Deputy Al Atencion ! 30 Luger Bullet

[StarMetal]

Deputy Al,

With all this mould designs going and none of for anything I care for at the moment, also neglection guys like you and I.....I designed a new and updated 30 Luger bullet. It's a 100 gr Truncated Cone Nose with one lube groove. I've included a picture of it alongside a reject Lee 100 gr roundnose you and I have been using. I guess I'm going to have to get a 4 jaw chuck for my lathe and cut my own blocks. What do you thing about the bullet?

Joe

[trk]

I'd like a 2-4-6 cavity mould in that one. For .32-20, 308, 30-06 and a few others for small game loads.

[StarMetal]

trk,

Yeah me too, maybe we can get something going.

Joe

[9.3X62AL]

This is going to sound like TREASON--but I would cut the lube groove a little lower to enable full engagement of the case neck with drive band AND a place to bury the case mouth for crimping. A very light, shallow crimping groove would be even better. I'm not real worried about lube or boolit shank being exposed to powder or powder gases--I think at ignition, the whole things sorts itself out nicely.

[Buckshot]

................Hey Joe, you musta been drunk or something when you cast that RN slug!:bigsmyl2: It looks a mite ah, deprived or something?

That TC nosed slug is a smart looking slug btw. Very businesslike appearance.

..............Buckshot

[9.3X62AL]

That IS a nice-looking critter, all right. Right fine lathe work, too.

[StarMetal]

Yup, I said that RN was one of my rejected alrighty. So Buckshot, you think it's possible to cut a two cavity mould of this bullet on my lathe if I get me that 4 jaw chuck?

I'd probably cast perfect bullets if I were drunk. Drunk isn't in my vocabulary though. I done good when I come out of the Navy....didn't drink, didn't smoke...and no tattoos.

Joe

[robertbank]

Like that boolit design. Very similar to the Saeco 125 gr I use in my 9MM. Should be a shooter.

Didn't smoke, drink or have a tatoo when you left the Navy. I can understand the "no tatoo", and even the non smoking, but have your lips never caressed a 21 year old single malt...that's better than the 4th attribute on any Navy man that you didn't list...thankfully. LOL

Take Care

[carpetman]

we didnt ask and he didnt tell.

[StarMetal]

Let me clarify that some. I don't drink to get drunk nor do I drink to get even near woosy...better yet I don't drink enough to get busted by Trp Bret. Now with that said, yes I'll have an occassional brew...prefer a nice glass of wine really though. Very rarely touch the hard stuff...maybe a shot in my coffee or tea when I have a cold.

Yeah I wish we could get that bullet made up, but won't happen. I will have to cut myself my own mould.

Joe

[robertbank]

Yea had me worried there for a minute Joe!

Good luck with that boolit. I know my Saeccos with the same design work well in my 9MM and they should be killers in the 30 Luger.

Take Care

[Buckshot]

"Yup, I said that RN was one of my rejected alrighty. So Buckshot, you think it's possible to cut a two cavity mould of this bullet on my lathe if I get me that 4 jaw chuck?"

...............Well first of all I think you need a 4 jaw chuck. However you'd be better off cutting mould cavities off a faceplate. Too much tinkering and shimming trying to get block halves lined up for boring and then boring the second cavity.

Didn't you get a slotted faceplate with your lathe? If you haven't used it yet, bolt it up on the spindle and then make a punchmark on corresponding bolt holes so you can re-install it the same each time. Take a skim cut, maybe .002" deep across the face to make it truly perpendicular to the spindle axis.

Need to get a couple precision angle plates for jaws. Prolly get'em from those sources catering to the smaller lathes. If they don't have holes, drill one in each leg. One for bolting to the faceplate and one to tap for a bolt. By MkI-Mod1 eyeball detector get your victim mould blocks between the angle plates and center them up, then just snug down on the bolts to hold the angleplates against the faceplate.

Put a deadcenter in the tailstock and run it up close to the blocks. With an 'un-hard' hammer, tap the angleplates until the deadcenter is pointing exactly at the parting line between the block halves. Pick one of the angleplates as the master and cinch that one down fairly snug.

On the other, place a bolt in the taped hole. Run it down till it 'just' touches the block half. Snug that angle plate down. You have to leave enough room between that angle block and the mouldblock half to remove the block in a bit.

Run the tailstock up till the deadcenter is almost touching. It'll be right there at the corner/edge/seam. As carefully as possible by hand, slide the blocks back and forth comparing the edge against the point of the dead center. Your eye will be able to measure well enough with the reference point.

