Markbo
02-19-2012, 03:08 PM
I have been reloading a few years and just started casting. Got one of the group buy Mihec 255gr Keith style .45 molds. Played with it and played with it and after many questions here finally got the mold hot enough and the melt at the right temp and started dropping pretty bullets. Took a while though! They were made from straight wheel weights with nothing added.
In the meantime I finally received my Pat Marlin gas check tool. Everyone will recognize that I was one of the complainers and I don't deny that. I did. Well it's here and I am extremely happy with the tool. It is obviously finely made and works just as it says it does. I worked with only a couple of different feedstocks to settle on some aluminum flashing. Now Pat is very clear that it is designed to work with what gas checks should be made out of - copper - BUT to try anything for yourself and see what you get. So I can find/buy flashing easier and way cheaper than copper sheets so that is what I tried.
I made up a big pile of pretty bullets and sized 1/2 at .452" and 1/2 at .454" with aluminum gas checks. I did not for this test shoot anything without them. There were two SAA clones I wanted to test. A Taurus Gaucho and a Beretta Stampede. The Gaucho has had it's cylinder mouths matched up as they were Rugerish tight and uneven. The Stampede is actually pretty in spec. I have had leading issues with both of these guns shooting store bought 'hard cast' bullets, all of .452". I tried probably a dozen or more different bullets and a dozen charges.
For this test I chose to keep it simple. For each diameter, I loaded up 2 charges of Unique; 8.0 + 8.5gr so I shot 5 shot groups of 4 different loads in each gun = 2 charges and 2 bullet sizes. This range had shown to shoot OK in each gun before. Not the best in either, but OK for this test. I expected each gun showed it's preferences. It was not quite that clear. The Taurus shot the .452" and .454" loads is nearly identical groupings. Save for different shapes the 10 shot groups are about 1/2" difference in size. The Stampede however clearly shot the .454" bullets better - by far. So for these 2 sixguns at least, the choice is now easy.
I found 2 interesting things.
1. Both guns shot better than my records indicate they ever have with this load
WHY I can't say because I changed two variables... the bullets and GCs
2. There was not a HINT of leading in either one.
I had been of the understanding that gas checks benefitted handgun velocities in excess of around 1200fps. But in these 2 guns that had leading problems, the cheap (and easy!) gas checks seem to have solved that issue as well. For those wondering the lube was what I have used previously: Lee liquid Alox. Obviously the store bought bullets had a variety of colored waxes of one sort or another.
The best part of this whole exercise was the company. I had purchased 3 matching sixguns Boge Quinn told us about. The Uberti Cattleman that were selling for a ridiculous $250 new. I manages some pre-Christmas horse trading and got them. Two - consecutive serial numbers - went to my step sons. They are 29 & 31 so not kids, but I have been their mentor insofar as firearms are concerned.
I loaded up some ammo for them and made some "Custom made for___" labels ala Nosler and pasted them to the boxes. They got a huge kick out of that. We got to shoot our matching sixguns and had a ball. They both like the idea of carrying one of these as opposed to their semi autos around the deer lease. I have steered them to a couple of good choices in leather and they should be good to go. Now I just have to make up a box or two each of some test rounds to see what their guns like best and I can start cranking out a bucket full for all of us.
I'm gonna need to find more wheel weights! :grin:
In the meantime I finally received my Pat Marlin gas check tool. Everyone will recognize that I was one of the complainers and I don't deny that. I did. Well it's here and I am extremely happy with the tool. It is obviously finely made and works just as it says it does. I worked with only a couple of different feedstocks to settle on some aluminum flashing. Now Pat is very clear that it is designed to work with what gas checks should be made out of - copper - BUT to try anything for yourself and see what you get. So I can find/buy flashing easier and way cheaper than copper sheets so that is what I tried.
I made up a big pile of pretty bullets and sized 1/2 at .452" and 1/2 at .454" with aluminum gas checks. I did not for this test shoot anything without them. There were two SAA clones I wanted to test. A Taurus Gaucho and a Beretta Stampede. The Gaucho has had it's cylinder mouths matched up as they were Rugerish tight and uneven. The Stampede is actually pretty in spec. I have had leading issues with both of these guns shooting store bought 'hard cast' bullets, all of .452". I tried probably a dozen or more different bullets and a dozen charges.
For this test I chose to keep it simple. For each diameter, I loaded up 2 charges of Unique; 8.0 + 8.5gr so I shot 5 shot groups of 4 different loads in each gun = 2 charges and 2 bullet sizes. This range had shown to shoot OK in each gun before. Not the best in either, but OK for this test. I expected each gun showed it's preferences. It was not quite that clear. The Taurus shot the .452" and .454" loads is nearly identical groupings. Save for different shapes the 10 shot groups are about 1/2" difference in size. The Stampede however clearly shot the .454" bullets better - by far. So for these 2 sixguns at least, the choice is now easy.
I found 2 interesting things.
1. Both guns shot better than my records indicate they ever have with this load
WHY I can't say because I changed two variables... the bullets and GCs
2. There was not a HINT of leading in either one.
I had been of the understanding that gas checks benefitted handgun velocities in excess of around 1200fps. But in these 2 guns that had leading problems, the cheap (and easy!) gas checks seem to have solved that issue as well. For those wondering the lube was what I have used previously: Lee liquid Alox. Obviously the store bought bullets had a variety of colored waxes of one sort or another.
The best part of this whole exercise was the company. I had purchased 3 matching sixguns Boge Quinn told us about. The Uberti Cattleman that were selling for a ridiculous $250 new. I manages some pre-Christmas horse trading and got them. Two - consecutive serial numbers - went to my step sons. They are 29 & 31 so not kids, but I have been their mentor insofar as firearms are concerned.
I loaded up some ammo for them and made some "Custom made for___" labels ala Nosler and pasted them to the boxes. They got a huge kick out of that. We got to shoot our matching sixguns and had a ball. They both like the idea of carrying one of these as opposed to their semi autos around the deer lease. I have steered them to a couple of good choices in leather and they should be good to go. Now I just have to make up a box or two each of some test rounds to see what their guns like best and I can start cranking out a bucket full for all of us.
I'm gonna need to find more wheel weights! :grin: