Lee 6 cav. .25 cal. mold

[Ben]

I was browsing on Lee Precision's Web site and clicked on " Surplus Items"

I found this:

Six Cavity Bullet Mold TL259-80-RF New $ 29.00

I have a 250 /3000 and a 257 Roberts, both have 1 -14 twist barrels, so I thought that the 80 gr. cast bullet might be fine for them. I don't plan on breaking any speed records with the bullets. I thought 1,200 - 1,300 fps or so, I'd be paper punching mostly with this bullet.

I know nothing about this mold, I can't find it listed in Lee's descriptions of molds that they manufacturer ? ?

Anyone shed any light on this mold....They list 5 of them, I ordered 1 of the molds this morning direct from Lee Precision , so there should be 4 left if anyone is interested. Price is right at $29.00

Ben in
Alabama

[45 2.1]

It would seem to be one of the molds that LeftoverDJ did as a GB some time ago. Good plinker with a GPW coating.

[Ben]

Gee, the price is right. I guess Lee ended up with a few extras.

Anyone have a photo or drawing of the bullet ? I have no idea what it looks like ? ?

Ben

[Tom Myers]

Anyone have a photo or drawing of the bullet ? I have no idea what it looks like ? ?
Ben

Ben

These are the dimensions and calculations of the TL259-80-RF 6 cavity mold that I have.

Hope this helps.
Tom Myers
Precision Ballistics and Records (http://www.tmtpages.com)

http://breeze.linksky48.com/~tommyers/LinkSkyImages/forum_images/Lee_Mould_6C_25-80-6_Cav_80_gr.gif

http://breeze.linksky48.com/~tommyers/LinkSkyImages/forum_images/Lee_Mould_6C_25-80-6_Cav_80_gr_Sketch.gif

[Ben]

Gee, this must be my luck day !

I've been wanting a little plinking bullet for my 2 ea. 25 cal. rifles, this should be just about perferct.

Thanks for taking the time to send the nice specs. Tom.

Merry Christmas Tom,

Best,

Ben in
Alabama

[SharpsShooter]

I recently cast 2000 of these for a friend using 20:1 since he intends them to be used in his 25-20 etc. That particular mould seems to like high alloy and block temperature to get optimal fill-out. My notes show alloy temp of 875-900* with the mould pre-heated several minutes floating on the melt. 300-400 boolits an hour is not too tough do once everything is up to temperature and you get a good tempo established.


SS

[Ben]

Sounds good SharpsShooter,

I was expecting the need for high temp. With those big blocks and tiny .25 cal. holes, I figured getting the mold up to optimum temp would be critical for good fill out.

[smilie=p:Merry Christmas

Ben

[Larry Gibson]

Somebody sure was quick because they aren't there now!!!!!

Larry Gibson

[Ben]

Larry:

Umm ? ? ? ......There were 4 left at 9 a.m. on Friday morning. Like you say, someone grabbed those puppies up fast .

Ben

[Larry Gibson]

Larry:

Umm ? ? ? ......There were 4 left at 9 a.m. on Friday morning. Like you say, someone grabbed those puppies up fast .

Ben

Sadly seems to be the story of my life!

Larry Gibson

[Ben]

The Lee molds arrived ( 6 cav. , .25 cal., 80 gr. , flat base and the 6 cav., 280 gr. , 44 cal. mold ) , so I got out and cast with them yesterday. I've very pleased.

Best,

Ben
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0004-6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0005-2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0006-3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0002-8.jpg

Here is a photo of the 44's.....280 gr. , gas checked design

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0007-5.jpg

[Larry Gibson]

Unconstitutional!!!!

Cruel and unusual punishment......excuse me while I go cry....

Larry Gibson

[LIMPINGJ]

Ben what diameter are the 44 bullets from the mold?

[Nrut]

Unconstitutional!!!!

Cruel and unusual punishment......excuse me while I go cry....

Larry Gibson

X2!........grrrrrrr!.......
You know I think that design would be good in just about all rifle calibers...esp. with a gc for higher vel. loads.....

[SharpsShooter]

Ben

I had my pot fired up yesterday also. Here is another popular 6 banger group buy of the 311407

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r255/SharpsShooter_photos/30-175-louverin.jpg

[Larry Gibson]

Okay...I just finished a 3 hour run of WWs using two 6 holers, the GB 8mm and a TL358-158-SWC. I was pouring two of the SWCs to one of the GB 8mm to keep the moulds a constant temp. There's over 300 8mms and 600 SWCs. I was in no hurry but but am satisfied with the production. The 8mms appear they'll weigh in at 192 gr GC'd and lubed. They are dropping from the mould right at .326"

Larry Gibson

[35remington]

Ben, I have both the plainbase and gascheck version of that bullet, one of the few times I've been smart and did the right thing. Your mould is casting right on spec. I enjoy the use of this bullet in both the .25-20 and .257 Roberts, and it is a superior small game bullet, killing well and ruining little meat.

Keep the velocities on the lower side for best accuracy with your plainbase. If you wish, you may want to experiment with filler to see if it helps accuracy and cuts down on leading.

