The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Skunkworks > Handloading, Reloading, and Bullet Casting > Bullet Casting

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old November 19, 2020, 12:48 PM   #1
BJung
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 5, 2019
Posts: 773
Can you hone Lee molds

I have a future project and might as well collect data on it to prepare.

Lee Makes a .309-200gr bullet that I want to hone to .312". Has anyone successfully honed out a Lee mold .003"? What did you do?
BJung is offline  
Old November 19, 2020, 01:29 PM   #2
HiBC
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 13, 2006
Posts: 8,272
Does this mold have any lube grooves?
The lube grooves will be a smaller diameter in the mold.

Imagine a hole in a block that is .290 Now imagine it has internal o-ring grooves that are .309 You are talking about "honing" only the bottoms of the .309 grooves while the .290 diameter is in your way.

I've run a Sunnen hone.Its a process suitable for through holes.It does not do groove bottoms.

I have opened up a few molds. The way I did it,I first measured the dimensions of the widths and locations of the grooves.
I set up the mold blocks in the mill vise. I indicated over the cavity.

I ground a small boring bar grooving tool to the width of the grooves in the mold.
I put that cutter in a small boring head.

Centered over the cavity,I used a little Magic Marker and a jewelers loupe to see when I touched off the top of the mold and the ID of the mold.

I put the mill spindle in neutral

Hand turning the spindle, I "flew the mill blind,by numbers" down in the cavity, adjusting the boring head diameter outwards at each groove,to scrape a cut. All done just cranking the dials to the numbers down in the hole. I couldn't see anything.

A good hand with a Bridgeport can figure out a way to get a lot of things done.

If you have to pay to get that done, better a custom mold maker can probably make you a nice mold to your specs on a CNC lathe cheaper and better.

You might look into other molds than US 30 cal .308/.309 molds. Maybe .303 British? Look into the catalogues of Lyman,Saeco,etc. I think you might find something.
I know there is an old 200 gr 30 cal mold originally designed for the 30-40 Krag. I think Lyman makes it. I read about it in an article about the 30-40 as "The Ideal Cast Bullet Cartridge."

Search enough,you might find the article on the net.

Anyway,Lyman offered ,IIRC a .311 version of that mold. I'm running on fuzzy memory. Have fun exploring.

Last edited by HiBC; November 19, 2020 at 01:45 PM.
HiBC is offline  
Old November 19, 2020, 01:37 PM   #3
ballardw
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 19, 2008
Posts: 1,406
You might try searching on http://castboolits.gunloads.com/ if you haven't already. Way more information on molds, moulds or bullet casting in general than I'll ever read.
__________________
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
All data is flawed, some just less so.
ballardw is offline  
Old November 19, 2020, 01:40 PM   #4
Geezerbiker
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 20, 2011
Location: Willamina, OR
Posts: 1,908
I tried that once and all I managed to do is make a very smooth and shiny mold. Lee makes molds for that size so I'd say get one of those...

What I did was to cast a couple bullets, then drill a small hole in the base for a sheet metal screw. After putting in the screw, I use the bullet to lap the mold. After more than a few hours work with 320 grit lapping compound and repeating the process along the way, I was able to measure maybe .0001" difference. On the other hand after doing the work, the bullets come out of the mold very easy.

If you have a sticky mold, I'd say it's worth the effort but forget about making it larger. Just look for another mold.

Tony

Last edited by Geezerbiker; November 19, 2020 at 01:50 PM.
Geezerbiker is offline  
Old November 19, 2020, 01:44 PM   #5
Aguila Blanca
Staff
 
Join Date: September 25, 2008
Location: CONUS
Posts: 18,433
Quote:
Originally Posted by burbank jung
Lee Makes a .309-200gr bullet that I want to hone to .312".
Which mold?
__________________
NRA Life Member / Certified Instructor
NRA Chief RSO / CMP RSO
1911 Certified Armorer
Jeepaholic
Aguila Blanca is offline  
Old November 19, 2020, 01:53 PM   #6
Geezerbiker
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 20, 2011
Location: Willamina, OR
Posts: 1,908
This mold sounds like what you need and it's only 22 bucks.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010209946?pid=562844

