a new Brooks bullet mold

[Gunlaker]

I just got a couple of new molds in from Steve Brooks. The one on the right is a slightly different version of a Creedmoor bullet that I currently use in a couple of my CSA highwalls.

The bullet on the left is a .32 cal elliptical paper patched bullet. If all goes well I'll cast a batch next weekend to see how they shoot in my CPA shuetzen rifle when breech seated. I have high hopes as I have the identical bullet in .38 cal and it is excellent when breech seated in both my .38-55 and .38-50.

They'll be cast in 16:1 and wrapped in 8lb Seth Cole. Hopefully it won't be too difficult to get a consistent wrap on those tiny bullets :-).

One thing I thought I'd mention too. I often have a tough time getting an accurate measurement of bore diameter from a slug. Groove is much easier for me. This time I picked up a few pin gauges that were close to what I estimated the bullet diameter to be. I paper patched the pin gauges tested them for fit through the bore. I used the best fitting one for my bullet diameter, which in this case is 0.310" when patched with 8lb Seth Cole. Based on what Kurt told me some time ago, I should be able to patch a couple of thousandths over bore with my slightly thicker paper and it might do even better breech seated, so I have that option too.

I'll post results in a couple of weeks, assuming I make it to the cabin (and casting shack) on the weekend.

Chris.

[Gunlaker]

Oops. Here is the picture of my new tiny bullet beside a .45 cal Brooks Creedmoor.

118229

[Don McDowell]

Chris, I had him make me a new postel profile slick at .435 diameter and 1.3 inches for the 44-77, and that bullet is doing great.
I also talked with him about making another block copying that dual diameter sharps bullet, got to get that bullet sent to him one of these days. I like his moulds.

[Gunlaker]

I like doing business with Steve and Gayle. They are really great people and Steve's moulds are really nice. I think a lot of people don't realize the variety of custom work he can do. His web site shows little variety, but the man can make nearly anything.

Chris.

[country gent]

I have one of his moulds also an Paper Patch money style adjustable with a cupped base and it is a sweet casting mould and the bullet it drops shoots very well. I cast them from 20-1 in 45 caliber. His mould heated up and cast beautiful bullets right from the start. His knowledge and craftsmanship is second to none.

[Lead pot]

Chris,

What are those speed bumps on that big torpedo????? :):)
I like both bullets.
Your right about Steve and Gayle. I stopped by when I was I the neighborhood once and they are fine people.
Steve has made some fine moulds for me from samples and he has nailed them right on. None of his moulds will take the back seat to any of the bullets I swage.

[Gunlaker]

Kurt I thought I'd try something untraditional and put speed bumps on one of them :-)

It's actually for a C. Sharps highwall that has a fat chamber. It shoots my current Brooks Creedmoor not too badly, but not well enough for me to use it instead of my Shiloh. My current bullet is a little undersized on the nose as this rifle has about a .451" bore. This new bullet has a .450" nose and is just a tiny bit longer than my current one. I'm interested to see if it shoots any better.

Chris.

[Chill Wills]

Chris, I would be interested to see a thread about your progress with the paperpatch Schuetzen rifle. I have had that itch too. Schuetzen all but dried up here and matches are few.
BTW great looking bullets!

[Gunlaker]

Michael, I'll definitely report my progress. This fall I've started to work seriously with my schuetzen rifles. I've owned them for a while but have not spent nearly the time on them as I have with my bigger BPCR rifles. I've been re-reading a lot of Steve Garbe's old articles on schuetzen, and the NRC matches. It's really fascinating stuff.

I'd really like to know if a traditional style rifle could shoot a 250 with black powder. I've got a lot to learn, but the one thing I've found is that the little .32-40 can shoot BP very well when breech seating. I have been playing with an old ruger #1 that was rebarreled with a Ron Smith barrel around 1990 and it's really able to shoot well. In the hands of an experienced bench rest shooter, I imagine it'd be a competative rifle.

I'd been thinking a lot about SPG's 20 lb bench rest Ballard that he's got for sale on the Wyoming Armory site. I think that rifle has done very well. I've got a CPA coming with a #5 RKS gain twist barrel on it. It's going to have a chamber on it that seems to really like PP bullets ( breech seated ). Hopefully it'll do well.

Chris.

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

Going out to the mailbox and opening it to find a box from Steve and Gail is like Santa Claus out there...

[Gunlaker]

I managed to cast a hundred and thirty or so of the little .32 cal. bullets this weekend. They are certainly tricky to patch. I have no problem with .38's but these will take some getting used to. The Seth Cole patches are just under 2" long, but only 0.6" wide. To get the patches lined up right I'm using an illuminated magnifier :-).

