Hollowpointing a mould

[gnoahhh]

I have an old reliable Ideal 311284 mould I would like to hollow point. I have a mill with rudimentary fixturing, drill presses, etc. and routinely make small projects for my gun hobby but never attempted doing this. I plan on making an adjustable pin that will allow for varying depths down to no hole at all to use the bullet as original.

Never having done this trick, is there any advice for getting the hole in the mould blocks dead centered in the cavity?

[Buckshot]

http://www.fototime.com/4E82C710D2AEAC9/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/4F570981026E8CC/standard.jpg

.............I've always done it in my lathe.

http://www.fototime.com/B049102B1BC2E02/standard.jpg

Not reason it can't be done in the mill. If you don't have a Blake Co-Ax indicator you'll just have to use a mirror to see the dial for half it's rotation. I'd suggest indicating as close to the nose as possible. Don't mess with a tenths indicating TI, it'll make you crazy.

http://www.fototime.com/2E52E1F832F7ACF/standard.jpg

You want the HP pin centered in the nose and if you're reading back by the GC shank the hole may be off. Check a few cavities on a surface plate and you'll find out that a lot of cavities are tilted, so indicate near the nose!

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

[gnoahhh]

Yes, I can see where the lathe would be the way to go but alas, I don't have a 4-jaw chuck. Maybe now's the time to get one. Thanks for the tip re: indicating near the nose. I would have been tempted to indicate at the shank.

Last question: is a tapered HP pin to be preferred over a straight one? If so, why? The couple of Ideal HP moulds that I have all have tapered pins. Is it for ease of removal when parting the bullet from the mould more so than some other esoteric reason?

[deltaenterprizes]

Tapered pin gives the draft need for easy removal.

[jbunny]

u could make a drill guide that fits tight when clamped in the mould cavity. drill
halfway through and then drill from the other end when making the drill guide.

[Buckshot]

u could make a drill guide that fits tight when clamped in the mould cavity. drill
halfway through and then drill from the other end when making the drill guide.

.............Yeah but then doncha have to make a drill guide for different calibers and then different bit sizes? A guide can work but what about slugs with only one lube groove? Do you set one end of the guide in the nose?

http://www.fototime.com/DCB35A804CC78CC/standard.jpg

Similarly, at first I figured indicating in a cavity via a guage pin would be the hot ticket but twern't so without at least 2 lube grooves of the same depth, and then trying a few different moulds it finally proved ineffectual. At least for me, and it seems that a guide similarly used in the cavity would be about the same.

Not being negative here a-tall, just asking how it's done or how you do it? Have any pictures? I'm a picture guy :-)

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

[Buckshot]

Yes, I can see where the lathe would be the way to go but alas, I don't have a 4-jaw chuck. Maybe now's the time to get one. Thanks for the tip re: indicating near the nose. I would have been tempted to indicate at the shank.

You bet, and yes it's time to get a 4 jaw :-P

Last question: is a tapered HP pin to be preferred over a straight one? If so, why? The couple of Ideal HP moulds that I have all have tapered pins. Is it for ease of removal when parting the bullet from the mould more so than some other esoteric reason?

deltaenterprizes gave the answer BUT a bit of parallel sides will work, and the more you have the harder it becomes to remove the pin. With the old style HP pin assembly (knob and pin) you have to first rotate the knob some amount to release it from it's retention setup. This will aid in having the pin release easier if some parallel sides are inside the cavity.

http://www.fototime.com/3886576CFB7E6AA/standard.jpg

Other systems with captive pins like the Cramer, or the RG setup NOE uses pretty much depends on the boolits weight to release from the pin. The HP pins I supply (Knob and pin type setup, ABOVE) are depth adjustable for 1/4" to 3/8" additional stickout depending on pin OD. I advise folks to not get carried away at first as any setout exposes the parallel sides of the HP pin. You can end up having to melt the boolit off the pin!

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

[Ben]

Buckshot :

I do believe that I recognize that SAECO 315 in your photo !

Ben

[Buckshot]

Buckshot :

I do believe that I recognize that SAECO 315 in your photo !

Ben

..............The heck you say! :bigsmyl2:

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