I think I bought an H&G .

[RBHarter]

As blasphemous as this sounds I don't foresee feeding being problem in revolvers . The only magazine fed auto I feed is a High Point carbine .
The 185 gr might be just the ticket to slow down the lead consumption , that'll save 6 225-55s every 5 bullets , so every other dump should be 19 22s over the 452-255 and about 16 over the 454424 . Look at all the money I'll save .

If it just won't work in anything I'm shooting I'm sure I could rehome it , double my money and the next guy can too and still be on the low end of market .

It was as of now made between 64'-94' , the move to Or and the end of the 6,8,10 cavity moulds . The http://www.hensleygibbs.com has a searchable SN base so I may even be able to find the original buyer or at least where it was sent and a build date .

 

[RBHarter]

My choice of filters for these pictures really makes the rust stand out .
In this case at least the bullets being left in the cavities seems to have been a very good thing .
The heavy looking rust wouldn't rub off dry but mostly floated with the Rem oil on the inside . Naturally the heavy outside rust is on the ID side . The cavities behind the bullets are dark but don't look pitted .

Once I got the sprues cut the bullets fell out , no wiggle ,jiggle or bump .

 

[Ian]

I prefer chemical rust removers with things that I don't want to use any mechanical means (sanding, blasting, etc.) due to tight tolerances and little crevasses like vent lines and around alignment pins. The only problem with the chemicals is sometimes you want to "card" the proud rust deposits off to get a flat surface again and not eat all of it out of a pit. If the cavities are just frosted a bit, they may be fine or can be filled with soot.

 

[RBHarter]

We got a snow day today ,because ....... idiots , ammo and ice ........
I soaked it about 4 hours last night in Evaporust . Once again I'm impressed with how much can be done without any work at all on my part .

I hit it a few passes with a Chore Boy on the outside and the clean up is just amazing ......at least to me , but I'm pretty easy that way . The worst of it looks like I might need to move an alignment pin just a little and "peen up" some handle support .

I did the faces with 0000 steel wool and wiped it down in cold blue .

As far as collector value the mould is probably toast now but it looks about 8000% better to me . I did buy it to use it (maybe a little part wanted to brag about having one) so for me there's no harm done . I'll probably take it to the shop and get it hot dot the screws and pins with NOE lube just to get a layer of anything on it . The handles are a wreck still but there's probably a piece of hard wood broom handle out there somewhere . No guilt about running them over the wire wheel depending on how the oil bath is working out .



I can see where people fall in love with these .
I forget too often what old school workmanship looks like when someone else has done it and it is done with pride like it was going to last for 100 yr be reworked and run another 100 ......

 

[358156 hp]

There's a guy on ebay selling replacement wooden handles for moulds. They're like $10.00/pr, and sort of resemble H&G handles. I also use them for replacement handles on ingot moulds as well. I really can't make them myself for the price.

 

[fiver]

I think your on the right track to having a real nice mold there.
does it look like the handle slop maybe caused/allowed the alignment pin to hang down and wear that hole that way?

 

[RBHarter]

There's a guy on ebay selling replacement wooden handles for moulds. They're like $10.00/pr, and sort of resemble H&G handles. I also use them for replacement handles on ingot moulds as well. I really can't make them myself for the price.

I'll see what I can find .

I think your on the right track to having a real nice mold there.
does it look like the handle slop maybe caused/allowed the alignment pin to hang down and wear that hole that way?

With it sort of reassembled it appears to have been dropped and the handles actually bent . There looks to be some rub wear on the handles that backs up the "twisted handle" theory . I think I can put them back in place with a little blacksmith/bicycle wheel adjustment .......of course I'll have to get the handles up to temperature and find the hump/bow/sag/twist/cup make the adjustment and hope it doesn't spring back with heat cool cycles . It shouldn't in CRS but if even mild steel gets a torch carbon case hardening it will sometimes do strange things . Theres this bench in the shop that wobbles between 48 and 53° the rest of the time if it does it's less than the top flex .... It's all coming together now and it looks like I have a good serviceable mould .

The bullets left in it ?
5 @ 196, 1@ 195.8 & 2@196.6. 1 @ .454 , 5 @ .455 & 2 @ .456 ....... Which is fine in the Colts guns but for 3/4 ACPs I'll have to size them ....... Of course who knows what was poured in it or when . It's supposed to be a 185gr mould it might have been with lino type or maybe #2(?) but WW threw it off maybe .