See if 6.0 W231 shoots in your Roberts. This gets around 1300 f/s in my gun (M77) and is a cheap plinking load with decent accuracy. I seat to engrave lightly, no great trick in my short throated Ruger. 2400 and 4759 work well also.

I like 5.5/2400 and dacron in the 25-20 for around 1275 fps, and 3.0 Unique for 1090 fps (just subsonic) for a quiet small game load. FWIW, the gascheck version is a superior high velocity .25-20 and Roberts bullet. I shoot it at around 1900 fps in both.

[Ben]

35 Remington:

I'll try some of those loads in my Roberts, Thanks.

LimpingJ - - - My T/L, 280 gr., 44 mold is tossing them out at .430 dia.

Sorry Larry, I didn't mean to torture you with the pics........Larry, I thought I could cast some bullets but fellow, you're way out ahead of me. Production is the name of the game with you. Impressive !

SharpsShooter...those 311407's look real nice, I bet they shoot just as good as they look.

I realize I'll have to keep the velocity low on the plain base bullets in my Roberts, but that is OK, I just wanted a little light plinking bullet for my rifle.

Best,

Ben

[Leftoverdj]

Yeah, the .25 cal moulds on the Lee surplus page are overruns from the group buy. Lee misread the order and did two batches of the PB version. I had to send 25 back, and get them to make the 25 GC moulds. I just posted comments on the performance of the PB version on the Group Buy board for those interested.

[C1PNR]

FWIW, the gascheck version is a superior high velocity .25-20 and Roberts bullet. I shoot it at around 1900 fps in both.
Would you mind sharing your load data? I'm interested in this in the 25-20, 25-35, 250-3000 (although I hope the 257418 works here), and .257 Roberts.

[35remington]

C1PNR, sorry for the over the holidays delay.

I don't know that I have any great revelations regarding the .25-20 or Roberts, but I have by far the most experience with the .25-20, having shot the round in two barrels with three different throats to the tune of about 12,000 rounds in the last four years, most of which was experimenting with everything I could think of. I've finally standardized a few loads but I'll never give up experimenting-it's too much fun with this cartridge.

I like the group buy GC because it shot at least decently at high velocity in all three throat types, which is something I can't say about any other bullet. My original Contender throat was non existant with an overlong chamber neck, horrible for accuracy potential. The Lyman 257420 shot terribly at low or high velocity, and plainbase bullets only did marginally well at very low pressures and were prone to fliers and inconsistency. Accuracy was terrible with most combinations.

The group buy GC was a semi-bright spot with a caseful of RL 7 for 1900 f/s, and this carried over into the same barrel when it was rethroated, only with better accuracy. Grouping improved markedly with a number of loads when this was done, and the plainbase showed good results with a number of cast bullet powders at low (12-1300 fps) velocity levels. It was necessary to seat out a bit in the new throat, no problem with a single shot. The chamber was still not a good situation with the super overlong neck. You'd never need to trim a case with this barrel.

I finally said to hell with it and got an OTT barrel set up for cast. A much better situation, and the rifle became much more tolerant of lead bullets.

Beagle mentioned in passing in another post that 'Lilgun was a good .25-20 powder, and upon investigation this has proved to be very true. I was surprised to find that even though charges did not fill most of the case that it was pretty position insensitive, and I got good accuracy with the plainbase as long as I did not exceed around 1500 fps, my highest velocity for good results with cast (dacron was also used and did help when pushing the envelope). H4198 also matched or slightly bettered this accuracy as long as bullet speed does not exceed this level. All three powders (RL7, lilgun, 4198) are capable of good accuracy at 1900 fps with unhardened wheelweight bullets and the gascheck. Many more worked acceptably to well in the new barrel with the plainbase at 1200-1300 f/s.

As for the Roberts, it has done well with the traditional cast bullet powders and light charges of shotgun powders with nearly all bullets. It has proven less fussy than the .25-20, and my custom barrel has to work hard to keep ahead of my Ruger. The short but proper throat helps.

Most of my charges are thrown with a Lee Pro Auto-Disk for both calibers, and I've never weighed a number of them. If you are interested, I can do the conversion to weight or supply the cavity size.

[C1PNR]

35remington, I've added the approximate velocity and powders to my listing for 25-20. I've only got the GB in the 80 grain GC version, but I do have a couple of others I'll try, too.

My Roberts is a Ruger 77 "Made in the 200th year of American Liberty" from 1976 and has just refused to play nice, with ANY load combination. I recently had some more work done to it and am hoping it'll improve some. 1 7/8" is the best I've been able to get out of it for a 5 shot group. Several groups will have 3 or 4 at an inch or so, but always 1 or 2 open things up to 3 to 4". It's been quite frustrating.

But "Hope Springs Eternal" and I just know I'll hit on the right combination one of these days.:-D

[35remington]

I'm curious-how long is the throat?

My Roberts is less than 5-6 years old (MK II) and has a short throat, but it at least has one. I figure that's better than a super long throat or no throat.