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Old August 21, 2011, 02:54 AM   #7
Mike / Tx
Senior Member
 
Join Date: April 8, 2000
Posts: 2,101
Nice looking batch, and yes it does seem there was a silver lining....

I have only recently began to cast my own out of necessity to feed a behemoth 454. That said, while rooting around in my closet I came across a plastic bow which contained several molds, most of which are large cal BP. Also in there was a Lyman single cavity mold in what appeared to be a 158gr RN. I had dismissed even trying it out as it was pretty cruddy looking with plenty of surface rust on it.

Well after I had gotten things up and running with the bigger molds I decided to pull it apart and see how it was no the inside since it had been taped up with some of that old fiber reinforced tape no telling how many years ago. Upon opening it up I found it still had a bullet inside which apparently kept it from turning much the same as the outside was. It took a day of scrubbing with a bronze brush, and kroil to get it cleaned up enough that the blocks would mate with no light showing between them and then it was time to see how it cast.

Like you I wasn't overly hopeful or expecting much. After getting it up to temp which only took about 5 or so bullets. I managed to run about 60 or so through it keeping a nice cadence and dropping them on a three count. What I ended up with after the initial 5 or so bullets were only six culls from the bunch. They were probably the best I have cast cull wise and when mikes they came out to all be .359" with a few hitting .3585". I have them sitting in a box ready for the mule snot and sizing, as I haven't even gotten around to ordering the die yet. Matter of fact I haven't even bothered to mic the cylinders of my revolvers either.


One thing you can try with the LLA is thinning it with about 20% or so mix of Mineral Spirits. It doesn't reduce the lubing capability that I have found, and cuts the dry time to only an hour or so depending on temp and humidity. I have used it in a double dose on some 300gr GC's in my 454 and found it works just fine up to 1500fps.
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