Reducing a mold size

[SWANEEDB]

I have a 2 cav mold (lee) for my 500 s/w, now drops a 440gr bullet, i'm looking at having the top of the mold machined off to get rid of the gas check part, should take a fair amount of bullet weight off, am also looking at making it into a hollow point, just to get rid of weight, would like to know just how light of a bullet should I go with this caliber, would be nice to get rid of some of the recoil.

[onondaga]

HI,

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c338/rhymeswithwhat/TLsized.jpg

That is my favorite boolit for my .500 S&W. shown unsized and sized is the Lee 250 gr R.E.A.L. muzzle loading boolit that I size to .501" for my .500 Handi rifle.

My load will work fine in handguns also but be about 100 -200 fps slower. H110 is about equal to my batch of WC820 but you will need a few grains more H110 to equal WC820 velocity.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c338/rhymeswithwhat/loadsheet.jpg

My label has a misprint-- the crimp is done in a separate step with a seating die to apply a roll crimp.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c338/rhymeswithwhat/bullets.jpg

It is a $20 double cavity mold plus a Lee lube and size kit in .501". Recoil is low and velocity is high. Killing power on deer is spectacular with over 1000 foot pounds delivered at 110 yards with a very flat trajectory. This load consistently groups less than 1 inch @ 50 yards for my grandson or myself out of my Handi-Rifle. The particular filler acts as a quasi gas check in this load and is a major factor of the accuracy in this round.


Gary

[JIMinPHX]

Gary,
What is the "BPI" filler that you are using?

[Artful]

Jim I think Gary is using the shotshell buffer material from BPI (Ballistic Products Inc)

http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/1377

He had commented on it earlier
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=117238

article here about using buffer materials
http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting/castfiller/index.asp

[onondaga]

BPI Original Is the filler I use. I have not used their #47.

BPI Original:
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=695248

The BPI Original is easily measures with Lee Scoops but I usually use my old Lyman #55 powder measure because the clapper at each end of the stroke works very well to give consistent drops of the filler into my brass and eliminates waste and mess.

The filler is not relatively cheap but the difference in accuracy on the target makes it worthwhile to me. I also use this filler in my .458 Win Mag reduced loads with plain based bullets and get terrific accuracy at 1610 fps with a 340 gr RN-F Lee Boolit.



Gary

[JIMinPHX]

So then, I'll guess that since you fill to the rim with buffer & then seat the boolit, that the buffer compresses the powder charge & holds everything in place, therefore preventing the buffer & powder from getting mixed?

[onondaga]

Jim, that is how it works for me. The BPI Original is very compressible. If you are seating long boolits deeply you may have to decrease filler quantity or cases will bulge.

If you are willing to do some measuring and some math, try for a 106% load density with the combination of powder and filler, that will be sufficient.

The Lee R.E.A.L. 50 cal. 250 grain is a short boolit and I seat it so I can roll crimp at the middle of the middle band and that is not a lot of compressing of the filler with that seating depth and boolit combination.

This is an unusual setup with the crimp right on the band. I use a separate step after loading with an additional seating die to apply the crimp. I have tried seating /crimping in one step with this load and results are less accuracy on paper . If you try this load, I recommend a separate crimp step with an additional die and a moderate roll crimp.

Gary

[JIMinPHX]

That makes a lot of sense Gary. Thanks for the insight.