mihecs .502 cramer

[Lloyd Smale]

Ive bought a few of these crammer molds and they all work well. Some seem to get a little sticky ocassionaly especially if you dont run them real hot but I got this mold and fired up the pot today and the bullets just fall out of it and without a flaw. I casted 20lbs of lead and had exactly three rejects and to be honest they could have probably been used too. Only thing i kind of scratch me head at is the hp pins. It came with 3 sets of varying sizes and I used the middle. The big one would be a bit to big in my opinion. Nice job on this one mihec!

[Lloyd Smale]

ps i like the bigger blocks too.

[wilddog45]

Due to my upcoming second total knee replacement operation it will be a while before i can get some usable data because it is hard to do anything on crutches. However i couldn't wait and casted around 100 using the cone shaped hp casted with 50/50 pure lead/ww's. I loaded a few with 40grs of H110 and a few mouse fart loads using 10grs of unique. I use iron sights and they are set for the 440 gr keith boolit that Happy7 honchoed. I never shot any on paper because hoblin' on crutches is no fun but for what its worth I would start with 38 grs of H110 and work up and for some strange reason the mouse fart loads were dead on. I can't wait until i can recover some of the shroomed boolits to see if my alloy is too soft,I have a suspicion it may be. But I hope others can get can get some chronied and on paper. Even though i have not made any test shots on paper yet, my next one will be with the small hp. "So many hp's so little time" All we need now is the 5 sided one.

[wilddog45]

I loaded a few using 12grs of Trail Boss. I use a redding micrometer powder measure and the funny thing about this fluffy cheereo looking powder is that by the time i had 12 grs in my scale my micrometer adjustment on the measure was showing between 25-30 grs. It sure is a better powder for light loads because it fills the case where as 10grs of unique just lays on the bottom of the brass. Its accuracy seems to be about the same as unique,mind you i am just plinking.Trail Boss truly is "The Boss" when it comes to light loads in the 500. I loaded up these light loads because i am on crutchs but i am sure glad i did it because it helps improve your form because of the lessened recoil. I sure do love the versatility of the 500.

[lostsixgunner]

I cast around 100 of these yesterday as well. Started with the largest H.P. pins using straight WW's. I had to pull the bullets off with pliers. Don't know if I was doing someting wrong or what? Ended up flipping the pins over and pouring flat noses. Like you said, very few bad boolits. Waiting for the checks, now! Lost.

[MiHec]

I cast around 100 of these yesterday as well. Started with the largest H.P. pins using straight WW's. I had to pull the bullets off with pliers. Don't know if I was doing someting wrong or what? Ended up flipping the pins over and pouring flat noses. Like you said, very few bad boolits. Waiting for the checks, now! Lost.

Heat the mold and pins.....

If the mold /pins are too cold you have problems.

[wilddog45]

Before you begin wash the mold with brake cleaner fluid and scrub with a toothbrush. Also coat the pins thoughly with the lube and make sure they slide back and forth and seat well in the mold. Also make sure the pins are coated as well.This mold has to be heated up to work well. Cast a few and throw them back untill you get good looking boolits. The boolits should just fall off.

[lostsixgunner]

What is the best way to preheat the mold without actually pouring into it? Thanks in advance. Lost.

[Lloyd Smale]

these hp brass molds have to be run HOT to work well. Preheat it and cast a bit faster then your usual pase.

[wilddog45]

You can buy a hot plate at wallyworld to set it on. Some people use a propane torch. You can also dip the corner of the mold in the melt.

[hicard]

I position the mould to where the whole bottom of the mould sits in the melt for a few minutes. That heats the mould up real good, including the pins.

[wonderwolf]

Cast with it some tonight while I was in between runs with 4 cav molds, I didn't get it nearly hot enough but it droped the medium size HP easily...Should be good fun when I get the gun and get into production. What are some other loads you guys are using? is there a standard load for this weight yet that seems to just work well?

[stubshaft]

Cast some up the other day (the same day I got it) and they measured .5029" @ 349.4gr naked and 369.0 checked and loobed (BAC) with the biggest pin. I loaded some up ahead of a medium charge of 296 (36.5gr) and went to the range today to try them out.

