Tuned up a recalcitrant mould

[L Ross]

A couple weekends ago my friend Charlie came over and helped me make .357 Herrett brass, then loaded ammo, and finally shot the same. I have an unmarked aluminum two cavity .35 caliber mould that drops a 215 semi pointed bullet at .359 but was lop sided, eccentric, out of round, and was prone to air bubbles exposed in a lube groove.

Today I sat down with my Opti-Visor and a pair of cheaters and really gave it a hard examination. I soaked the back sides of the alignment pins and waited about 15 minutes while I scrounged up a flat tipped punch and a ball pein hammer. As soon as the pins moved the lop sided cavities lined up almost perfectly. I could not see any blocked venting. I hunted around and found a set of stainless handles from Dick Dastardly made to fit Lee six cavity blocks. These handles are very well made. I took the RCBS handles off and put the DD handles on and had noticeably less slop in the system.

Fired up the pot with WW set the same as I left it from casting the 32 lbs. of RCBS 35-200-FN. Pre-heated the mould on a hot plate thenstarted casting as fast as I could. Good bullets started dropping right away, but I still discarded some until the color stabilized, i.e. equally hint of almost frosting. Boy the aluminum mould sheds heat a lot faster than the iron RCBS. No need for the manicurist's fan at all. Now the bullets were round, later proven when I ran them through a sizer and there is equal contact all the way around. And surprise surprise, no more venting issues. Ran off 8 1/2 lbs. waiting for the UPS truck to drop off 10 lbs. of Biloxi Shrimp Co. shrimp.

 

[462]

RCBS mould handles are thinner than Lyman* and Lee's -- which are the same thickness -- thus accounting for some of the slop you experienced.

*Except for their four-cavity handles, which are thinner still.

 

[Missionary]

Always a blessing when some well placed manual labor bears good fruit.
Good looking slugs there !

 

[L Ross]

RCBS mould handles are thinner than Lyman* and Lee's -- which are the same thickness -- thus accounting for some of the slop you experienced.

*Except for their four-cavity handles, which are thinner still.

No criticism of the RCBS handles, they work very well for what they were designed for. This one of a kind, unmarked mould, is a bit of a challenge. It has an odd ball sprue plate retention system that once adjusted and Loc-Tited in place worked well, until the heat released the Loc-Tite. After that I was constantly tightening the sprue plate while casting. It needs to be drilled, tapped, and a retention set screw installed. But there is a screw head visible in the sprue plate screw hole under the sprue plate screw. If it will turn I intend to remove it and see what that is all about. I'd also like to convert the handle retention screws to the RCBS system of using pins through the handles held in place by set screws. Then I could choose pins to give me less wiggle in the handles also.

There are two reasons I am putting up with the fiddlieness of this mould. One, it is the challenge, two, I like the shape of the bullet. It is not good for hunting but I only intend to shoot steel with it anyway. In my fevered brain the shape should give this bullet less drop over distance. I'll take a photo of the mould soon and see if any of you can I.D. it. Whoever made it at least made it drop bullets at .360 with WW alloy and the Hornady gas checks fit pretty well.

Next step will be to sit down and wring it out side by side with the RCBS 350-200-FN. The TC .357 Herrett must have a throat like a Great Blue Heron as I cannot reach the rifling even with just the gas check seated in the case. I need to do some measuring, probably a pound cast, perhaps I can leave longer necks on the brass. I am surprised the gun shoots as well as it does with the bullets leaping the void before hitting the rifling at whatever attitude they are in at the time.

 

[johnc]

lets get to the REAL question here. what the hell does RECALCITRANT mean? did you make that up??

 

[462]

Recalcitrant: Something requiring fiddling to make it work properly.

 

[RBHarter]

It's also used as difficult, obstinate, uncooperative, insolent, or insubordinate when dealing with mechanical devices of draft stock . Mules in particular.

 

[L Ross]

Oh c'mon guys. By now you realize I was once praised by a grade school teacher for my vocabulary. Whether you liked O'Connor or not, he was an English professor and I was reading his work by 2nd grade. The phrase, "An avis of the rara sort." will never leave my consciousness. So by dint of a bit of encouragement by a wise teacher I constantly had to prove her correct until it has become a habit.

 

[Glaciers]

It's also used as difficult, obstinate, uncooperative, insolent, or insubordinate when dealing with mechanical devices of draft stock . Mules in particular.

And don’t forget wives

 

[L Ross]

And don’t forget wives

In my experience, personally and among the reprobates I call my friends, the majority of wives are saints. Oh sure, there's a couple that could benefit from being held beneath a pillow, but most of them are sweethearts and us husbands are the never ceasing to amaze them idiots that never quite grew up. I'll never understand wtf she sees in me. I'd have dumped me long ago and I like myself.

 

[Glaciers]

In my experience, personally and among the reprobates I call my friends, the majority of wives are saints. Oh sure, there's a couple that could benefit from being held beneath a pillow, but most of them are sweethearts and us husbands are the never ceasing to amaze them idiots that never quite grew up. I'll never understand wtf she sees in me. I'd have dumped me long ago and I like myself.

Couldn’t agree more, I certainly married up as well. Just had to try the old blame the wife thing.
I set the hook on my future wife when she came to visit in the fall of the year we met. I was building my house which was 1500 square foot two story and was in the middle of putting logs on the second floor. Well Karyn showed up with 2 New York steaks for dinner. We built a fire out of scrap wood log ends and roasted them on sticks. Didn’t have a grill and the rebar was to rusty.
Good steaks, good time.
Anyway I sealed the deal when Karyn asked why I was building a house that big. Most people starting out were building 16x20 with a loft.
But to answer Karyn’s question, I simply told the truth: I want a family and will need a big enough place for them to live.
Well I guess that changed her mind about me. She was used to guys that if a problem came up, they would step back. I always step forward. Something’s come, meet it head on and don’t back up.

 

[johnc]

And don’t forget wives

beat me to it

 

[Rally]

Couldn’t agree more, I certainly married up as well. Just had to try the old blame the wife thing.
I set the hook on my future wife when she came to visit in the fall of the year we met. I was building my house which was 1500 square foot two story and was in the middle of putting logs on the second floor. Well Karyn showed up with 2 New York steaks for dinner. We built a fire out of scrap wood log ends and roasted them on sticks. Didn’t have a grill and the rebar was to rusty.
Good steaks, good time.
Anyway I sealed the deal when Karyn asked why I was building a house that big. Most people starting out were building 16x20 with a loft.
But to answer Karyn’s question, I simply told the truth: I want a family and will need a big enough place for them to live.
Well I guess that changed her mind about me. She was used to guys that if a problem came up, they would step back. I always step forward. Something’s come, meet it head on and don’t back up.

Couldn’t agree more. My wife of 46 years has helped me run beaver contracts this summer. Despite being scheduled for carpal tunnel surgery in October, she tries to paddle her share from the bow seat, which still looks pretty good to me from my viewpoint in the stern seat! if you haven’t yet canoed through a half ripe wild rice bed, with the women in your life, whom is wearing a low cut shirt, it has it’s high points throughout the day! Amazing where rice will collect!