actual size of a lee improved minie?

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

what are the band diameters of a Lee improved mini

my current hunting conical is .500 at the base and .511 at the top it fits just right but they are store bought and they don't make a mold for it that i am aware of.

I had been hunting with 410gr flat point hollow base hornady great plans conicals , then when i couldn't find them i got 395gr hornady great plains conicals i prefer the flat point

i have cast a bunch of 250 lee reals , i haven't spent any time seriously developing a hunting load or putting them on paper , it was a borrowed mold i made a bunch and returned it

i have been thinking of ordering the 320 real mold but the lee improved mini looks an awful lot like the great plains , i liked very much what the great plains did to deer , talk about penetration a large doe shot back to front it plowed thru several inches of spine then down and lodged in the ribs it broke after passing thru most of the major organs that's about 3 1/2 feet of penetration a bunch of it thru bone
it also spread to 1.080 x .899 forming an almost triangle shaped lump of lead

i was actually aiming for the base of the neck a few inches higher but results is results.

that was the only one recovered from 3 deer , but they don't even take a step just fall over

[mooman76]

Mine drop at .502/3 I had trouble with mine only a slight bit but after the first fouling shot they fit kind of tight rather than sliding down the bore like they are suppose to.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

if they slide down a clean barrel easily is there an issue of them sliding forward during walking if the muzzle were pointed down

[mooman76]

Pour choice of words on my part. They don't slide down easy in a clean barrel either but they go in with minimal effort so there is enough friction there to keep them from sliding forward.

[405]

if they slide down a clean barrel easily is there an issue of them sliding forward during walking if the muzzle were pointed down

Yes. They can slide forward when carrying. Would not be a good idea to fire a load where the bullet is half way down the bore! For hunting, I've had a minie slide down the bore after loading and was lucky to check before firing! The problem is probably more common than many report. Casual shooting, at the range, of that first load in a clean bore usually causes no problem as the handling is gentle.... from loading muzzle up to firing with minimal handling. I don't go to the field hunting with a bore that has been stored fouled.... I go with a clean bore so a loose fitting minie can be problematic. For hunting I got a mold that drops a minie large enough to engrave slightly as it is loaded.... BTW that also proved to be the most accurate out of my rifle. Also, there are many different kinds of conicals. A true minie is a conical with a very large, deep hollow base. Lee REAL, Maxi Ball, Great Plains conical are not minies and function differently in the gun.

But, I can't help you on which minie/conical mold to get for your gun. Depends on your gun, your preferences, the alloy you cast with and the luck of the draw about the individual mold. Some molds tend to drop smaller than specs when using pure lead. And, some molds drop smaller than specs even with the alloy they are spec'd for :(

[mooman76]

If you want, I could send you some to try.