Yellowhouse
01-16-2009, 11:00 AM
I bought a Tom Ballard mold from a gunshow acquaintence (he ain't a friend for sure) in .408 and appears to be the RCBS-CSA style. It is a nose pour mold and and adjusts from about 300-400 grains.
Bullets from this mold have areas of extreme feathering and a little run out. The alignment pins looked OK. Next time I saw him, I asked if he'ed experienced anything peculiar. Boiled down to he had gotten some bad alloy of some sort, got it too hot, and had lead spots (probably antimony) stick to the cavity. Wouldn't budge so he tried polishing it out. :(Said they shot fine for him but they sure don't meet my criteria. The price of the handles were worth the deal so I chalked it up to bad luck with someone I should have suspected in the first place. (No wonder I got it so cheap).
My question is could someone like Brooks, Hoch or whoever, re-work this mold to 44,45 or even 50 cal? Or would the expense exceed the cost of a new mold?
Bullets from this mold have areas of extreme feathering and a little run out. The alignment pins looked OK. Next time I saw him, I asked if he'ed experienced anything peculiar. Boiled down to he had gotten some bad alloy of some sort, got it too hot, and had lead spots (probably antimony) stick to the cavity. Wouldn't budge so he tried polishing it out. :(Said they shot fine for him but they sure don't meet my criteria. The price of the handles were worth the deal so I chalked it up to bad luck with someone I should have suspected in the first place. (No wonder I got it so cheap).
My question is could someone like Brooks, Hoch or whoever, re-work this mold to 44,45 or even 50 cal? Or would the expense exceed the cost of a new mold?