New Lyman mould!!

[Geezer in NH]

Got the Lyman 69 caliber mold from Midway south for the .662 RB.

Cleaned with brake cleaner and with Wheel weight in my new Lee 20 pound furnace, bottom feeder made 7+ pounds of balls (121 count) lost the first3 and one more I cut the sprue to soon.

I pressure formed with the mold on the bottom feed and then drop the mold to get a puddle on the cutter, same as I have done with 100K+ of .500 balls using the 10 pound furnace of Lees.

After 3 balls started saving on the fourth one. Balls came out 423 grains +or- 1/2 grain and 121 made the grade time was 1hr and 42 minutes from turning the pot on until casting stopped. Of course the cooling and measuring/weighing the balls took longer.

SORRY NO PIC'S BUT NO CAMERA OR STORAGE AVAILABLE.

Flame if you want but it was fun to do. Next will be the 12 gauge loads on my MEC 600 using red dot and Winchester Promo cases from the pick up at my club.

[cpileri]

why would anyone flame you for this?

[longbow]

You will want to use: thick walled shotcups, donut wads or patch the ball sup to snug fit for ball/patch/shotcup to bore. 0.662" balls are a bit small for most standard shotcups (that I have tried anyway). Steel shot wads are a good fit as they are quite thick.

I have gotten excellent results from 0.662" RB's cloth patched into Winchester shotcups in hulls giving 3" to 4" groups at 50 yards.

I have not tried donut wads yet but will get around to it one day. In the mean time, I got myself a 0.678" RB mould which is about a perfect fit with Winchester shotcups. They also shoot very well.

Oh, I should mention that you should use a 16 or 20 ga. nitro card wad or two in the bottom of the shotcup so it doesn't deform around the ball. Works much better with than without in my experience.

Sounds like you are off to a good start. Load up, blast away and enjoy! Sending those big 'ol round balls downrange is fun.

Longbow

[Geezer in NH]

Ball cast out at .664 in coww air cooled. In a CB win12sl wad is a push fit through my 20 inch Cylinder Bore 870 barrel, it goes in with a bit of thumb pressure and then easy with a rod.

[longbow]

Sounds like it is a good fit then. I haven't had best results with Claybuster wads though. Nonetheless, load 'em up and give it go.

Try to find wads after shooting especially if accuracy isn't real good. Wads tell a story and it is worth listening to.

Good luck!

Longbow

[Geezer in NH]

Sounds like it is a good fit then. I haven't had best results with Claybuster wads though. Nonetheless, load 'em up and give it go.

Try to find wads after shooting especially if accuracy isn't real good. Wads tell a story and it is worth listening to.

Good luck!

Longbow
Thanks when it snows again my son and I will try shooting for some groups.
unless the snow is new it will be hard to find wads as we have to shoot over the trap field at our range.

[longbow]

Unless there are piles of wads you should be able to pick yours out. They will look quite different than wads used with shot. It is definitely easier finding wads in fresh snow though I have to say.

Have you shot any yet? If so any reports on accuracy?

A benefit of that 0.662" mould is that the ball weighs 1 oz. in pure lead so any 1 oz. slug load can be used with adjustments to wad column so lots of available load recipes. You can load 'em wild or mild as required.

Longbow

[FullTang]

Sounds like one time when the Claybusters could be very handy---those ridges on the inside of the petals will help grip and center the ball nicely, but they can be squeezed down if necessary. A card under the ball should help to support it during setback, and will even form to the ball and cradle it for a spin-free release. Now, if Lee would only make a double .675 ball mold for $20...

[Geezer in NH]

I have a bunch loaded with a hard card wad and some BP filler bellow the ball. It has been to cold and no snow for a backstop in the yard so when it warms up I will shoot them at my club but will never recover a wad there as we shoot over a trap field on the rifle/pistol range. [to many wads there already]

[Geezer in NH]

Tried some loads over the chronograph !4 grns of RD were 900 fps, 15 were 948, and 16 was 998. The crimps were not good using cheap hulls from the club (once fired). I want to get better crimps before shooting for groups.

[Hogtamer]

you must lower your wad column height with a shorter wad or if possible compress the wad more at loading sufficient to get a full crimp. Mec has an adjustable wad pressure. Possibly eliminate or reduce the filler under the ball, not the hard card though.

[Geezer in NH]

you must lower your wad column height with a shorter wad or if possible compress the wad more at loading sufficient to get a full crimp. Mec has an adjustable wad pressure. Possibly eliminate or reduce the filler under the ball, not the hard card though.I am getting 1 1/8 ounce WW wads and will try again.

The cheap hulls I tried with shot and still had crimp movement opening up he same with REM Premiers crimped great. I will repost when the shorter coulomb wads show up.

[Geezer in NH]

Got a bag of 250 from a friend Also bought a Lyman .678 mold at a gun shop for 20 bucks, I am sitting on 5feet of snow delivered in the last 2 weeks. Tomorrow A am casting a Ball of .678 also a multiple mold of .680 and will experiment when the snow kind of recedes. will post again.

For record the loads of Red Dot will hit a 10 inch circle offhand at 25 yard

[pipehand]

Don't have any experience with the .662 ball, but the .678 has worked well. Try this old threadhttp://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?194680-loading-a-680-ball.

[pipehand]

BTW, $20 is a great price for the mold that cost me more than 3x as much. Glad you got a good deal.

[longbow]

Yes, $20 is an excellent price for a Lyman mould.

I haven't been too thrilled with Lyman boolit moulds but all my Lyman round ball moulds are excellent and generally cast about 0.001" to 0.002" oversize. Too bad the boolit moulds don't (same alloy)... for me anyway.

The only thing that would make my Lyman round ball moulds better was if they were 2 cavity.

I would be surprised if you couldn't keep round ball loads inside a 10" circle at 25 yards. Decent loads should be at least half that at 50 yards.

I will be looking forward to field results when the snow let's you out. Hah! Usually we have lots of snow but it has been a mild winter here and at this point the snow we had is gone and my lawn is green. Pretty unusual for February around here.

Longbow

[Geezer in NH]

Don't have any experience with the .662 ball, but the .678 has worked well. Try this old threadhttp://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?194680-loading-a-680-ball.Thanks for that link I bumped so I can finish reading it tonite

[Geezer in NH]

Still snowing and we are at 4 degrees right now. Weather stations 8-14 before Sunday night Got a big pile to shoot into at the end of the driveway so will shoot some when the temps climb back to the 20's. The good part of the pile is the lead gets recovered easy in the spring

[Geezer in NH]

What a month!! Snow pile bigger than the last 15 years and the cold is record breaking. Now it is March and this morning was -13 degrees. ready for tests but not in this cold