Beagled 22Cal Molds

So l see this ad on a forum with a couple 22cal double cavity Lyman molds for sale.
They arrive and l notice molds have had the gas check groove removed. l'm already upset because the mold halves were not padded in the boxes, bouncing around whacking on each other, Metal against Metal:( for a couple thousand miles, like a box of rocks:( Honestly, just how much how much $ are a couple rubber bands or a pinch of filler?
Next question. Do l have any chance of these 2 boolits performing in my old Remington 700ADL in 222Rem @ Lyman load data speeds w/o gas checks? My first time castng Rifle boolits. l will be powder coating the boolits.
Molds are Lyman #225438/45gr and Lyman #225462/58gr.

282

No youll probably not be able to run these as hot, but powder coating them might prove me wrong. At least you are running a bolt gun so low pressure isn't a concern and opens up more powder options. Do some research on which powders are more or less likely to melt your base. Just start low with your data, check for leading and tumbling as you increase your charge. I bet you will end up with a serviceable load.
On a side note look up Matterson Gas Check Maker on FB. I think I recall he was doing oversized gas check makers that would go over non gas checked bullets; might be another option for ya.
Either way youll have a good excuse to get out and shoot it while you figure out your load lol.

I've found that getting accuracy from plain base 22 boolits is very challenging, actually I never did have any great luck with the two molds I had, one was a 6 cav 50 gr RD and the other, a lighter NOE mold. Shooting the lighter one at 22LR speed seemed to work best. It's difficult to get a perfect base on the small boolit, mostly because casting such small boolits is difficult to get a uniform batch, meaning it's difficult to maintain consistent mold temperature...anyway, there was lots of Culls.

Your Remington 700ADL in 222Rem likely has a 1:14 twist barrel, which will probably like the lighter Lyman 225438 better than the heavier one. You'll should have the best luck in loading them with a fast powder (like Bullseye) with a muzzle speed around 1200...much like a HV 22LR.

There isn't but one way to tell ... CHOOT EM' ...
Powder coating might save the day , Good Luck!
I believe a member vendor , Sages Outdoors , makes some gas checks for sale that are thinner than normal and designed to be used on plain based boolits ... might be called plain base gas checks
check www.sagesoutdoors.com and see what's available .
Gary

I would look into returning them. Beagleing is adding metal tape to a mold to increase the diameter as known on this forum. I think the seller has misrepresented these items. De-horned is one term for check removal.

l appreciate the responses from ALL. One possible help might trying to make some aluminum gas checks.l remember seeing seeing it explained on Cast Boolits. Just need to find the reference. ''De-horning'' is most descriptive. l feel a bit de-horned myself.:-( l also PM'd the seller. No response. l guess what angered me most was the way he packaged them. Those mould halves banging around each other for a thousand miles or so like a Box of Rocks:-( 282

Try preheating your molds on a hot plate.
Bullets will fill out.
As
also smoking molds helps as well.

SW282,

The seller of those moulds miss-represented them if he did not mention the machine work having been performed on them. I had this happen on a Lyman 31141 mould I won on evil-bay, but it chose to keep the mould as a plain base design. I would not accept the moulds you received, because I am not interested in .22 LR velocities in my .222 M 788. This may be acceptable to you; however. I understand completely your anger at the seller not securing the mould blocks within the shipping container. You might list them here on S & S , as someone might be interested in trying a plain base design (s) in .224” ….

Thanks wm. The seller claimed he knew NOTHING about. l found some super thin copper checks on GunBroken @.010''. l believe Hornady lists theirs @.030''.. Since l started to PC boolits Lee sizers are all l use now.

If the mating faces have dings in them which keep them from properly fitting together they can be fixed by carefully filing off the offending bumps. Then using a piece of fine wet sanding paper 400 of finer, place the mold face on the sand paper with water and draw figure eights with the mold face. This should polish the mating surfaces smooth. Good Luck.

Update. Finally got a response from the seller. Said he'd refund my Hundred[smilie=p: Dollars

Looks like an acceptable outcome from here.

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Originally Posted by sw282

Update. Finally got a response from the seller. Said he'd refund my Hundred[smilie=p: Dollars

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Latest 2024 update. I kept the 22 Hornet moulds

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Originally Posted by sw282

Latest 2024 update. I kept the 22 Hornet moulds

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So, Have you cast any?
Have you shot any?
inquiring minds want to know, even if it's 2 yrs later.

I removed the gas check shanks on an old style Bator mold. Shoots very good in my 22-250, 222 and even in my bee. If you keep velocities 1200-1300 you should have a bunch of plinking fun. Like someone already mentioned, be relentless in your culling for best accuracy.

so, as far as I have read, most casters have better accuracy at reduced velocity with PlainBase vs GasCheckSansGC

so in terms of cost effectiveness, you have the advantage.... already plain based moulds, ready to cast and load at reduced levels

not a total loss in my books