Splitting cast bullets

[StrawHat]

Has anyone else used a piece of paper in the mold to split the nose of a cast bullet?

I did it years ago and just read about it again in Matthews book on the 45-70.

Can't remember my results but probably like so much of what I did back then, improperly applied to the function.

I may have to try it again with the 45-70 or maybe the 405 WCF.

Anyone else done it lately?

Prior to casting, insert a piece of paper between the two mold halves up to the first driving band. Promoted expansion of the cast bullet.

[Ricochet]

Look down in the Paper Patching forum, in the recent thread on aluminum foil for patching, and you'll read of its use in the nose of .45-70 boolits.

[MT Gianni]

I have an old American Rifleman from 1966 that the writter of a letter describes it's use. He used check tear offs, which I assumed to be the part left on the glued side of the perforations. He had a warning not to have anyone near the muzzle as they had quite a few split at the muzzle and go anywhichway. Gianni

[jhalcott]

You must remember when doing this, it CAN create a problem or 2. IF the paper is thick and NOT square to the bullet, one side will be heavier. This can cause accuracy problems. That is one reason to use aluminum foil.Putting the foil to far can cause the bullet to be unstable. Just to the driving band seems to be deep enough. This gives you a decent visual check for squareness of the foil.

[docone31]

I will probably never use this technique, my rifles are under .303 British. However,
How in the dickens does one keep the foil straight before casting?
I would suspect that would be critical.
Hot mold, laying the foil, closing the mold, making sure it is square to the mold line.
My pathetic mind journeys at this concept.
I mean no disrespect with this, it just seems to me a formidable thing to do. Of course I am just being able to comfortably eject ok bullets from my mold. I cannot even imagine doing an hollow point mold efficiently. Yet people do it enough for the mold makers to make them.

[StrawHat]

I remember it being a slow process.

Setting the paper in a hot mold was not too bad. Use a big piece of paper!

Line up on the paper with the driving band and pour.

Writing paper was about as thin as I remember using.

I don't recall the results, I do recall I was using a 38 caliber 158 grain SWC mold.

Probably from a 38 Special revolver.

I guess I will have to try them again!

Not for a while though.

[montana_charlie]

I'm not intending to try it, myself, but just visualizing the procedure...

I would try a narrow strip of paper or foil...laid across the horizontal bottom mould half as the blocks are closed on it.
The width would be enough to reach from the first band to just short of the nose tip.

With a small 'connection' of solid alloy at the nose tip, separations at the muzzle should be eliminated (or minimized) and the 'expansion' (in a perfect world) would look like a scissors jack being lowered.
Call it the bowlegged look.

CM

[leftiye]

It would be easier to make a die with slits at 90 degrees across a hole of boolit size, and to take an industrial single edged razor blade and to Dum Dum the boolit.

[jhalcott]

MC ,it is really quite easy. You take a strip of foil, Holding it with thumb and 4th finger at one end and 2nd and 3rd at the other. GENTLY close the mold as you keep a bit of tension on the foil. Immediately close the sprue and fill the mold. This is best done with a single cavity mold. After you have dropped a few bullets (How many you think you'll need), you can trim the excess foil with a sharp knife. I've used WW and softer alloys in .44 and .45 caliber RIFLE molds to do this. I have never tried this with any thing smaller than .44 caliber and 300 grains.