Trimming Pickett mould sprues

[Buffalochip]

Hello,
Just bought a .43 cal., ca 1850, pickett (or country rifle). It came with its own single-cast, single cavity conical flat-base mold. The mould does not have a sprue cutter, so how do I remove the sprue? I trimmed them off with a wire snipper, but that still leaves a nub. This is a bench rifle w/34" heavy octagon barrel that, in the right hands, shoud be a tack driver.

[454PB]

I'm not familiar with that rifle or mould, but it sounds like you need to fabricate a sprue plate for it. I have made sprue plates from aluminum for many of my steel moulds, it just takes some time, patience, and a good assortment of files.

[Buffalochip]

The pickett mold creates a 3/8" conical sprue, which isn't exposed until the mould is opened--it is not possible to form a sprue plate.

[shooter575]

With out putting the mold to the milling maching to make a sprue plate work you are going to do like the orgional shooter did. Cut it off by hand.Nippers,sharpe knife and or a file. I know,not the answer you wanted.

[357maximum]

If you time it properly you should be able to hold the projectile with a rubberized jar opener thingie and twist the sprue off with a pair of pliars....as long as the sprue cone is not to heavy it should work alotmobetta than cutting them....sometimes putting the boolit in the freezer for a few hours then twisting the sprues will help...

[Silvyus]

I would second 357 wait for them to cool and try twisting the spur off

[Buckshot]

.............I have Ned Roberts' book on caplock rifles and it has quite a bit of info on the rifles shooting Pickett boolits. Offhand I don't recall reading much of anything about how the sprue was cut. There were several photographs of various Pickett designs.

I'd say you could pretty easily make yourself a spruecutter. Rather then like pliers, where 2 sharp edges come together and therefore form a sharply tapered (pinched off type area) short cone, with a straight line on top you'd want one clean pass.

Ever seen a cigar cutter? Something like that, only simpler. Take 2 pieces of steel maybe 4" long, say 1/8" thick and 3/4" wide. One will be the 'Holder' and the other the 'Cutter'.

For the Holder, drill a hole as close to the diameter of the sprue as possible, about 1" from the end. Now countersink it leaving just the very thinest edge as possible. Yup, looks just like a sprueplate.:-).

For the Cutter grind, file and then stone to a VERY sharp edge (on one side ONLY) a section that will pass over the hole in the Holder, when the ends of both pieces are joined together, with a single screw so they can move. We have a kind of scissors looking deal, but without handles.

The countersunk portion of the hole in the Holder faces down, and the bevel on the Cutter piece should be facing up. You set the countersunk hole down over the sprue of the Pickett boolit. The countersink is to allow as much of the sprue as possible to extend up through the hole.

Now you swing the Cutter leg through the lead sprue to cleanly shear it off, just like in a boolit mould. Set it over the next boolit and repeat.

...............Buckshot