Okay, now if that is good, good. If not you will need your soft hammer to tap the angleplate until it is. Back off the bolt in the one angleplate and remove the block. Put a .0005" test indicator in the tool post on your compound and run it up to bear on the block half, up close to the faceplate. Zero it and then crank the carriage away and watch the TI. Ideally it won't move, but you decide what is suitable accuracy. Most any cherrycut mould cavity I've come across is generally a thou or so tipped into one blockhalf or the other.

What we've done is to determine that the face of that block half is on the same plane as the spindle axis. Or close enough that we don't care. What will really matter is too much and the boolit will be hard to drop from that cavity half.

Slide that other block half back in. You can slack off the bolt holding the angleplate and slide it down to the blocks, then tighten it down. Take a partial turn on the bolt bearing against the mouldblock half.

Mould blocks: You might make scrap at first. Get a 6' stick of 6061 T6 alum alloy from ENCO. Get a 3/4x1.5" rectangle piece. From this you can cut mould block halves. So for a 2 cavity maybe they're 2" long? You can make 18 sets of blocks discounting material loss from the sawcuts. Each block will have 4 smooth extruded sides and 2 rough edges from your cuts. The rough ends won't matter. We're using the smooth sides and top and bottom as the important surfaces anyway.

I'll leave the alignment means up to you. For now maybe steel dowels will work, but steel on aluminum isn't forever. Ditto you figure out the sprueplate. Maybe get another 6' piece of 3/16" x 1.5" aluminum strip at the same time you get the block material?

For the cutting tool, since this is a real short, somewhat fat boolit I'd grind a form cutter instead of single pointing it.

Get a piece of W-1 or O-1 steel 3/8" OD. Chuck it up in your 4 jaw, put the TI on it and get it running 0-0. OKay, use the 3 jaw :-). Now you turn your boolit design on it like you were turning a bullet out of steel. At the base of the slug, cut a tad deeper to make a reference point, but not too much deeper and as short as possible. Probably want to make it 1.5 to .002" bigger on the OD then your desired lead boolit to allow for shrinkage.

Take it out of the chuck and grind it in half lengthwise, as close to half as possible. Now grind the right edge back close to center. Holding it out straight away from your body the left edge will be the cutting edge and it looks like a 1/4 bullet viewed from the front. You can grind a bit around the underside of the tool up to maybe a 1/32" from the cutting edge. All the cutting will be on the left front and side. With a good straight fine stone, stone the underside of the cutting edge up untill it almost touches the flat you ground.

Now harden it. No need to draw the temper as it's so short and sqautty. Leave it glass hard. Now stone the top flat you ground until the cutting edge (front and left side) comes up razor sharp.

Now pit a drill bit in your tailstock chuck. It should be a bit smaller in OD then the bottom of the lube groove of your desired boolit.

You figure out how you want to do it, but zero the very tip of the bit against the blocks, then advance it drilling a couple thou short of the cavities finish length.

Your new cutter bit goes in the toolblock with should be exactly parallel and on line with the spindle axis. The cutter should not extend anymore then the exact depth of the cavity +0.010".

You should have dial indicators set up on the carriage and on the compound as you CANNOT depend on the dials and you will need to move the cutter in two axis. I don't think you have a DRO setup on your mosheen :-)?

Before all this, you will have drawn out your 0-0 point's for advance (carriage)and feed (crossfeed). Bring the tool up to the start position. Slowly advance the tool straight in. WD40 makes a good aluminum cutting fluid, BTW. If the tool vibrates, slow your advance, or increase the spindle RPM. Once the tool is to full depth, feed it out to cut the shape of the boolit cavity. The entire edge of the tool will be cutting so feed out slowly, keep some fluid in the cavity and watch for vibration.

Once you've made a couple good mould blocks, it'll be time to order some continuos cast Dura-Bar cast iron, or brass, bronze, steel, whatever

................Buckshot

[StarMetal]

Thanks Rick,

Yup I have the faceplate with my lathe. I tried finding those angleplates on Little Machinshop, but guess I didn't look hard enough. They had the turning dogs for them though, but I don't need those, at least not right now. I'll have to set that faceplate up and take a skim cut on it like you said.

Being I don't have a milling machine or attachment for my lathe, I think steel dowel pins are the easier way to go with the aluminum blocks.

Hey as much as I shoot my 30 Lugers I better make a four cavity mould, if it will fit the faceplate.

