Old lyman 313445 mould and thin sprue plate...

[mattw]

Posted the same question on another forum as well, don't want to miss any options before I get parts. Not sure if Lyman is the only place to get a better sprue plate and will have to measure cavity centers before I order anything.

I have an old 313445 DC that i just love to shoot in the 32 H&R. The mould casts very well and for me with COWW + 2%'ish pewter drops about 80% good bullets. If I start with the mould to cool I get vent line fringes, but once hot it all goes away.

My issue, it has the very thin factory sprue plate and it stinks! It does not always leave the base of the bullet nice and flat, if I slow down it has enough flex to leave a nubbin on the bullet base. Does anyone know if a thick sprue plate is available for that mould block?

I have not been able to get it to hot, bullets do not frost. I assume it is because the cavities are tiny and the block just does not get that warm. So, one can cast very fast with this mould!

[Mike W1]

FWIW, the last sprue plate I ordered from Lyman is quite a bit thicker than the old ones were.

[mattw]

Just ordered a kit from Amazon, did not think to look there. 10 bux and change shipped! I hope the screw thread is correct, it is supposed to include the thick plate.

[olivier]

Hello,
You can maybe find one by KAL Tool & Die.

[mattw]

The one from Amazon came in and it was thick with proper hole spacing! The only problem, the mould is old enough the new shoulder screw will not screw in all the way... feels like threads are different. The old shoulder screw seems to work. And wow, that plate needed the bottom trued. Their stamping press must be really rough on the steel.

[Green Frog]

It shouldn’t be this way, but it appears that the end user is the planned one to do final inspection and QC. I would lay a piece of fine grit sandpaper on a sheet of glass or other surface known to be flat and rub the spruce plate’s lower surface on it until it was uniformly shiny and smooth. Then I would enjoy those beautiful 313445s as they jump out ready to size, lube, and load.

[mattw]

I did, polished it down to 600 and reblued it! Works so well now.

[Pressman]

In his 1926 book, Handloading Ammunition J R Mattern was grumbling about how the Ideal mould sprue plates were to thin. Lyman had just taken over Ideal at the time so it would seem that change came slowly.

Ken

[mattw]

It shouldn’t be this way, but it appears that the end user is the planned one to do final inspection and QC. I would lay a piece of fine grit sandpaper on a sheet of glass or other surface known to be flat and rub the spruce plate’s lower surface on it until it was uniformly shiny and smooth. Then I would enjoy those beautiful 313445s as they jump out ready to size, lube, and load.

I paid a little more for this mould than I wanted to, but I am so glad that I did! It has become my favorite 32 H&R mag bullet, very accurate! It is a really strange looking bullet with the sub-caliber band out the front and the cute little wart on the end. It carries further, more accurately than a full wadcutter will for me. I really wish I had one of the old S&W 32 Long revolvers, I have a feeling it would really feel at home in the 32 Long case. I have a stash of 32 Long brass, just have never found a reasonably priced shooter to pick up. The other boolit that I shoot a bunch of in the 631 is the Saeco 325. I find it shoots very well also. I would like to find a little heavier bullet to try, something in the 110 to 115 grain range.

[mattw]

In his 1926 book, Handloading Ammunition J R Mattern was grumbling about how the Ideal mould sprue plates were to thin. Lyman had just taken over Ideal at the time so it would seem that change came slowly.

Ken

Ken, I would agree. I have ended up with many old Ideal's that are unvented or vented and while they make great bullets... if one does not run the sprue plate a little tight they will rise over the sprue cut on the base of the bullet and leave a little bit of a nubbin. The thicker sprue plate completely stopped that bad habit! I really do love the vintage Ideal's and Lyman's. They are light weight, yet still iron and heat and cool evenly. They just really work for me. My set includes Ideal's in 22, 30, 32, 358, 40, 41 and 45 and Lyman's in the same range. Out of 65 or so different moulds, 70% or so are pistol bullets with the remainder being Loverin 30 cal and a couple of other 30 cal rifles. I do not have any 7mm or 8mm rifles to deal with and do not have any of the really old rifles in odd calibers or unfortunately any 45/70's or cool stuff like that. Really looking for a 358101 right now, not having much luck. Yes... I like to play with odd boolits!

[Green Frog]

I paid a little more for this mould than I wanted to, but I am so glad that I did! It has become my favorite 32 H&R mag bullet, very accurate! It is a really strange looking bullet with the sub-caliber band out the front and the cute little wart on the end. It carries further, more accurately than a full wadcutter will for me. I really wish I had one of the old S&W 32 Long revolvers, I have a feeling it would really feel at home in the 32 Long case. I have a stash of 32 Long brass, just have never found a reasonably priced shooter to pick up. The other boolit that I shoot a bunch of in the 631 is the Saeco 325. I find it shoots very well also. I would like to find a little heavier bullet to try, something in the 110 to 115 grain range.

I fear you've waited a little too long to look for that 32 S&W revolver. From what I've seen over on the S&W forum, a lot of folks have been jonesing for them as well and too many buyers chasing too few available guns have elevated the prices by quite a bit. Right now I own 4 I-frame Smiths in 32 S&W Long, but I sure couldn't afford to buy them today! They sure are fun, though, and I've got one more custom project percolating through the system now that (if it comes to fruition) will use one of those that has a rather dubious past.

Froggie

[Green Frog]

I went out yesterday and shot my custom recreation of a Model 16-3 at the local indoor range... I’m lucky in that it is only a mile and a half away. I’m posting in this thread because I took several lots of 25 rounds each, all of them having a powder load of 2.5 gr of Bullseye and varying in their bullets only. The three lots I shot were topped with the 313445, the Lee TL 90 SWC, and the MP 105 RNHP. I was shooting at 7 1/2 yds to start and the full 25 yds after warmup. Accuracy in all three lots was as good as I could hold, but one thing sort of surprised me... the SWCs both cut (tore?) very ragged holes while the RNHPs cut nice, neat round ones. Go figure! Has anyone else experienced ragged holes out of SWCs? I’m used to getting nice round holes out of SWCs & WCs in 38s & 45s. Next outing I’ll try again with full WCs and report back on the results.

Froggie

[mattw]

I have seen that very thing... My targets were humid! Brand new targets that had been sealed up made great round holes, but the ones that had been in my humid shop for a good while would not make nice holes to save their souls.

[Green Frog]

I thought paper condition might have been a factor, but these were targets bought on site at my indoor range and which had been stored there under climate controlled conditions. I've gotten good results with larger caliber SWCs in the past, so that was what left me so surprised. I guess what really makes this so baffling is that the RNHPs made such pretty, clean round holes????? I'm not giving up on the 313445 by any stretch of the imagination, but this particular round of results sure came in differently from what I expected!

Froggie