Casting with an RG4 mold
- Thread starter waco
- Start date
Ian
Notorious member
Rick, let's see your RG2-RG4 collection. If you don't have one yet, you really should treat yourself so you'll know
You should borrow John's RG-4 and run a few hundred bullets through it sometime, then you'll have a lot more well-rounded opinion.
You should borrow John's RG-4 and run a few hundred bullets through it sometime, then you'll have a lot more well-rounded opinion.
Ian, you seem to be of the mind that I would need to borrow one?? 
Seems odd. My dis-like of the design is the same as John's and has nothing to do with any need of completely rebuilding the mold from the vent lines on. Never have needed to go through all that on any NOE mold. See post #16 of this thread.
Seems odd. My dis-like of the design is the same as John's and has nothing to do with any need of completely rebuilding the mold from the vent lines on. Never have needed to go through all that on any NOE mold. See post #16 of this thread.
9
9.3X62AL
Guest
OK, you guys have lost me. Could someone define the term "RG-4 mould" for me? My previous impression was that it referred to a cavity design similar to that found on SAECO #301. Someone school me up, please.
"Rube Goldberg"......hijo la!
"Rube Goldberg"......hijo la!
Ian
Notorious member
The things I indicated in post #4 should be plenty to sort if out if the mould is new, though a disassembly and thorough workover of the hp pins and pin guides with a Dremel tool and sandpaper/popsicle stick will still do wonders. That other mould that I mentioned later had been dosed with FA mould release as a last resort, hence the extra troubles and that part in no way reflects on the mould maker. That was after a 3-4 page thread on CB with what seemed like half the membership throwing ideas at the fellow as to why he was having so much trouble. Turns out the mould had a lot of manufacturing burrs and the chronic alignment pin binding issue which caused all manner of stickage and made it very hard to get the mould open and closed again, so the casting pace was interrupted and he couldn't keep the mould hot enough to work.
Ian
Notorious member
Allen, it's Swede's gang hollow point design. It employs little individual u-shaped hollow point pin fixtures which retain the pins but allow them to slide out from one cavity half enough to drop the bullet. The pins themselves are similar to MP pins but have a groove cut in the bottom of them that tracks on the guide. The guides are held to the bottom of the block by individual screws, so they're apt to loosen when hot and swing around out of alignment with the other block or even fall off. It's fiddly at best, but better than a single-cavity with a single spud once you get used to how they work and get the quirks sorted out.
9
9.3X62AL
Guest
Thank you, Ian. What you are describing sounds kinda Cramer-ish. (Well, what I believed was a Cramer HP design, anyway--I suspect my nomenclatural integrity is suspect). My general outlook on hollow-pointing cast bullets is that it is a kink I can live without quite happily. I know that is a minority opinion, and I'm OK with that. If I want expansion, I cast a BruceB Softpoint--and darn few of those, I might add.
I'll just add my 2 cents. I don't have a hot plate or a pre-heat oven, so I just set it on top of the pot. When I am ready to cast, I use a butane lighter to pre-heat the pins and in the process, add a nice layer of smoke. I just open up the mold, turn it over and let the pins slide out, so that the mold block isn't in the way or sucking up all the heat. If I do that I can get them to drop free on the first cast. If I don't do it...well the cussin starts.
fiver
Well-Known Member
they are actual swage dies.
you can get around some of the swaging die stuff by using reloading dies but you have to either make or buy a stem.
some of the LEE push through sizer stems can be used.
but you end up with a truncated cone shaped nose from the shoulder of the die.
not really a big deal.
but you do have to punch the bullet back out of the die.
I find a bolt works well.
put a point on that bolt and it knocks a hollow point in the nose.
remember swage dies are just holes in steel, but a bit fancier [or shaped the way you want them to be]
to flow a little lead doesn't require a lot of pressure especially one already to the right size.
the trick is finding one that is the proper diameter up in the shoulder area.
you can get around some of the swaging die stuff by using reloading dies but you have to either make or buy a stem.
some of the LEE push through sizer stems can be used.
but you end up with a truncated cone shaped nose from the shoulder of the die.
not really a big deal.
but you do have to punch the bullet back out of the die.
I find a bolt works well.
put a point on that bolt and it knocks a hollow point in the nose.
remember swage dies are just holes in steel, but a bit fancier [or shaped the way you want them to be]
to flow a little lead doesn't require a lot of pressure especially one already to the right size.
the trick is finding one that is the proper diameter up in the shoulder area.
Winelover
North Central Arkansas
I'm in that school, also. I have exactly two moulds capable of producing HP's. The fore mentioned brass RG-4 and Miha's brass 270 SAA. I was interested in the solid version but both of those moulds, but were only available with the HP option. Casted a few of each the HP styles, mainly to see if it could be accomplished. Would only use them for varmint, or pest control.
Rally Hess
Well-Known Member
Waco,
If you try to use the RG moulds with your RCBS mould guide you will likely run into problems. The first being that if the guide on the pot touches the pins on the bottom they will most likely move slightly upward, changeing the depth of the actual hollow point cavity in the bullet. Same thing happens when you set the mould down on a flat surface like a lee pot. Also when moving the mould front to rear, or vise versa, the guides will be hitting the mould guide on the RCBS, kinda like a speed bumps on a road. I found by adding a piece of angled aluminum metal, and some slight shaping (to fit the lee body of the pot where metal and body meet) it works as a guide and keeps the pins from coming in contact with anything. So made, it also aligns the spout and mould filler holes. I'll see if I can get a picture posted.
The ends of the guides, on the bottom of the mould, just run along the inside edge of the aluminum angle. I just have to push or pull the mould, as I fill, the height is fixed. You could probably adapt your RCBS base for a similar guide. I started with a piece of square steel tubing as a base, but any overflow would get under it and was a pain to get off. The angled aluminum is braced at the back and the attaching steel L brackets make it pretty solid, and clean up easier.
If you try to use the RG moulds with your RCBS mould guide you will likely run into problems. The first being that if the guide on the pot touches the pins on the bottom they will most likely move slightly upward, changeing the depth of the actual hollow point cavity in the bullet. Same thing happens when you set the mould down on a flat surface like a lee pot. Also when moving the mould front to rear, or vise versa, the guides will be hitting the mould guide on the RCBS, kinda like a speed bumps on a road. I found by adding a piece of angled aluminum metal, and some slight shaping (to fit the lee body of the pot where metal and body meet) it works as a guide and keeps the pins from coming in contact with anything. So made, it also aligns the spout and mould filler holes. I'll see if I can get a picture posted.
The ends of the guides, on the bottom of the mould, just run along the inside edge of the aluminum angle. I just have to push or pull the mould, as I fill, the height is fixed. You could probably adapt your RCBS base for a similar guide. I started with a piece of square steel tubing as a base, but any overflow would get under it and was a pain to get off. The angled aluminum is braced at the back and the attaching steel L brackets make it pretty solid, and clean up easier.
If you like that MP mold Erik can make you a flat point replacement pin for it. He has done a few of those for me including a Lyman which had an extremely loose factory pin. Was so loose lead leaked around the pin not to mention it wouldn't even stay in the mold. Erik's replacement pins solved all that.
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Winelover
North Central Arkansas
Not necessary, came with the set of flat point pins, that work perfectly.
Str8shot426
Member
I bought a 360-154 RG mold and had no experience when I got it. With patience you will learn it's personality and be casting beauties in no time.
