PDA

View Full Version : 40sw / 10mm lite



denul
02-05-2009, 08:57 AM
I ordered 2 of these molds, because I have usually been able to get a good production rhythm going by using two 6 cavity molds of different diameters; it seemed reasonable that using two of the same caliber would be even faster, because I would not have to separate bullet types.

This time, I used a toothbrush instead of my usual electrical contact cleaner to prepare the molds. It did not seem to help very much; I was at least 25 or 30 casts getting both of the molds making bullets without wrinkles. I have never tried to do any of the power abrasion mold preparation, because I know my limitations. I am willing to settle for a little tapping, which is all I have to do to get good bullet release, especially knowing that my clumsiness with powered devices would almost certainly ruin any mold I attempted to improve.

In any event, things settled down to a really good rhythm, and my production went up very nicely. I cast about 25 pounds of a WW/Lino mixture, of uncertain character, in about two hours, after getting the molds up and running.

Now here are some things I find very difficult to believe. The bullets look very fine on inspection, and measure .404+ as cast and are extremely round. I have no trouble whatsoever sizing them nose first to .400 in the star sizer. The weight of 20 of the bullets, randomly selected from both of the molds , range from 144.9 145.6. I have seen many single cavity molds which will not do this well, and never believed that such consistency was possible using two different molds of the same design (12 cavities!).

I would not quarrel with anyone who wants to dispute this, and I am going to be rechecking my electronic scale against an older Ohaus analog model. Nevertheless, checking other factory bullets seems to indicate that the scale is all right.

BHN hardness was surprisingly low, at about 12, for this uncertain alloy; I tested it within a few hours of casting, and it may harden somewhat over the next several days.

Here is the Chronograph data.

Mixed 40 S&W Brass, including Winchester Federal and Starline

Winchester WST Powder

CHARGE WEIGHT 4.5 gr 5.0 gr

High 994 1051
Low 966 1012
Average 974 1032
Extreme Spread 28 39
standard deviation 9 10
Shots Fired 10 10



I am firing these things at first in a Smith and Wesson Sigma which refuses to chamber anything measuring more than .4005". At .400", These feed, chamber and fire just fine. Using LBT lube, in the Sigma, I have seen almost no leading with the 4.5 gr loads, and a trace of leading with the 5.0 gr loads. This was easily removed with a couple of passes with a boresnake.

I am generally a plinker, and do not have any targets to share, but these seem to be right on for inch sized bottle caps, dirt clods, and sticks out to 25 or 30 yards.

I plan to use them in the 10-mm in an EAA Witness; it has been very happy with heavier bullets. I will also try them in a older 610 Smith which has done extremely good work with heavier 10-mm bullets.


I honestly had forgotten ordering these molds back in May. I can understand the frustration of members who are upset about the long wait times with LEE, but I believe there are reasons for the delay, which are not at all malicious on their part. For my part, I am delighted with the results, and convinced that that company is able to produce an affordable high-quality mold.

sqlbullet
02-05-2009, 10:36 AM
I too cast for a 10mm witness using lee molds. I started with a two cavity 175 gr SWC tumble lube, and have been so happy with it I have added a 6 cavity as well.

I guess I lucked out in when I ordered my molds. Both arrived within days of the order. The six-cavity (ordered from Midway when on sale) was back-ordered, but came so quickly it actually arrived ahead of the non back-ordered six-cavity handles, this thanks to two-day shipping on back-orders. (And, talk about frustration....Getting a mold on the last Friday of my Christmas vacation, and not having handles to enable it's use until the following Monday!)

I would be interested to hear how well these bullets do in your Witness when loaded to 10mm velocities.

My lead is of unknown alloy. Bullets air-cool to a BHN of 10-11. They water-drop harden to about double that, and age harden a few points over a week. They fully fill out a mold as long as the mold is hot (sprues cool within 5 seconds on the 6-cavity) and the pot is > 675° F. I have interpreted this to indicate the alloy roughly the same as WW, containing limited amounts of tin, antimony and arsenic.

