Bullet Casting & Coating MegaThread

[Jay77]

I love shooting that rifle so I really want to get something that is cost effective and satisfying. My standards are not high… hitting a 4inch plate at a 100 is good enough for me…. Next year as my eyes degrade it will be a 6 inch plate….

 

[Fixxah]

I have a solid turkey fryer I will never use along with a propane tank smelting pot and 30lb. ladel. Pm if you want it.

 

[Jay77]

So my Lyman #314299 arrived today and is there anything on my side that could be causing the bullets to drop to smaller. Best I found from all I poured was .312 and this mold should be dropping .314. I must have received a lemon….




I’m annoyed…

 

[pastera]

I have a solid turkey fryer I will never use along with a propane tank smelting pot and 30lb. ladel. Pm if you want it.

If it doesn't go let me know
That's a great item for the next seminar

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

So my Lyman #314299 arrived today and is there anything on my side that could be causing the bullets to drop to smaller. Best I found from all I poured was .312 and this mold should be dropping .314. I must have received a lemon….


View attachment 871942

I’m annoyed…

Beagle it! Get some of that metal tape for duct work and put a couple small square of it on the flats between the mould faces. BAM! Couple extra thou albeit a tiny bit out of round.

 

[Jay77]

I’m going to bitch them out and get a correct mold. I have other molds I could have beagled but I wanted to get the right mold for the project. If it was a $30 Lee mold it would have been taped already… but I expect better on a pricy steel mold. I’m dropping them a line tomorrow and I’ll keep everyone posted. Beagling is the last option….

 

[Jay77]

They dropped at 206.5gr with COWW.

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

I’m going to bitch them out and get a correct mold. I have other molds I could have beagled but I wanted to get the right mold for the project. If it was a $30 Lee mold it would have been taped already… but I expect better on a pricy steel mold. I’m dropping them a line tomorrow and I’ll keep everyone posted. Beagling is the last option….

You’re right. Let them make it right. They charge enough for their moulds now.

Did MP not have that option?

 

[Jay77]

Unfortunately there is not much in the 314 range in the 180-200gr range at MP. I would have gone brass before steel. I have the MP 312 220gr blackout mold and I have a bunch poured. I was thinking about using those but they came in at .312 and I thought about beagling the mold but why not get the right mold.

 

[mac1911]

So my Lyman #314299 arrived today and is there anything on my side that could be causing the bullets to drop to smaller. Best I found from all I poured was .312 and this mold should be dropping .314. I must have received a lemon….


View attachment 871942

I’m annoyed…

So my Lyman #314299 arrived today and is there anything on my side that could be causing the bullets to drop to smaller. Best I found from all I poured was .312 and this mold should be dropping .314. I must have received a lemon….


View attachment 871942

I’m annoyed…

What alloy
“Lyman” will tell you to use known alloy Lyman #2

Lyman #2 is on the hard side and shrinks less.

 

[Jay77]

I thought about alloy and it’s slightly softer then #2 but that’s still a bit undersized and useless to me. I did some reading and I guess this is a common issue and I have two options… wait for Lyman to make it right or return to Midway. It could take Lyman months to maybe fix.

 

[mac1911]

I thought about alloy and it’s slightly softer then #2 but that’s still a bit undersized and useless to me. I did some reading and I guess this is a common issue and I have two options… wait for Lyman to make it right or return to Midway. It could take Lyman months to maybe fix.

I would return it, one of those things that your never going to be happy with. I returned a few Lyman molds because of issues I was having and for the $$$ vs Lee It bothered the shit out of me.

I haven’t been over to Cass Bullets forums for a while. There were a few guys over there making custom molds. I got a few custom-made sizing dyes for my Lyman lube sizer. I really don’t remember who it was.

 

[Jay77]

I would return it, one of those things that your never going to be happy with. I returned a few Lyman molds because of issues I was having and for the $$$ vs Lee It bothered the shit out of me.

I haven’t been over to Cass Bullets forums for a while. There were a few guys over there making custom molds. I got a few custom-made sizing dyes for my Lyman lube sizer. I really don’t remember who it was.

I totally agree with you and it’s going back to Midway today. I checked them again today and they are way too small. I have enough .314410 from my MP mold that drop and coated come in at .316. Plus I can beagle the MP BO mold. At least I have options. Thanks guys

 

[mac1911]

I totally agree with you and it’s going back to Midway today. I checked them again today and they are way too small. I have enough .314410 from my MP mold that drop and coated come in at .316. Plus I can beagle the MP BO mold. At least I have options. Thanks guys

I had to run my COWW alloy hot and the mold hot on my 314299 to the point of frosting to them to drop at the size I needed.

 

[Jay77]

I had to run my COWW alloy hot and the mold hot on my 314299 to the point of frosting to them to drop at the size I needed.

I was running hot and some of them were frosted. I did ship it back this afternoon for an exchange.

 

[Jay77]

On a positive note I took some of the MP 314410’s sized and lubed to .314 and loaded up some 303 Brit and 7.62 54R with 15gr of 2400 and both came home with no noticeable leading. The FPS for both were in the 1600’s. I’m loading up more at 17gr for additional testing.

