BCall
07-18-2011, 01:58 AM
With the impending arrival of a Ruger Bisley in 41 mag, I figured I might want to cast up some 41 boolits for it. One of my 41 molds I recently got was a wadcutter single cavity from the $10 molds Lee had on clearance a short while back. Had some trouble getting it to fill the front band, but once it started working right, they cast nicely. Right at .412-.413 in diameter and just a bit over 211 grains. Should size down nicely.
Then I figuered I better cast some RD 41's, and then some 32's to load in the Buckeye 32 to shoot when I was letting the 41 cool. So I ran both of my 32 RG molds from NOE. And a 6 cavity Lee group buy mold from a ways back, a 32-120-RF.
Then I figured I would test the other 2 molds I got from Lee for $10 each. A quick cleaning and the first ran pretty good! A funny little 358 pointed tumble lube boolit. They just fell from the mold without so much as a shake when I opened it, and measured .359-.360 and 137 gr. The other was labeled a 450-400 gr. It is the one in the back of the first pic. I never did get it to fill out sharply. I think I'll need to clean it some more. Came out at .452-.454 and real just under 395 gr. Figured I might try to paper patch them for the 45-70. The I cast a few more 40-145-SWC's from a Lee 2 cavity.
All in all, an interesting day. No wife and kids here today to distract me, so I cast quite a bit. Here are some pics from today. Not all are perfect, but it was a pleasant day not worrying about anything but casting. Still having trouble getting the 313640 HP on the RG4 to fill out completely though. But the 115 gr Keith HP's turned out pretty good!
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh259/blcall/SN851680.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh259/blcall/SN851678.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh259/blcall/SN851675.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh259/blcall/SN851674.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh259/blcall/SN851677.jpg
Then I figuered I better cast some RD 41's, and then some 32's to load in the Buckeye 32 to shoot when I was letting the 41 cool. So I ran both of my 32 RG molds from NOE. And a 6 cavity Lee group buy mold from a ways back, a 32-120-RF.
Then I figured I would test the other 2 molds I got from Lee for $10 each. A quick cleaning and the first ran pretty good! A funny little 358 pointed tumble lube boolit. They just fell from the mold without so much as a shake when I opened it, and measured .359-.360 and 137 gr. The other was labeled a 450-400 gr. It is the one in the back of the first pic. I never did get it to fill out sharply. I think I'll need to clean it some more. Came out at .452-.454 and real just under 395 gr. Figured I might try to paper patch them for the 45-70. The I cast a few more 40-145-SWC's from a Lee 2 cavity.
All in all, an interesting day. No wife and kids here today to distract me, so I cast quite a bit. Here are some pics from today. Not all are perfect, but it was a pleasant day not worrying about anything but casting. Still having trouble getting the 313640 HP on the RG4 to fill out completely though. But the 115 gr Keith HP's turned out pretty good!
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh259/blcall/SN851680.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh259/blcall/SN851678.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh259/blcall/SN851675.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh259/blcall/SN851674.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh259/blcall/SN851677.jpg