If all goes well I'll shoot a few ten shot groups on the German ring targets on Thursday. The only thing that might hold me back will be wind and rain. Load testing in bad weather does not work well with the .32-40.

Chris.

[Gunlaker]

Well, I took my .32-40 CPA schuetzen to the range today to try out the new bullet. It's not likely to replace my Saeco grease grooved bullet any time soon, but the results weren't completely dismal :-).

The first few shots were not working well. Impacts were all over the target and the patches were coming off in very large chunks. After experimenting with different powder charges, wad combinations, and seating depths I found a load that makes me think that there is some potential for the rifle to shoot breech seated patched bullets. This sort of experimenting goes much faster when you load at the bench!

I put ten shots with the best load on the 25 ring target at 200m. The first shot went into the 25 ring, as did the last shot. I still had three big flyers 5" away from the group, but the other seven went into 2.75" high by 2.5" wide which is 1.2 MOA high by almost 1.1 MOA wide. Promising for a first attempt in this rifle, but it's pretty much good for a last place finish. The targets score was a pretty unimpressive 221 of a 250 possible.

For those interested, here are the details on the rifle and load:
Rifle, .32-40 CPA #52 schuetzen. Badger 1:14 twist barrel. 18x Unertl. Shot off of sandbags and a Caldwell Rock BR front rest.
Load: WW .32-40 case, CCI BR2, case full of plain Goex FFg topped with 0.030" Walters wad. Brooks 1.05" long elliptical bullet cast in 16:1 and patched to bore with 8lb Seth Cole. Breech seated well in front of case with an interesting wads stack ( 0.030" Walters Wad + 0.125" dry felt wad + 0.060" LDPE wad ).

I think that if I used a more traditional bullet with a larger bearing surface and a softer alloy I'd get better results as I believe that the bullet wasn't bumping up consistently. I might try a Creedmoor style bullet with 3/4 shank and 1/4 nose. Then I could cast in 30:1.

Before then I'll likely experiment with pistol primers, lubed felt wads, and slightly thicker paper.

An interesting note is that this load needed about 3 minutes less elevation at 200m than the 200gr Saeco grease grooved bullet.

Chris.

[johnson1942]

is anybody interested in buying a as new steve brooks .492 diam. around 720 grain smooth sided cupped base mould . ive gone to swageing a 686 mould from a sug mould i had made for the same gun. it has only cast a couple of hundred rounds. at the top of the bullet just where it starts to go to a blunt true round nose this is a 1/16 lip of .50. that is where you put the paper just behind that point. it has a real long bearing surface and a short true round nose. a very high quality mould. i paid 225dollars for it.

[Nobade]

is anybody interested in buying a as new steve brooks .492 diam. around 720 grain smooth sided cupped base mould . ive gone to swageing a 686 mould from a sug mould i had made for the same gun. it has only cast a couple of hundred rounds. at the top of the bullet just where it starts to go to a blunt true round nose this is a 1/16 lip of .50. that is where you put the paper just behind that point. it has a real long bearing surface and a short true round nose. a very high quality mould. i paid 225dollars for it.


That would be quite an experience out of my little 6 pound Ruger 77/50! Wish I had a big enough gun to shoot that.

-Nobade

[Lead pot]

Can you post a pic. of the bullet and mould? And what is the bullets length?

Kurt

[johnson1942]

lead pot, i can get a picture on here next week as my wife will be back from tucson tommorow. and i have to get a tooth pulled monday. but she will do it for me. the bullet is 1.6 long with a short true round nose. the cupped base is a standard cupped base with a good strong enough lip in it. the bearing surface is smooth and 1.3 long. that is a lot of gripping area to grab land and grooves on a bullet. it is a wonderful mould if one needs a bullet like that. i had the mould made after i talked to dave higginbotham of lone star rolling blocks. he favored a 700 grain plus bullet in the 50/90. it shot in my custom 1/23 twist muzzle loader very well but then i had a core mould made also and went to 686 grain bullet that i now swage. this mould could be used on the faster twist .50/s blackpowder cartridge rifles. wrapped with 2 wraps of number nine onion skin the bullet would fit up into the rifleling of the barrel and easily bump up. it would work very well in a .50 green mountain 1/24 twist barrel. recoil isnt as bad as one might think. hits like thors hammer. i also have a almost new hotch nose pour .459 mould. it also has a short kieth type nose and long bearing suface. severl grease grooves 1.45 long. really good for a 1/18 twist .45. very high quality. i patterened it after some of harry popes molds. it doesnt taper but is a .459 diam.its for sale also.

[Lead pot]

The 1.6 would still work fine in my 1/22 ROT. I have swaged them longer to see if the 1/22 would keep them stable.
No need for a photo. I don't have a need for a 1/2 Cal RN.
Thank you.

Lp