My MGM 14" bull barrel Encore is fully capable of shooting itty bitty groups or at least something on the order of .75" @ 50yds. I set up my target and started to shoot a string of 5 shots. The first thing that I noticed is that 296 is too slow in this barrel. There were alot of unburned particles in the barrel. The first 2 shots were touching but grouped about 6" low of
center (the scope was sighted in with the 480gr boolit). I adjusted the scope and shot again, it was touching the other two? I moved the adjustment knob 1/2 turn and fired the fourth shot it moved right under the X. I grabbed 2 more rounds to put together a seperate 3 shot group. Aimed at another target and fired, this shot was 4" @ 11:00 out of the black? second shot ended up 4" @ 6:00 8 ring and finally the third shot of the string ended up 3" @ 9:00 in the 7 ring. I have never had this happen with this gun/barrel combination.

Looked through the scope again and found that the Redfield 4X "Magnum Proof" scope that I had mounted on this barrel wasn't. Part of the reticle was missing...

I think that I'll have to mount my 15" barrel with irons to test this boolit. Let me say that it is in NO WAY a fault of this boolit. This is the third scope that has not held up to the recoil of this particular barrel 2 Weaver 2X's bit the dust before this.

Next time I'll load with Lil Gun. I have had stellar success with this in the Encore.

[Lloyd Smale]

we been doing some informal penetration testing. Basicaly shooting them into snow. Believe it or not a packed snow bank is very simular to wet news print for expansion testing. First the hp. I used the medium sized pin and cast them out of 5050 mix of #2 and pure. Shot out of the beowulf at 1600 they fractured and came unglued. Same results with 1 in 20. SHot out of the 50we at about a 1000 fps the medium point still fractured the 1-20 made a dramatic mushroom. I think the next batch of these will be cast with the smallest of the three hp pins. the middle one seems to big. Now for the flat nose. Out of the beo cast out of the 5050 alloy it mushroomed fairly well. OUt of the we at a 1000 cast out of 1-20 was the highlight. That bullet was a picture perfect mushroom. I thank my buddy Al for this testing. I casted the bullets and he did the shooting as we live 60 miles apart and couldnt get together for the day. In conclusion if i was to use it for hunting right now it would be with the flat nose as the hp is a bit to radical but then i havent tried the smallest pin yet and a change in alloys could change all the results we had anyway. the alloy used was mostly because that was what was in my two pots.

[TDC]

Great reports, guys, and I'm looking forward to more info from all of you.

I'm especially interested in this boolit as a hunting round. Obviously, the two larger HP designs are especially suited to self defense usage. I believe the two larger designs are intended for urban applications, limiting the dangerous multi-wall penetration expected with solid nose boolits.

I'm especially interested in the small HP and that's the one I pushed for during the creation of this mold design. Seeing penetration and expansion results with the smaller HP with different alloys should provide a new picture of HP usefulness for hunting. The much thicker walls of the small cavity should help keep the boolit structure intact if an ideal alloy is found. If the boolits still fragment the sheer mass of the 375 gr smaller HP should have already penetrated and be doing its job.

My own theory for a hunting HP is the cavity shouldn't exceed 50% of the size of the boolits flat point. That has worked for many years in my .41 and .44 mags. I believe that's where this HP trend will lead.. We'll see....

Thanks for the comments everyone! Keep them coming!!! My own mold isn't here yet but I hope to be joining with comments soon...:drinks:

[wilddog45]

My SD port on my computer is malfunctioning so I cannot post pics but as I mentioned before I loaded some with 12 grs of Trail Boss and used a 50/50 alloy of pure and wheelweights. I was just plinking around and shot a hackberry tree about 3". There was a hole going in but the backside was totally blown out shreading about 8" of the backside. I'm sure the velocity was in the 900 range and for a low recoil round I thought the damage was pretty devestating. I'm getting the total knee replacement for my other and last knee tomorrow so I cannot wait until this is all over with so I can contribute with some meaningful info.

[TDC]

Woopie!!! My 502 showed up in the mail today. The production pot is heating and ready to rumble as I write this.....

First of all, good luck on the knee replacement, Wilddog45!! They perform absolute miracles with joint replacement today. We're going to miss your participation with some of the development but you need to get fixed up first... Best wishes to both you and 69dayrona as you are both experiencing some medical problems personally or in your families.

I like your new avatar, Wilddog45 ... Looks like a Walker Hound treeing on some critter to impress his handler with his skill ..... hearing that baying "change over" to a more excited pitch when they tree is always exciting isn't it? I've hunted with friends who have great hounds for three decades. I've had the good fortune to see everything from coons and bobcats to bear and cougar in trees through the years... It taught me how to hunt them in "fair chase" later.....

