Miha 41 GC and PB results

[giz189]

Just received my Plain Base today. Cleaned it, heated it and started using it. Was a little tricky until I got it hot. I do not have a problem with frosted bullets, seems they shoot as well as non frosted and they are the same hardness {8 bhn} as not frosted. Weighed the same 192 gr + or - half a grain. Measured .412 with this alloy. I could not be happier with this mould. Thanks Miha for a great mould. Can't wait to shoot some.

[Orygun]

I'm sure we ALL want to know.....were they HP's or solid?

[GLynn41]

at that wight they would seem have to HPs /////I cast again last night -- before I did I took some 600 grit sand paper-- and polished the already smooth pin __I still cast one and one-- even smoother-- result-- well the first boolit just fell off- the rest -- well hitting the handle screw would not dislodge them so I quit- trying-- just the lightest touch with the pliers and off they came unmarked-- now there is no blue on the pin -- sorry MIHA
but they did come off very well- I am now going to polish at the top of the pin where it widens--I have not weighed them but visually I had 0 rejects--before I put GC on I will normally weigh a lot of them-- I have three other custom molds -- not many for some I know -- but MP is at the top of them all--good mold

[giz189]

I'm sure we ALL want to know.....were they HP's or solid?

Sorry, did not specify, but yes, they are hollow points. And egads!!!!! what a hollow point. Don't waqnt to be on receiving end of that bugger. Plan to shoot tomorrow into sand and plastic water jugs filled with water. Will post info on accuracy and expansion when done.

[GLynn41]

.
yepper that is for sure a hollow point--being in ARk did you not get some of the snow and ice I have in west Tn-- I am going to wait until mid week and then go--but glad your going

[giz189]

.
yepper that is for sure a hollow point--being in ARk did you not get some of the snow and ice I have in west Tn-- I am going to wait until mid week and then go--but glad your going

Nah, to far South forthe ice, nothing but rain and I got rained out today too.

[GLynn41]

nick named the mold the flying hole mold or the black hole mold--because of the HP

[GLynn41]

while I still have not shot any -- I had another short casting session this evening- I have now polished both pins and will do a little more -- they still do not just drop so I quit trying- I open the mold and the push one set of pins out take the pliers and a light twist and pull and off it comes then I do the second and then I close for my next pour--- even at this I can do about 3 pours a minute -or 6 boolits a minute-- not a record but with my 20 # dipping pot in 45 min to an hour I will have a fair amount of bullets-- 250 to 300 or so -- so several castings will carry me for a good while -- I normally shoot 20-30 .41s and 20 or 41/44s-- and maybe a rifle-- so for now this is my method and the pot is run 8.5 -9 --boolits weigh 193-194 gr- now if I can just shoot some of these -- as i want to see how they shoot and what they do in wet paper etc etc etc --aka the King and I

[giz189]

Got to shoot some of my plain base boolitts yesterday afternoon. Shot at 25 yards into bags of sand box play sand like you buy at wally world for the kids and a piece of very season hickory wood. Best group for the 2 dozen I loaded was 2" at 25 yds. Had trouble with vertical stringing but I was not very steady yesterday either. Will try again when hopefully I am a little more steady. Results were, boolitts recovered from wood had mushrooms broken off down to the solid part of bulet. Boolitts from sand generally had 1 petal of 3 left. Recovered boolitts weighed from 100 to 162 grains. Also, had a little sticky extraction with 2 or 3 of them. Used 17.5 grs of 2400, been using this load with 210 grs with no trouble. Gonna back off a grain and try again. Hey Glynn, take a small piece of 400 wet or dry sand paper, polish the pins til shiny, then put some flitz or something similar on them and polish with a cleaning patch or something, until near mirror finish, run hot and they should fall off with one or two taps on the handle. Just got a digital camera and as soon as I figure out how to hook it up to computer, I can post pictures, maybe. Let us know how your tests turn out.

[GLynn41]

cool copy that

[dutch41]

Has anyone compared the angle of the .41 pins to the pins from the 200 gr. .45 mold?
The pins that came with mine (.41) have a 3° taper per side. Haven't had a chance to cast with it yet. Don't know if this may be why some people are having problems with the bullets releasing.

I think most people have had good luck with the .45 mold.


Scott

[JudgeBAC]

I too suspected that the angle of the pins might be the culprit. I decided to get an unbiased opinion so I sent the mold to Eric Ohlen at hollowpointmold.com.

Here was Erics reply:

Hi. You mold arrived here this afternoon-that guy makes a nice
mold!
I was able simply to re-cut your pins to a proper angle.

I mailed this mold to Eric last Friday. He recut the pins and sent the mold back to me today.

Please note that I am not being critical of Mias work. Eric recognized his excellent workmanship. It looks like the angle might not have been the correct choice for this particular bullet. At any rate I will report on how it works when it returns.

This certainly will not keep me from purchasing further molds from Mia. This will be a valuable learning experience for all of us.

[GLynn41]

me either -- If happens to be something I want -no problem

[dutch41]

Judge

Any idea what they where recut to? Angle, radius on the tip etc.

Thanks for any info.

Scott

[MiHec]

Hmmm.....

I just follow the original design from 45 2.1. Not to blame him for anything at all.

But the case is that I tried to cast and I had no problem.

In the future I will do more tapper on pins - it is no problem for me.


As I say I will try to do a 5 sided pins for this one, also.

[JudgeBAC]

When the mold comes back, I will post pics.

[Groo]

Groo here
No problem MiHec !!!
How many people use a hollow point mold to start with??
Even if the hollow point will not work for me I still think the mold is the best of
all the ones I have and I will be getting more of your products...
I look forward to the 5 sided pins......

[GLynn41]

actually i do-- it is why I wanted the mold in the first place --so it is aobut I make -- but I am good with all

[denul]

I was able to confirm the experience of MiHec and others regarding higher temperature casting with this particular mold and its pins.

Testing with the original pins again today, with RCBS furnace set at maximum, I was able to get reasonable production rates as long as the bullets remained frosted. I started by heating the mold for about 10 minutes in the lead, and the first bullets were dropping right off the pins with only a tap On the hinge joint. To keep the mold hot, I tried to cast as quickly as possible, by cutting sprues much sooner than I ever have.The liquid prep accompanying the mold did an excellent job of protecting mold surfaces from smearing of lead.

I found it necessary to reheat the mold in the lead for about 15 seconds, after every 20 or 25 casts. If this was not performed, the bullets would begin to stick and require more tapping, until they would finally sieze and require removal with pliers.

My alloy might be part of the problem, because I believe that it is quite hard; it is probably too cold to be casting outside at about 35 degrees, and would be much easier to keep the mold hot if the ambient temperature was 50 degrees higher.

In spite of these findings, I agree with the last few posts, that the taper of the pins,is probably the most important factor in improving performance of these molds. I believe temperature and alloy problems would diminish or disappear if the shape of the pins was such that siezing could not occur.

I am really looking forward to Mihec offering either 5 sided or tapered pins for this excellent mold.

[GLynn41]

did you mean to say "I started by heating the mold for about 10 minutes in the lead" wow after that the mold ought to be hot// I normally count to 20-30 seconds-- never consider that much time-- is there, would there, could there any effects on the mold blocks? Just asking now do not get any bad vibes as if you say it works I am good---I have really polished my pins and will try them again tomorrow- and I will set the mold on top as often I do -- sometimes I am lazy and do not do that-- and dip the mold for a some what longer time period and see how it goes-- I too find the 5 sided pins interesting --you said you alloy was hard if do not mind what is the as cast weight of the boolits you are getting--my alloy is soft and mine run about 194+ in the Hollow Point