Drilled a Soupcan.

[HABCAN]

I finally acquired a LEE .30cal. Soupcan GC mold (Thanks, Catboat!) and am fortunate in that unlike most LEE molds, this one casts 'large' at .313" as I had hoped to use it for .30's and .303. Gas checks are almost unobtainble hereabouts and as intended velocities will be under 2000fps I figure I can use at least one cavity for PB boolits. I am in no way a machinist, but it seemed I could do this by drilling out the first tiny bit of one cavity. Using a titanium 5/16" drill bit with a piece of tape on it for a depth-mark in a small drill-press, and with the mold blocks held firmly in a portable drill-press vise, voila! it worked! Oh, there is a tiny imperfection in the boolits from that cavity, but that is erased when run through the .309 or .312 sizer. So now I can have two different boolits from the one set of blocks. I'm very happy with this. YMMV.

Turns out that the 'original', GC'd and lubed weighs the same as the new PB, 123grs. in my straight WW alloy.

[JeffinNZ]

Well done. In true pioneering (some might say Bubba) spirits. :-D

Hey, if you can't get gas checks have you looked at one of Charlie's gadgets off Ebay. They work very well.

[JeffinNZ]

Well done. In true pioneering (some might say Bubba) spirits. :-D

Hey, if you can't get gas checks have you looked at one of Charlie's gadgets for making them available off Ebay. They work very well.

[redgum]

Good on you HABCAN,
I have been contemplating something similar with a LEE 90368.
My intention is to bore the rear to eliminate the step and thus the requirement for a gas check.
The alternative was to have approx 200 thou machined of the top, which will reduce the final cast weight also. This would require drilling ant tapping the sprue plate pivot hole a little deeper though.
I recently had 20 thou taken off a LEE 90290 to remove the bevel and with the same load & alloy it shot remarkably better for me.

[missionary5155]

And when you really get brave you can make noses longer ... The last I did was a Lee mold 90320 150 swc .357. Just ran a drill bit into the nose (just a shade smaller than the nose diameter) and now have a 181 grain "Drill point". Shoots as well as the 150gr out to 25 yards.

[HABCAN]

JeffinNZ, a pal who is a budding machinist is undertaking making some of those as we speak.

Redgum, that sort of operation is 'WAY more daring than I could contemplate.

All, I'm just very happy that Bubba got away with it, this time, LOL.

[pjh421]

I used a decimal reamer of .4305" diameter, hand-turned in a drill press to remove the gas check feature from a Lee 44-310-RF six cavity mould as I did not want to fool with checks.

It worked fine, but if you cut aluminum be careful of how it galls when cut. I know very little about machine work. My intention was to "clean up" the cut with a .4320" decimal reamer as a final step. It fell right in. We were so astonished that we double checked the reamer with a micrometer. It was exactly .4320".

Maybe the quill had some runout (of course it did). Just be careful.

The boolits come out nicely and the sizer die cleans up any imperfections.

Paul

[dromia]

How does that PB shoot habcan?

I've been thinking of getting a PB version done, my soupcan shoots great with gas chaecks but won't group worth a damn without, I'm speculating too short a bearing surface.

45 2.1 left a teasingly cryptic message about a Catshooter GB.

[HABCAN]

Dromia, I just checked that little thing on the Ranges y'day in the freezing wind so results are not absolute OK?....................the 'new' PB boolits appeared to shoot at least as well as (or maybe even better than) the GC'd ones over the same powder charge, to the point that I may just get brave again and drill out the other cavity as well. If I want a similar projectile at high velocity I can revert to my stash of Hornady 100gr. SJs.

[NHlever]

If you do the other cavity, perhaps you can file down a dowel while it is spinning in your drill press until it just fits the existing hole, and use that to line up the mold with. Failing that, even a round headed screw used for alignment would help keep the larger drill from "catching" off center. The closer you are when the drill touches, the better the results will be.

[Andy_P]

...The alternative was to have approx 200 thou machined of the top, which will reduce the final cast weight also. This would require drilling and tapping the sprue plate pivot hole a little deeper though..

I've done this with the Ranch Dog 44 cal 265 and the Lee 44 cal 310gr. The aluminum cuts like butter, but use a Carbide bit, as you will run into the steel handle pins on the singles and doubles. With the singles and doubles, a couple of washers or a shorter bolt are an alternative to drilling deeper and re-tapping.

With a six-cavity Lee, you need to shorten the sprue cutter screws the same amount you mill off and cut a relief groove on the right-hand handle to clear the sprue cutter lever handle (I split the amount between the nut and the handle).

Milling the top eliminates the gas check and reduces the weight a fair bit, which can be a desired side-effect. I removed 0.100" from the Ranch Dog 265 and it is now about perfect for my 44-40 both in diameter and weight (~230 grs) and the un-needed and expensive gas check is gone. The Lee 310gr reduced to 265 grs.

I have practically foresaken gas-checks completely, although they are unavoidable in some applications.

[missionary5155]

The Ranch Dog 265 is now about perfect for my 44-40 both in diameter and weight (~235grs) and the un-needed and expensive gas check is gone.

