Core mold options

[d_striker]

I've seen the Corbin core mold for $149. What are some other, possibly cheaper, options?

I'm primarily interested in a core for .40 bullets made from 9mm cases. Also what diameter core would be best for said operation?

[ANeat]

BT uses a 9mm bullet mold for his cores. http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/...ad.php?t=70121

[d_striker]

BT uses a 9mm bullet mold for his cores. http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/...ad.php?t=70121

yeah that's the post that made me order swaging stuff. I already cast for 9mm and plan on using those boolits for a core. The jacket does not go all the way to the tip of the bullet though.

I would like to get a dedicated core mold in order to swage bullets with the jacket running past the tip of the bullet.

[d_striker]

What about just pouring lead directly into the 9mm cases? I read another post where a member did this.

The only challenge I can see is the varying weight of each bullet.

[BT Sniper]

I think we have all tried the pooring lead into the case. Only way to satisfy our curiousity. Only then do we understand if it can work or not. I tried and the variation was more then 10 grians. Maybe I just wasn't doing it right.

As for the jacket vs. exposed lead I have thought to give the 105 or 120 .356 a try. The ammount of lead at the tip can varry from more then just the weight of lead core. If the core grabs at the side of the jacket before it has bottomed out will cause the jacket to compress a bit and lead exposed.

I am still playing with the design but I think if I took a dremmel tool to the lube grove of the 105 I may be able to get it around 110-115 grians. Then we can play with the size of the hollow point to get it just right. With the case avaraging about 60 grains that would put us in the 170 grain range.

The 2 cavity Lee molds are fairly cheap, we shall see.

Did you get a HP or flat nose for your die?

Good luck, keep us posted

BT

[d_striker]

I got the hp dies. Total came to $159.11. With an advertised price of $129 I don't see how tax and shipping are $30.

[ANeat]

For just a core mold you could just get any smaller mold and enlarge it with a drill press. If you set a positive stop you should be able to get some consistent holes

[BT Sniper]

The $30 extra does seem a bit much. I'll look into what my shipping rates where. I guess that would equal like 10% tax and $15 shipping. The shipping sounds about right but being an Oregonian I don't know much about tax.

Your still going to enjoy them. Keep us posted as I may just send you some upgraded parts in exchange for some of all that extra brass you have.

Drilling out a smaller mold is certainly a posibility and I have done this too. Be sure and check your work as you can't go backwards in weight.

[MightyThor]

I have made several core molds by drilling an existing mold, either over drilling the top side or turning the mold over and drilling the bottom.

[trk]

What about just pouring lead directly into the 9mm cases? I read another post where a member did this.

The only challenge I can see is the varying weight of each bullet.

Correct - much varying because there is much AIR trapped inside - no way to control where or how much - no vents. (I tried it a few years ago.)

.380's and .223's are .375" OD - work for plinkers in my .375 H&H.

[303Guy]

... there is much AIR trapped inside - no way to control where or how much - no vents.

It's not the absence of air vents that causes the problem. None of my nose pour hollow point RN molds have air vents. The brass case needs to be 'tinned' for reliable filling or at least clean and hot.

[deltaenterprizes]

Make a lead extruding die and make lead wire like I did.

[CWME]

Any chance you could post pictures and maybe some directions on how you made the extruding die?

Another stupid question from a novice, how does the extruding die work? Do you cast slugs that then get forced into the die?

[deltaenterprizes]

Any chance you could post pictures and maybe some directions on how you made the extruding die?

Another stupid question from a novice, how does the extruding die work? Do you cast slugs that then get forced into the die?

Do a search For "homemade lead wire", shoterg posted them for me on page 2, you will need a 20 ton press. I use slugs that weigh over a pound.

[CWME]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...t=26730&page=2

Delta, thanks for the tip on finding this info Looks pretty simple on the surface...

[Daywalker]

I got the hp dies. Total came to $159.11. With an advertised price of $129 I don't see how tax and shipping are $30.

