Lee 6.5, 170gn "Cruise Missle" bullet mould

[ukrifleman]

I bought the above Lee mould from Midsouth Shooters Supply for my My M91 Carcano.
Has any one used this bullet without alteration in a M91. I have some reservations about the weight and am considering cutting the lower driving band off to reduce the weight to around 150gn.

Any comments/advice appreciated.

ukrifleman.

[geargnasher]

Cutting one band off the top of the mould, honing the "grease groove" a bit to hold a 6.5mm check correctly has been done and works. My Midsouth mould drops about .2715" on the bands with wheel weight alloy.

Gear

[Hang Fire]

"Lee 6.5, 170gn "Cruise Missle" bullet mould"

Just those words alone are enough to get a debate going with the 6.5x55 Swede boolit shooters.

[dromia]

What is your issue with the weight?

I usually find that heavy for the calibre cast boolits work best.

The original condom for the Carcano was 160 odd grains I seem to recall so the CM isn't a kick in the **** of it.

I've had good luck with the CM in those Caracano's where it can fill the throat without seating too deeply in the the case.

[ukrifleman]

Here is my dilemma, the bullet casts at .270 and when sized, lubed and gas checked to .268 it comes out at 177gns.

The bullet in the picture has been seated to 2.900 which is backed off 0.020 from the lands. As you can see, the base of the bullet is at the bottom of the case shoulder.

I was just wondering whether the seating depth was acceptable and the bullet weight was within limits.

I shall be working up some loads with 5744 and GM3.

ukrifleman.

[geargnasher]

First, shoot them and see how they do. I doubt you'll have issues related to being seated below the neck, many shooters have to do that with the .308 Winchester and heavier cast boolits due to the typically short throat and short neck of that particular headstamp.

If you suspect that seating below the neck is causing issues, trim a few with a jeweler's saw and dry them.

Also try seating them for a firm engrave in the lands, but not so firm that they stick more fast than the crimp can hold against de-chambering.

Gear

[geargnasher]

Here are some photos, I'd post them as images but they're huge and blow the screen size up:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=19215&d=1264399031

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=19217&d=1264399121

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=19213&d=1264398946

Gear

[ukrifleman]

First, shoot them and see how they do. I doubt you'll have issues related to being seated below the neck, many shooters have to do that with the .308 Winchester and heavier cast boolits due to the typically short throat and short neck of that particular headstamp.

If you suspect that seating below the neck is causing issues, trim a few with a jeweler's saw and dry them.

Also try seating them for a firm engrave in the lands, but not so firm that they stick more fast than the crimp can hold against de-chambering.

Gear

Thanks for the input, I will leave the seating depth as-is for the moment and start to work up some loads. I like the idea of trimming the mould just one side, to get the best of both worlds, smart approach!

ukrifleman.

[dromia]

As has been said try them and see, I usually get my best results with the boolits seated out to the lands. Trouble with some rifles is the throat is so worn that you can never get there.

Also seating the boolit below the neck into the case usually isn't an issue unless the reduced capacity is enough to drive up pressure with that load, if so back off the powder charge.

[ukrifleman]

Thanks to all for the input and advice.

Range report asap.

ukrifleman

[TXBRILL]

Gear:

That was "Genious" the way you modified that mold.

[geargnasher]

Thanks, TXBRILL, that's the only way I could figure out to do it with only a hacksaw, file, sandpaper, drill, and tap. If I had some real machine tools I'd be dangerous!

Gear

[Uncle Grinch]

Thanks, TXBRILL, that's the only way I could figure out to do it with only a hacksaw, file, sandpaper, drill, and tap. If I had some real machine tools I'd be dangerous!

Gear

Now that is impressive... kudos to you geargnasher!!

[blikseme300]

Gear:

That was "Genious" the way you modified that mold.

+1

Excellent example of the can-do of people on this forum.

[dromia]

Don't you just hate people that are good at things.:evil:

Seriously though, very nice work Gear. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/adamsutherland/Smilies%20FB/sSig_goodjob.gif :grin:

I wish I had the ability to do such fine work.

[ukrifleman]

Just finished loading a batch of test loads with 5744, working up in 0.5gn increments, I started at 18.0gns and finished at 21.5gns.
I had initial issues with the Lee bullet seating/crimp die, as it swaged the .268 bullet when I tried to seat it.
The problem was resolved by using the bullet seating die from a 7.35 Carcano die set. This die is too short to crimp a 6.5 case, but this is not a problem, as seating a .268 diameter bullet into a case neck sized to .264, gives it all the grip required.

I hope to test the loads this Sunday (weather permitting) Range report to follow.

ukrifleman.

[22to45]

I see the mould in the midshouth web site, but no lee sizing die. what do you guys use?

[Jon K]

I bought the above Lee mould from Midsouth Shooters Supply for my My M91 Carcano.
Has any one used this bullet without alteration in a M91. I have some reservations about the weight and am considering cutting the lower driving band off to reduce the weight to around 150gn.

Any comments/advice appreciated.

ukrifleman.

geargnasher,

Is a 6.5 gc large enough to get .2715, on the Lee boolit?

Jon

[ukrifleman]

5609556094Just to bring this thread up to date, I experimented with bullet weights and powder and found that the C.M. bullet cut down to 150gn with 10.5/11.0 gn of GM3 powder worked best. I bought a second mould and had it machined down to cast 150gn bullets. All my original loads using Accurate 5744 keyholed. A shooting buddy has also had good results with Unique starting at 9.5gn and working up to his preffered load.
I also had a Lee bullet sizing die opened out to .268 and fixed the gas checks onto the cut down C.M. bullet with Lock-tite, I then tumbled lubed the bullets (twice) in Lee Liquid Alox.
ukrifleman