sizing and firing bullets makes them round.
but is the centre of mass on the geometric axis afterward.?
this is part of what you pay for with a quality mould, and is critical.
keep safe,
bruce.

Bruce
Shootin in the breeze - more than a breeze - I was a contract sprayer for a while and you would be parked today - too windy for that - So I am shooting due south - wind is from the South west - I say around 15 to 25 km with some prolonged gusts in there would be a bit over 30km and its chopping around direction wise - swinging to the southeast at times - so after some foolin around and tempted to go home I knuckled down to it.
So this is the clipped nose boolit - the LEE 459-500-3R with a little flat nose turned on it about .215 across - length is reduced from 1.408 to 1.298 - its only ten or twelve grains weight reduction - a simple fix could proly be done at the bench with a file.
first at 300 to get sighted in then moved back to 500 - first three are low and right so a sight adjustment and I fired another six - the vertical was good at about 6 inches but the wind has strung me about thirty inches side to side - ( I didnt try to read it or make allowances just held centre and shot into whatever was blowing) so at that point I was quite happy - all shots went through nose first and the rifle was responding to sight changes - as well I had not lost hardly any elevation setting (trajectory was still good) - need to consult your wind chart for some comparisons - but pleased with that one and its easy - then to the second mod (saeco like nose) first off its hitting a meter or more low but ended up a waste of time - nothing you would call a group. forget that and it was a lot of messing round anyway.
So looks like the original "too pointy of a nose" call on this boolit was correct or airflow over the nose profile or something.
Tomorrow will shoot the sharps with clipped nose and pointy nose and somewhere down the track I will shoot for group in good conditions with the 76 just to see what we can get.
cheers
joe

[Silver Jack Hammer]

Jack
I dont mean to be smart or insulting - but I believe both my rifles would do at least as well with the LEE 500 at 200yards as your Brooks mold group (rested of course) - where I get my butt kicked is further out and then only in windy conditions - seems to me there is a basic design problem thats having more effect than a mold quality problem. I reckon thats what you are seeing too - that Shilo is sayin it just dont like little short boolits.

Joe, If we could ever get together we could shoot together. I shoot at the Upper Nisqually monthly matches in Eatonville, Washington and Rattlesnake 1,000 yard match’s in Washington’s Tri-Cites a could times a year. Usually a couple of guys beat me but I’ve taken a first place in a match and won first places on lines.

Check out my target pics posted on 8-4-17 on the Pedersoli Sharps Question thread post #25. And on the BP more Accurate than Smokeless thread post #5 on 7-1-2015.

The 200 yard groups I posted here were shot when I loaded my first batch of Steve Brooks 465 gr. boolits. There is no need to go back to the RCBS 325 gr. boolit and I’m not going to fool around with my chicken dies setting after fixing them to the 465gr. boolit.

[country gent]

One makers moulds you don't see often is Old West moulds bt Bernie Roweles. I have several of his 2 cavity brass moulds and they cast very good bullets and aren't priced to high.

[indian joe]

One makers moulds you don't see often is Old West moulds bt Bernie Roweles. I have several of his 2 cavity brass moulds and they cast very good bullets and aren't priced to high.

Boomers from up in Canada too - $C100 for a cast iron mold - his designs look ok - if he has got the machining sorted they are cheap

[BRUCE MOULDS]

as long as you don't get what you paid for.
keep safe,
bruce.

[indian joe]

as long as you don't get what you paid for.
keep safe,
bruce.

I dunno Bruce - hes a shooter - he has a couple of good testimonials from Venturino and Butch Ulsher - and some wins of his own in Canada - would certainly be worth further research before he was ruled out.

[indian joe]

Joe, If we could ever get together we could shoot together. I shoot at the Upper Nisqually monthly matches in Eatonville, Washington and Rattlesnake 1,000 yard match’s in Washington’s Tri-Cites a could times a year. Usually a couple of guys beat me but I’ve taken a first place in a match and won first places on lines.

Check out my target pics posted on 8-4-17 on the Pedersoli Sharps Question thread post #25. And on the BP more Accurate than Smokeless thread post #5 on 7-1-2015.

The 200 yard groups I posted here were shot when I loaded my first batch of Steve Brooks 465 gr. boolits. There is no need to go back to the RCBS 325 gr. boolit and I’m not going to fool around with my chicken dies setting after fixing them to the 465gr. boolit.

