beagling a mold

[siamese4570]

How much diameter can you reasonably expect to gain by beagling a lee mold. I really need a .431-.432 diameter boolit. Most of the lee molds are .429-.430.

Siamese4570

[Rockchucker]

I too have read many times about beagling moulds to make them larger, however this process seems (I've never tried this process) to me would make the boolit egg shaped. Then what advandage would you have with an out of round boolit. Lapping the mould seems to be the way to go to increase the size. Tell me I'm wrong.

[sturf]

It works great. you should get what you want

[GBertolet]

I have not yet had to do this myself, but I have read many results of experiences with this. If you only go a couple of thousandths, the bullets tend to still be round. This defies logic, but it is what it is. Go ahead and try it. Most use 3 pieces of tin foil tape. One on each size of the cavitiy(s) and one across below the cavity(s), giving support on 3 sides. Use as thin of tape as you can find. You can't hurt anything by trying. Happy casting!

[siamese4570]

Does anybody have a link that demonstrates beagling? I'm also wondering if lapping would be better and if i could gain 2-3 thou in diameter by lapping.

siamese4570

[462]

http://www.castpics.net/

Both methods work...one is permanet, the other reversible.

[fecmech]

Some fellows worry about the out of round but at least for handguns it's a non issue IMO. While my .44 SBH won't shoot with 44 man it will group <2"@ 50 yds with "Beagled" Keiths at 1400 fps. I have .434 throats and a .429 groove and "Beagle" to .434 and size to .433. I had not had problems in the past with Mag loads and .430 but when I tied to load down in the 800-900fps range the .430 stuff leaded like crazy. Sizing to .433 cleared up the leading and the mag load accuracy improved but not dramatically. When you think out of round think of an aircraft 2 bladed propeller. It's out of round by a mile but not out of balance, same with a Beagled bullet.

[462]

To paraphrase another member: Once the boolit exits the case, out of round becomes a moot point.

[Calamity Jake]

I beagle an RCBS 7MM-168 from .2855 to .290 for a warn 1909 Brazilian Mauser that slugs .287 I have to flair the checks a little for fit and I get fins on the nose but they scrape off easy.
A fired case accepts a .289 boolit so that is what I size to.

It's a little extra work but this old gun shoots 2 to 2 1/2 " groups @ 100 with this boolit and 16 of 2400

[woody1]

Beagling
If you haven't tried it, don't knock it. It works and the beauty of it is that it isn't permanent. Gaining 2-3 thou is easy.
Regards, Woody

[pdawg_shooter]

Some fellows worry about the out of round but at least for handguns it's a non issue IMO. While my .44 SBH won't shoot with 44 man it will group <2"@ 50 yds with "Beagled" Keiths at 1400 fps. I have .434 throats and a .429 groove and "Beagle" to .434 and size to .433. I had not had problems in the past with Mag loads and .430 but when I tied to load down in the 800-900fps range the .430 stuff leaded like crazy. Sizing to .433 cleared up the leading and the mag load accuracy improved but not dramatically. When you think out of round think of an aircraft 2 bladed propeller. It's out of round by a mile but not out of balance, same with a Beagled bullet.

I cant help but think that by the time you force that bullet down the barrel with thousands of pounds of pressure the bullet will be just as round as the inside of the barrel. Now if your bore is egg shaped......

[chboats]

I have beagled a couple of 30 cal molds with good success. I only needed a couple of thou. They were out of round by less than .002, but they are still symmetrical so will still be in balance. I tried lappling a mold and it worked, but was a fair amount of work and non reversable.

Carl

[dualsport]

I bought a roll of the 'special' tape. It works great, very easy to do. I'll send a small sample(enough to do a couple molds) to anyone that wants to try it, up to 5-6 guys. Just pm me your address. You can turn a turkey mold into a useful tool for almost nothing. The egg shape thing is not an issue, they conform to the bore real quick.

