Hollow Point Cavity Depth

[30cal]

Recently got this off ebay,relativly cheap.It ia a lyman 311413 hp.The previous owner had the pin permanantly stuck in the mold with some kind of braze or small weld.I had to kinda "break" it off to remove it,leaving a small chip missing from around the hole where the pin goes in,wont hurt anything.Then I found that a 1/8" drill bit fits perfect in the pin cavity.My question is how deep should I make the hp cavity?I havnt cut down the pin yet,there is plenty to work with.And should I leave end of pin flat or round it off,or would it matter?This is my first HP mold and is just something to experiment with,wont be making any hunting bullets none too soon.Appreiciate any help with this.

[GP100man]

for top speeds of 1600-1700 for the .30 squib boolit I`d say 1/3 length or just above the first loobe groove.

I take em & mash the nose of em & 30 -30 em .

http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx110/GP100man/102_0410.jpg

[Ben]

Here is mine :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/311413%20HP/PICT0001.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/311413%20HP/PICT0004.jpg

[GP100man]

Puurrty !!! :goodpost:

Who did the HPing Ben ???

:lovebooli

[BCall]

I also got my 311413 hp off the dreaded Ebay for the princely sum of $35 not long ago. Mine had the original pin though. I cast with it for the first time yesterday. It flashes around the pin a bit and doesn't look particularly great, but it works. I wish my HP depth was more like Ben's, but apparently Lyman didn't make that deep of a cavity.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh259/blcall/SN852045.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh259/blcall/SN852044.jpg

[Ben]

GP100man :

My HP pin ( and HP'ing on the mold ) were both done by Erik Ohlen

http://www.hollowpointmold.com/

[Dale53]

Good pictures, fellers! It makes for better information in every way to have such clean, well focused pictures (and well lit, also).

Dale53

[Larry Gibson]

Quite frankly both the pictured moulds have HPs that are too deep in my experienced opinion. I've found over many years with .30, .31 and 8mms with various moulds that a HP should not be more than 1/3 the length of the bullet nose. Forster recommends 1/8" depth and my own favorite HP for hunting is an old 311041 I got in '69. I have gradually shortened the HP stem to give an HP 3/16" deep after many deer in numerous cartridge/rifle combinations.

I push the bullets 2000 - 2200 fps and use a soft yet malleable alloy so expansion is adequate yet the expansion petals do not readily slough or break off. The above moulds may be ok if the velocities are held down in the 1500 - 1700 fps range though.

Larry Gibson

[Ben]

Interesting Larry.....

I shoot 1500 - 1700 fps. Maybe that is why mine is the depth that it is.