BOOLIT MOLD for Gehandra ?

[water bug]

I would like to shoot my Genandra .577-.450 . Slugged the bore to be .460 or .461. Can anyone identify a LYMAN Boolit mold number or RCBS or other brand mold that is appropriate for BP only, of course. Boolit weight from 480 to 530 gr. Any a mold have one they will part with? Thanks.

[powderburnerr]

actually saeco makes a govt style bullet in two different diameters ,at about 500 gn it should be close. the lyman may be small unless you use pure lead , and it also depends on how much accuracy you are looking for ,I dont knoew the number but it is the 1881 govt bullet,

[Lead pot]

The Saeco 1881 is a good bullet. I was given 200 to use in my trapdoor and it is a fine shooting bullet.
The bullet is 1.290" long and weighs 503 grains with 1/30 alloy it runs .460" in diameter.
The nose diameter is a nice round .4455" that makes it very good for shooting "dirty" and the 3 grooves hold plenty lube.

[John Boy]

Bullets ... http://www.buffaloarms.com/Detail.aspx?PROD=157753
Mold ... http://www.buffaloarms.com/577_Snider_Bullet_Mold_it-700729.aspx?CAT=4158

[powderburnerr]

johnboy , dont you think that mould is a little big for the 577-.450

[water bug]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Are you all saying there is no lyman boolit that casts .460" dia. ? Who sells the Saeco molds, Do all the regular suppliers like Midway, Mid south, etc. ? Is it listed as Saeco 1881 designation? With a Gehandra , I am not looking for GREAT accuracy, just average expectation, for an occasional outing at the range. ( hitting the paper??) WB

[John Boy]

johnboy , dont you think that mould is a little big for the 577-.450 yes, now that I read the slugged bore dimensions. If they be the dimensions - sounds like this rifle is a candidate for a custom mold

[4060MAY]

WB
sent an email

[Freightman]

I think that the Gahendras bore size is very from .451-to-.462, mine is .457 and have talked to those who have smaller and larger. My LEE 405 HB drops at .461 but not all do it shoots good also.

[Ed in North Texas]

johnboy , dont you think that mould is a little big for the 577-.450

I don't have a Gahendra, so don't know if they have the same "leade" that the Brit made Martini-Henry rifles have. The Brit rifles have (IIRC) an 8" leade from the chamber and it starts quite large. There is at least one member on the Brit Militaria forum who reports using the Lee .476-400 boolit in both his Mark II and Mark IV.

But a .577 mold is too large for the .450, though probably too small for the Sniders.

Ed

[Abert Rim]

Just a heads up. You may want to make sure you don't have a tight throat. A friend at the Brit Militaria boards found this problem in one of his Gahendras.

[Rojelio]

Just a heads up. You may want to make sure you don't have a tight throat. A friend at the Brit Militaria boards found this problem in one of his Gahendras.

That's the way my Gahendra is also. Very nice new looking bore, but, when slugging it, the throat is the tightest part of the bore. Not very conducive to good accuracy[smilie=b:.

[Abert Rim]

Rojelio, I just bought a Gahendra from IMA this morning -- an untouched -- and am hoping it has a good bore and throat. I would think the throats could be reamed without too much fuss though.

[wellfedirishman]

I have a Gahendra that slugs at .457, and seems fairly tight all the way down the barrel.

I used the Lee 500 grain pointed 45-70 bullet (drops around .460) and it seems to shoot ok. Certainly not a target gun, but everything on a dessert plate at 50 yards.

[water bug]

WellfedIrishman, how much BP do you use in your loads? I keep wanting to try reduced loads in this old girl, but have not heard any PRACTICAL way to do it. Many ideas on different threads, but all have drawbacks : COW, Puf Lon Cardboard tubes etc. Any GOOD ideas? WB

[Rojelio]

Rojelio, I just bought a Gahendra from IMA this morning -- an untouched -- and am hoping it has a good bore and throat. I would think the throats could be reamed without too much fuss though.
I don't know about reaming the throat, but, you might be able to lap out the tight spot if yours has a tight throat. I may try that some day, but, I've got so many other guns to shoot, I don't worry too much about that one.

