BruceB
05-26-2006, 09:10 PM
I was the beneficiary of a "loaner" SAECO 4-cavity #305 mould last week at the Nevada Shoot. The design is a .30-caliber (of course!) flat-nosed type, much like a 311041, I believe. Midway has an illustration, if you go to www.midwayusa.com and follow the trail until you get to SAECO moulds. The drawing makes it look shorter and fatter than reality, but check the appearance of the mould cavities for a better idea. (You can click to zoom in for a larger photo.)
Without firing a single round, I'll tell y'all right now that I'm embarking on a campaign to BUY this mould from its owner. That puts me in a vulnerable position, for certain-sure, but I think this one is gonna be worth it. Maybe I can arrange a swap for some .338 moulds I have on hand....?
The mould appeared to be new/unused when I mounted it on the handles today, but it's now a veteran of casting at least a thousand boolits. My standard "random handful" of new boolits amounted to 24 in number, right out of the water bucket. I discarded three due to slight rounding of the bases, which was a learning-curve problem on my part, and now solved. The extreme spread in weight was 0.6 grains, which is very nice from a 4-cavity mould. Average was 178 grains, stark naked right from 'the bath'.
The bullets were cast from straight wheelweight alloy at my pot's max temperature (870 degrees, last time it was checked) using my regular fast/hot method. Now, the really good news.....ALL of the 21 samples had nose "bore-rider" diameters of .302-.303", forward bands of .311", and base bands of .313-.314". Gents, those dimensions will serve a LOT of rifles, believe me.
Now, I have to get that Dillon fired-up for a boolit trial in the M1A!!!!! Fortunately, I left it all rigged-out for 7.62 NATO after the last loads prior to the Nevada Shoot (a week ago, ALREADY!). Forecast for tomorrow isn't great, but I may get some shooting in, anyway. Also cast about 500 311672s today with my 2-cavity mould. This design is showing early promise in the M1A, but it does leave exposed lube when seated at the M!A's "functioning depth".
Without firing a single round, I'll tell y'all right now that I'm embarking on a campaign to BUY this mould from its owner. That puts me in a vulnerable position, for certain-sure, but I think this one is gonna be worth it. Maybe I can arrange a swap for some .338 moulds I have on hand....?
The mould appeared to be new/unused when I mounted it on the handles today, but it's now a veteran of casting at least a thousand boolits. My standard "random handful" of new boolits amounted to 24 in number, right out of the water bucket. I discarded three due to slight rounding of the bases, which was a learning-curve problem on my part, and now solved. The extreme spread in weight was 0.6 grains, which is very nice from a 4-cavity mould. Average was 178 grains, stark naked right from 'the bath'.
The bullets were cast from straight wheelweight alloy at my pot's max temperature (870 degrees, last time it was checked) using my regular fast/hot method. Now, the really good news.....ALL of the 21 samples had nose "bore-rider" diameters of .302-.303", forward bands of .311", and base bands of .313-.314". Gents, those dimensions will serve a LOT of rifles, believe me.
Now, I have to get that Dillon fired-up for a boolit trial in the M1A!!!!! Fortunately, I left it all rigged-out for 7.62 NATO after the last loads prior to the Nevada Shoot (a week ago, ALREADY!). Forecast for tomorrow isn't great, but I may get some shooting in, anyway. Also cast about 500 311672s today with my 2-cavity mould. This design is showing early promise in the M1A, but it does leave exposed lube when seated at the M!A's "functioning depth".