Cutting down a mold for a .50-45 rolling block carbine

[ndnchf]

I know this has been done before. But I've been wanting to cut down a Lee 515 450 mold for bullets to use in my .50-45 rolling block carbine. I have a Rapine 350 and a Lyman 515139 mold and they work well. But not being one to leave well enough alone, I decided to give it a try. The Lee molds were cheap, so I ordered two. Its always good to have a spare :-)

I machined .175" off the base (one band and one lube groove). I had to shorten the sprue plate screw a little, but no other work was needed. Here is the machined mold next to the unmodified mold.

It drops the weight down from 450 to around 350gr. I think it will make a good option for my .50-45 carbine. It may also work well in my M1871 Springfield Spencer rifle that takes the same cartridge.

[17nut]

I did that too.
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Shoots wery well in my Swedish 1867 RB.

[ndnchf]

I did that too.
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Shoots wery well in my Swedish 1867 RB.

Looks just like mine :-) Glad to hear it works well.

[Lostinidaho]

That is what I had done. I wish I owned a mill and a lathe or had friend that would let me use theirs.

Works well in mine and my friends .50 civil war carbines.

I PC and size to .510.

[elk hunter]

I use the Lee .515-370 cast soft in mine. Seems to shoot as good as my eyes can see the sights.

[ndnchf]

I use the Lee .515-370 cast soft in mine. Seems to shoot as good as my eyes can see the sights.

I don't see that mold on Lee's web site. Please tell us about it and share a photo. Thanks.
https://leeprecision.com/bullet-casting/rifle-bullet-molds/

[elk hunter]

I don't see that mold on Lee's web site. Please tell us about it and share a photo. Thanks.
https://leeprecision.com/bullet-casting/rifle-bullet-molds/



I went looking for the mould in my Lee stuff and didn't find it. Turns out it's not a Lee but an iron mould by an unknown maker that uses its own special handles. For whatever reason I had listed it in my shooting notes as a Lee. It looks to be commercially produced, probably in the 50's or 60's. It's very similar to the cut down Lee in the original post with just a touch fatter round nose. Posting pictures here is nearly more trouble than it is worth.

Sorry for the confusion.

[ndnchf]

Ahh, ok. That explains it. Thanks for checking.

[ndnchf]

I loaded up 20 rounds of .50-45 with bullets from the cut down mold. I hope to get to the range this weekend. I think it will be a winner :-)