New Mould from Accurate Molds!

[longbow]

I just got my shiny new mould from Tom at Accurate Molds! It is a beauty!

I was thinking about a .44 collar button but wanted something a little heavier then I saw the "Pointy Bullet" group buy and thought I might get in on that one but the lightweight was too light and the midweight was too heavy (okay so I am picky) and they were all pointy (go figure).

Since my use is for Marlin 1894, pointy limits loading possibilities with a tube mag unless I made a file die to remove the point ~ kind of a lot of trouble for a lazy guy. True, I could load single or just one in the mag but...

Then while looking for a mould for a friend I found what I wanted except in .45 cal. at Accurate Molds. I e-mailed to ask Tom if he could do that in .44 and a short time later (really short) he e-mailed back and told me to look in his catalogue. There it was in .44 cal. ~ a nice little lightweight (but not too light) TC boolit mould.

A couple more e-mails back and forth then I sent a money order. It only took a few days for my money order to get to Tom and in less than a week after I mailed the money order Tom had shipped the mould!

The only waiting was due to Canada Customs and Canada Post to get the mould to me.

Terrific service from Accurate Molds and beautiful mould! I can't wait to cast.

Specs are 0.432" + diameter and 165 gr. This should make a nice plinker and a hot little screamer too. If gas checks are needed for hot loads then I will make a PB gas check tool (or maybe just download a little).

I am looking forward to casting and shooting these.

Longbow

[geargnasher]

Tom can make just about anything you can dream up, in nothing flat. And in brass. Just wait until you cast with it, feel the glass-smooth sprue plate operation with perfect tension, the alignment pins that glide together and lock up like Fort Knox, I could go on, but you'll be doing plenty of that once you get your pot fired up.

BTW, I've had the best luck running those brass moulds pretty hot with ww alloy, just enough to get a light frost on the boolits. The boolits will freeze solid just before the sprue does, so don't be afraid to cut the sprues while still soft. Bullplate is your friend.

Gear

[HARRYMPOPE]

[QUOTE=

BTW, I've had the best luck running those brass moulds pretty hot with ww alloy, just enough to get a light frost on the boolits. The boolits will freeze solid just before the sprue does, so don't be afraid to cut the sprues while still soft. Bullplate is your friend.

Gear[/QUOTE]

My brass Eagans also like to be run hot and fast.

h.

[Dale53]

Longbow;
Happy for your new acquisition! It sure looks like a DANDY!

Brass has been my mould material of choice ever since I cast with my first MiHec brass mould. That shape should feed well in your lever gun, also.

Keep us posted as to how it shoots - my bet is it will shoot VERY well.

Dale53

[grubbylabs]

I can't wait to order my next mold from him. I think I too am going for a brass 44 caliber mold. Except I want a 270 grain one so I can put the hurt on some critters.

[longbow]

Well, I couldn't wait to cast so fired up the pot last night at about 8:00 pm and cast until I ran out of propane which unfortunately wasn't long.

I did my usual mould prep which is not much ~ put some sprue plate lube at pins, sprue pivot, and a light film on top of the mould blocks where the sprue plate rubs.

Then I pre-heated the mould on a hot plate until the sprue plate lube smoked and got lead melting in the pot. I cast outside at a few degrees below freezing but I managed to get lead and mould up to temperature and cast about 50 of these little beauties before I ran out of propane.

As usual in my experience with brass moulds, the mould and lead had to be good and hot to get good fill out so I got a few rejects to begin with but once up to temperature they cast very well and right on spec... well, 2 grains overweight but the ones I weighed were all within 1 grain of each other.

Cast weight = 167 grains +/- about 1/2 gr.
Cast diameter = 0.432" and all within about 0.0005"

I am a happy camper! Tom was great to deal with and the mould is exactly what I ordered. Now to work up some loads. Plinker loads should be a snap but I want to see just how fast it will go too.

I am on my way to get more propane!

Longbow

[white eagle]

what more can a guy say about Tom and Accurate Molds
He gets 99.7% of my business and I recommend him to everyone
that wants a quality mold
I know what you mean about his design I will ask a question and he will
have a mold spec'd out in his catalog
I often wonder how I could have missed that particular mold ......but he is fast :bigsmyl2:
been a real pleasure dealing with him
I need more guns [smilie=w:

[Dale53]

longbow;
Those are sure nice lookin' little pills!