 

[mac1911]

On a positive note I took some of the MP 314410’s sized and lubed to .314 and loaded up some 303 Brit and 7.62 54R with 15gr of 2400 and both came home with no noticeable leading. The FPS for both were in the 1600’s. I’m loading up more at 17gr for additional testing.

View attachment 872733

My 303 loves the .314 cast 16gn 2400 , i never crony it. If its 1650 fos I would be shocked. When my eyes and boogahook are in sync it will hold 3 moa or better.

Im finding all my 1:10 30 cal battle rifles do best with cast between 1200-1600 fps
When it came to accuracy 03a3 did the best.

My absolute accurate load is a 170 fn lee bullet with trailboss but its SLOW but if im on my game I can get down to 1 moa. Its a great 50 yard fun round

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

A good afternoon. Still need to coat the 9mm

 

[Jay77]

I ended up doing taxes so I didn’t get out yesterday but I loaded up another batch with 17gr for testing. I’m lazy about chrono’ing the rounds but it’s hard when it’s in the back seat of the truck. I’m thinking of beagling the MP BO mold to see how those perform in place of the MP314410. But that would be going from 130gr to 230gr so it would save me some 2400.

 

[mac1911]

I ended up doing taxes so I didn’t get out yesterday but I loaded up another batch with 17gr for testing. I’m lazy about chrono’ing the rounds but it’s hard when it’s in the back seat of the truck. I’m thinking of beagling the MP BO mold to see how those perform in place of the MP314410. But that would be going from 130gr to 230gr so it would save me some 2400.

I only crony when in looking for specific velocities.
Cast tops out around 1850 fos with a 1:10 twist , to much rpm
I usually shoot cast at
50 - 200 yards
I start with min charge and .5 steps to max and look for consistent groups

 

[Jay77]

I only crony when in looking for specific velocities.
Cast tops out around 1850 fos with a 1:10 twist , to much rpm
I usually shoot cast at
50 - 200 yards
I start with min charge and .5 steps to max and look for consistent groups

You are so right every time you post this. I tried the 17gr versions the other day and the Mosin loved them but the Enfield not so much.. but it could have been the shooter. It was after a long day of work and shooting with progressives on can suck. I loaded up the next batch with the 303 Brit at 15 gr and the 7.62 x 54r with 17gr.

 

[mac1911]

You are so right every time you post this. I tried the 17gr versions the other day and the Mosin loved them but the Enfield not so much.. but it could have been the shooter. It was after a long day of work and shooting with progressives on can suck. I loaded up the next batch with the 303 Brit at 15 gr and the 7.62 x 54r with 17gr.

Theres a window for sure.
My enfield and type 99 do the best on the lower sides of velocities.

 

[Jay77]

I beagled my MP BO mold and poured a few pounds last night. I pulled three pounds of the better looking ones (finning from beagling) which I’m going to hi-tek, water drop and then size and lube to .314. A bit of over kill but I’m still waiting on midway and the Lyman mold issue to be resolved. I need to pour more 314410… but I wondering how these will perform because they are heavier…

I did have a question… any tips for getting the rounds to chamber better with cast verses FML in the old bolt war horses. Some rounds seems to chamber with ease and others due the profile and length need a little extra love and throw in mag spring pressure. I’m not opposed to just loading them one at a time as I shoot.

 

[mac1911]

I beagled my MP BO mold and poured a few pounds last night. I pulled three pounds of the better looking ones (finning from beagling) which I’m going to hi-tek, water drop and then size and lube to .314. A bit of over kill but I’m still waiting on midway and the Lyman mold issue to be resolved. I need to pour more 314410… but I wondering how these will perform because they are heavier…

I did have a question… any tips for getting the rounds to chamber better with cast verses FML in the old bolt war horses. Some rounds seems to chamber with ease and others due the profile and length need a little extra love and throw in mag spring pressure. I’m not opposed to just loading them one at a time as I shoot.

What rifle? Other than being to fat for the lead or long into the rifling they should get into the chamber fine. The 303 enfield can be a pain with the mags ?

 

[Jay77]

The Enfield is really guilty of it.

 

[mac1911]

The Enfield is really guilty of it.

Might want to do a chamber casting get some dimensions on the throat/lead

 

[Jay77]

I was asking more about the process of the bolt grabbing the bullet from the mag and traveling up the feed ramp to the chamber of the gun. Once the round is in the right position it chambers no problem. It the trip to the chamber I was curious about. The 314410 COAL is really short so they don’t always line up perfectly.

 

[mac1911]

I was asking more about the process of the bolt grabbing the bullet from the mag and traveling up the feed ramp to the chamber of the gun. Once the round is in the right position it chambers no problem. It the trip to the chamber I was curious about. The 314410 COAL is really short so they don’t always line up perfectly.

My 303 enfield I had to play with the feed lips on the mag . Touchy and need adjusting on other profiles …
The Arisaka and Mosin I had to just cycle it with vengeance. No pussyfooting the bolt crank it open slam it home all in one quick motion

 

[Jay77]

Three coats of hi-tek and some lube

 

[Jay77]

Those cycled much better and they came in at 232gr and I loaded with 15gr of 2400 and they need more. I brought out the chrono that ended up needing a repair so I don’t know what the FPS was. I fixed the chrono last night and I’m loading up more.

Midway is sending a replacement #314299 but I think I’m going to have the same undersized issue. These came from the beagled MP BO mold .