[Rockchucker]

Beagling
If you haven't tried it, don't knock it. It works and the beauty of it is that it isn't permanent. Gaining 2-3 thou is easy.
Regards, Woody


I'm not knocking the process, what I'm saying is I don't understand it. Putting strips of tape on the inside of the mold to expand the halves seems to only put a larger band of lead around the boolit halves only, it can't increase the cavity size. It seems to me that lapping the mold would increase the boolit size, I've lapped several moulds only to remove any factory burrs and make the boolits drop easier.
So my question is" what advantage is there to putting a band of .001-003 across the nose of a boolit? Sorry if I'm being on the stupid side, But it doesn't make any sense to me.

[woody1]

I'm not knocking the process, what I'm saying is I don't understand it. Putting strips of tape on the inside of the mold to expand the halves seems to only put a larger band of lead around the boolit halves only, it can't increase the cavity size. It seems to me that lapping the mold would increase the boolit size, I've lapped several moulds only to remove any factory burrs and make the boolits drop easier.
So my question is" what advantage is there to putting a band of .001-003 across the nose of a boolit? Sorry if I'm being on the stupid side, But it doesn't make any sense to me.

If you haven't, please read the article by Beagle at Castpics, Articles by Members, Bullet Diameter Enlargement. It articulates the process and results much better than I can. If you've already read it, you just won't be convinced so might as well lap your mould. Just be very careful or you'll end up with an out-of-round mould anyway. As I recall, there's info at Castpics about lapping a mould also. Regards, Woody

[Rockchucker]

Thanks for the replies guys, I appreciate it. I've got some experimenting to do now. I actually do have an undersized 45acp rn mould that drops .451 that could use some work. I did find some metal tape (silver duct tape) in the shop but it measures at .007, Guess I'll go back thru this thread and see where I can purchase some thinner. For some reason beagling just didn't sink in my thick skull until the explanations above were read/Thanks,Ron

[462]

Rockchucker,
Do not use silver duct tape!

What you need is aluminum tape. Should be available in any hardware store. 3-M is the brand I use. If you can't find any, send me a PM and I'll be glad to mail you some.

[Rockchucker]

Thanks 462, the aluminum tape I have measures .007 and with the paper removed it's .004 and I think maybe it's gonna be to large. The lyman mould I have drops at .4515 and when sizing with a .452 die it's getting lube only, I may be ok with this tape. I'm going out later and give it a try anyway.

[Rockchucker]

This is Great! Just went out and beagled (sp) my Lyman 452374gv 4 cavity 230 gr.rn that was dropping at .4515 and beagled it with some .004 metal tape. Guess what? dropping around .4535 to.454 boolits I can live with. I'm thinking once they go thru a .452 size die they'll all be nice and round. They grew in all directions and for some reason Icouldn't get this thru my mind, A big thank you to all for the help. Maybe I can return the favor one day/ Ron.

[theperfessor]

I'm gonna toss this out for discussion here, but I think one reason beagling works so well is because it improves venting along with making a slightly larger cavity.

[Rockchucker]

I thought about that while I was applying the tape, stopping up all those vent lines. Then it has to be getting some air from the gap between the blocks. Good point. I feel good about the beagling process now that I've done it once, however I'm getting just a little finning but can live with that. It'll probly come off after loading them and wiping off the excess lube.

[462]

Rockchucker,
Glad it worked.

[Rockchucker]

Thanks

[woody1]

So back to the first poster. siamese4570, did you beagle your mould? How did it turn out? Regards, Woody

[siamese4570]

Woody1: Haven't tried it yet. Got a swap meet at my gun club this saturday. if I can't find a suitable mold there, I'll call midsouth or midway on monday for the lee 215 gr 44 boolit. As I stated way back there, I'm looking for a light boolit to shoot in my S&W mountain gun. I've got a Keith type swc from a group buy here that drops a .432 - 260 gr boolit. Shooting it at 1000fps is a little "brisk". I appreciate everybodies input.

thanks

Siamese4570

[MtGun44]

Siamese4570,

Try about 7.5-8 gr of Win231 under that 260 Keith in your Mtn Gun. You'll probably like it.

Bill