Tony
Geezerbiker is offline  
Old November 19, 2020, 02:04 PM   #7
T. O'Heir
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 13, 2002
Location: Canada
Posts: 12,453
"...a .309-200gr bullet..." Is for .308" calibres. Is it the weight or diameter that's important? Or the casting?
If it's for a .303 Brit Lee-Enfield, slug the barrel first. .312" may not be right.
Montana Bullets makes .313", .314" and .315" 200 grain bullets. They do a .311" to .315" 180 too.
Honing even 3 thou would take forever and it's highly unlikely you'd get it round.
__________________
Spelling and grammar count!
T. O'Heir is offline  
Old November 19, 2020, 04:57 PM   #8
BJung
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 5, 2019
Posts: 773
The mold I am looking at is this. https://leeprecision.com/mold-dc-c309-200-r.html.

I already have the Lee .311-185gr bullet like Tony posted but want a longer bullet.. I was thinking of making pure lead fishing split shots using my brother's fishing weight molds and dedicate 1-2 small split shots per bullet for the tip. Then cast the rest with an alloy..

I stand corrected and need the bullet to cast at .311 and not .312. My bore slugs and .31105" at the grooves so with PC, I plan to size my first test loads at .312". With PC, I don't think the gas grooves are all that critical.

My plan is to pour in a mold, mark the center of the base with the help of the meplate, drill a hole in the lead bullet while held in place with the mold and using a drill press, glue a nail into the hole, and use a drill, to spin the bullet with some valve grinding compound to enlarge the mold size. Tony and I must think the same.

I'm coming to the conclusion that you guys are saying it's not worth it.
BJung is offline  
Old November 19, 2020, 06:29 PM   #9
reddog81
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 16, 2014
Location: Iowa
Posts: 1,633
Google "Beagling a Mold". I would try this before making permeant alterations.
reddog81 is offline  
Old November 19, 2020, 08:56 PM   #10
HiBC
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 13, 2006
Posts: 8,272
Here is another possibilty.
I have not powder coated bullets myself,but folks in the cast boolit section have.
Supposedly,it doesn;t lead,you can shoot at higher vel,and no lube is required.

I can't say all that is true,but its my understandng.

The rest of it is,the coating has a thickness. I believe there is some degree of flexibility over the coating thickness via which powder you choose and your process controls.

As I said, I've never done this.

Apparently,Harbor Freight powder coating powder is one good choice.

Air soft pellets are used to shake the bullets in with the powder. They apply the powder.

There is somehing about the container you shake the bullets ,airsoft pellets,and powder in. If its the right plastic, it makes the electrostatic charge that makes the powder stick.
Apparently a Kool-Whip tub works good.

Then it gets baked in a toaster oven or convection toaster oven and the powder cures.

The alloy you cast with has some effect on your diameter,and it MAY be posible to gain .001 per side ,or .002 on the dia with the coating.

Because A) Cast bullets need to be to size or slightly over to seal the bore,I'd figure the mold should cast .309 +
and B) Most folks run the bullets through a sizer/luber die. Undersize bullets don't work out well.The bullets can't be grossly oversize,but .001 over from the mold gies the sizer die something to work with,making the bullets round and uniform. Important,too,if the bullet leaks lube in the lube bushing,it makes a mess.

You may be able to pull all that together to something that will work.
HiBC is offline  
Old November 19, 2020, 09:08 PM   #11
Geezerbiker
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 20, 2011
Location: Willamina, OR
Posts: 1,908
The added thickness is one of the reasons I want to get into powder coating my bullets. Some of the ones I cast for my .45-70 could use to be a one or 2 thousandths larger in diameter.

BTW, lapping is something best done at low speed with a back and forth motion. Have you ever seen anyone lap valves in an engine?

Tony
Geezerbiker is offline  
Old November 19, 2020, 11:23 PM   #12
Geezerbiker
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 20, 2011
Location: Willamina, OR
Posts: 1,908
Here's a pic of a few bullets from that lapped mold.

I only cast a few of these this last session. Typically this mold has the lowest reject rate of any mold that I have.

Tony
Geezerbiker is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:45 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.08557 seconds with 10 queries