Joe

[StarMetal]

Buckshot,

Here's a picture of the cavity cutting tool...as you see it's not finished yet per your intructions. Is this along the lines you described?

Joe

[Buckshot]

...............Joe, nice work. Egg-zactly right. Kinda hate to mess it up it looks so nice. BTW, you'll be able to use it for other calibers too. Just feed it out further.

.................Buckshot

[StarMetal]

Thanks Buckeroo...that tells me I'm on the right track. Yeah I know what you mean about messing it up. I kinda want to cut it off and use it for an armor piercing bullet. By the way it's double ended cutting tool, there's another profile of the bullet on the other end.

The one thing I'm racking my brain on is a sure-fire way of feeding the cutter and knowing "exactly" when to stop, rather then using a dial indicator.

Joe

[montana_charlie]

The one thing I'm racking my brain on is a sure-fire way of feeding the cutter and knowing "exactly" when to stop, rather then using a dial indicator.

Joe
Joe,
I read Buckshot's instructions with care. They are so well written, I could almost convince myself that I actually understood what he was saying.
But, alas, I have never been in the same room with a metal lathe, so much of my understanding was probably illusion.

While it's true that I am pretty ignorant, I DID stay at a Holiday Inn last nght...so maybe I have an idea to help with your dilemma.

Your new cutter needs to stop at the right depth.
It is not designed to 'bore in' like a drill bit...but will cut sideways like an ice cream scoop turning ever deeper into a bucket of Aluminum Delight. (Have I got that part?)

If I have this picture right, then cutting 'too deep' means the bottom of the cavity-half (the 'side' of the bullet) lies too far below the face of the mould block.

Can't you (in that case) just grind away block face material until the cavity is the perfect depth...or, exactly half-a-bullet deep?

It might even be an advantage to cut the cavities a hair too far...then 'adjust' the faces of the blocks for the 'perfectly round bullet'.
CM

[StarMetal]

montana_charlie,

Yes, I thought the same thing as you if it is too deep I could just take a face cut on the block. But that's not what I was talking about. I'm talking about cutting the diameter, which means I would be drawing the cutting tool towards me to make the hole wider. Say I want the cut diameter of the bullet band area to be .314. Buckshot is talking about putting a dial indicator on the lathe to read how far I'm drawing the crossfeed table cutting the diameter. Be neat if there was some way to just stop cutting, but not remove or even move the cutter tool, and measure the diameter somehow.

Joe

[montana_charlie]

I'm talking about cutting the diameter, which means I would be drawing the cutting tool towards me to make the hole wider.
I'm having a little trouble visualizing that. I thought the cutter would be spinning, but stationary...and you would move the aluminum into it to make the cut.

Maybe a week at a Holiday Inn would make me smart enough to help out. I'll call to check on reservations...
CM

[StarMetal]

Montana,

A lathe has a chuck, normally with there or four jaws (there are some with more jaws) to hold the work piece. It holds and spins the work piece. The tool cutter is held in a tool holder atop a saddle that rides on the ways of the lathe bed. By various feed you can more the cut in a direct line with the lathe spindle (what the chuck is attached to) or across. You can even move it at an angle to make a tapered cut. You move the cutter tool into the work piece with various feeds I just mentioned. The cutter tool is stationary. What Buckshot suggested is to drill a hole into the block first that is smaller then the smallest diameter of the bullet, which is the lube groove, and start my cutter tool into that hole and also outward towards me at the same time. You can't use that tool like a drill bit. You can advance it in alittle bit as you also cut outward, that is until I reach the final depth for the cavity, then all cutting will be outward.

I think you are visualizing a milling machine where the tool normally moves and the work piece is stationary. A person can fit a milling attachment to a lathe, but it will work alittle different. The cutter will still be rotating, but you will be moving the work piece as it will be on the saddle with the various feeds to move it different directions and the mill cutter with be chucked in the lathe chuck. This by all means isn't all the variations of these two machines and I'm not an expert at it by no means either.

Did I help clarify it some?

Joe

[StarMetal]

Okay...here's the tool ground and ready for hardening.

Joe

[montana_charlie]

Montana, Did I help clarify it some?
Uhh...yup. Now I see how different elements of the lathe move, but I don't have any suggestions about how you can make the cutter do what you want.

My uneducated instinct would be to position the cutter (in the saddle) between the mould halves which are fixed to the slotted face plate...but can be moved toward each other a bit at a time...and in equal amounts for each half.

