Hensley and Gibbs 3115/331 9mm 10 cavity mold

[flydad]

I recently bought one of these and was wondering if anyone has any experience casting , shooting them? According to what I read Wayne Gibbs changed the drive band in the 80's and called it the 331 .



Flydad

[nagantguy]

No experience but that I one serious looking mold; a fellow could make a whole heap of boolits in short order. Which you almost have to before your wrists give out.

[flydad]

Agreed my #130 6 cavity is a beast also, but worth it for the beautiful boolits it produces.

[jsizemore]

A light weight boolit in a big honking piece of iron. Casting will be fast and furious. That hot plate getting started will be your bestis buddy. The payoff is a whole bunch boolits.

[Jack Stanley]

If you guys who like ladle pouring use a casting box to hold the mold it's much easier on the wrists than you would first imagine .

I used to cast quite a bit using four six cavity molds in tandem not as fast as a machine . Not to bad on the body .

Jack

[flydad]

Thats how I cast for two years. I'm spoiled by the RCBS bottom pour now. I seldom cast more than 300-400 in a session. Then I start powder coating them. Almost as much as casting

[Dragonheart]

The H&G #331 and the Saeco #115 appear to be basically the same bullet design. Not surprising since the old Saeco & H&G companies worked closely together.

The powder coated Saeco #115-BB has been my go to bullet for the 9mm since I got back into casting back in 2012. I think if you try 4.6 grains of HP-38 you will be please with the accuracy. 4.9 grains of WSF will give similar results, Ransom Rest <1.5" at 25 yards. Winchester SP primer, case length is 0.750, OAL 1.165, average MV 1139 fps.

[Don Purcell]

I also have that mold and it will pile them up when used with a Magma dual spout 40 pound pot.

[flydad]

Thanks everyone. When I saw that mold for sale I knew I had to have it. 10 cavity H&G molds in good shape are hard to come by. Thanks for the load data Dragonheart, will be casting some tomorrow and then powder coat them with some of Smoke's powder. I will report back. I will be shooting them out of a Walther PPQ 5 inch barrel, which is very accurate for me already. These big molds will drain a pot in a hurry!

[Dragonheart]

I get outstanding accuracy out of the PPQ's with this bullet & above loads. The only problem with the H&G 6-10 cavity molds is their weight. That is one massive hunk of steel and by the time I empty a 20 pound pot I definitely need a break.
I have found that after cutting the sprue having a large lead block set at the front of my bullet drop tray gives me much needed end support for the mold. A light tap of the knuckle bolt on the lead block when opening will allow all the bullets to fall into the tray.
Since I PC, I let my bullets air cool to avoid any contamination of the bullets. Once cool they go into sealed coffee cans until I coat. Then back into the cans until I size, label & store. Fortunately, I have a friend that drinks a lot of coffee and buys it in small cans. Once powder coated the cans never rust and I use the same color for the can as for the bullet. I can tell what bullet it is by the color.

[flydad]

That is a great system. I use mason jars , pickle jars , etc a little whimsical I know but I like to see them.

[flydad]

Any one ever seen a HG 374 or 334 for 40/10mm? They are similar to the hg68 but for 40SW /10mm. Would love to find one. i have never seen one offered.

[flydad]

I get outstanding accuracy out of the PPQ's with this bullet & above loads. The only problem with the H&G 6-10 cavity molds is their weight. That is one massive hunk of steel and by the time I empty a 20 pound pot I definitely need a break.
I have found that after cutting the sprue having a large lead block set at the front of my bullet drop tray gives me much needed end support for the mold. A light tap of the knuckle bolt on the lead block when opening will allow all the bullets to fall into the tray.
Since I PC, I let my bullets air cool to avoid any contamination of the bullets. Once cool they go into sealed coffee cans until I coat. Then back into the cans until I size, label & store. Fortunately, I have a friend that drinks a lot of coffee and buys it in small cans. Once powder coated the cans never rust and I use the same color for the can as for the bullet. I can tell what bullet it is by the color.

I am going to cast some today and will try the lead block method. You have to use a different technique with these big iron molds. Thank you for describing how you do it. I will be testing some boolits that I cast and pc a couple of days ago. Just happen to have a couple of pounds of hp 38. I will report back.

[FISH4BUGS]

I have an 8 cavity #331. That is my 9mm go to sub machinegun bullet. I shoot it from a S&W 76, Mac 9mm and Uzi. The BEST bullet there is.
You will produce a TON of bullets. I hope you have a Star sizer!
Use a mould guide or you will blow your elbow out. Go ahead....ask me how I know!

[Dragonheart]

I didn't mention I made a shelf to hold my molds while I pour from my RCBS Pro melt, which take a lot of the load off.

[Dragonheart]

I too have never seen a #332 or #374, but I don't own anything in 40. I can definitely say the H&G #68 has got to be the most accurate design for the 1911. The 9mm version of the #68 also shoots well.
I have two each of the 4 cavity bevel base and the plain base H&G #68's as I run two mold simultaneously when I cast. It ups my production and gives the sprue time to set before being cut. As far as I can tell accuracy is the same, but I prefer the BB for PC. Maybe one day when its cooler I will put them in the Ransom Rest for comparison to find out.

[flydad]

I didn't mention I made a shelf to hold my molds while I pour from my RCBS Pro melt, which take a lot of the load off.

I have been thinking about a shelf since I started started casting with the 6 cavity H& G #130 six cavity. I just thought it was heavy, until I got the 10 cavity 115

[RedHawk357Mag]

Casting box...not sure exactly what this is. Google doesn't seem to know either. If you might have a picture or can reference a book that might describe I would be most appreciative. Thank you.

If you guys who like ladle pouring use a casting box to hold the mold it's much easier on the wrists than you would first imagine .

I used to cast quite a bit using four six cavity molds in tandem not as fast as a machine . Not to bad on the body .

Jack

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[Dragonheart]

The only casting box I have ever heard of was what we used back in my college days to make sand molds for pouring foundry metals, so I am pretty sure this is not what he means.

I suspect his reference to a casting box is something like I use, which is a metal pan to catch & hold my bullets when they come out of the mold. At the front of the pan I have a large rectangular lead block/brick that stands proud of the lip of my pan. These large and heavy H&G multi-cavity molds have a knuckle bolt at the end of the handles, which lays nicely on top of my lead block and the block carries the majority of the load. After cutting the sprue and opening the mold a light up and down tap of the knuckle bolt on the lead block causes all the bullets to drop in the pan.

[RedHawk357Mag]

Thanks for your explanation. I was trying to visualize how a box helps in pouring. But your explanation clears up it's role of after the pour. Seems like there was a Old timey video made by Los Angeles Police department and it had some footage of their trustees making bullets with ten cavity gang moulds. I think they had a box of some sort let me see if I can find it again and I actually did see that.

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