Dale53

[MtGun44]

Nice looking molds. We are very lucky to have Miha and Accurate plus other custom
mold makers to produce such beautiful molds to our every (almost) whim of design.

Very neat.

Bill

[longbow]

Just having read another thread on lead and mould temperature, I should elaborate when I say I run my lead and mould "good and hot". I actually have no idea what temperature I run either at.

I use a two burner propane stove and an old open 25 lb. plumber's pot. I pour with a large open ladle.

I learned to cast in the basement of my parent's house using a natural gas hot plate and was largely self taught. My father was not a shooter or caster. I started casting when I was about 13 and didn't have any knowledge of alloys or casting techniques. For the most part I cast pure lead round balls and Minies so no alloying to worry about. I just heated the lead and cast until I got keepers. After a while I found I could judge the "proper" lead temperature by looking at the oxide film on top after drossing then found a cadence that kept the mould hot enough to get good fillout. At that point I could lower the flame under the pot a bit and cast steadily.

After a few years of that, I started casting for .45-70 (Lyman 457125) using straight wheelweights. Didn't know about tin additions for many years after. I used the same technique here but found that if I didn't watch the pot closely and lower the flame when casting went well, I got lots of dross. Again, a little experimentation and I found I could get the lead and mould working together by watching the colour of the oxide film. I wasn't getting a lot of dross and casting went well. I generally cast hot enough to get slight frosting as I found I got better fillout... and I call that casting "hot". A little tin might just sort that out a bit and give better fillout without frosting.

So, 45 years later I still don't have a lead thermometer, though I keep thinking I should get one. For the most part I cast range scrap now or straight wheelweights when I can get them. I do have about 250 lbs. of #2 alloy I bought but as long as I can mine range scrap I use it.

I work for a lead smelter but can't even buy lead from the company! I am surrounded by thousands of tons of lead every day and can't get any (90,000 tonne a year output). I have to scrounge for lead.

Anyway, my method isn't very sophisticated but it has served my needs for a long time. I am also a minimalist by nature so for me, less is more. The less complicated things are and the less "stuff" I need, the better I like it.

I should clutter my life some by getting lead and mould thermometers so I can see just what temperatures I am running at and I guess until I do I shouldn't say I cast "hot" because I have no clue!

Now I have hijacked my own thread but to get back on topic, I will comment on the fact that these "little pills" (good description Dale) are frosted a little more than normal as I was just settling into a casting pace as I ran out of propane. I had just started to get good boolits and was reducing the flame under the pot.

Also, MtGun44 said it ~ we are lucky to have mould makers like Accurate Molds (I do wish he would spell mould right though! Kidding!), Mihec, NOE and others. These moulds are works of art and are so accurately made it is scarey. This Accurate mould is near perfect and cavities are virtually identical. The resulting boolits are exactly what I wanted.

The design and weight are a little off the beaten path for .44 mag but I think it will be a fun little plinker and maybe a hot little screamer too. It should make great light loads for the wife and daughter to shoot as well.

Well, that was kind of long winded even for me!

Coffee time.

Longbow

[geargnasher]

Just having read another thread on lead and mould temperature, I should elaborate when I say I run my lead and mould "good and hot". I actually have no idea what temperature I run either at.

I use a two burner propane stove and an old open 25 lb. plumber's pot. I pour with a large open ladle.

I learned to cast in the basement of my parent's house using a natural gas hot plate and was largely self taught. My father was not a shooter or caster. I started casting when I was about 13 and didn't have any knowledge of alloys or casting techniques. For the most part I cast pure lead round balls and Minies so no alloying to worry about. I just heated the lead and cast until I got keepers. After a while I found I could judge the "proper" lead temperature by looking at the oxide film on top after drossing then found a cadence that kept the mould hot enough to get good fillout. At that point I could lower the flame under the pot a bit and cast steadily. If you pay attention to the signs, a little experience will get you casting surprisingly consistent boolits without any temperature measuring equipment. Problem most people today, especially younger ones, is that they have no sense of "feel" or cadence, having never needed to cultivate one in our computer-controlled, automated society.