I just ordered my ch 101 dies for the .45 ACP HP. I was charged the 129 price and the lady told me that it was 7.00 shipping. She told me that she could put in a flat rate box 4.95 and then she had to put insurance on it for another 1-2.00. You may want to call back and check with them??

She also told me that they did not charge a handling fee. I would definatly call and check on that and let them know that someone else got it from them for less they charged you??

I may call her back to make sure my total quoted was correct.....

[Buckshot]

..........The above is the core mould I got from RCE Ent when I bought the swage dies for my Whitworth. The only concession to alignment is the baseplate the adjusters are threaded through, the adjuster heads themselves, and the 2 broad wide hinge pieces.



On the left you can see the hinge setup. The right photo shows an update I made to the blocks to enhance vertical alignment. The 5 adjuster heads in the cavities do pretty well to stop horizontal movement. The right block half moves over the plate holding the cavity adjusters, and is supposed to end up being captured between it and the sprueplate. I found it a bit casual, hense the modification.

All it is is a piece of blued steel pallet strapping, which is near spring temper almost 'as-is'. I bears against the steel head of a #4 wood screw which was shortened and screwed into the top of the SP close to the edge. The SP now securely locks the right block half into solid vertical alignment. At the time I bought the press, dies, and the core mould it cost $75.

When I made my swage dies to create slugs to paper patch for my 38-55 I wanted a core mould so I made one. I would have been better served by 1st drawing up a design, and then writting up a list of tooling and the machine ops. At this time I did not have a milling machine so all milling operations were done using a Palmgren tollpost milling vise adaptor.



Making something as complicated as this, flying by the seat of your pants and designing in your head on the fly isn't the smart way to go about it. This machining deal is a continual learning process, even though I'd previously read about getting stuff down on paper, this project made me realize what I'd thought was a dumb waste of time really wasn't. My projected 4 cavity mould turned into a 3 cavity, along with a couple other 'Oopsies' along the way.

To make it as easy on myself as possible I used 6061 aluminum in the form of a 3/4" x 1-1/2" x 6' rectangle bar bought from Enco. The SP and base plate were 1/4" x 1-1/2, 6061 also.

I'd cut off 2 blocks in the bandsaw and set them up in the vise and drilled the alignment pin holes from the lathe spindle. Once the pins were in place I setup a faceplate on the spindle, and then bolted an angle plate to it. I'd also realized that due to the required clearance for the alignment pins the distance along the blocks would require I lose one cavity. Once I got one block half setup on the angle plate I laid the other atop it, then used another angle plate to press the 2 blocks togther.

After boring the first cavity I loosened the top angle blocks, and using a dial indicator tapped the blocks over for the next hole and so forth. Each was first drilled and then bored to the desired .374" ID. What I SHOULD have done was to have had the baseplate in position behind the blocks and drilled the initial hole though the blocks AND the baseplate with the correct bit for the later required threading. I could have then bored each cavity to depth and the weight adjusters would have been in perfect alignment.

What I'd actually done was to make a simple transefer punch deal which would fit snuggly in each cavity, with the blocks held together over the bottom plate. I could then centerpunch for each adjuster hole.



After the centerpunching and then drilling and tapping 1/4-28 I found the 3rd (right) hole was NOT centered in the cavity. As you can see the right hand cavities' weight adjuster has a 10-32 shaft instead of the other 2 having the 1/4-28 shafts. I had to make a short threaded piece to fit the misaligned hole, install it then upset it. I then had to remark and then redrill for the small 10-32 threaded shaft.



After a couple other screwups like the SP pivit bolt being through an alignment pin hole, having to drill holes in the bottom plate for the handle screws, and a couple other small mishaps I crippled across the finish line a wiser man, but at least I did have a workable core mould (for awile anyway), and it's held up fine so far.

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

[deltaenterprizes]

Buckshot,
That is what protyping is all about! I worked on the aerospace industry and did electrical and pneumatic panel building and the prints were always full of errors and needed to be red lined, even on later versions of the same product.
The best was when the engineer tried to put two parts in the same place, it worked on paper! LOL