Lee Minnie center pin mod

[John McCorkle]

Got one of the Lee 364m in 50 cal....it's the trashcan looking Minnie that is technically a swc but just barely....it's practically a wadcutter and I think it would make a grand hunting boolit.

It's design as I understand it is for target and thus target pressure/velocity. What do I need to do to the center pin in order to make it more accepting of hunting velocities before I blow the skirts off this thing?

I'm looking for 50-75 yard capable load out of a inline 1:28 barrel. Have shot it a bit and it's ok accurate but I haven't really tried to work yo a load for it.....just threw a few in there for kicks after dialing in a Lee 320 REAL (which is very accurate)

Also have heard somewhere that paper patching this boolit is possible? Benefits to that?

How much can I expect out of this boolit before the skirts start to give way and what can I do to potentially push it a touch harder for hunting?

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[Good Cheer]

Either on this forum or a muzzleloading forum there was a write up from someone using that minie for deer hunting. They said it did great. Don't remember if it was a side to side pass through. But, why wouldn't it?

Hey, got to ask, with that fast of a twist are you gonna try any loaded backwards?


Some day I'd like to glue a round ball on the hollow and try that just to see what happened.

[John McCorkle]

Either on this forum or a muzzleloading forum there was a write up from someone using that minie for deer hunting. They said it did great. Don't remember if it was a side to side pass through. But, why wouldn't it?

Hey, got to ask, with that fast of a twist are you gonna try any loaded backwards?


Some day I'd like to glue a round ball on the hollow and try that just to see what happened.

Holy cow never thought of that...paper patch it to make it more snug and load it backwards...wow that would be Overkill.

Decent idea for varmint destruction but on a deer that wide of a hollow point would not pass through the lung, it would tear it out completely!

Yeah I'll just play with it as is before I go altering the mold I think....wrap it in onion skin paper see if I can get decent load behind it with accuracy. Not needing it to move a semi, just fast enough to pass through a deer in various places

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[charlie b]

If you are comfortable with machining the pin, just remove it, turn to a smaller size and remount it You can really make the pin as small as you want for this purpose.

[Buzzard II]

With that fast a twist you may want to use a good sabot with harder alloy. Maybe Clip On Wheel Weight lead and MMP sabot. You could also use a XTP 240 gr pill in a green Hornady sabot. Good luck.
Bob

[John McCorkle]

With that fast a twist you may want to use a good sabot with harder alloy. Maybe Clip On Wheel Weight lead and MMP sabot. You could also use a XTP 240 gr pill in a green Hornady sabot. Good luck.
Bob

Sure, but the purpose isn't just to get a round that works, but to get one that works great and I make myself....same reason I don't use j words anymore...I get as much joy out of making my own as I do shooting them.

Sabots I can't make...

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[Good Cheer]

Say, with that 28" twist have you considered making a plain base adjustable length plug for Lyman molds and shooting them paper patched? At one point in time Lyman produced a lot of minie designs molds with full diameter plugs. It lets you swap out plugs to create varieties of combos. Lyman probably didn't intend it that way but it does create a fortuitous happenstance for shooters. So anyhow, an adjustable length plug could give you an almost infinite number of bullet designs with used molds picked up on the cheap.

[indian joe]

Sure, but the purpose isn't just to get a round that works, but to get one that works great and I make myself....same reason I don't use j words anymore...I get as much joy out of making my own as I do shooting them.

Sabots I can't make...

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LEE will sell ya the base pin as a spare part OR base pin and bottom plate - not much money when I got my spares.

[charlie b]

So why not use the Lee S&W .500 mold. It comes out around 450gn. Depending on your bore you can grease it and use it as is, or size it down and PP it like Idahoron shows in his paper patch sticky thread.

For my Lyman Great Plains hunter I have done both. I will run it through the .501 sizer then lube and shoot (my bore is .502). Or I size it down to .495, PP it and then size to .501. Use soft lead (max 8bh) and a decent powder charge (80 or so gn) to make sure the bullet 'upsets' properly. Seems to work better if you use a lubed felt or card wad behind them (or both).

Lee has the .501 sizer as a stock item. I had to custom order the .495 sizer die.

[John McCorkle]

So why not use the Lee S&W .500 mold. It comes out around 450gn. Depending on your bore you can grease it and use it as is, or size it down and PP it like Idahoron shows in his paper patch sticky thread.

For my Lyman Great Plains hunter I have done both. I will run it through the .501 sizer then lube and shoot (my bore is .502). Or I size it down to .495, PP it and then size to .501. Use soft lead (max 8bh) and a decent powder charge (80 or so gn) to make sure the bullet 'upsets' properly. Seems to work better if you use a lubed felt or card wad behind them (or both).

Lee has the .501 sizer as a stock item. I had to custom order the .495 sizer die.

I have thought of it often actually.

I really like what idahoron has done with experimenting with that bullet....I've seen his post in several forums...just impressed



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