Cut down mold?

[yondering]

I'd like some input from those of you with a little more casting experience, about cutting down a mold to throw a shorter, lighter bullet.
I have a 2 cavity aluminum NEI mold for a .452" 380gr GC boolit, which casts right about 400gr with WW. I've used these successfully in my 454 Casull, but don't have that gun anymore, and 400gr is a little on the heavy side for my 45 Colt. It has two lube grooves and a gas check (see picture), I'm thinking of having the top of the mold cut down to eliminate the gas check and one lube groove, leaving a plain base.

Any thoughts? Would the resulting long nose and short base be likely to give any problems, or ruin the accuracy? Maybe I'd be better off selling this mold and buying something else?

Heres a picture of the mold in question.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c26/zthang43/molds/IMG_1060r.jpg

[leftiye]

Yeah, Sell it to me! It doesn't look like it would get that much lighter if you only removed the gas check stub, you'd maybe have to go all the way past the first lube groove. Shame to cut it up.

[smokemjoe]

I done a Lyman S.C. - 45-70 Mold. Put it a 4 jaw chuck and faced it of. The base was nice and square then and enought base to make it strong so it wouldnt blow by into the groove.Redrilled deeper and taped the spruce plate bolt more. I think I would buy a new mold, That looks like a to nice of a mold to cut up.Thats my 2 cents worth. Joe

[JeffinNZ]

You would end up with a good, stout base driving band so it would work well I would think.
If you are looking to shed some weight also consider having the mould converted to hollow point.
By getting rid of the GC shank and hollow pointing you could lighten up to low 300's.

[JIMinPHX]

You need to get the stud & dowel pin out of the tops of the blocks before you can cut anything. If you can get that done without buggering anything up, then anyone competent with a mill or a lathe should be able to face off the top of the blocks for you. It’s easier in a mill with a vice.

You could buy a new Lee mould for less than the cost of having a machine shop skim that one down for you. That way you would have both a lite & a heavy mould at your disposal. I’m not big on skimming moulds down unless there is a good reason to do so, like the top being so badly galled that you can’t use it as-is anymore. That looks like a nice mould. I’d trade it or just buy a second one rather than cut it down if it were mine.

[Bob Krack]

I'd like some input from those of you with a little more casting experience, about cutting down a mold to throw a shorter, lighter bullet.
I have a 2 cavity aluminum NEI mold for a .452" 380gr GC boolit, which casts right about 400gr with WW. I've used these successfully in my 454 Casull, but don't have that gun anymore, and 400gr is a little on the heavy side for my 45 Colt. It has two lube grooves and a gas check (see picture), I'm thinking of having the top of the mold cut down to eliminate the gas check and one lube groove, leaving a plain base.

Any thoughts? Would the resulting long nose and short base be likely to give any problems, or ruin the accuracy? Maybe I'd be better off selling this mold and buying something else?

Neat handle yer usin'.

I think the value of the NEI mould probably requires you to hold it or sell it and buy another mould more to your liking. Better yet, why not try to trade it here?

Vic

[yondering]

Thanks for the replies guys. Sounds like the better idea is to sell it. You may find it in the swappin/sellin forum soon if I do decide to get rid of it. Kinda like the nose profile, just as something different, so I'm not sure yet.

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Here's a 180gr. .45 NEI mold I cut down to lighten to 160gr.You can see the original and lighter bullet.
It was a simple straight forward job on my Bridgeport with a 2" indexable cutter. Take any pins and screws out of the top, and bring it to a machine shop. It shouldn't cost you more than a few bucks.
Morgan

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa159/pgfaini/mold1-1.jpg

[shooter575]

I have a old Ideal 50-70 mould I cut down the base to a single grouve for my Smith carbine.Worked fine for me.But there is not much demand for that mold and I have another laying around.

[Morgan Astorbilt]

I have a old Ideal 50-70 mould I cut down the base to a single grouve for my Smith carbine.Worked fine for me.But there is not much demand for that mold and I have another laying around.

Are you looking to get rid of it? If so, what's the mold number? What bullet weight does it throw? I've got these, but can always use another .50cal.:-D
515139 334gr. FN Lyman
15141 422gr. FN Lyman
50-515 515Gr. RN RCBS

Morgan

[Salmon-boy]

Anyone everr done this with a Lee Aluminum 2 banger mould? I'm thinking of getting rid of a gas-check on a 30 cal mould, but wondering if it'll loose rigidity...