With the halves separated an appropriate amount, run the lathe a couple of turns to take a shallow cut from both halves. Bring the halves closer together and take another cut. When the faces touch with the cutter sandwiched between them, you're done.

It's up to you to decide if any of that makes sense.
CM

[StarMetal]

Deputy Al,

You're close, but no cigar. You have the blocks clamped on the face plate and they should already have the alignment pins installed. Then you find where you are going to cut the first cavity. You drill a pilot hole that is big enough to let that tool I just ground fit into, but being sure that the hole isn't bigger then the bottom of the lube groove diameter. One should know the exact size of the hole. Then you bring your cutter just up to touching the hole. They you sent your dial indicator to read how much you move the crossfeed. So say my pilot hole is .286 and I want to cut the cavity to .314. I have my dial indicator zeroed and I want to cut the hole an additional .028. So I begin feeding the crossfeed out (towards me) which starts cuting the cavity larger and do so until my dial indicator reads that .028. At least that's the way I understand it.

Joe

[Buckshot]

..............Joe, your form tool looks very proffessional. Before you begin, it's best if you sit down and draw out out your moves. This may sound like 3rd grade stuff, but it's really like CAD, only were not going to use a computer. If you have some graph paper draw the cavity out to scale on the paper.

Now draw your form tool out to scale also. Draw 2 lines out from the cavity drawing that are the scale width of your initial hole you're going to bore. Now move your form cutter up to it like you were going to feed it. I think you will find that your form tool still needs to have some relief grinding on the back edge of the nose portion. Should be at LEAST to the centerline of the form.

As you will see, your form tool will be wider then the initial bore, so the form tool's axis will be offset AWAY from you, on the backside of the cavities' axis.

With the drawing and your scale cutout form tool, you will see that the portion of the form tool being the nose and top drive band will have to feed in far enough to get past the area that will become the lube groove.

The end, or meplat of your form tool HAS to do a bit of cutting on it's advance, so you need to grind a bit of relief on it, like a wood spade bit. It's similar to making a 'D' bit reamer. None of the nose portion can be on the 'off' side of the axis. If your blocks are rotating counter clockwise, which is called "Top coming", anything on the side of the axis away from you will be rotating UP. Your form tool will NOT cut, but will smear and gall.

With our paper CAD rendering, you'll see how the form tool needs to be finished up.

At this point, remember one thing. We're practicing here. This isn't for real. If it turns out well, then we're golden. But don't count on it. Everything that happens will be a valuable learning process of what needs to be improved or changed for the next one. I don't know who said it, but mistakes are as valuable in learning as successes.

To zero your tool you'll do that after you have done the setup on the mould blocks. Before returning the other mould block, rotate the faceplate around until the one block half is straight up and down. Use a square with one leg across the bed and the other against the block. Bring the tool up, and using the compound, bring the tool into contact with the block with enough tension to just hold it.

While thus, look down along the block to make sure the form tool is fully bearing and not at an angle ie: no light between the two. This is your initial zero. Set your DI pointer against the compound and set to zero.

Once you bore the starter hole you can now reset your zero by retracting the tool toward you one half the OD of the drill bit you used. Rotate the DI bezel to your new zero. This is now your reference zero for cutting the cavity to the desired ID.

To back up, when you put the form tool against the block half you had the cutting edge of the tool on the centerline or the parting line of the blocks. Position 0-0. Now you run in a (let's make this easy for me) a 1/4" bit or .250. you have removed .125" from each block.

We know where the face of the form tool was. It was at 0-0. It is now +0.125". Lets further assume that .250" is the diameter of the bottom of the lube groove. You retract the COMPOUND 0.125"and now you rotate the bezel to zero again. Now you begin to advance the form tool to begin cutting our cavity. Since the hole drilled is the bottom of the lube groove, we can't feed the tool out until it is in full depth, but the tool will have been suitably ground to allow it.

If we wanted a .358" cavity, our zero setting is -.0125". Also to get a .358" cavity we're actually only going to remove half that or .179". We have already removed .125" (each side, as it were) so we're only going to feed the tool out .054". So (.054" + .125") x 2 = .358".

If there is no DI for your DOC (depth of cut), on a single cavity it won't matter much as you can just eyeball the base. For multiple cavities you'd probably need one on the carriage to get them really close to the same.

