Finally...first attempt

[462]

I freely admit that, in the early days of my bullet casting learning process, I thought that upping up the alloy temperature was the answer to properly filled out bullets. I even posted such nonsense on that other site and it still rankles and embarrasses me that I did so. However, since I self-exiled from the site, eight or nine years ago, my posts are hopefully deeply buried in the darkest and dustiest recesses of the site's archives, and nevermore to be read.

It was reading relevant posts by Rick or Brad or Ian that made me see the error of my ignorant ways and foolish postings.

To paraphrase Bret: Mould temperature is king.

 

[Ian]

my posts are hopefully deeply buried in the darkest and dustiest recesses of the site's archives, and nevermore to be read.

Mine too, hopefully.

 

[RBHarter]

That's it , time to go digging and blow up your email .

 

[fiver]

most of the older posts got wiped when they done a big reset about 5-6 years back.

i tried searching for some of my older threads so i could recall the information and pictures after it happened and they were poofed, completely poofed.
i done an archival search when i had that access as the big moderator dude and even using Littlegirls limited posts they were just flat gone.
gone enough i also lost something like a third of my post count.
not that i care about a post count.
but i did care about the load details, velocity data, and the target pictures i had put up.

 

[Bret4207]

most of the older posts got wiped when they done a big reset about 5-6 years back.

i tried searching for some of my older threads so i could recall the information and pictures after it happened and they were poofed, completely poofed.
i done an archival search when i had that access as the big moderator dude and even using Littlegirls limited posts they were just flat gone.
gone enough i also lost something like a third of my post count.
not that i care about a post count.
but i did care about the load details, velocity data, and the target pictures i had put up.

When I got perma banned (a mark of distinction!) they cut off my access to my posts somehow, even to find most of them, the next day. I won't go further but the word prick comes to mind.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

Same knee? Thought you had it done a little while ago.

I have two surgeries to try and save it.
Now we are looking at total replacement.

 

[Winelover]

Is your surgeon doing an MRI on it first? Mine did and used Smith and Nephew (out of England) appliances. MRI's insure custom built, rather than grabbing one ready made off the shelf.

 

[Rockydoc]

Brett said:
This can vary, but IME if the sprue plate is up to heat the mould pretty much has to be up to heat too.

I think that pretty much says it all.

Rocky

 

[jonjon]

Looks a lot better than my first try.

 

[TomSp8]

Finally got to test out out my third ever casting session bullets that I individually selected out of the batch by appearance, weight, and diameter. Lee 314-90 swc tl, powder coated and sized to .3155/.316 for my .32 target revolver with (grossly oversized) .316 cylinder throats. Requires special attention to brass selection, sizing/expanding, etc due to the larger bullet diameter.... 25 yards, rested, open sights, 2.1 Bullseye. I think it has potential. 10 round group, if centered, would be nearly all in the 10 ring!

 

[fiver]

nice.
i'd struggle to get some of my rifles to shoot that good.

 

[Bret4207]

Maybe I missed it Tom, but what are you shooting this out of?

 

[TomSp8]

A Taurus model 76 6", in .32 long. Circa 2001 I believe. Basically a poor man's K32. Pretty cool gun, but it has some issues that I'm discovering, that I don't think I'm going to be able to fully correct, or that I dont understand how to to correct. This is my first Taurus revolver and it is certainly not built like a smith......

 

[Rick]

What are the issues?

