Rehab of Magma Mold

[mtnman31]

I've had this Magma mold sitting on my bench for about five years now. I got it used for cheap. It was in decent shape but needed to be converted for use with handles and the top of the mold needed cleaning up. I started with the top. It had some dents in it from something striking it (not a hammer, but maybe a wrench). The damage had raised a small amount of metal around the base of one of the bullets. When casting, the bullets would have large smears of lead on the bases that were irregular and held the bullets in the mold. I cleaned the top surface up with some copious stoning with diamond hones and taking my time to keep it all flat. Once that was done, I converted the mold to use a regular sprue plate. I had a spare RCBS plate and it fit the mold perfectly. Drilled, tapped for the sprue hinge bolt, added a set screw for the hinge bolt, and also added a sprue plate stop pin. Then, I removed the Magma plates that allow it to be mounted in a casting machine and drilled/tapped some screws for holding it in standard Lee mold handles. Lastly, I removed the bevel bases from the bullet cavities. The bevels were small but I have no need for them and it helped clean up the bases a bit more from where they had previously been damaged. Finished it all off with some cold-blue touch ups.

The bullets aren't perfect but they are a vast improvement from before. With the cavities lightly smoked, the bullets average .357" and 123gr with just a light tap to get them to drop. The mold part line is a little heavier than I'd like. I'll play with the alignment pins some to see if I can reduce the line a bit. Nonetheless, I'm happy with the way the mold turned out. I wish I'd taken a before photo. That said, I've never had the best results shooting lead in 9mm, so here's hoping I can get them to shoot decent.

https://i.postimg.cc/TY27N2B6/PXL-20210702-142039007.jpg (https://postimg.cc/14TrfS9C)

https://i.postimg.cc/28HHsRfB/PXL-20210702-142421229.jpg (https://postimg.cc/svh9WLxV)

[rintinglen]

Nice work! Those should shoot just fine.

[bangerjim]

"I've never had the best results shooting lead in 9mm"

Same here! I have several 9's and if I want accuracy, I sure do not use them. I grab my XDM 40S&W. Excellent accuracy. Or any number of 38's, 44's and 45's in the "library". :bigsmyl2: FMJ's are far more accurate and repeatable in all my 9's.

Those drops look good. Load them and try them!

[deltaenterprizes]

It is the twist rate of 9mm barrels that cause the problem!
Foreign 9mm barrels have a 1:9 twist, American barrels have 1:16 like a 38 !
Longer/ heavier Boolits with more surface area on the driving bands to grip the shallow rifling solve the problem!
This information came from Irv Stone that makes Bar-Sto barrels!