I have shot about 300 so far, and have experienced minor leading. Not worse than the copper fouling I get with 180 TC FMJ. I have begun to suspect my bullets may be too hard when water dropped to properly obturate and seal the bore. Yet, I fear that a BHN of 11 may be too soft for the 1200 fps I will load them too.

Any advice or thoughts?

ps. Second the comment about Lee molds. The different sprue plates (the two cavity is steel, six is aluminum) leave different impressions on the base of the bullet. Otherwise I can't tell them apart, even with a caliper.

wonderwolf
02-05-2009, 05:30 PM
Has anybody tried this in a 10mm yet? I'm kinda curious on this bullet as I missed out on it (don't even own a 40 or a 10mm but I do load for them).

h1tdk00
03-03-2009, 06:19 PM
I bought 2 of these molds and I really like them. I've cast about 4000 bullets with them so far. I don't know alot about molds, but I really like the bullets I'm getting from them. They size and lube easily in my Star sizer and they shoot great in my STI 40. I'm getting about 2.5" groups from them at 25 yards.

I hope they put together another buy of these molds, I would like to have a couple spares.

lead slead
03-13-2009, 10:58 PM
im shooting the 175swc TL out of my M&P 40. over 4.0gr titegroup. Works pretty well. I do get some leading though but cleans easy. My lead may be to hard I am going to try some softer ones later in the week by not water quinching them. I have noticed I get some unround bullets. .401-.400 but that hasn't stoped me from shooting em.

Rattlesnake Charlie
04-27-2009, 10:58 PM
Any one having problems with the bullets sticking in these molds?

I have not got to try mine personally (still stuck in Wisconsin on job assignment), but a friend tried it and said they were sticking badly, even after smoking the cavities.

trickyasafox
04-27-2009, 11:09 PM
Mine drop without issue- but I've only dropped a couple hundred through my mold. I fired it up twice- once to test and another brief casting session shortly thereafter.

h1tdk00
04-28-2009, 01:13 PM
I've cast and shot thousands of these bullets. I love them.

They stuck in the molds a little at first, but after polishing the cavities, they drop right out now.

I used a bullet out of each cavity, covered the bullets with bore polishing paste, put a screw in the bullets, then spun them in each cavity with a drill. Now they drop out with no tapping needed.

725
04-28-2009, 10:58 PM
Mine drop free almost all the time. Once in awhile they need a nudge.

Rattlesnake Charlie
08-01-2009, 03:16 PM
Finally got home to Colorado, and my reloading shed.

This mold needed some deburring of a few cavities to get bullet release going. I did this with a needle file. Helped a lot. Next, I polished the cavities using a cast bullet drilled and a piece of coat hanger rod epoxied into the base. I used only car polish for grit. This also helped bullet drop.

As found, the mold had loose alignment pins. I gently tapped these in until I had good and firm alignment, then staked the pins from the outside.

Still, my mold had a step between the two halves on the top side where the sprue plate sits. This resulted in "flashing" on the first two cavities furthest from the handle hinge. I removed the handles and sprue plate, then lapped the top of the mold on a sheet of 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper laid on a piece of steel plate. Followed up with 1000 grit. No more problem with flashing.

Mold works great now.
Total "tuning" time was about 2 hours.

10mmShooter
08-01-2009, 06:07 PM
I use the lee 6cav 175 TC(normal), funny I'm loading up about a 1000 or so today.

He are a few pics, the bullets in the bin still have the bevel, I have since de-beveled the mold unfortunately they are at the bottom of the bin and I wasnt going to dump them all out. The bb on the 175 is really small to start with, but I got tired of the lube slipping unded the bb. You can notice a lube offender in the bin.

I also load the 200g SWC RCBS.... I shoot both weights in my 1006's and Colt Delta and the 610. Both weights shoot and feed fine in the autos, I have polished the feed ramps on the Delta, and the 1006's.

I use 4.6g of WW231 for ~900fps(10mm Loading) for the Lee 175....mine cast at ~173-174g
I use 4.2g of WW231 for ~870fps(10mm Loading) for the RCBS 200g...mine cast at ~204-205g.


http://www.keithrussell.net/08012009074.jpg

http://www.keithrussell.net/08012009072.jpg