 

[TomSp8]

Bought this from an oline auction last fall. Appeared like new, really. But the first thing I saw after shooting it was rather severe leading at the forcing cone and first 1/2" of leade. That lead me to pin gage the cylinder throats, and discovered they were oversized at .316, so I assumed gas cutting from standard sized cast bullets of .313. No leading past that so assumed no barrel constriction at the frame. I slugged the barrel at .311/.312 the best I could, as it's a 5 groove. Keeping in mind I'd never cast my own bullets, I tried some .314 HB, did not help. Finding commercial cast bigger than .313 solid base is next to impossible. Tried a light wash of alox along with the traditional lube on the commercial cast .313's helped a little. A very heavy coat of Alox helped more, but was a mess to load them. A closer look at the forcing cone indicated a rather rough machining. I plan to rent the forcing cone kit from 4d rental and recut it, but in the mean time figured I'd start by trying a bullet that fits the cylinder throats, which ultimately lead me to casting my own. Not to mention the specifics of brass preparation for the oversized bullet to prevent swaging them back down during seating. And I'm a big fan of coated bullets, so diy powder coating just went right along with that with a side bonus of increasing the diameter to my need. So I'm thinking (dangerous, I know!) that the bullet diameter (.316) that fits the throats eliminates the gas cutting, but the rough forcing cone is stripping lead as its squeezed into the .312 bore. The cone looks fairly short, so pretty sure an 11 degree cut and polish will be the final touch on that problem. I've never done it, but feel confidant in my abilities and after researching it. But a long enough post on this issue....lol....I will add another mechanical issue that Im not sure how to best correct in another post if interested, that may still be a contributing factor to the forcing cone leading up, but knowing this forum is about cast bullets and not gunsmithing, and Im a newbie here, I dont want to cross any lines.

 

[Bret4207]

You aren't. If there's one thing we're famous for here, it's thread drift! We specialize in it and seem to enjoy it immensely.

You might want to look into "Taylor throating". I'm not saying it would fix the issue, but it might be an option. .316 into .312... hard job that one!

 

[Missionary]

With that kind of variance it would make me wonder if that revolver was a very early Monday morning while a blind QC employee was still finishing off his case of Boone's Farm.

 

[TomSp8]

I don't really plan to throw too much more money at this thing. Already invested enough time and money experimenting with various bullets, along with a special sized expander, opening up the carbide case sizing die and Lee bullet sizer, and now my new found hobby of casting (that will still cost me a bit more as I get more modern equipment most likely). But I am a tinkerer by nature, and it has been an interesting project so far and I've learned quite a bit from it. I'm still interested in cutting and polishing the cone, partly because I've never done it and I think it would be interesting and a sense of accomplishment. I think it will be a fairly affordable operation between $50 and $75 to rent the tools from 4D, but I'm on a fairly tight budget right now so will have to hold off for now.
But, if this thing will keep shooting my home cast and coated bullets like this, without having to scrub lead out of the forcing cone for 45 minutes after 30 or 40 rounds, I will be very happy as it is. I will adjust the sights and call it good! I have not had a chance to thoroughly clean and inspect it since shooting it last Tues night, but I plan to this evening. Fingers are crossed. Although I also fired about 20 rounds of traditional lubed DE wadcutters with a light coating of alox that I had ordered previously from The Cast Bullet Shop that just arrived last week that he custom sized to .315. That was as big as he could go. I had ordered those before acquiring my casting equipment. (My bullets grouped better by the way....lol) So if there is any leading, I cant blame it on one or the other bullet. Next outing will be with a fresh clean bore and 40 or 50 rounds of only my bullets to see for sure, and hopefully chrono this load. My guess is around 700 fps.
I know .316 down to .312 is a bit much, but pressures should be safe with light loads, and it being a k frame size. Apparently they used the same frame and cylinder for the .32 H&R version, that came out 2 years later, only they cut the cylinder chambers longer.

 

[fiver]

pressure wouldn't be any concern in the least.
you'll of course get some rise but if it was anything even close to 2-K i'd raise both eyebrows and utter some profanity.

 

[TomSp8]

Cleaned and inspected it tonight. Put about 50 rounds thru it Tuesday night. No perceptable leading except a touch within the roughly cut grooves of the forcing cone. And no powder coating flakes or residue. Yay! Previously, it was leading up after only 20 or 30 rounds. I guess it's like they say, proper fit to the cylinder throats, as long as they are larger than bore size, is the key.