RCBS 258-85 gr Cowboy Lube groove spacing

[square butte]

Can someone out there give me the spacing measurement for lube groove spacing - center to center on this mold. Working on ordering a star die and my mold is not available for measurement. Thanks

[square butte]

Well, I called RCBS yesterday and they had no spec sheet for this mold and did not have a mold on hand to measure. One last try. Someone must have a copy of this mold available for measurement. I'd like to say i'll pay you handsomely - but that kind of handsome doesn't exist at my house.

[9.3X62AL]

CTC.......not certain which measurement you need, and I'm completely in the dark about Star set-up. I do have the mould, though--lemme know.

[Doby45]

Prolly needs the center-to-center measurement between the lube grooves so he can order that spacing on his Star die.

Actually in looking at it, it appears to have only a single lube groove and a crimp groove. What measurement would be needed?

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/product_images/044-82301.jpg

[9.3X62AL]

Got the castings in hand as I type this.

The boolit has THREE distinct drive bands and two lube grooves, as well as a short band ahead of the crimp groove. CTC between the lube grooves is roughly .150". CTC between the top and bottom drive band is about .300", and total length of the 3-drive-band section is .400". CTCs between top and center and center and bottom drive bands are also .150". Boolit OAL is .662".

As-cast diameter in 92/6/2 alloy is .2615"-.262" on all four bands. Five random samples from my 1# coffee can 1/2 full of RCBS 25-85 CM were used to get these dimensions, and no boolits were injured during this testing sequence. :)

[square butte]

Center of lube groove to center of lube groove is what's needed for hole spacing on a star size die - And if I read your post correctly ( Does CTC in your post mean - center of lube groove to center of lube groove? ), that measurement is .150. If so , Thank you very much sir for your response. Exactly what I needed. Doby45 - the RCBS picture is incorrect. Suprise - suprise. This bullet actually has 2 lube grooves. Thanks again.

[35remington]

SB, see my PM. My measurements are very close to Al's. Saw this post after I had replied via PM, so it's nice that Al's measurements were close in a blind confirmation. I said 0.145 to 0.150." Also gave you distance from middle of middle band to base of 0.200" approximately.

All measurements under magnification to see that I was on.

Yep, two grooves, the picture ain't even close.

[Doby45]

Midsouth needs to update their product photos then, got the picture from here

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0004482301

[Springfield]

I always tell them I have a bullet with 4 lube groooves 1/4" apart. Works every time, gives me maximum versatility.

[9.3X62AL]

Glad to help, Square Butte. And I picked up a bit of learning along the way, concerning the Star system. Thank you!

The drive band area of the boolit has no esoteric dimensioning--all in increments of .050" or .150", it appears. The remaining nose section length seems to be predicated on the boolit's diameter, too--.262". Seated with roll-crimp into the groove, it feeds well in my Marlin 94CL. It shoots pretty well with any load gving it 1100-1250 FPS, so far. That shorter front band fits in the SHORT throat of the Marlin better than the longer front bands on Lymans #257312 and #257420. While these velocities are rather low, the boolit does a MUCH better job on jackrabbits than do 22 LRs, and the rounds cost about the same to produce as CCI Mini-Mags cost to buy.

My next trick with these plain-base castings will involve the 250 Savage in a slow-twist Savage 99.