I've got a Pedersoli 1874 Sharps "business rifle".
I picked the rifle up almost 10 years ago and got a Lyman 457125 mould to feed it. Cast up a bunch using COWW + a little tin and linotype, pretty close to Lyman #2 and had a pretty good bullet that just kissed the .459 lube sizer die and they shoot pretty good but I'm thinking I can do better.
My big boomers all got put away for a few years after I tore up my right shoulder (unrelated to shooting) and had to have it re-assembled. Now several years on I'm back to the casting and reloading bench for the .45-70 and I want to shoot BP exclusively with this rifle and other that a handful of Hornady Leverevolution rounds that's all that it has seen.
Of course I'm scouring the forums here and see that I need to go with a softer alloy so I work up a batch of 20:1 (more or less), I'm dipper casting with my pot running about 750°. I've been casting for close to 20 years so making a good bullet isn't an issue. My frustration comes from my Lyman mould I think. The bullets are dropping at 526 gr and the majority of bullets are +/- .5 gr of that but the darn things are running .456-.457 and are a drop in fit to fired cases meaning I can push it right on down into the case with very little pressure.
I'd really like a mould that will drop a .459-.460 and run 525-535 gr. Partly because I've read in numerous places that the Pedersoli's do better with a slightly fatter diameter bullet and the possibility of BPCR silhouette is a serious consideration in the not too distant future.
I'm more than ready to drop the coin for a high end mould and I'm looking hard at BACO's offerings. Either the Postell or one of the Money variants.
Any insight on which of these or other alternatives my Pedersoli Sharps is likely to prefer?
Thanks