Been lusting after making a homemade bullet mold just for the
grins of it and to save $130 from ordering one....I'm cheap !
I ordered a 7/16 inch Ball End Mill for Aluminum from Grizzly
Industrial for $10 and obtained some Aluminum from a local metal
recycling place for $3. Cut the Al Block into three equal pieces.
My machinist friend put the Aluminum Block in his Lathe on a
four jaw chuck and drilled a 1/8 inch hole thru the block, followed
by the 7/16 inch Ball End Mill to a depth of 1.12 inch.
I bought some 1/8 inch Drill Rod and threaded one end enough
to allow me to make an Ejector Rod. I spring loaded it and made
it of adjustable depth. I took the Sprue Plate off of an old
double cavity LEE "Cruise Missile" mold I had.
Made the Ejector Pin flexible with a piece of Hacksaw Blade.
I will replace the spring with a "Cone Spring" so that I can push the
Ejector Pin all the way in w/o the spring piling up like it does now.
I drilled and tapped the Aluminum Block for a 3/8 inch threaded rod
and added a Flange Nut so the mold wouldn't come loose when I strike
the Sprue Plate with a wood stick.
Also drilled and tapped an old wood file handle I picked up in a Garage Sale
for 50¢ to keep from burning my pinkies....
So here is the ugly bullet I was after making.
It is 0.438 inch diameter for paper patching to use in my H&R Reproduction
Springfield 45-70 Cavalry Model 1873 Trapdoor Black Powder Rifle.
It looks huge and ugly......haven't tried it yet.
I will PP it up to 0.457 inch diameter - as it is, it falls thru my barrel w/o touching.
I smoke the cavity and had to lap the outer end of the cavity so the bullet
would come out easier.
It sucks air - I need to figure out how to vent it.
My next project is to make a nice tapered bullet mold cutting tool to attempt making
a bullet shaped like Montana Charlie's bullet....
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...4&postcount=33
DoctorBill
PS - I had a Thread in this section called,
"My First Attempt at a "D-Bit" Bullet Mold"
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=143164
It was moved over to the SPECIAL PROJECTS section because of some complainers.
Just FYI, in case you are interested.
DoctorBill