Casting with some old molds that are new to me

Ian

Notorious member
The one that really gets people is the lower left. Viewed from the top it's always off in the same way. The pins and blocks are in perfect alignment externally, but the cavities in each half do not line up. That one and the upper left one are the only situations I'd try to round by lapping. I threw that drawing up for the benefit of the conversation, I know you savvy this stuff.
 
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Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Actual pin wear seems unlikely, but do not have the mold in front of me. The mold seems to be
in great shape, and they rain out, so my bet is top right, and likely need to seat pins a bit deeper to
improve alignment. I suspect people slapping mold blocks together taps the pins back in a tiny
bit at a time.

Will report what I find.

Good drawings, very good addition to the conversation.

Bill
 
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Pistolero

Well-Known Member
OK, checked the Lyman 454190 double cavity mold blocks. Initial wiggle check showed
that the blocks could move in the plane of the parting line a few thousanths when shut all the way.

File check showed and cleaned off a slight raised area around each alignment pin
seating hole. After this, still about the same wiggle between the tightly closed blocks.
I measured the pin protrusion and gave one pin one whack. No change. Then a couple
more, and moved it 0.015". One whack on the other pin. Now zero motion between
the blocks. Bullets will likely be rounder, as the issue was almost certainly what was shown
in the upper right drawing on Ian's four examples of why bullets are out of round.

Bill
 

Ian

Notorious member
The mould will probably even out at about .453" now. As for the lack of draft in the other mould, short of fixing it on a lathe you mighr just have to slow down a little and deliberately tap the bullets out by bumping the back side of the mould half with a mallet while holding the mould so the bullet can drop straight down.

I recently had to learn how to cast all over again with a 3-cavity MP hollow point mould of a design having a very deep lube groove with little draft. Either the hp pin would tear out of the nose or the bullet would crack through the lube groove. Much turning the mould and gentle tapping was required to finally figure out how to get the mould open and keep all the bullets in one side and then jiggle them out of the other side while riding the pin without binding up and bending or tearing. All the while trying to keep the pace up so the pins stayed hot and the brass mould stayed hot enough for good fill. Not my favorite mould.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Hmmm. My MP Hpt molds work perfectly when I flip them upside down, then open, laying on my
cloth landing pad. Open, lift, two perfect bullets sitting on their bases, side by side each time.
Super fast, too. What exact mold design?

If the mold goes to round bullets at .453, I will be pleased, for sure.

Bill
 
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Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Here is what the loaded A-429 Modern Bond looks like. I like the look, although
I doubt if it will be as effective for living targets as the Keith 250 SWC designs.

IMO, this is a target bullet, only.

Very odd. When I first attached it, it was flipped, left side was up. I deleted it and
then rotated it right, reposted.....same wrong position. So, I rotated that file back to the
left, resulting in the same, original orientation and posted that......and got this, which is
what I started with to begin with. The site software does some inscrutable stuff with
pix.
8550

Bill
 

Ian

Notorious member
Those are made to slide into the chambers real nice.

I was using the new 30 SIL HP. They're a sumbitch to cast from a standard, non-hp mould, the combo of square lube groove and hp sliding pins is the whammy.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
Allen put up a video a couple of years back of him casting.
he was running iirc 3 molds and was doing a heck of a job keeping them in rotation on a pretty consistent open/close/fill schedule.
I mention this because you might want to try running 2 molds together and letting the wait period by default do the shrinkage for you.
not every mold needs to be run at 400-f to do well, I have an rcbs that will turn out super nice bullets run luke-warm.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Sounds like an idea worth a try.

and Ian, they do drop into the chamber really nicely.

Bill
 
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Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Looks like the classic 44 Special mould. Northing wrong with a RN for stopping charging rocks and punching holes in paper. And, FWIW, getting hit with one of those would probably take all the fun out of your day. Not a game bullet though.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Yeah, when I say it is a target bullet, that means that I think there are better choices out there, like the
Keith SWC. It does not mean that I think they will bounce off or not put a whole lot of hurt on whatever
it hits, :oops: just not my first choice for that service.

Bill
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
The weather was halfway decent, 35F and calm, overcast today, so shot a few groups until my hands got
too cold.
Happy with the RN bullets. And that old S&W 1922 vintage .44 Spl seems to shoot almost everything pretty
well, a some stuff really great. I may settle on 4.8 TG and the Modern Bond RN 237gr as the standard plinking
load. But need to try that with the 429421. 2.5" high and centered at 25 yds is good, should be pretty close to
on target at 50 yds.

8567

8568

8569

8570
Good old gun.
The 7.5 gr of Unique is good, too, Skeeter's load with the Keith 250 SWC, but will need to add
a Tyler T grip adapter for that one if I shoot it much. The trigger guard raps my knuckle with that load
with the real stag grips on it. I like them, plan to keep them, but if so, need to at the Tyler T.
 
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Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I need to repeat that one with that bullet, and then with the Keith 250, and a couple
of variants of it that I have. I will eventually see if primer brand makes any difference.

I am very pleased with this old S&W, quite a shooter.

Bill
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Yes, Bret. This isn't a particularly light gun, but has small grips. I will be getting a Tyler grip adaptor, I
think. With hotter loads, the trigger guard smacks my knuckle unpeasantly. Other than that, it is fine
with the 7.5 Unique which shots pretty well, too. That 4.8 TG looks real good, but will have to see if it
is a fluke group.

Bill
 

Ian

Notorious member
Looks good, Bill. You seem to be mastering your new Targeting and Guidance system ;)
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Well, Ian, the light was dim, and due to the cold, the time was short before my fingers got too cold
and ruined the fun, so I shot one eyed for most of it.
The only two eyed group was the 4.5 Bullseye, the first group. It is still a bit of a strain to put the two images together.
I practice it occasionally dry fire in the house. Not sure how it will finally end up.

Loaded up some of the 454190 bullets today, but it will be a bit before shooting them, I think. The weather
guessers are calling for a bunch of snow here this PM to night.

Bill