New to casting

[Tommy Kelly]

Well I found out this weekend I don't know much about casting. A while back I started casting some bullets. I now just do a few. I have lee moulds and cast 1 45-70 bullet and 1 45 colt bullet 1 44 bullet and 2 38cal bullets and also a 475 linebaugh/480 bullet. Well my son brought a new mold he has down to my house for me to try. Its a high dollar brass mold that makes hollowpoint bullets or flat nosed bullets also it has the parts to make 2 different size hollowpoints. it's in .475 cal and makes awesome looking bullets for him. Well to make a long story short I'm not ready to say I cast bullets. I get good results using the lee aluminum molds but my bullets with the good mold weren't right. We picked through about 100 bullets I made with his mold and salvaged about 20 that were ok to use. Not very good concidering about 98% of my aluminum cast bullets are good. My son told me what I was doing wrong so I will try it in my molds and see if my bullets improve. His mold weighs about as much as all mine combined. I am happy with my aluminum molds and will probably keep buying lee molds for all my casting they are real forgiving and make nice bullets that suit me fine and I can buy about 5 lee's for what he paid for his 1 mold.

 

[GAR]

Sounds as if your son has been hanging over on the cast boolit site and got himself one of the MP Molds from Miha.

They are a work of art and produce some fine bullets.

The molds need to be up to temp otherwise you will encounter difficulties.

Tom

 

[Lefty SRH]

I'd really like to know the details and see the boolit and mold of the brass .475/.480 mold. I just ordered one thru a group buy from Miha.

 

[tek4260]

I'd really like to know the details and see the boolit and mold of the brass .475/.480 mold. I just ordered one thru a group buy from Miha.

Same one you ordered

The only issue dad was having was insufficient flow from the Lee drip-o-matic. The boolits were perfect everywhere except the base, which were rounded. The lead was hardening just enough that the bases were rounded and the sprue was slightly raised in relation to the base. A bit more flow and a bit less gap between the spout and the mold will cure it.

 

[Chief 101]

I'd really like to know the details and see the boolit and mold of the brass .475/.480 mold. I just ordered one thru a group buy from Miha.

Same one you ordered

The only issue dad was having was insufficient flow from the Lee drip-o-matic. The boolits were perfect everywhere except the base, which were rounded. The lead was hardening just enough that the bases were rounded and the sprue was slightly raised in relation to the base. A bit more flow and a bit less gap between the spout and the mold will cure it.

No gap is good... 8)

 

[Lefty SRH]

Nope, my group buy is the gas check version. Nice to see it though.

 

[Lefty SRH]

I'd really like to know the details and see the boolit and mold of the brass .475/.480 mold. I just ordered one thru a group buy from Miha.

Same one you ordered

The only issue dad was having was insufficient flow from the Lee drip-o-matic. The boolits were perfect everywhere except the base, which were rounded. The lead was hardening just enough that the bases were rounded and the sprue was slightly raised in relation to the base. A bit more flow and a bit less gap between the spout and the mold will cure it.

Whats your load recipe for that boolit?

 

[tek4260]

It seats pretty deep in the case. Deeper than the Lee 400..... which I loaded over 21gr of H110 in my SRH.

I load this over 23gr of H110 in my Vaquero and it is stout-ish(primers mildly flattened). I'd throttle it back in a SRH. Just remember to check your load by marking the depth and comparing it to the length to crimp groove to be sure you don't compress it. You may also have to seat to the 1st groove in a SRH, then you should back the load down a bit too.

 

[Lefty SRH]

Good lord Tek, you have a Vaquero in .480?

Is compressing H110 a bad thing?

I was thinking of droppin 20.0-22.0gr of H110 with that boolit. What velocity did you get?
I'm not real excited about the GC version I'm getting. All my guns so far have performed very well with PB boolits. But my .480 is brand new so I have idea what she wants!

 

[tek4260]

I am no expert by far, but from all I have read, when you compress H110 the pressures spike. On the other hand, I have read that a full case is where it shines, so you have to just be sure you have a full case and no compression and all should be well in the world....

20gr to 22gr of H110 shouldn't be a compressed load "IF" you can load it to the longest OAL crimp groove, "AND" if that GC boolit isn't any longer than my plain base.

I'd just about bet that 21gr of H110 will be the sweet spot for your SRH.

I haven't taken the time to chrony it yet. I just shot a few for accuracy and adjusted the front sight.

 

[Lefty SRH]

What front sight height did you settle on? My plan is to set it up identical to my .44 SRH which has a green HiViz fiber optic front sight and Bowen cusotm rear.

 

[tek4260]

The front sight is on my Vaquero. I traded dad the SRH. He couldn't stand the thought of me cutting it off

But you might as well get the tallest you can. Those Bowen rear sights are a bit taller than factory right?

And remember, don't use my 23gr load in your SRH. Mine is a 5 shot.

 

[Lefty SRH]

I've got this mold for my .480 Ruger. It seems to have more case capacity by lengthening the nose of the bullet. Over all bullet length is .950 and crimp to meplat is .480"-490" also.

http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=48-420S-D.png

Hodgdon data calls for 19-20gr of H110 but thats with a 420gr Bear Tooth Bullet which seats deeper than my bullet.
I will probably start at 19.0gr H110 and slowly work up to 21.0gr H110
Any other advice to offer?

 

[Tommy Kelly]

Lefty srh you should shoot my sons vaquero in the 480 it's quite a handfull to say the least. I have a 480 srh with a 7.5" and I put alaskan grips on it to get the extra padding in the back. The vaquero has a lot of back recoil plus a good bit of rise to it.

 

[Lefty SRH]

Lefty srh you should shoot my sons vaquero in the 480 it's quite a handfull to say the least. I have a 480 srh with a 7.5" and I put alaskan grips on it to get the extra padding in the back. The vaquero has a lot of back recoil plus a good bit of rise to it.

That sounds good to me! I'm sure a Vaquero has A LOT more recoil vs. a SRH. Unfortunately I don't find the classic plow handle comfortable to shoot no matter what caliber. Both of my .45 colts and .44spl FT are Bisley grips. They definately shrug the recoil to a more comfortable side.