After a few years of that, I started casting for .45-70 (Lyman 457125) using straight wheelweights. Didn't know about tin additions for many years after. I used the same technique here but found that if I didn't watch the pot closely and lower the flame when casting went well, I got lots of dross. That's what happens when you heat a ternary Pb/Sb/Sn alloy beyond 750 degrees F, the metals (especially the TIN), oxidize at an astronomical rate causing the rapid dross formation. If you skim this off, you lose a significant portion of you tin very quickly. Again, a little experimentation and I found I could get the lead and mould working together by watching the colour of the oxide film. I wasn't getting a lot of dross and casting went well. As Mike Rowe would say, "Well, there you have it!" I generally cast hot enough to get slight frosting as I found I got better fillout... and I call that casting "hot". Me too. I wish I could get shiny boolits from WW metal, but even with really hot alloy the fillout suffers unless the mould is hot enough to lightly frost the boolits. This is especially true of Tom's brass moulds. A little tin might just sort that out a bit and give better fillout without frosting. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Depends on the particular mould. With brass moulds, I have more problems with tin over about 1.5% than I do with whatever's in the WW metal.

So, 45 years later I still don't have a lead thermometer, though I keep thinking I should get one. For the most part I cast range scrap now or straight wheelweights when I can get them. I do have about 250 lbs. of #2 alloy I bought but as long as I can mine range scrap I use it.

I work for a lead smelter but can't even buy lead from the company! I am surrounded by thousands of tons of lead every day and can't get any (90,000 tonne a year output). I have to scrounge for lead. How painful that must be!

Anyway, my method isn't very sophisticated but it has served my needs for a long time. I am also a minimalist by nature so for me, less is more. The less complicated things are and the less "stuff" I need, the better I like it. If you're getting good results from what you do, there is no need to change anything. A good lead thermometer really does help take some of the mystery out of it, but then again if you're casting from mostly unknown alloys you're better off just using your five (or six!) senses and educated mind to tell you where to set the burner and how fast to cast.

I should clutter my life some by getting lead and mould thermometers so I can see just what temperatures I am running at and I guess until I do I shouldn't say I cast "hot" because I have no clue! Sure you do. You know your boolits are frosty, that's in the upper range of effective mould temperature, much beyond that boolit quality starts degrading. You run your pot just below the point that it drosses excessively, that also is in the "upper range", but probably just right for most of what you do since you don't add tin. Sounds good to me. If you use some of that Lyman #2, you will discover you'll have to turn the burner down a lot more to keep the dross from forming at an excessive rate, it has a significantly lower melting and oxidation point than most range scrap or wheel weight metal I've seen.

Now I have hijacked my own thread but to get back on topic, I will comment on the fact that these "little pills" (good description Dale) are frosted a little more than normal as I was just settling into a casting pace as I ran out of propane. I had just started to get good boolits and was reducing the flame under the pot.

Also, MtGun44 said it ~ we are lucky to have mould makers like Accurate Molds (I do wish he would spell mould right though! Kidding!), It's an epidemic: Mountain Molds. HollowpointMold. Accurate Mold. bugs me too, but most people don't know the difference between "your" and "you're", either, and many people struggle with the proper spelling of "boolit" :wink: Mihec, NOE and others. These moulds are works of art and are so accurately made it is scarey. This Accurate mould is near perfect and cavities are virtually identical. The resulting boolits are exactly what I wanted.

The design and weight are a little off the beaten path for .44 mag but I think it will be a fun little plinker and maybe a hot little screamer too. It should make great light loads for the wife and daughter to shoot as well. I'll say you owe us a range report!

Well, that was kind of long winded even for me!

Coffee time.

Longbow

When I harp on alloy and mould temperature, it has to be taken in the context of the audience. If a new member who has reloaded for years but is just making his first foray into the boolit casting realm posts that he has wrinkled boolits, and five of seven members say "crank up the heat!!!" when they should say "Preheat the mould and cast faster, with WW alloy keep your pot below 700* or you'll dross out all your tin", then I get a little purturbed. Most new casters do better if they have a number to work with, and a way to measure that number. It shortens the learning curve greatly, because numbers are easier to translate across cyberspace since I can't be there in person to see the same thing you're seeing. Besides, most new casters won't understand what you say when you mention heating the pot until it drosses and then turning down the heat.

Gear

[BCall]

As long as the dictionary tells me I can use mould or mold interchangeably, I will continue to do so without feeling bad about it.

[geargnasher]

I'm assuming you're using the same dictionary that actually has a definition for "Irregardless" and other, made-up words that have come into common usage by our ignorant populace. "Text" used as a verb is another good one. "Onliest" will be next, as in "That's the onliest one I had."

I was taught that "mold" was what grew on cheese.

Gear

[white eagle]

Wow !