..................Buckshot

[StarMetal]

Well thank you Buckshot. I have a good teacher..YOU. Funny you mentioned drawing this all out because I have this big white cardboard that I've drawn up the blocks, cavities, etc., on. I also though that the nose of the cutting tool had to have some relief to turn it more into a cutter. I was going to mention that when I talked to you, but as usual you and get carried away on alot of other stuff.

As soon as the materials get here the show will get on the road. Last evening I cut the alignment dowel bushings and dowels. I'm ready.

Joe

[9.3X62AL]

Joe, I SURELY didn't ask any techical questions about machining. I'm almost entirely clueless on the subject. I do like the design of that boolit, though.

[StarMetal]

Buckshot,

Well today I got the aluminum. So I cut as I told you over the phone. Then I made my alignment pins and bushing. I decided to go with a 5/16 inch diameter dowel pin. I did holes in the blocks for those on the drill press. They were a very hard press fit. They worked out really good. So far so good. Then I chucked the block on the faceplate and took that face cut to true it up. I ground my cutter with with a semi-pointed round tip and lubed with WD-40 while cutting. I see what you meant about those wisps of floating aluminum swarf. Well I guess next is cut the cavities. I hope they work out good because I spent alot of time on the blocks so far. That 6061 aluminum machines really nice like you said. Well keep your fingers crossed on me cutting those cavities.

Deputy Al,

If this mould works out good I'll cast you up a bunch so you can try them. Either that or mail you the mould and you can cast some up.
Today I filled a one quart paper milk carton with water and placed it on one of my fence posts about 75 yards out from my patio. I had my Benelli 7.65 Parabellum and I was sitting on our bench and was shooting with resting off my knee. First shot I just put the carton atop the front sight like I shoot at the bull at 25 yards just to see if it shot that flat. Missed. Second shot I centered the carton. Bingo !
Actually the shot went high and to the left so I think the first shot thus went left off the carton totally, I think if it went right a tad more it would have hit the carton just about center. Anyways the little speedy bullet sure tore up the carton. Was like shooting a little rifle. Gotta love those little 30 calibers.

Joe

[swheeler]

Joe; nice looking boolit, could be just what the doctor ordered for those Nagant revolvers floating around! Keep us posted on the progress, can't wait to see how it shoots in the 30 luger!
Scot

[StarMetal]

Fellows...I didn't want to do this, that is post my first attempt half failure. I say half because I salvaged it. What I'm talking about is I'm not sure one can cut a small caliber cavity, such as that 30 caliber for my 30 Luger. Now to explain the half failure....I cut the damn thing out to 45 caliber and same style as I designed for the 30 Luger. I have no idea what it weighs. I have a picture of the mould here and it's lacking vent lines, sprue cutter, and handle grooves from being complete. I don't really want or need it so I may finish it and sell it.
Anyways here's a picture of it.

Joe

[swheeler]

Joe you could make a whole line of Starmetal TC pistolla boolits/45-44-40-35-32!

[montana_charlie]

Saw the picture of your .45 caliber 'half failure' earlier today. Just now ran across this... http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=7354727&aa=%20%20%20NEI%2045%20Cal%20Bullet%20Custom%20Mol d%20291%20for%20Reloading

Kinda similar?
CM

[StarMetal]

Yes that is very similar, but I can assure you I ended up with mine by overcutting a smaller cavity, not by copying.

Joe

[StarMetal]

Scott,

By scott you may be right. Today I made some modifications and I cut a cavity that was 9mm. [smilie=l: I may end up cutting a whole series like you said....45, 44, 357, 9mm...boy hopefully the 7.65 is next. I'm zeroing in on it.

Joe

[swheeler]

hehe, dang it you skipped 44 and 357! I want to try some

[StarMetal]

Voila !!!!! I tried yet another techinque this evening and finally cut a 30 caliber cavity that looks alright. I finished the blocks so tomorrow I'm going to cast some see what they came out as. If in the ball park I may load and shoot some.

Joe

[swheeler]

Joe you da man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lee move on over! JPCE(Joe's Precision Casting Equipment)

[carpetman]

Starmetal----As a mold maker your taxes might be different. There is a guy named Veral Smith that I hear is expert in such matters.

[StarMetal]

Well finally casted some of the prototype , loaded and shot them out of all my 7.65 Parabellums. The P08 Luger and the 1911 liked them best. They are about a 2 minute of angle bullet at 25 yards.

Joe

[StarMetal]

Well fellows, I've been really playing cutting cavities. Here's modification from the original design and I call this my "Oldfeller 30 Luger Boxcar" because he likes those fat nosed cast bullets. Boy if this isn't a game getter for those small 30 caliber pistol bullets I don't know what is. swheeler will think of this as an LBT of the 30 Luger family.