The pot is heating up so I'd like to make a few observations I've gleaned from the earlier Miha molds I've used and make some suggestions....

I've had sticky pins with both the .41 PB and the .452 5 sided pins . I tried everything from polishing the pins to changing alloys. What has worked for me is to simply spray coat just the pins entirely with mold release. The brand I use is Franklin Arsenal Drop Out. That helps the pins slide easier too.. If the boolits drop off the pins easier I've been able to reduce the temperature to avoid frosting while turning out consistent and beautiful boolits. Try mold release if you have any drop problems.

Be sure to use a good high temp lube on the screw that the sprue pivots on. A few people have reported seized screws that broke off when they attempted to remove them, especially with aluminum molds. Our brass molds need to be used at higher temps and it's just a precaution.

For me, the pins have always seemed to seat better when placed on the sprue side block. We have so many varying tolerances with these Cramer Molds. More time is required to "break them in" than I've found with other molds but once break-in has occurred the casting are absolutely fabulous..

OK!! Pots hot. I'll be checkin' back to see how everyone's doin'... Hope Ranger Rick, Bob J and 69daytona can check in soon too.....

[Bob J]

Hi Guys..... Thought it's about time to check in as well.... Have only cast the large HP so far but this is one sweet mould....

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/Troop24/sw3.jpg

Cast a bunch in 5050 RL/WW and water dropped @ around 350gr.... 10 BHN as cast and were around 15 BHN a week or so later on my cabine tree.... Heated the mould with a corner in the melt and had good fill after the second drop.... Bullets dropped well and looked great...

Sized to .500 and lubed with Carnauba Red.... Loaded over 41.3 grains H110 and a LRMP, OAL 1.963 and a good roll crimp.... Chronyed around 1800 fps with no apparent leading... Shot at 50 feet and grouped as well as my SP (which has been my my most accurate round so far)... This one's certainly a keeper....:D Nice job Miha!

[69daytona]

I have been casting with my mold off and on for about a week, its casting some very nice bullets compared to my first sitting. Im using the small pin today with 20-1, The mold seems to make my WW mix frost all the time unless the melt is hot and the mold is cool.

With the 20-1 it likes the same temp for the mold and the melt and they all come out perfect. I ran out of Gas Checks so I will be limited to my testing this weekend.

I drilled the pin holes out an extra .001 to make them slide out when the mold is open, this will not hurt the mold since the pins dont center the HP pin anyways, makes the mold much eaiser to use and quicker too since I dont have to tap on the pins to get the bullets out.

[Lloyd Smale]

buddy did some accuracy testing in his beo yesterday and said the first load he tried went into just over an inch at a 100 yards. He was using re7 and a cci 350. Looks like this bullet is going to be a shooter. Im anxious to see if the smaller hp is going to shoot as well. It will be much more useful in the beo and even in the we.

[69daytona]

Those of you needing Gas Checks for your 500 Blammer has some in and you can order them on the group buy login at the bottom of the page. He only has 10k and 3 of that is gone already.

[manomet]

I have not had a chance to use yet but my pins are very stiff. Is this going to change once I clean and lube?

[MiHec]

I have not had a chance to use yet but my pins are very stiff. Is this going to change once I clean and lube?

You should lube the pins, heat the mold and give it few dry runs.
Pins should "break" in.

[MiHec]

I still have some Hollow and solid molds - .502HP

If you are interested give me PM

[TDC]

I've been able to cast all three variations of HP's as well as the solid point. I have a bunch cast of 50/50 as well as straight WW's. This mold is throwing some beautiful boolits for me.

I received other Miha molds prior to this one so I've been busy with the 6 cav. 44, the .452, and the .41 Mag. "So many molds -- so little time!!" :smile:

Been looking for some good basic powder loads for these boolits and waiting for another report from Lloyd on the penetration tests he's doing. I read one of his posts on a another thread and it appears he's having good success with with the solid flat nose mushrooming. He's planned to test the small HP next and that's the one I'm especially interested in...

Still waiting to hear from Happy7 and Ranger Rick, too......

How's everyone else doing?

[MiHec]

I still have 2 molds in HP and two molds in Solid configuration


If you are interested please PM me

[DukeInFlorida]

Looking for one of the HP molds, with extra pins. PM sent.