has any had a 69 to 73 grain .22 mild made?

[z4lunch]

Steve here... I have seen a few threads on cast boolits in gas guns ar's etc...
Anyone have a 22 mold made up in 69 to 73 grains for the faster twist rifles...ar and hk's???
Thanks

[Scrounger]

The subject has come up and there has been a thread on it that pops up every now and then. In short, Lee won't make us a mold for .22 billets. NEI does make .22 caliber molds and Bullshop has one of them. Most likely you can buy a few hundred of his bullets to test before buying a mold from them. Another alternative is Old West bullet Molds:

http://www.oldwestbulletmoulds.com/
Makes beautiful molds, even in brass if you want, and has a 70 grain .224 bullet that several guys here have bought. More expensive than a Lee Group Buy but also better quality.

[z4lunch]

Got one commin' from OldWest
Thanks!!!
Steve

[DAFzipper]

Mine is due in any day from OldWest!

[home in oz]

Gotta order one!

[JIMinPHX]

I'm about ready to make myself just such a mould. As soon as I get a free day, it's a done deal.

[Buckshot]

I'm about ready to make myself just such a mould. As soon as I get a free day, it's a done deal.

................What is this thing you speak of, sir? This "Free Day"? Certainly at my age I should have experienced one of these remarkable things, yet I cannot seem to recall the last one at all. I know that there are many people who have such days and apparently with some regularity as someone has to watch all these proffessional sports people. I further understand that there is actually things to watch on the television during the day? Wonders!

If you should be so lucky as to experience one, I would be most appreciative of hearing how you managed it, how long it actually lasted, and if it caused you any mental trauma or feelings of guilt?

.....................Buckshot

[JIMinPHX]

The roughed out block blanks have been sitting on the side of my mill table for 2 or 3 months now. They keep calling to me, but I haven't had a chance to answer yet. I may just push everything else aside, march out there later today & cut the handle slots in them so that I can say that I made some progress. I'll see how the day goes.

Right now, I'm in the middle of a conundrum with a car AC unit that is on the fritz. The service guy just blew the seals out of my compressor. Fortunately, its 80 degrees here today & not 110. It may be time for me to take those matters back into my own hands.

[JIMinPHX]

Thank you Buckshot for getting me fired up enough to actually go out in the shop & do something that I wanted to do for a change. The fruits of this evening's labor are pictured below. As soon as I get a little fixture made up for my lathe, I'll cut the cavities to finished dimensions.

[Buckshot]

............Jimbo, I'm proud of ya! So that's how ya do it eh? Say "Screw it" to everything else and just go do what you want to Those are some fancy blocks ya got there. Industrial strength alignment pins too.

Closest thing I've made to a boolit mould was a 3 cavity adjustable core mould for a swage die set for my 38-55. Below:




I didn't have a mill at the time, just a Palmgren milling vise to bolt to the cross slide to mill the handle slots. I put on a faceplate, bolted on a couple small angle plates. Indicated and clamped in 2 pieces of 5/8 x 1.5", 6061 aluminum and bored the holes. I screwed up by not having the base plate attached. That right hand adjustment screw had to be modified from 1/4-28 to 10-32 as the original hole wasn't centered with the bore. Live and learn as mistakes are edjumakashunal too.

Also, working without plans makes for moments of quiet reflection about "What NOW!", heh, heh. I see you have some nice drawings.

...............Buckshot

[JIMinPHX]

That's a pretty fair piece of metal work you have there yourself Buckshot. It looks like you & I may have chosen the same locating gizmo (1/4" dowel pins). You certainly did yours the hard way using one of those rickety X-Y adapter thingies. They lack the 3 R's of machining for sure. (3R's = Rigidity, Rigidity & Rigidity). It makes using my Bridgeport seem almost like cheating.

I try to work out my game-plan & have it down on paper before I start making chips in most cases & I tried to do that here, but even the best laid plans...well, you know. The extra holes on the block with the dowel pins pressed into it were my little f-up. For some reason, I had the wrong bit sitting where my "C" bit should have been next to my 1/4" reamers & those two extra holes where I had intended to put the pins are a bit oversized. That's why I had to flip flop & take the other two corners for my locating points. That gives my not too much meat left for the 10-32 threads that hold the sprew plate on, but I'll deal with it.

I don't want to hijack this thread & turn it into a mould making thread. I'll start one of them when I get my blocks finished. I'll include my handy little fixtures & drawings in that one too.

When I post here again, it will just be a report on the boolits & how they worked. That might be a little while though. Work is starting to heat up again.

Regards,
Jim

[StrawHat]

................What is this thing you speak of, sir? This "Free Day"? Certainly at my age I should have experienced one of these remarkable things, .....................Buckshot

It is probably a different thing from what you are discussing but I have had more than a couple of them. They are the days you work your but off doing a good job but recieve no pay. Hence the term FREE DAY. As much as I try to avoid them, they seem to crop up.

[BD]

For the working man:

"free time" is the time you spend completing jobs that you've seriously under bid.

"spare time" is the time you spend on the side of the road changing a tire on your way to work.

time "off" is the time spent stumbling around in the dark trying to figure out how and why the power got cut to the project.

A 70 grain .22 mold sounds a lot like the beginning of a cast boolit journey similar to the road traveled to reach 1,700 fps in the Swedes. A noble endeavor, most certainly.

BD

[JIMinPHX]

Hey Buckshoot,
If you want to take closer gander at my new blocks, take a look here -
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=45741

[z4lunch]

Got one commin' from OldWest
Thanks!!!
Steve