Copies of Original, GI-spec .45-70 slugs?

[Bigslug]

I've got the 1884 spec 500 grain mold from Buffalo Arms, but would like to track down a clone of the original 405.

Anybody know of a source?

[Larry Gibson]

Lee 459-405-HB is THE readily available clone of the original M1873 45-70 bullet. Designed by Spence Wolf based off numerous arsenal bullets and the design platte's out of the manuals of the day.

Larry Gibson

[MtGun44]

+1 on what Larry said. This boolit worked WONDERS for me in a worn bore Trapdoor,
strongly recommend it.

Bill

[Doc Highwall]

There is a group buy for a bullet close to this by Mihec going on now.

[KCSO]

This is the bullet I used to duplicate black powder 45-70's. I compared it to original bullets from my collection and then worked on powders and loads till I had a match for military loads.

[Bigslug]

There is a group buy for a bullet close to this by Mihec going on now.

Doc, you have a link to that one? Not immediately obvious with a quick search.

Hollow base. . .iiiiiiinteresting. . .I'm liking the notion of a Mihec multi-cavity. I thought my 265 grain RNHB RCBS mold was a very cool contraption - right up to the point Miha sold me the means to pour them four at a time!

Hard to argue with the cost of the Lee though. Might have to pick one up on general principle.

[Doc Highwall]

This is the link.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?150128-MiHec-2-cavity-Brass-Hollow-Base-45-70-mold

[13Echo]

The Lee bullet is a decent and accurate bullet in the Trapdoor and a pretty faithful copy of the 1873 bullet. I believe it is also available from Brooks Moulds.

Jerry Liles

[Bigslug]

Well thanks guys! I did a little more homework and now have a Lee mold on the way. I will gleefully drop twenty bucks for proof of concept. We may ultimately need to con Miha or Swede into cloning both this and the Frankford arsenal 500 grain solid in a multi-hole mold. I'm thinking there would EASILY be enough demand.

[dromia]

The Lee mould is good, I find that their single cavity HB moulds to be the most reliably functioning moulds in their notoriously unreliably functioning range.

I have two at present and they both work very well.

The design is pretty near the original with the main difference seeming to be the slight flat point on the nose due to it being a nose pour.

[Bigslug]

I guess my remaining question on this Lee hollow base mold is how fast do you have to cast them to keep the base pin and aluminum body to temperature? Would having two identical molds running at the same time be a legit approach with this design, or do you have to move to fast for that?

[Larry Gibson]

I guess my remaining question on this Lee hollow base mold is how fast do you have to cast them to keep the base pin and aluminum body to temperature? Would having two identical molds running at the same time be a legit approach with this design, or do you have to move to fast for that?

I have run 2 moulds at one time with one being the Lee 405HP mould. The other was a 460500 Rapine. I use a dipper for these larger bullets so the casting tempo must be fairly quick. I had no problems with such other than a 10 lb pot of alloy goes very quickly.

However if just looking for just quality 405HP bullets I prefer to just use the one mould. That way after casting one and dropping it on a pad the mould is filled, the cut off sprue put back in the pot I can then quickly use dental tweezers to roll the just dropped bullet and inspect for defects, especially in the point area of the HB and the base itself. Rejects (not really that many) are put back into the pot and the good ones are put aside on the pad to cool. That give the alloy in the mould to cool, the mould to keep cool enough for good casting and I end up with already inspected bullets.

Larry Gibson