Joe

[StarMetal]

Here's the bullet loaded:

Joe

[Dale53]

Joe;
That is sure a "business like" feller, indeed!

Dale53

[StarMetal]

Dale,

Believe it or not it will feed out of three of my four 30 Luger pistols. The one it won't feed in is the 1911. For as finickly they say German Lugers are, and they might as well be in 9mm, my 30 Luger P08 feeds everything I've loaded for it.

We'll see how these Boxcars shoot tomr.

Joe

[swheeler]

That looks like it could put some smack down on a rabbit or coyote! What's it weigh out of ww?

[StarMetal]

Scott,

It's WW's and it's a smidgeon over 100 grs.

Joe

[swheeler]

purrrfect!

[Buckshot]

...............Looking good joe, cut me a 6 cavity would ya? :-)

.................Buckshot

[StarMetal]

Richard Buckshot.....one six cavity Oldfeller Boxcar 30 Luger Soup Can coming up buddy....have it done is one say for ya.

Joe

[StarMetal]

Well I shot those 30 Luger Boxcars. They were ok in the Browning HP, the Benelli didn't quite like them.....but boy oh boy oh boy did they shine in the P08 German Luger. Like the pistol was made for them. Put them all in bullseyes...I mean centered up/down..left/right. That's something for that pistol. I would have never though that pistol would turn out to shoot them the best.

Joe

[9.3X62AL]

Joe--

One hell of a fine small game round for the mid-caliber sidearms, for sure.

[StarMetal]

Okay fellows...after some tooling tweaking I cut another mould. This time a 3 cavity. Here it is almost done. I need to finish cutting the vent lines. By jove I think I might have it down fairly pat now.

Joe

[Dale53]

Well, I'm impressed! Good work!

Dale53

[9.3X62AL]

No kidding......you'll be casting samples for months to come! :-)

[StarMetal]

Sir De Whoa....¿hombre tengo que hacer las muestras para usted y cada uno?

Jose

[Buckshot]

................Dang Joe! I'm a sonuvagun if that isn't darn impressive! Looks like a very fine job indeed. Now of course I DO have to say that I doubt you need all those vent lines. However, that sure doesn't take away any from the appearance of those cavities.

Better watch out Joe. Pretty soon you're gonna be needing a bigger lathe!

..............Buckshot

[StarMetal]

Rick,

There isn't no pretty soon to it...I need that bigger lathe NOW!!!!!!

It just all came together...I reworked those angle blocks and bought the new bolts I talked to you about. Made a big difference and I could clamp the work piece solid and more accurately. I also honed that cutter more and adjusted the relief angles on it and it's cutting alot better.

Thanks for your kind comments.

Joe

[Cherokee]

Joe - I could use one of those !! Looks great. That bullet would be good in my 30 Carbine pistols, 7.62x25, hummmmmm

[StarMetal]

Here are bunch of my bullets casts up. I've been cutting moulds like a CNC machine gone crazy...thanks to Buckshot. I wanted a certain flat nose width and diameter. I wanted diameter that could handle all 30 Lugers, all 32-20's, all 32 mags, all the various 32 revolver rounds, all 7.65x25 Tokarevs, all 7.63 Mausers, all 7.65 Argentine rifles, all 7.62 Mosin Nagant rifles, and all 303 British rifles. I got it. Probably can use it in alot of other 30 calibers too. Here's a pic of some cast up.

Joe

[C1PNR]

Great looking mould! It's obvious you take your time and do them right.

Now if you would cut one to drop a heeled .322 boolit, It would be PERFECT in my .320 diameter Martini Cadet![smilie=1:

[Buckshot]

.............Impressive Joe! Those look just like real ones :-) All you have to do now if feed that form tool out and make some 38's, then a bit more and make some 45's. I suppose you could make a cut, then advance the cutter past the lube groove and cut again to make a what, 2 LG 45 cal rifle slug with a TC nose?

.................Buckshot

[StarMetal]

Thanks C1 and Buckshot....boy a three cavity sure piles up cast bullets alot faster then a single or two cavity. I was impressed (not bragging) that the mould worked as well as it did. What I mean is I figured since I made it the bullets would stick in the cavities and all the other bad stuff that sometimes happens to moulds, but they didn't...drop right out.

Joe

[gregg]

Sweet . Thanks you the story.