Lyman 2/cav 311241 PB

[Ben]

I purchased a Lyman , 2 Cav., 311241, 150 gr., plain base mould.
The mould arrived in this morning's mail.
( It appears to me to be a pretty old mould ? ? )
The outside of the mould has some minor dings, etc.
The tops of the blocks and the cavities look like they were made yesterday.
I gave it a good cleaning and did my usual Lyman Mold Tune-up .
It cast .3125" on the bands, nice and round.
It cast .3005" on the nose.

I'm anxious to try this one in my many different 30-30's, 308 Win and 30-06 Springfield rifles.

 

[Ian]

If that one won't shoot I don't know what will. Nice find.

 

[fiver]

I know this is usually a minor thing but it drives my ocd nuts.
the sprue holes don't look like they are lining up quite right.
I have seen this cause little 'cold divots' in the base of the bullet until you get the plate really hot.
you can see a small one down in the lower right hand corner of the picture opposite of the sprue cut.

 

[quicksylver]

Looks like a whole "bucket of fun"... don't know why but seeing them makes me want to shoot fast..well for me anyways..like out of an old 99 carbine in .300 Savage

 

[Ben]

Fiver,

UUUmmmm, you're right.
Wonder if swapping out the sprue plate would help any on alignment ?

Ben

 

[Ben]

Dan,

Might be good fuel for my grandson soon ?

Ben

 

[fiver]

sometimes they just over swing or under swing the center.

the under swing is easy to fix with a grinder and/or some hand filing.
the over swing means another plate or some welding and some filing.
sometimes the sprue plate hole gets out of round [I think from being whacked a bunch with a big stick]
and it lets things walk around a bit shifting the holes forward or backward.

 

[Ben]

Anyone who can offer an approximate age on this one ?

Ben

 

[Ben]

sometimes they just over swing or under swing the center.

the under swing is easy to fix with a grinder and/or some hand filing.
the over swing means another plate or some welding and some filing.
sometimes the sprue plate hole gets out of round [I think from being whacked a bunch with a big stick]
and it lets things walk around a bit shifting the holes forward or backward.

I think my 1st move on this will be a replacement sprue plate.

 

[Chris]

I know this is usually a minor thing but it drives my ocd nuts.
the sprue holes don't look like they are lining up quite right.
I have seen this cause little 'cold divots' in the base of the bullet until you get the plate really hot.
you can see a small one down in the lower right hand corner of the picture opposite of the sprue cut.

I see that too. But I expect Ben will shortly post a pic of a bughole group, he knows how to get them to shoot.

 

[fiver]

for sure he does.

I just can't help myself when I see little details like that, and want to share what can happen from an offset like that.

 

[Chris]

I read somewhere the idea of offsetting the sprue plate to deliberately set the sprue to the edge of bullet base. Can't remember what the supposed advantage is. Me, I like them smack dab in the middle and that is where they will be for me.

 

[KeithB]

Some time ago I tried to fit a new replacement Lyman sprue plate on an older Lyman two cavity mold and the center spacing was different. IIRC I made a new sprue plate for that one.

 

[Ian]

Sometimes swapping ends with the sprue plate works.

What bothers me more than the off-center sprue hole is the sprue nibs sticking up. I cut my sprues a lot sooner and pour a bigger puddle on the plate so I can cut them with a gloved thumb and apply downward pressure while cutting, that way they "card off" level and true. At plain-base velocities, not a lot of that really matters though.

 

[RBHarter]

Someone posted an article from one of big name writers that liked to cut the sprue on the edge . Im inclined to say it would make bad bases ......

 

[Chris]

Someone posted an article from one of big name writers that liked to cut the sprue on the edge . Im inclined to say it would make bad bases ......

I read that too. Can you remember where it was written? The guy had some reason why off center sprues worked better. Makes no sense to me.

 

[Ben]

Not bragging in the least.
BUT....I've shot some pretty good groups with my plain base .30 cal. cast bullets.
On none of them did I willfully cut the sprue off center.

Ben

 

[KHornet]

Have that mold in a single cav Ideal. Good bullet!

Paul

 

[RBHarter]

I read that too. Can you remember where it was written? The guy had some reason why off center sprues worked better. Makes no sense to me.

I think it was on here .
Just 3-4 weeks ago .

 

[KHornet]

Gotta wonder how with off center sprew cuts, you could have consistency
in chambering?

Paul