[BCall]

I'm assuming you're using the same dictionary that actually has a definition for "Irregardless" and other, made-up words that have come into common usage by our ignorant populace. "Text" used as a verb is another good one. "Onliest" will be next, as in "That's the onliest one I had."

I was taught that "mold" was what grew on cheese.

Gear

So in the UK, when they call the stuff on cheese mould, are they incorrect as well?

Simply because it is what you were taught does not make it correct.

Proud to be one of the ignorant populace.

[longbow]

I only commented on "mold" and "mould" because my American friends ask me why I spell it wrong. Of course in Canada we were more heavily influenced by the English spellings. You guys had a bit of a falling out with jolly old England a while ago. Seems to me there was some gunfire involved too.

As close as we are as neighbours (just the width of a line on a map after all) and largely common ancestry there are still many differences and spelling is just one:

- color/colour
- neighbor/neighbour
- mold/mould
- catalog/catalogue
- American gallon is 128 ounces/Canadian (Imperial) gallon is 160 ounces (except we have liters/litres now to be even more confusing and even the ounces are different)

Look even the spell checker says I am wrong!

Doh! I hijacked my own thread again!

So, back on topic. My friend who also bought a mould from Accurate for his .45 ACP came over for a casting lesson today. I got him set up in my unsophisticated way and got to casting.

Well, I am disappointed! I thought my mould was near perfect. His is even better! Really there is nothing wrong with mine, it is a wonderful mould but his actually cast even better! Since mine is near perfect, his must be perfect.

I will repeat one of Dale McGee's comments "The good old days are now" with moulds like Accurate Molds is making along with Mihec and NOE (I have moulds from all). We have some very fine moulds available to us right now and these two Accurate Molds moulds are two of the very best I have cast with.

Indeed, a range report will be forthcoming ~ I hope to send some of these "little pills" downrange next weekend.

Look at that, I finished on topic.

Longbow

[longbow]

I'm happy!

I sent a few "pills" downrange today and was very please with the results.

Unfortunately I am not posting groups like Ben's but unfortunately I can't seem to blame the gun or boolit for it.

In any case, for the first time out I am quite happy with the performance of my new lightweight boolit.

I only loaded 50 to test using only Unique and Lee scoops to measure powder. I loaded up 25 over 10.4 grains Unique and 25 over 13.8 grains of Unique.

I wanted to try a light load and then something a little faster. I took a look through my manuals and found that Unique seems to top out at about 13.5 grains for 180 grain cast boolits though Hornady lists 14.8 grains of Unique under a 200 grain "J" bullet. In any case the closest Lee scoop was 13.8 grains so I used that.

Previously I had tried IMR4227 under a 165 gr. boolit from a home made mould but did not get complete combustion so decided to stick with a faster powder this time. I think I used a mid range 180 gr. load so maybe just not enough pressure to get complete combustion under such a light boolit.

- Targets were set at 50 yards
- Marlin 1894 1:38" twist microgroove barrel
- 0pen stock iron sights
- Stock heavy trigger pull (one of my excuses for large groups!)
- Stock old eyes (there's another excuse)
- boolit = Accurate Molds #43-165B @ 165 grs. (casts at 0.432")
- Load = Unique @ 10.4 grs. (25 rounds) & 13.8 grs. (25 rounds)

Results:

10.4 Grs. Unique

For the most part, I got vertical stringing with the 10.4 grain load ~ narrow but tall vertical strings. Some of that may be me but the load seemed very light so possibly inconsistent powder burn?

This load shot to about the same point of impact as the H&G#503 and the 434640.

Best group 1/2" wide by 2 1/2" tall with 4 into 1/2" x 1 1/4"

13.8 Grs. Unique

The 13.8 grain load was noticeably more powerful. Obviously recoil was light but a much louder report and point of impact was about 6" higher than the 10.4 gr. load so of the paper and I had to adjust the sights.

Best group was 1 1/8" wide x 1 1/4" tall.

Next best was 5/8" wide x 2 7/8" tall but 4 into 5/8" x 1/2".

Not sure what happened to the flier but until I load and shoot more I will take the blame there. It looks to me like the gun and boolit shoot as well as I can hold which isn't as good as it should be.

The two best targets are attached.

I plan on casting a bunch more of these and doing much more shooting with them. These are very pleasant light loads to shoot so will be good for the wife and daughter.