Yep took a look - suitably impressed - good shootin - you dialed in really neat - couple of questions 1) what size bull are you shooting on ? it looks a little smaller than I am used to 2) what are ya doin that makes the fresh shots look yellow ? they stand out pretty good.
heres my progress report

first one is six shots with the LEE 459-500-3R as cast - steady wind from left to right two in the board at the edge - the group is not too bad - about twelve inches high x 9 wide - but three of em had the wobbles when they hit, 2 almost side on

second one is five shot in the wind yesterday, blustery, switching around from head on to quarter on each way. LEE boolit with nose flattened to .215 - five shots here the unmarked hole in the centre is an old shot. All went in head first and pretty clean - vertical is ok - spread is wind. I reckon the high shot on the edge is cold barrel.

third one is a three shot in bit better wind conditions yesterday - see how its switched across from l-r to r-l - this string is the last of twenty shots blowtube only - shooting with a 45/75 model 76 uberti lever rifle. We getting there slowly!

[Silver Jack Hammer]

Joe, the bull is 17 1/4” at 550 yards. Anything smaller and I’d need glass. The yellow on white paper is from taping the holes with making tape. I think that’s what your asking. The yellowish-green in the black bull is the way Shoot N C targets are made.

One secret to good shooting is to have the summer sun directly behind you in mid day. A low winter sun isn’t as favorable, overcast is right out. I wished I’d have taken up Sharps shooting with younger eyes, but I wouldn’t have had the patience for it.

[indian joe]

Joe, the bull is 17 1/4” at 550 yards.
Anything smaller and I’d need glass. The yellow on white paper is from taping the holes with making tape. I think that’s what your asking. The yellowish-green in the black bull is the way Shoot N C targets are made.

One secret to good shooting is to have the summer sun directly behind you in mid day. A low winter sun isn’t as favorable, overcast is right out. I wished I’d have taken up Sharps shooting with younger eyes, but I wouldn’t have had the patience for it.

Jack we agree on all counts
Size of bull Q We proly same size - I painted mine to regulation size - maybe your target board is a little different size OA - mine is a bit under four feet wide. Agree on the glasses ! I tried a 50 meter pistol target - could see it out to 300 but after that it vanished! The best 500yard I have had is I put a 20 litre roundup can out (yep 5 gallon) can see that with the sun behind me - its on clear red dirt - I put that out on a plowed fire break thats been drove over regular - on a calm day I can see every boolit strike from the dust cloud - no spotter required - and when I go to check it can see em in the dirt easy as pie - its the best systen for finding your range setting - trouble is I gotta call my neighbor and his share farmer each time I wanna use it - am going to put the plow into my own range strip hopefully can get it working in with the target.
We have that low winter sun here now - I am shooting with sun behind but when it hits the target face square I still have trouble seeing stuff clearly.
I got the taped holes (I do that same) it was the yellow in the black that has me intrigued!
I'm doing better in overcast than full sun - but we dont have the heavy cloud cover you guys get and you are further north than I am south
Why did we wait so long ? I had my sharps 20 years and done very little with it - (still a project) - part of that is its a carbine style - just over 8 pounds and it kicks the **** out of me specially in those prone matches - the uberti 76 is just on ten pound and its ok - I made a four foot bench that I stand behind to shoot - that helps a lot with recoil - and yeah now we cant see so good but we got the patience - cant teach an old dog new tricks they say - well I reckon we still can learn a few!!
I have been in your neck of the woods a couple of times - not so likely to return but if I do you might need to load a few extras !!

[rfd]

the new tom ellis slick mould arrived yesterday, $81/USD shipped, will cast with it today. should drop near 490 grains w/1:20, .443" diameter, 1.22" long, ,187" meplat, parallel bearing surface is a long .92". will get patched with fidelity 9#. looking to use it for 300-600 yards. review to follow.

[indian joe]

the new tom ellis slick mould arrived yesterday, $81/USD shipped, will cast with it today. should drop near 490 grains w/1:20, .443" diameter, 1.22" long, ,187" meplat, parallel bearing surface is a long .92". will get patched with fidelity 9#. looking to use it for 300-600 yards. review to follow.

Looks pretty tidy! I like his adjustable screw to hold the sprue plate down flat - thats clever -- keep us posted hey!

[rfd]

i honestly think tom's moulds are a huge bang for the buck. it's also an absolute pleasure to cast with a big block aluminum mould. i can attest to their accuracy and used his 45-405P for winning 200 yard matches. i used a wad stack, to boot ...

[Chill Wills]

i honestly think tom's moulds are a huge bang for the buck. it's also an absolute pleasure to cast with a big block aluminum mould. i can attest to their accuracy and used his 45-405P for winning 200 yard matches. i used a wad stack, to boot ...

What is the nose length of that bullet? It looks to be 0.6 or 0.7 calibers.

[rfd]

the width as it drops with 1:20 is .443, the width in the below drawing is listed as .451