roysha
03-30-2020, 12:38 PM
Some years ago I purchased a Ranch Dog 32 WS mold. It was specifically designed and cut for the 32 WS therefore I assumed, (I know NEVER assume) it would cast somewhere in the .321-.323 range so never gave it another thought. I was using a rather hard alloy so when it came time to seat the GCs, size and lube it was a real battle. So much so I was afraid I would break the handle on my Lyman 45 sizer. I made a set up for my old SAS swage press and was able to make it all work, sorta. I noticed the grease grooves got real shallow, sized to .321", but since there was lube in them and I didn't get any leading to speak of when I shot them, I called it good.They shot acceptably well in my M-94 so didn't go any further with load development. I had a couple of hundred ready to load so figured I was good to go.
Recently an acquaintance wanted to use that bullet in one of his Schuetzen rifles so I cast up a batch using a much softer alloy.
Long story short, I couldn't get the Lyman GCs to fit on many of the bullets and when I did get them to fit I still couldn't size them in the Lyman 45. Broke out the old SAS press but the bullet was so soft, they would compress in length before they would go through the size die. Finally after all these years it dawned on me that perhaps the "as cast" diameter was a bit off. Yeah, I'm a bit slow on the draw. Sure enough, miked a grab sample of ten bullets and found them to be an average, .3265".
So my question is: What do I do with this mold? I suppose if someone were to cast for an 8MM, sizing to .323"-.324" it would probably be doable but I have no desire to even begin with the 8MM. I have way too much other stuff I'd rather do.
Recently an acquaintance wanted to use that bullet in one of his Schuetzen rifles so I cast up a batch using a much softer alloy.
Long story short, I couldn't get the Lyman GCs to fit on many of the bullets and when I did get them to fit I still couldn't size them in the Lyman 45. Broke out the old SAS press but the bullet was so soft, they would compress in length before they would go through the size die. Finally after all these years it dawned on me that perhaps the "as cast" diameter was a bit off. Yeah, I'm a bit slow on the draw. Sure enough, miked a grab sample of ten bullets and found them to be an average, .3265".
So my question is: What do I do with this mold? I suppose if someone were to cast for an 8MM, sizing to .323"-.324" it would probably be doable but I have no desire to even begin with the 8MM. I have way too much other stuff I'd rather do.