I am familiar with the Lyman 577-611 minie boolit mold. You can power that minie way up without blowing the skirt.
How is it with Lee's 578-478-M? Does it have a heavy skirt? What charge could you put behind it without blowing the skirt? I shot 100 grains of 2f behind the 577-611 in an 1853 Enfield with very good results. My 1861 Enfield went to 90 grains and going beyond that really didn't add any velocity.
I don't know how to predict results like that. I like the "looks" of the Lee Improved minie- nice long shank with flat round nose and adequate depth hollow base- not to mention the relatively cheap cost of the Lee mold. But I've never been able to get them to shoot as well as the RCBS N-S minie or some of the Lyman styles. Never figured out why.
Here's the specs of the Lee Improved .578 minie you are asking about. Maybe you can compare these with what you have in-hand. These specs are about as close as I can measure. Thickness at skirt rim- .075. Depth of hollow base- .305. Total length- .825.
Trust but verify the honeyguide
The 577611 has the thick skirt for its intended purpose as used in heavy hunting loads. The 575213-OS that I have also has a heavy skirt and likes a 90gr charge. I have some of the LEE molds (not sure if any are the specific one you are asking about) but so far, all the LEE minie molds I've seen are thin skirted so I'd suspect that they'd start flaring out the skirt after 60 or 70 grs powder. Maybe a slightly harder alloy than pure lead might gain you some heavier charges but I haven't tried that option. Whenever I have cast the Lyman minies, I had to use dead soft lead to get accurate loads and real hot lead to get accurate castings without voids.
Hellgate in Orygun
With 16+revolvers, I've been called the Imelda Marcos of cap&ball.
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So, can you take the base plug out and turn it down?
Not on the LEE molds, they are riveted onto a steel plate on the bottom of the mold that remains stationary as the mold is used. The Lyman/Rapine type molds have a base plug that can be turned down because it is a separate, removeable piece.
Hellgate in Orygun
With 16+revolvers, I've been called the Imelda Marcos of cap&ball.
If you do not subscribe to a newspaper you are uninformed. If you do subscribe to a newspaper you are misinformed. Mark Twain
”We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying, yet they are still lying.” –Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
Some people have removed the base plugs on the Lees and turned them down. It's just a matter of drilling out the rivet.Originally Posted by Hellgate
Aim small, miss small!
I've never used the 578-478-M, but, I can tell you that the 575-472-M and the 575-470-M make great 20 gauge slugs.
As for your question. The skirt blowing out should not be an issue at any powder weight. The skirt is only going to expand as wide at the bore. Besides you will only be shooting at 90 to 100 grains anyway. The base wall is pretty thick and you're not going to damage it. I prefer the Lee 575-470-M since it has a much thicker base wall and is easier to load. It's more like a Tumble Lube design than something you have to grease before loading. I don't do either because I only cast them as 20 Gauge slugs. Unfortunately for your case Lee does not make the 575-470-M in a 578 mold. The bullet on the left is the 575-472 and the right is the 575-470 you can clearly see how much thicker the base wall is on the 470. I get all of my molds from Titan for $25.00 to my door. Titan Reloading - Blackpowder Molds
............You can always try a slug without a skirt.
These are from NEI mould #391 which is their 575-500-PB. The base band is .578" and the top is .580". The target is 5 rounds loaded over 85.0 grs of Goex Express. The range was 50 yards issue sights. The rifle was a 2nd gen Parker Hale P58 Naval Pattern 2 band Enfield. It's a 5 groove 48" twist barrel.
............Buckshot
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i sure would like to try some of those in a 20 gauge shotshell...............You can always try a slug without a skirt.
These are from NEI mould #391 which is their 575-500-PB. The base band is .578" and the top is .580". The target is 5 rounds loaded over 85.0 grs of Goex Express. The range was 50 yards issue sights. The rifle was a 2nd gen Parker Hale P58 Naval Pattern 2 band Enfield. It's a 5 groove 48" twist barrel.
............Buckshot
LOL i would love to see this down and then not have the lead leak out of the bottom...
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