Help with mould choice.

[mart]

I am in the early stages of a rifle build. I am building a 400 Whelen on a left handed model 70 and while I wait for the barrel (5 months), I thought I would begin gathering components and accessories for the day when it is finally a rifle and no longer a dream.

I have selected several jacketed bullets to test in it and being an avid bullet caster am considering what I should get for a mould. I know I want a round nose design and I would like it to weigh approximately 400 grains and it will be a gas check bullet. The barrel is a Shilen and the bore diameter is .411 (I will slug it to be sure although Shilen barrels are always consistent).

Nei has a design I like in one of their .410 bullets. Are there any other suggestions for mould makers that produce a round nose design that fit my description? Thanks in advance.

mart

[Bret4207]

I would bet the custom makers like Moutain Molds would be a great help to you. Good luck on your project, sounds like fun!

[RobS]

NEI as has issues here in the not so distant past. I purchased a mold about 2 years ago and it was very rough and not even the cavities were aligned straight in the blocks. As Brett stated a custom mold maker may be your better option.

An additional mold maker to what Brett mentioned is Tom at Accurate Molds. His work is top notch as well.

[cajun shooter]

NEI is not the company that once had such a great reputation. A lot of bad moulds being sent out and I would not go with them. They have many good mould makers that would make you the perfect one for such a fine rifle. I agree that Shilen makes perfect barrels. I would look at Accurate moulds as he is new in the business but not new as he is a retired first class machinist. I purchased my first mould from him about 18 months ago and he has caught on with a lot of people on this forum. I would also consider one of his brass ones as they are true art. You may also consider Steve Brooks and Dave Farmer of Hoch Moulds. I have purchased three of the Hoch moulds and they were all to the exact dimensions that I requested. The bullets were very accurate. Tom of Accurate moulds will make a three cavity brass mould for a revolver round for $119 to your door and I currently use his moulds for all My SASS bullets. The other makers are quite a bit higher but there moulds are the cream of the milk. Both offer nose poured bullets for rifle calibers. Good luck

[Doby45]

+1 for Tom at Accurate. He will make exactly what you want.

[Bass Ackward]

It isn't the bore diameter. Any bullet can fit the bore if it's large enough. What is going to make you or break you is your throat.

The throat ALWAYS centers the bullet for the bore. So you need to slug that and see what it looks like unless you can get your hands on the reamer and measure that.

[BABore]

Bass is correct, but I wouldn't necessarily rely on the reamer. Method, runout, and pilot to bore diameter fit all influence the resulting chamber. An impact slug of the throat will tell the story. Also be aware that chamber and throat dimensions for the big boomers can be rather generous. The SAAMI reamer spec for the parent 35 Whelen cartridge has a 0.250" long freebore and 0.360 diameter. The 400 may be similar. It takes a long bore ride type boolit to fill a throat like that. The case neck diameter of the chamber and brass thickness also have to taken into account. It does no good to fill the throat with boolit only to have the base wallowing around when the case expands to seal.

If you truely want a gun that will shoot both cast boolits and jacketed with accuracy, you might want to have a custom reamer done. Pick a good jacketed bullet you want to work with and design things so they fit right. You can then make up a good cast boolit design as well.

[Blammer]

STAY AWAY from NEI.

[mart]

Thanks, guys for all the information. A friend has the reamer for the 400 Whelen and will be doing the barreling. It sounds like I should wait till the rifle is put together to order the mold. I did email Accurate molds about a round nose design but have not heard back from him yet.

Mart

[TomAM]

I replied to you on April 6th. Did you not receive my message?

[mart]

Tom,

I did not get it. I have been checking my spam filter frequently and have not seen it there either. Would you mind trying again or send me a PM here? Thanks.

Mart