[Ed in North Texas]

Another mold option is a Lee mold and enlarge the cavity. This isn't difficult if you have, or have a friend who has, a drill press with a quill that has no wobble. It can be done by hand, but it is quicker and more accurate to use a drill press. Cast a bullet, coat with valve grinding compound (not the coarse, you aren't cutting that much off) rotate the bullet to grind the cavity larger. Here's a thread with a post by MTWeatherman discussing this (note that he doesn't recommend coarse compound for aluminum moulds).

Or you might get by with an appropriate Beagle of the mould.

Hope that helps.

Ed

[Abert Rim]

Water bug, you can get turned cases with reduced inner capacity, but they are spendy. I have two boxes of cases formed and trimmed from the Mag-Tech 24 gauge shotgun brass, and I am going to have to do some load research as well. Expect to find a lot of answers at Brit Militaria ...

[water bug]

Abert Rim, I too have a box of 24 ga shot shells that were reformed for me to .577-.450, BUT They have a LOT of BP capacity. and are somewhat thin wall. That is part of the problem. Let me know if your research turns anything up. Where can one get turned cases with reduced capacity? How much is Spendy? WB

[Abert Rim]

Water Bug, yeah, those Mag Techs have huge capacity. I was thinking it was Rocky Mountain Cartridge Co. that offered reduced capacity cases.

[Ed in North Texas]

Jamison is supposed to be starting up operations again. Their .577-450 brass is heavier walled than the Magtech shotshells and is cheaper than the Jamison brass. If they are truly back, there will be a supply before too much longer.

Ed

That should be Jamison (now CapTech) is cheaper than Bertram brass. Geez, another senior moment.

[acmech]

My Gahendra slugs at .451, and my Nepal Francotte slugs at .457. The Gahendra shot great but the Nepal blacksmiths that made it had a overly large chamber reamer and the cases balloon up so much that you'd have a hard time believing it. I enjoyed shooting it, but it'll ruin cases. Its a lot of work forming cases so I want them to last. I shot the Francotte once and that was it. In the Francotte the shoulder of the cases moved forward 3/16 of an inch on firing and that is just too much for me. You can overcome any bore diameter with proper bullets, but overly large chambers will kill your brass.

[Abert Rim]

Ed, yes, Jamison is back as CapTech, and supposedly will be shipping brass in a few weeks.

Acmeh: Can you just neck size those ballooned cases?

[water bug]

Abert, I think Rocky mountain must be out of business. Their web site comes up, Unavailable or does not exist. Did some one else buy That business? WB

[acmech]

Ed, yes, Jamison is back as CapTech, and supposedly will be shipping brass in a few weeks.

Acmeh: Can you just neck size those ballooned cases?

The only way possible if have read is to use a 45 long colt sizing die. I believe if you are shooting a Brit martini with a larger bore you need a .480 ruger die., that might have been in this post I read that. I have 3 British Martini rifles and I've fired two of them and they shoot like a dream so I'm going to leave the Nepal guns alone for now.

[Abert Rim]

Water Bug, yes, the business did just sell. I'll look up the blurb in the SPG News and report back.

[Abert Rim]

RMCC has been sold to Tom and Cheri Outland of Worland, Wyoming. They will move the equipment to Worland, but were supposedly keeping the existing Web site and e-mail. Try rmc@rtconnect.net.

[MikeS]

I vaguely recall reading something about filling the cases with lead, then drilling them out so that basically you get a cylinder that's .450 or so. It has something to do with sticking a pin into the case before pouring the lead to keep the flash hole open, then drilling back as far as you want depending on what charge you want to use. I read this a long time ago, and only paid half attention, as I don't have one of those guns, but thought the idea cool at the time.

[Surculus]

I would like to shoot my Genandra .577-.450 . Slugged the bore to be .460 or .461. Can anyone identify a LYMAN Boolit mold number or RCBS or other brand mold that is appropriate for BP only, of course. Boolit weight from 480 to 530 gr. Any a mold have one they will part with? Thanks.

Use a Minie' ball mold. The bore may slug at .460, but that's just at its tightest point and the Nepalese armorers making these rifles weren't held to any accuracy requirements on the finished product, methinks! ;)

A minie' will be able to adapt to variations in the bore as it travels along the barrel to maintain obturation & have better accuracy.