I plan to see just how fast I can push them and maintain accuracy too. With a soft nose or drilled hollow point they should be quite explosive. I have no idea what the BC is but I will see how far they shoot before the trajectory drops off as well.

I would think this should be a real nice little revolver boolit too. A real good lightweight plinker and small game boolit for handgun or rifle.

I have to say again how happy I am with the mould and service from Tom at Accurate Molds. The mould casts beautifully, the boolit is just what I wanted and it shoots well. It doesn't get better than that!

Longbow

[Dale53]

Longbow;
It sounds like you are on the right track.

By the way, the Marlin is relatively easy to do a trigger job on. It has a perfectly conventional trigger ass'y so, really, a piece of cake. Just remove the buttstock and you can see it work. The mainspring looks like it would need a mainspring clamp to remove. However, just pinch it together with your fingers - you'll be surprised how easy it is.

I ended up with a very clean 3.0 lb trigger on 1894C 25/20 which is what I prefer for woods hunting. I use a low powered scope on mine (I am a believer in low power scopes for these rifles, and even have one on my 1895 45/70).

Dale53

[geargnasher]

Longbow, sorry if I missed it somewhere, but what lube did you use on those?

Gear

[longbow]

Dale:

You must be a night owl. I am about to head for bed and you are 2 or 3 hours ahead of us.

Yes, I have taken the gun apart (more times than I care to think about) but in my efforts to fix feeding problems with SWC's. I should have done a trigger job on it while it was in pieces but wasn't thinking. It is actually pretty easy to gut it so I should take it apart and do a trigger job.

I agree about the scope too. My eyes aren't what they used to be and iron sights are starting to "fuzz" some.

I just picked up a scope for my Lee Enfield for the same reason. Now I have to order a no gunsmithing scope mount and rings for it. I find the military peeps blur now and I have trouble maintaining a good sight picture. I was shooting some NOE 0.314" x 129 gr. boolits today too and was hoping to report good groups like I got last time but groups were a little large today. I suspect shooter error is a good part of it.

I may wind up with a scope on the Marlin too. This little pill seems to want to hit what I am pointing it at so it would be nice to have a little magnification. I am sure groups would tighten up and I could stretch out the useful range.

I normally lean towards heavy boolits but I wanted a light one too and this really worked out well.

Longbow

[longbow]

geargnasher:

I neglected to mention lube so no, you didn't miss it.

The lube is my home made concoction of:

- Lucas Red 'N Tacky grease
- Ivory soap
- Paraffin wax to harden

Similar to Ben's Red ~ we both had similar ideas.

It is very slick and so far I have not had any leading whatsoever using it in both the .44 mag and .303 British.

I haven't cleaned the guns yet today so can't say for sure but if past experience is an indicator there won't be any leading.

So far I haven't been able to see any difference in accuracy between this and other commercial lubes I have tried but I am not pushing pressures and velocities either.

Longbow

[Dale53]

Longobw;
>>>You must be a night owl. I am about to head for bed and you are 2 or 3 hours ahead of us.<<<

Guilty as charged! I like the straight tube scopes, if you can find one, on the lever guns. They are compact and can be mounted close to the receiver.

Dale53

[geargnasher]

geargnasher:

I neglected to mention lube so no, you didn't miss it.

The lube is my home made concoction of:

- Lucas Red 'N Tacky grease
- Ivory soap
- Paraffin wax to harden

Similar to Ben's Red ~ we both had similar ideas.

It is very slick and so far I have not had any leading whatsoever using it in both the .44 mag and .303 British.

I haven't cleaned the guns yet today so can't say for sure but if past experience is an indicator there won't be any leading.

So far I haven't been able to see any difference in accuracy between this and other commercial lubes I have tried but I am not pushing pressures and velocities either.

Longbow

I was just wondering, those "off" shots look like purge fliers do sometimes. Three or four shots in a good, round group and then one way out of the group that makes you frown at the spotting scope and say "***??". Next one might be right in the group again or at the bottom of it. I've fired quite a few groups where one went "zing" and then back to business as usual for a few more shots, then another one way out of the group in a different direction. Sometimes I fixed this by making the lube softer or lubing one less groove, without altering anything else (except for the slight changes in velocity and exact time of muzzle exit/barrel harmonics, not that the slight lube change usually makes that big of a difference). I gradually came to blame lube on this because dry patching between every shot eliminated the fliers in the rifle I was studying at the time, so I went and reduced the lube from three grooves to two, that fixed it. Thinning the lube some or reducing number of grooves lubed has reduced fliers in other guns as well, just thought I'd throw it out there for your consideration after seeing the actual pics of the groups you shot.

