mwjones
02-19-2011, 11:19 AM
I've spent the last month over at my dads smelting wheel weights in to ingots and getting ready to cast. Using a lee 10lb pot, and i've got about 80 lbs of ingots and another 250lbs of wheelweights that i haven't gotten to :) i ordred a mold from ebay about a month ago and just FNALLY get it in the mail.
The mould is a lee 312-160-2R mould that they say is for 7.62x39, but i wanted to try it in .303 british. Smoked the mould with a candle, and lubed the pins with a little alox (a trick from an old friend of my dads, apparently it helps the mould line up better?).
The first 20 or so that i did were full of wavy lines/waves, and i knew that the mould needs to be heated, so i tossed em back in to the pot. I did maybe 80 or so in the course of say, 15 mnutes, and all was good. I then started to get some where a little lead started leaking out on top of the mould under the sprue cutter, and would leave a ridge around the bse of the bullet. I'm told that this is because the mould got TOO hot? I wasn't sure if this was possible. I re-melted most of these, the ones that were really bad, and let the mold cool dow n for a coupe minutes sittign on the bench. Tried again, and got a couple pours before it sarted doign it again. Tried tightening the screw in the sprue cutter, and no dice; it was tight already!
Now comes to sizing. This is a tumble lube mould, so I didn't want to size them, but i needed some way to get my gas check on. Before sizing these bullet were measuring from .3105 to .3125 diameter, which kinda freaked me out a little as i thought that in general, your cast bullets will drop a little larger than the nominal size. i ran them through a lyman 45 with a lyman .312 sizing die, usng yellow dragon lube from dragon bullet lubes, and gator 30 cal gas checks. After lubing/sizing/gaschecking, they now measure anywhere from .3105-.312 over the grease grooves. Bullet weight after sizing lubing and gas checks is 170grains, +/- a half a grain.
Getting a little confused. Are my bullets shrinking after coming out of the mould? Also, i slugged my enfield bore and it came outto exactly .312. i know most jacketed bullets for.303 brit are .3105, so will my .3105-312 cast with gas checks work? I men, i know they'll shoot, but am i ging to be looking at 15moa groups or what :0? I'm going to try them out, but i'm thinking i might have to lap my mould a thou or two, and maybe the sizer? using the .312 sizing die as it came with the lubersizer, i know that there are .313 and .314 avalable.
Any thoughts? PS: Sorry for the long read!!:)
The mould is a lee 312-160-2R mould that they say is for 7.62x39, but i wanted to try it in .303 british. Smoked the mould with a candle, and lubed the pins with a little alox (a trick from an old friend of my dads, apparently it helps the mould line up better?).
The first 20 or so that i did were full of wavy lines/waves, and i knew that the mould needs to be heated, so i tossed em back in to the pot. I did maybe 80 or so in the course of say, 15 mnutes, and all was good. I then started to get some where a little lead started leaking out on top of the mould under the sprue cutter, and would leave a ridge around the bse of the bullet. I'm told that this is because the mould got TOO hot? I wasn't sure if this was possible. I re-melted most of these, the ones that were really bad, and let the mold cool dow n for a coupe minutes sittign on the bench. Tried again, and got a couple pours before it sarted doign it again. Tried tightening the screw in the sprue cutter, and no dice; it was tight already!
Now comes to sizing. This is a tumble lube mould, so I didn't want to size them, but i needed some way to get my gas check on. Before sizing these bullet were measuring from .3105 to .3125 diameter, which kinda freaked me out a little as i thought that in general, your cast bullets will drop a little larger than the nominal size. i ran them through a lyman 45 with a lyman .312 sizing die, usng yellow dragon lube from dragon bullet lubes, and gator 30 cal gas checks. After lubing/sizing/gaschecking, they now measure anywhere from .3105-.312 over the grease grooves. Bullet weight after sizing lubing and gas checks is 170grains, +/- a half a grain.
Getting a little confused. Are my bullets shrinking after coming out of the mould? Also, i slugged my enfield bore and it came outto exactly .312. i know most jacketed bullets for.303 brit are .3105, so will my .3105-312 cast with gas checks work? I men, i know they'll shoot, but am i ging to be looking at 15moa groups or what :0? I'm going to try them out, but i'm thinking i might have to lap my mould a thou or two, and maybe the sizer? using the .312 sizing die as it came with the lubersizer, i know that there are .313 and .314 avalable.
Any thoughts? PS: Sorry for the long read!!:)