44 Castings

[LAH]

The MiHec H&G #503 .44 Caliber Keith. Cast these from WW alloy. Here's the results:
They came from the mould at .432

They weigh a very consistent 258 grains:

Here's the finished product

 

[Rainman]

Nice casting job LAH. What did you end up sizing them .430?

Dan

 

[LAH]

Thanks Rainman, I sized these .431. They were soft at 9-10 BHN. I posted them for sale on another forum with the offer to resize to .430 or .429.

 

[Bucks Owin]

Those MP molds are a delight to use aren't they... :wink: Is that LBT lube?

(Wonder if I could sell some of his .45's in 3 configurations?....Hmmm :? )

 

[I_Like_Pie]

Very nice when they come out like that...

 

[WESHOOT2]

HS6.....
or N350....
or W296....
or AA9.....

 

[LAH]

Is that LBT lube?

The lube is Ballisti Cast.

I now have 4 MiHec moulds. All are brass & 4 cavity. These are certainly different than the Lyman & Ballisti Cast moulds I do the bulk of my casting with but so far so good.

 

[Dale53]

LAH;
Those are really nice looking bullets. I am currently waiting on my four cavity brass mould for that bullet from MiHec. I expect it in the next couple of days.

Of course, I have one of his six cavity aluminum moulds, already.

 

[LAH]

Dale I've only used 1 & 2 cavity moulds but if the MiHec aluminum moulds are the same quality as the brass I'd like to try one.

 

[Dale53]

LAH;
Mihec only knows how to make one level of quality - the HIGHEST!

Dale53

 

[Iron Mike Golf]

Got my MiHec #503 mold today. With 92-6-2 alloy, they miked at .433. Sized to .431, lubed with Carnauba Red. Shooting them tomorrow.

Back to the bench...

 

[Dale53]

Iron Mike;
I live in SW Ohio so I should be getting mine any day, now...

Dale53

 

[LAH]

Iron Mike;
I live in SW Ohio so I should be getting mine any day, now...

Dale53

Maybe this will help you Dale, 38 pounds I cast yesterday.

 

[Dale53]

LAH;
Thanks! "I needed that"... :roll: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

In the spirit of full disclosure, it's not like I am underprivileged or anything. Here are some bullets from my other MiHec moulds for .44's;

Dale53

 

[LAH]

I'd say you're doing fine.

 

[clintsfolly]

Hi LAH Great looking boolits!! Have I seen that alloy before? Have a great day Clint

 

[LAH]

Yes Clint, that came from you & was great stuff as usual.

 

[Iron Mike Golf]

Iron Mike;
I live in SW Ohio so I should be getting mine any day, now...

Dale53

Dale,

Mine came on Monday, so you gotta be next.

I posted results from tonight's shoot using St Elmer's Fire over on cast Boolits. I have a box of W296 loads ready (shooting them tomorrow, maybe) and will load up some IMR 4227, too. When the Carnauba Red runs out in the lubrisizer, I'm going to give BAC a shot.

 

[scramjet]

I have a Lee six banger 240gr .431dia 44cal die turning out great booltlits thats the easy part. Lube/sizing has been nothing but a labor of love. I've been using a RCBS lube sizer which ends up lubing the base bootlit and gas check area (not using gas checks) even when non-heated with little to no pressure to lubing.
Trying to find figure a less time consuming method I ordered a Lee sizer set-up using Alox lube. After talking around I was told Alox lube coating will require lubing standard lube groove bootlits anyway if shooting 44spcl 7.5gr Unique and 44mag AA#9 mild loads. Looking the the Balisti and Carnuba lubes have you had any issues as I have outlined. The lube I am currently using is Beeswax/Amsoil hi-temp which holds up great although apparently seems hard to work with. Any help would be great.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[Iron Mike Golf]

I am using Carnauba Red with a SAECO lubrisizer and it works great. I just started in on casting and sizing my own. I just loaded up BAC lube, which is Beeswax And Carnauba. It's a bit softer and is not supposed to need a heater.

With the Carnauba, if I back off the pressure, it does not go onto the boolit. One thing I learned was I was seating my boolit too deep in the sizing die and I needed to passes to get enough lube in the grease groove. That's fixed.

If your boolit is a gas check design and you're not using gas checks, the you're gonna get lube on the base unless you fiddle with the ram while sizing.

