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Thread: Shortening boolit mold

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy
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    Shortening boolit mold

    I have the Buffalo Arms Jim 396415E mold but think it may be a bit long for my 40 cal with 16 twist. It is 1.42" long and a Money type nose.
    BA has no shorter .396 PP molds available so I was wondering if it is feasible to stick the mold in the 4 jaw and cut a few thou off the base end.
    Would that upset the dynamics more than being too long?
    Any suggestions for a .396 diameter PP mold Money type nose.?
    The Jim .396 385 is only 1.280 long but a round bluntish nose. All are out of stock anyway.
    .396 is perfect with the roll of paper I have.

    Keith

  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Before doing anything, why not test the bullet and see how it does in your rifle

    Yes the lathe and a four jaw chuck will do a great job. watch that the interrupted cut dosnt chip the tool and leave raised corners. You may have to deepen the sprue bolt hole and stop pin hole also

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Keith View Post
    I have the Buffalo Arms Jim 396415E mold but think it may be a bit long for my 40 cal with 16 twist. It is 1.42" long and a Money type nose.
    BA has no shorter .396 PP molds available so I was wondering if it is feasible to stick the mold in the 4 jaw and cut a few thou off the base end.
    Would that upset the dynamics more than being too long?
    Any suggestions for a .396 diameter PP mold Money type nose.?
    The Jim .396 385 is only 1.280 long but a round bluntish nose. All are out of stock anyway.
    .396 is perfect with the roll of paper I have.

    Keith
    I think a bit more information would be helpful. Have you shot the bullet? In a 40.....Smith and Wesson? 40-82?, 40-65?, 40......? What are your plans for shooting the cast bullets?

    Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

  4. #4
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    Chill Wills's Avatar
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    I would not do a thing to it. That bullet should shoot well in a 16 twist. I shoot a GG bullet that is basically the same profile and length. 407grains. It is an ultra accurate rifle and bullet in my 16 twist. Work with it. Give it a chance.
    Chill Wills

  5. #5
    Boolit Grand Master Don McDowell's Avatar
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    That bullet shots well in our40-65 and 40-90 bn with 16 twist


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    Long range rules, the rest drool.

  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master Don McDowell's Avatar
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    If you’re using alloy softer than 18-1 you can get into problems with nose slump


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    Long range rules, the rest drool.

  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy
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    I have been shooting it for over a year now and no matter what load or powder I try, groups at 200 are around 8 inches at best. I can do better with my 45-70.
    Powder is limited to Wano and I tried P and PP, also F and FF. Cant get Swiss here in Queensland but I believe they can in South Australia.
    Because Wano is softer than Swiss I tried for all the capacity I can get so I had a reamer made to suit full length .405 Winchester. A fired case takes my patched bore diameter boolit perfectly. No sizing. Just some reading told me that 1.42 was too long.
    My Chrono gives me readings in the high 1200,s with 78 grains of P
    Just grasping at straws . Might have to do a road trip to South Australia.

  8. #8
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by Don McDowell View Post
    If you’re using alloy softer than 18-1 you can get into problems with nose slump


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    I am using 16 to 1 alloy bought in bars direct from the foundry.

  9. #9
    Boolit Grand Master Don McDowell's Avatar
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    Baco's moulds all show out of stock, but usually if you get ahold of them directly place the order, they'll get it cued up and sent in a couple of weeks.
    What are you running for a wad stack?
    Long range rules, the rest drool.

  10. #10
    Boolit Buddy
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    Just a 60 thou poly wad to compress enough for about 1/8 inch for the boolit

  11. #11
    Boolit Grand Master Don McDowell's Avatar
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    That might be your problem, compress enough more to add a 1/8 inch felt wad, and try a .030 fiber wad instead of the poly with the felt wad.
    Long range rules, the rest drool.

  12. #12
    Boolit Master
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    for best performance in a 40-65 out even to 1000yds,
    The best length of bullet is 1.325" .
    beltfed/arnie

  13. #13
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by Don McDowell View Post
    That might be your problem, compress enough more to add a 1/8 inch felt wad, and try a .030 fiber wad instead of the poly with the felt wad.
    OK I will give that a go,

  14. #14
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by beltfed View Post
    for best performance in a 40-65 out even to 1000yds,
    The best length of bullet is 1.325" .
    beltfed/arnie
    Any idea what mold I can get in .396 diameter Paper patch with an eliptical nose I can buy.
    I just bought a Magnetospeed Sporter to try once I get it figured out. See how it compares to my old Chrony.

  15. #15
    Boolit Master semtav's Avatar
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    What are your chamber /barrel dimensions?
    Any Freebore?

  16. #16
    Boolit Buddy
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    This should be the reamer print.
    Attached Files Attached Files

  17. #17
    Boolit Buddy
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    A kind person has given me some Swiss FF to try.
    When I work out how to use my new Magnetospeed Sporter I can see how much more velocity the Swiss gives me and might get a good load worked up

  18. #18
    Boolit Master semtav's Avatar
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    I'm just testing a 395415E in a 16 twist 40-82. I still need to take it out to distance to see if it hold up.
    With 83 gr Swiss 1.5 the 12.5-1 is working best.

  19. #19
    Boolit Grand Master Don McDowell's Avatar
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    It should, if you wrap in 8 lb paper. The 396415M shoots well to 1000 out of the 40-90 bn when cast hard.
    Long range rules, the rest drool.

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
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    This is what I did with a too long bullet...I had an original Ideal 22636 mould that dropped a 75gr. bullet..this was probably cut with the cherry for the Ideal Perfection mold..adjustable weights via. threaded plug in base. Anyway, I took some samples to work & faced them off to 55grs. Some were plain-bae, others had a gas-check shank turned on. These proved to be very accurate in a 14" twist Hornet, and so I packed up samples and sent them off to Fred Leeth at Pioneer Products..(now sadly deceased), and had him make nose-pour moulds in both p.b. & g.c. Most accurate bullets to date for this particular rifle. So you might want to make up shorter samples before cutting blocks.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check