Mihec 45/70 Collar Button

[bcr]

I debuted my new collar button mold from Miha tonight.

I was expecting that the boolits might not drop free quite as easy as I'm used to, but I had a lot more trouble than I was anticipating. I spent more time tapping the mold handles with my rubber mallet than I did casting. It got worse at the end. The last two mold-fulls I poured I had a lot of trouble even opening the mold, and then I had a heck of a time getting the boolits to drop out.

I got about 100 nice looking boolits anyway, but yield wasn't great (maybe 65%?) because I never could get a rhythm. If anyone has any suggestions on how to make them fall out easier I'd appreciate it. For now I'm planning to smoke the cavities before I use it again.

Also, it seems like 10 gr. Unique is a popular load for boolits like these. I'll be shooting them out of the Foe-Hammer (Marlin GBL). I also saw someone say they use 6 gr. of Bullseye. I've always thought Unique was kind of a dirty powder to shoot, so if I can get away with Bullseye I'd rather use that. Anybody had any success loading these?

[MtGun44]

Look for a small burr on the edge of a cavity. One good way to clean these up is
to scrub the mold cavities well with a toothbrush and Comet.

Bill

[rollmyown]

When was this mold cut?
I must have missed this one, Is it still available?

[Frozone]

Yes, he still has a few.

See This thread (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=160053)

[MiHec]

I debuted my new collar button mold from Miha tonight.

I was expecting that the boolits might not drop free quite as easy as I'm used to, but I had a lot more trouble than I was anticipating. I spent more time tapping the mold handles with my rubber mallet than I did casting. It got worse at the end. The last two mold-fulls I poured I had a lot of trouble even opening the mold, and then I had a heck of a time getting the boolits to drop out.

I got about 100 nice looking boolits anyway, but yield wasn't great (maybe 65%?) because I never could get a rhythm. If anyone has any suggestions on how to make them fall out easier I'd appreciate it. For now I'm planning to smoke the cavities before I use it again.

Also, it seems like 10 gr. Unique is a popular load for boolits like these. I'll be shooting them out of the Foe-Hammer (Marlin GBL). I also saw someone say they use 6 gr. of Bullseye. I've always thought Unique was kind of a dirty powder to shoot, so if I can get away with Bullseye I'd rather use that. Anybody had any success loading these?

More heat....

[45 2.1]

More heat....


and a harder alloy. 50/50 WW/Pb works fine.

[Jailer]

More heat....

You beat me to it

And just in case you missed it....more heat.

[M-Tecs]

MiHec

PM sent. I want one.

[rollmyown]

Ditto, PM incoming.

[Dave Bulla]

The above link to "This Thread" doesn't work.

Could someone please tell me where to look into getting one of these?

[longbow]

Another vote for MORE HEAT!

Not only will you want to run your alloy a little hotter than normal, you need to keep the mould blocks hot by casting at a fast steady rhythm.

It is kind of a catch 22 if boolits are sticking but if you pre-heat the mould well then you should be able to start casting and keep up a fast casting pace to keep mould blocks hot.

If that doesn't do it then take MtGun44's advice ~ look for small burrs and remove CAREFULLY.

Longbow

[45 2.1]

The above link to "This Thread" doesn't work.

Could someone please tell me where to look into getting one of these?

Send a PM to MiHec and ask for one................

[Larry Gibson]

As 45 2.1 mentioned a bit harder bullet and more heat as was mentioned by most.

I suggest Bullseye vs Unique as it will be much more efficient burning in the large 45-70 case. I suggest startign at 4 gr and work up to 8 gr. I suspect (based on shooting a simial collor button in the 45-70) that best accuracy will be with 5.5 - 6.5 gr Bullseye. I have found that from light weight RBs to 300 gr cast Bullsey is an excellent powder for such bullets at 1050 fps and less. I use Rapine 460210 (210 gr HB) and a 460250 (275 gr FN) bullets and after extensive testing of numerous powders I found Bullseye to be the best. BTW; safety concern, a double charge of Bullseye at 6 gr under that bullet is still well under the SAAMI MAP for the TD 45-70 loads.

Larry Gibson