 

[scramjet]

I figured the non-gas checked groove would fill being an empty cavity although not the bullet base (shoot mild loads before max). I am looking for info from other RCBS lube/sizer user's experience(try different lube) or if this is it figure another solution. As mentioned casting boolits has been the easy part sizing/lube process has been taking more time than can be explained .I am into several load development pistols.Sounds like you're SAECO would work great with my Dillon re-loading equipment.
I was cheching out Saeco stuff looks real nice yet rather expensive any insite.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[Dale53]

scramjet;
Trying to lube gas check bullets without gas checks can be a frustrating task.

However, in the Star Lube/Sizer it is not a problem. The Star works on a different principle and you can selectively lube only one groove amongst several if that is your pleasure.

I also have an RCBS and a Lyman lube/sizer and I would never even TRY to lube a gas check bullet without the check.

The real solution, is to get another mould. I MUCH prefer the standard lube groove bullets and also lean heavily in favor of one lube groove. They are MUCH easier to work with.

Having said that, while I don't consider them optimum, you can get decent results with Lees Tumble Lube bullets with a conventional sizer (plain base) and a good lube.

My current lube is Lars White Label Carnauba Red.

Dale53

 

[scramjet]

"The real solution, is to get another mould. I MUCH prefer the standard lube groove bullets and also lean heavily in favor of one lube groove. They are MUCH easier to work with".

"Having said that, while I don't consider them optimum, you can get decent results with Lees Tumble Lube bullets with a conventional sizer (plain base) and a good lube".

Dale53:
Thanks for the info, very helpful! With the above being said is it possible to expect to shoot Lee Tumble Lube bullets with confidence in 44spcl 17.5gr Unique 240gr non-gas checked boolits and as listed 44mag 240/250gr boolits, AA#9 non-gas checked mild loads without leading. I've been using my RCBS Lube/sizer without good resluts. Next ordered was Lee Tumble Lube push through Alox set-up although using standard wax groove cast bullets sounds like I need to go either way not to mix n' match with the continued bad results.I don't have a problem buying new dies conventional or Lee micro groove just need to know what to expect with less time involved lubing.I'm real sceptical shooting without wax lube just using Lee Alox even if a micro-groove casting. How well do the micro groove/Alox set-ups work, is there a pressure/load cut-off.
Questin being asked is one I've been looking for sometime now. Once target loads are figured out and am comfortable I plan to load heavier for hunting using gas checks.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[Dale53]

scramjet;
PLEASE IMMEDIATELY change the data showing 17.5 grs of Unique (That is a blown up gun for anyone who tries that).

I am sure you meant 17.5 grs of 2400 behind the 250 gr bullet NOT unique.

Frankly, with todays 2400 being slightly faster burning it is recommended to only use 16.5-17.0 grs of 2400 behind the 250 gr Keith bullet.

For best results (tens of thousands of satisfied .44 Special shooters) use a 250 gr Keith (Lyman 429421, Mihec's clone of the H&G #503 {my choice}, or the RCBS 250K) with a GOOD lube run through a lube sizer. I currently use Carnauba Red but have used NRA 50/50 Beeswax/Alox2138f with excellent results for years.

I have other bullets that work well but that is a solid recommendation for you. I have taken several deer with the .44 Keith with excellent results.

Dale53

 

[scramjet]

I Dale:
Sorry a typo error I ment 7.5gr unique. Thank-you for the heads up if that were the case! Please reply to my previously asked question reguarding the Lee micro groove vs. standard wax lube boolit lube question. This question on hand is where I seem to be hung up on.

Thanks Again!
Tom

 

[Dale53]

scramjet;
I am NOT a fan of Lee Tumble Lube bullets. That said, others have good results with them.

I ONLY use conventional lube grooved bullets. I can pan lube with excellent results (using Lee's Push Through sizer) as well as the Star, RCBS, and Lyman lube/sizers.

Dale53

 

[scramjet]

Thank-You Dale!
Tom

 

[Bucks Owin]

I ONLY use conventional lube grooved bullets. I can pan lube with excellent results
Dale53

Yep, been there, done that... :wink: "Cake cutter tool" from .458 case:

 

[scramjet]

Hate to ask a dumb question.... Is the cut away case tooling used for as a pan lubing push through tool. I haven't seen this before. Again, sorry if asking a dumb question,one year into casting,lubing and reloading cast bullets. Jacketed are easy although a real discouragement with limited selection available not to mention price.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[GAR]

I just got my "Ruger Only" mold in last week from Miha. Another beautiful piece of art in my books.

Only complaint I have is it seems as if it was lost in the mail system for 8 weeks!!! Now that was some torture!!

Tom