Of course most of my own fliers are probably due to a slight casting imperfection or, of course, the good old fashioned FLINCH. But there is something to lube viscocity and consistency of bore condition. If you were to shoot that same load in the summer where the lube and gun were warmer your results might be even better.

Gear

[longbow]

Gear:

You may have something there and I can use all the excuses I can get for bad groups! Of course if I am not lubing right I guess its my fault anyway.

In the case of the Accurate #43-165B it only has one relatively small lube groove but as mentioned, I have had zero leading with this homemade lube with other boolits. Maybe it is too much of a good thing.

I have gotten good groups with the H&G #503 and the 434640 using the same lube and they both have larger lube grooves but...

I did notice something odd while shooting the .303 with the NOE 0.314" x 129 gr. boolits with the same lube. At least a couple of times I saw "something" in the air after the muzzleblast and once I saw what looked like a little streamer in the air floating away. I wouldn't have thought that much lube would build up and "purge" (if that is what it was). That boolit only has one lube groove too, though large for the boolit. Groups were not great.

That is certainly worth considering. The boolit obviously wanted to shoot well.

I will try a different lube on the Accurate boolit next time out and see how it does or maybe just run a patch down between shots as you said.

If it improves groups/eliminates fliers I may have to change my lube recipe. I can't lube less grooves when there is only one!

Thanks, I will definitely check it out.

Longbow

[geargnasher]

I've never seen a lube ribbon like that in flight, but seen plenty on my chronograph and on butcher paper I shoot through at different distances sometimes just for the purpose of diagnosing lube ejection. That's probably not lube purge from the bore, purge would be more like fine mist from buildup in the bore going out all at once every few shots, thus changing the condition of the bore and upsetting the shot that caused the purge.

We weigh our boolits and cull to the 1/2 grain, but how much lube do we put on? A grain or two in most cases. If that lube flies off in chunks as the boolit goes downrange, doesn't it stand to reason that it might create a little unbalanced condition? I try to minimize this by using a lube of the correct viscocity for the temperature and velocity range of each load. If the lube is soft enough, it will depart the groove in a fine, even spray the instant the front edge of the lube groove leaves the muzzle and depressurizes, leaving the boolit clean and balanced. If the lube hangs on because it's too tacky or too hard it might cause problems. Doing all this while maintaining a consistent, purge-free condition in the bore during a string can be challenging, but understanding the properties of lube and manipulating it to your advantage can make

I'm also likely to catch a blast of you-know-what for saying this, because all the hard-lube advocates will jump on the bandwagon. Try a softer lube without changing anything else, you might have jettison issues and not bore-purging issues, you can judge for yourself what's going on if the fliers stop.

BTW, ten shot groups are good indicators.

Gear

[Heavy lead]

I ordered my first Accurate mould, another 3 cavity brass. He modified a current design for me, making the 45-300C to fit a SRH in .454, basically taking my email and translating it into that, then I ordered it. Very easy, nice to deal with, took about 2 days after my inititial emai. I have no doubt it will be a fine mould.
You enablers you. Looks like I've got 4 dealers now.
Never quite had a boolit that would fit in this revolver right, even though it has always been a shooter, it's nice to have a choice like Tom offers, as well as Dan at MM. These two guys along with Mihec and Al at NOE pretty much have stopped me from buying production moulds.

[white eagle]

why do you think they calls em Accurate ???

[longbow]

Gear:

That all makes perfect sense.

In the case of the .44 and small lube groove I doubt losing bits of lube would have much effect on balance of a relatively large boolit spinning slow at 50 yards but the lube purge certainly makes sense.

In the case of the .303, that little boolit is not only lighter, it is spinning much faster so both unbalance and lube purge could easily be affecting groups. It also makes sense that streamers might result from lube peeling off the boolit in flight.

Diameter comes into play too and while the larger boolit is spinning slower it has a large radius so larger centripetal force so maybe...

This lube is fairly hard and not real sticky so losing bits in flight seems likely.

I will certainly do some playing with different lubes and viscosities to see how things go.

Good insight. Again, thanks.

Heavy lead:

From my recent experiences with my new Accurate mould and my friend's new Accurate mould you will be pleased. They are top notch and both cast beautifully to exactly the size ordered. Enjoy!

Longbow