Griz44mag
05-27-2013, 09:15 PM
OK so while on the phone last night with Goodsteel (remarkable individual, and a real pleasure to talk with) the subject came up about casting for 22.
It suddenly hit me, that I have done a proper cast boolit workup for the new Mossberg MVP, so the saga begins today, as if I did not have enough irons in the fire already.
The bullet I am going to use for this workup is the NOE 255-55gr-FN
The mold is a fairly recent buy from Al, and this was it's maiden voyage.
I had been casting with the RCBS twin of this bullet in a 2 cavity steel.
The NOE mold makes some nice bullets once you get the temp and the rhythm in harmony with each other.
Because you aren't adding a lot of heat to the mold with each cast, the pace starts out furious, almost able to keep decent offspring coming forth, but as the mold began breaking in better, the pace slowed and the acceptable output ratio started to climb. The casting process with this particular mold rates very high on the fun scale. Overall, looks like the cull rate is going to be 7 or 8 percent. I'm sure that will get better with more experience with this mold and getting the timing down better.
With the recent shortage of available bullets in the .224-.225 size if I am going to keep feeding this neat little rifle, I am going to be casting for it.
Today I cast a range of boolits using 15BHN, 18BHN, 20BHN and 22BHN. This will allow a proper test of pressure and accuracy.
Since this is a gas check design, I will be using gas checks punched from .010 copper roof flashing. I'll punch a few first, and check them for fit. If they are not tight enough, I'll break out the .012 stock I use for the .308 rounds.
As dropped, weights range from 56.8 to 55.2 depending on the alloy of course.
Size as dropped, nose .217, driving band .226, lube groove .190, OAL .652, and gas check base .214
Below is NOE's drawing, PDG considering the alloy.
It will be a week before checking and lubing, another week before shooting.
To be continued....
7177371774
It suddenly hit me, that I have done a proper cast boolit workup for the new Mossberg MVP, so the saga begins today, as if I did not have enough irons in the fire already.
The bullet I am going to use for this workup is the NOE 255-55gr-FN
The mold is a fairly recent buy from Al, and this was it's maiden voyage.
I had been casting with the RCBS twin of this bullet in a 2 cavity steel.
The NOE mold makes some nice bullets once you get the temp and the rhythm in harmony with each other.
Because you aren't adding a lot of heat to the mold with each cast, the pace starts out furious, almost able to keep decent offspring coming forth, but as the mold began breaking in better, the pace slowed and the acceptable output ratio started to climb. The casting process with this particular mold rates very high on the fun scale. Overall, looks like the cull rate is going to be 7 or 8 percent. I'm sure that will get better with more experience with this mold and getting the timing down better.
With the recent shortage of available bullets in the .224-.225 size if I am going to keep feeding this neat little rifle, I am going to be casting for it.
Today I cast a range of boolits using 15BHN, 18BHN, 20BHN and 22BHN. This will allow a proper test of pressure and accuracy.
Since this is a gas check design, I will be using gas checks punched from .010 copper roof flashing. I'll punch a few first, and check them for fit. If they are not tight enough, I'll break out the .012 stock I use for the .308 rounds.
As dropped, weights range from 56.8 to 55.2 depending on the alloy of course.
Size as dropped, nose .217, driving band .226, lube groove .190, OAL .652, and gas check base .214
Below is NOE's drawing, PDG considering the alloy.
It will be a week before checking and lubing, another week before shooting.
To be continued....
7177371774