I wonder how many GC molds have been bought only to discover there is no need.. I have several I bought years ago and"obidiently" applied that little disk. But now, today at $25+ a box.. there is a whole lot of BARE bollits gonna be launched out my tubes.

[HABCAN]

I went and done dood it: the first boolits worked fine yesterday so I drilled out the other cavity. First, I got a little more aggressive on the first cavity, and cleaned it up a little bit better, then went on and drilled out the remaining one, holding the target loosely until the drill centered itself and then increasing drill-press pressure. Worked like a charm!

Today spent a few hours happily casting 300 PB WDWW soupcans, sizing them push-through LEE-style to .309" and tumble-lubing in LLA. They are drying right now.

Lessee, 300 GCs @ $0.045 = $13.50 which will pay for the primers and miniscule powder charges to load and shoot them. Yup, that works. Who'da thunk ten minutes setup and drilling would pay so well? Try it!

[HABCAN]

Here's pics of the Soupcans A & B, before and after drilling the mold. Sorry for the fuzzy, macro won't focus that short.

[dromia]

Habcan, I envy you, your skills, confidence and equipment.

[HABCAN]

Dromia, thank you for the compliment, but compared to others on this board I'm Bubba personified. If I can do this successfully, anyone can.

[fast_rope71]

Habcan is a modest individual. Back when he was posting on Kim Du Toit's forum I enjoyed reading most of what he wrote. The guys is a wealth of knowledge and as full of p*ss and vinegar as anyone I would want to stand in the breech with.

[dromia]

Welcome to Cast Boolits Fast Rope.

[wayneborngesser]

The guys is a wealth of knowledge and as full of p*ss and vinegar as anyone I would want to stand in the breech with.

I was thinking more of an experienced curmudgeon. I strongly recc. listening and reading what older, experienced folks have to say, it's my open secret to anyone who will listen. Suck up your pride and LISTEN, sometimes you have to hear the same story a few times[smilie=1:, but it's usually worth it. I'm only 48, a Master ASE automobile tech. and while building a garage with the help of a 72 yr old Marine, I've been learning loads of stuff, and a lot of it some would call "common sense" well unlike others, I've found that I and most people need to LEARN common sense. Vic is a treasure, let's not bury him yet though, he's got a few more up his sleeve methinks.8-)

[Hardcast416taylor]

Hey Guys. Okay, I admit that that my elevator doesn`t go to the top floor anymore, what is a "Soup Can"? If you are making a homemade version of a wadcutter, why not say so. I`ve cast pistol boolits for many years, I`m just getting into rifle projectile making due to the cost of copper and the lesser recoil - oh did I mention I love to cast!:castmine:

[HABCAN]

See pics in this thread, post #14. It's a LEE #90362 C309-113F modified to not require a gas check.

We refer here to soup cans as any boolit that is very stubby in length for its diameter. The originals are all LEE TL's, so named for having multiple grooves for lube, like a soup can.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Yes Sir! Just as clear as MUD! As I said I`m a little green to this rifle slug casting and I can`t quite see the point to this "Frankensteining" of a bullet mould. Could someone explain the benefits of this re-work of a mould?:killingpc[smilie=b: Did you hear about the 2 butchers in London always trying to outdo each other? One butcher bragged on a sign in his shop "The Queen buys here"! This prompted his competior to place a sign in his front window "GOD SAVE the QUEEN"!

[dromia]

The reason it was done was to change it from a gas check boolit to a plain base boolit, in Habcans case because he has difficulty in getting gas checks.

I'd like it done to save on the cost of gas checks as I shoot a lot of these boolits at low velocity in .303" loads.

They shoot great with a gas check and crap without, therefore make it plain base.

[MT Gianni]

I did my soup can SC a while back and it worked so well I "dehorned" a 358156 dc and 2 cavities of a 180 gr FN group buy. They all shoot well at medium velocities and if I want to hot rod them I have gc copies or extra holes. Gianni

[MaxJon]

I finally acquired a LEE .30cal. Soupcan GC mold (Thanks, Catboat!) and am fortunate in that unlike most LEE molds, this one casts 'large' at .313" as I had hoped to use it for .30's and .303. Gas checks are almost unobtainble hereabouts and as intended velocities will be under 2000fps I figure I can use at least one cavity for PB boolits. I am in no way a machinist, but it seemed I could do this by drilling out the first tiny bit of one cavity. Using a titanium 5/16" drill bit with a piece of tape on it for a depth-mark in a small drill-press, and with the mold blocks held firmly in a portable drill-press vise, voila! it worked! Oh, there is a tiny imperfection in the boolits from that cavity, but that is erased when run through the .309 or .312 sizer. So now I can have two different boolits from the one set of blocks. I'm very happy with this. YMMV.

Turns out that the 'original', GC'd and lubed weighs the same as the new PB, 123grs. in my straight WW alloy.

I just got the Lee #90362 soupcan too, yet to cast with it to see what it drops.
Hopefully it drops large like yours, because my .308 likes .311 which my RCBS #82014 drops. How does the drilled one shoot with more bearing surface? I think drilling or boring is the way to go, as apposed to milling the top of the mould blocks.
BB03