Ordered my first mountain mold for the 500 S&W

[saz]

After a lot of looking around for a heavier boolit for my 500 (preferably a plain base) I went ahead and ordered a mold from Dan at mountain molds. It is 550 gr plain base boolit. The specs are:

Bore riding tangential ogive
.503 dia
.100" front driving band
.680" nose length
85% meplat
.493" bore ride dia
.150" bore ride length

This will be the first truly custom mold I have ever owned, and needless to say I am EXTREMELY EXCITED!!! I hope it is a good shooter. I based it on some dimensions that John Ross had posted a while back. Can't wait until it shows up.

By the way, Dan in one heck of a nice guy and very easy to deal with.

[subsonic]

Have you shot your new BFR yet? Those 550s are gonna thump...

[saz]

Not yet. I did the math on it and if I run them to about 1300ish, the recoil (on paper) shouldnt be that much more than my 4 5/8" SBH 44 mag- that load is a 320 at 1200 and I can shoot that load all day long. I realize that perceived recoil is different, but I have a baseline to go off of. The BFR is almost 2 lbs heavier also which helps a lot. I have NO DOUBT it will get your attention when you light it! I CANT WAIT!!!

[Frank]

Is there a benefit to bore ride versus having a large front band?

[saz]

Depending on the length of the nose, yes. If you have a very long nose bullet, the bore riding section will keep the boolit from slumping to one side thus ruining accuracy. I had a hard lesson in that working with BPCR- which I am still a rookie. I couldn't figure out why my groups were under an inch at 100yds, then open up to over 8" at 300.

[Frank]

saz:

Depending on the length of the nose, yes. If you have a very long nose bullet, the bore riding section will keep the boolit from slumping to one side thus ruining accuracy. I had a hard lesson in that working with BPCR- which I am still a rookie. I couldn't figure out why my groups were under an inch at 100yds, then open up to over 8" at 300.

Thanks. I meant what is the gain to having any bore ride section? That could have been added driving band up front. More support. LBT style.

[DanWalker]

I had a mold made by Mountain molds a few years ago. Top notch work! You won't be disappointed.

[saz]

Aaaahhhh got it. My throats start to taper up to. 502" at 1.725" I didn't want to run the risk of it not chambering reliably with a longer driving band. I must say the dimensions on his pistol are perfect for a cast shooter. .502" throats all around, bore sluggs right at .5003, and the lands are .492.

[saz]

I had a mold made by Mountain molds a few years ago. Top notch work! You won't be disappointed.

Thanks Dan! I saw one at a gun show a couple of months ago and I was really impressed. If this one turns out well, I may have to order another one to replace my Lee 310 for my .44 mag. It doesn't cast very well, but I LOVE that boolit......