BruceB
11-20-2005, 01:46 PM
Been looking for this one for a while.
Although the 311284 is still a Lyman catalog item, most of the ones I've seen have the modern malady...too small in the critical diameters on nose and bands.
So, I waited for an "olde" version to show up, and finally got this excellent-condition single-cavity IDEAL from an Ebay seller. On measuring boolits from my first run, cast about an hour after my wife brought the mould home from the post office, I find the following:
nose diameter: .3000-.3005"
front band: .313-.3135"
base band: .314-.314"
All meaurements with Mitutoyo digital calipers, and measurements taken 90 degrees apart. Boolits were cast from straight WW, BruceB method (fast and hot).
With these measurements, I expect this mould will do well for my post-war #4 Enfield, which has a tighter barrel than many others I've seen. It obviously should serve for all my true .30-calibers, as well. Now, I can even send 45nut's 311284 home, too!!! (blush....I've had it too long!)
I paid more than the mould's APPARENT value, at $41.00, but if the dimensions are better than "modern" moulds, as I've found in a number of such cases now, I don't mind paying a bit extra. It's certainly more valuable to ME than an undersize modern job for about the same amount of money.
Although the 311284 is still a Lyman catalog item, most of the ones I've seen have the modern malady...too small in the critical diameters on nose and bands.
So, I waited for an "olde" version to show up, and finally got this excellent-condition single-cavity IDEAL from an Ebay seller. On measuring boolits from my first run, cast about an hour after my wife brought the mould home from the post office, I find the following:
nose diameter: .3000-.3005"
front band: .313-.3135"
base band: .314-.314"
All meaurements with Mitutoyo digital calipers, and measurements taken 90 degrees apart. Boolits were cast from straight WW, BruceB method (fast and hot).
With these measurements, I expect this mould will do well for my post-war #4 Enfield, which has a tighter barrel than many others I've seen. It obviously should serve for all my true .30-calibers, as well. Now, I can even send 45nut's 311284 home, too!!! (blush....I've had it too long!)
I paid more than the mould's APPARENT value, at $41.00, but if the dimensions are better than "modern" moulds, as I've found in a number of such cases now, I don't mind paying a bit extra. It's certainly more valuable to ME than an undersize modern job for about the same amount of money.