Lyman 452626 A&B

Beagle333 · March 15, 2019, 12:24 PM

Has anybody got any experience with these? Supposedly, you cast a pure lead nose section and then you cast the body out of wheel weight or harder and then you can epoxy/glue or whatever the ultra-soft nose section down into the body of the SWC bullet. I'm thinking powdercoat would hold it down in there quite nicely.
Yes, it'll be slow. Yes, it'll be slightly aggravating. But I just wanted to play a little while with this piece of history and then I'll probably sell it off when the new wears off. But as of now, it's new and uncast and just waiting for me to have time to get out to the casting shed.

Chainsaw. · March 15, 2019, 01:53 PM

Wow. Very interesting. Seems like a solution looking for a problem but non the less interesting. I expect a full report!

Jim Watson · March 15, 2019, 02:18 PM

I remember when these came out, another approach to a soft nose hardcast bullet.

Trivia Alert:

One company made a nose mold. Cast soft noses, then drop one into a preheated full profile mold and immediately pour it full of harder alloy. You got a lot of solids from the preheat to shoot for practice.

Another outfit had a nose melting pot. It had a metering setup on its bottom pour.
Drop a metered glob of soft lead into a regular mold, follow it up with hard lead from your regular pot.

The old time muzzleloading slug gun target shooters did it the other way 'round. They wanted a hard nose to maintain its shape under firing acceleration and a soft body to obturate into the rifling under its paper patch. They were cast in halves, then swaged together to get final size, shape, and bond.

Dufus · March 15, 2019, 10:22 PM

LBT makes those and calls them their soft nosed bullets. Although, they just use one mold instead of two.

Grey_Lion · March 16, 2019, 04:30 AM

would be interesting to produce a mold that gave you 1/4th of the soft nose projectile portion to give you a fragmenting multi-point carried forth and held together by the conical base...... - a sort of semi-frangible..... but would worry that such a thing would squib more often than it'd fire......

Jim Watson · March 16, 2019, 11:29 AM

Lots of old time experimenters got split bullets by putting a piece of "banknote paper" in the mold. They adjusted the depth of the split to get the effect they wanted.

dahermit · March 16, 2019, 12:12 PM

I remember when those moulds came out...Lyman as I remember. If my memory is still correct, the soft nose portion was meant to expand on impact (not fragment), whereas the hard lead alloy of the base was to allow higher velocities. Also, I remember that the two parts were intended to be epoxied together.
In all, I considered it to be "...an ingenious solution to a non-existent problem.", not worth the extra effort.

Beagle333 · March 16, 2019, 05:42 PM

I agree with all..... it is not needed anymore, since it isn't a problem. I just wanted to experiment with it, and since I have had offers to purchase after I bought it, I do think I can get my 60 bucks back once I'm either satisfied with my experiment or frustrated with the effort.

**Unclenick** · March 18, 2019, 07:44 PM

It's always interested me that since the softer lead alloy would have a higher melting point and would be more dense (would sink in a puddle of the harder alloy) that they didn't just cast the soft point in its own mold and place it in the tip of the base mold and pour the hard portion in. No pins or inserts required. Perhaps it is too difficult to get the finished nose casting warm enough for the hard alloy without having it tend to deform and lose symmetry in the incoming metal flow.

Beagle333 · March 18, 2019, 09:25 PM

I don't think the two pieces would adhere. 'Ever notice how if you get messy and accidentally splash some lead over your pile of cast bullets while you're filling the mold, you can just flick it right off the bullets with a fingernail after it is cool? I'm thinking that, anyway.

Beagle333 · March 30, 2019, 04:32 PM

This thread continued here:

https://thefiringline.com/forums/sho...30#post6707930

March 15, 2019, 12:24 PM	#1
Beagle333 Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2012 Location: Auburn, AL. Posts: 2,332	Lyman 452626 A&B Has anybody got any experience with these? Supposedly, you cast a pure lead nose section and then you cast the body out of wheel weight or harder and then you can epoxy/glue or whatever the ultra-soft nose section down into the body of the SWC bullet. I'm thinking powdercoat would hold it down in there quite nicely. Yes, it'll be slow. Yes, it'll be slightly aggravating. But I just wanted to play a little while with this piece of history and then I'll probably sell it off when the new wears off. But as of now, it's new and uncast and just waiting for me to have time to get out to the casting shed. __________________ . . . Have a Colt and a smile.

March 15, 2019, 01:53 PM	#2
Chainsaw. Senior Member Join Date: September 12, 2015 Location: Issaquah WA. Its a dry rain. Posts: 1,774	Wow. Very interesting. Seems like a solution looking for a problem but non the less interesting. I expect a full report! __________________ Just shoot the damn thing.

March 16, 2019, 05:42 PM	#8
Beagle333 Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2012 Location: Auburn, AL. Posts: 2,332	I agree with all..... it is not needed anymore, since it isn't a problem. I just wanted to experiment with it, and since I have had offers to purchase after I bought it, I do think I can get my 60 bucks back once I'm either satisfied with my experiment or frustrated with the effort. __________________ . . . Have a Colt and a smile.

March 18, 2019, 07:44 PM	#9
Unclenick Staff Join Date: March 4, 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 21,061	It's always interested me that since the softer lead alloy would have a higher melting point and would be more dense (would sink in a puddle of the harder alloy) that they didn't just cast the soft point in its own mold and place it in the tip of the base mold and pour the hard portion in. No pins or inserts required. Perhaps it is too difficult to get the finished nose casting warm enough for the hard alloy without having it tend to deform and lose symmetry in the incoming metal flow. __________________ Gunsite Orange Hat Family Member CMP Certified GSM Master Instructor NRA Certified Rifle Instructor NRA Benefactor Member and Golden Eagle

March 18, 2019, 09:25 PM	#10
Beagle333 Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2012 Location: Auburn, AL. Posts: 2,332	I don't think the two pieces would adhere. 'Ever notice how if you get messy and accidentally splash some lead over your pile of cast bullets while you're filling the mold, you can just flick it right off the bullets with a fingernail after it is cool? I'm thinking that, anyway. __________________ . . . Have a Colt and a smile.

March 15, 2019, 02:18 PM	#3
Jim Watson Senior Member Join Date: October 25, 2001 Location: Alabama Posts: 18,537	I remember when these came out, another approach to a soft nose hardcast bullet. Trivia Alert: One company made a nose mold. Cast soft noses, then drop one into a preheated full profile mold and immediately pour it full of harder alloy. You got a lot of solids from the preheat to shoot for practice. Another outfit had a nose melting pot. It had a metering setup on its bottom pour. Drop a metered glob of soft lead into a regular mold, follow it up with hard lead from your regular pot. The old time muzzleloading slug gun target shooters did it the other way 'round. They wanted a hard nose to maintain its shape under firing acceleration and a soft body to obturate into the rifling under its paper patch. They were cast in halves, then swaged together to get final size, shape, and bond.

March 15, 2019, 10:22 PM	#4
Dufus Senior Member Join Date: December 10, 2014 Posts: 1,965	LBT makes those and calls them their soft nosed bullets. Although, they just use one mold instead of two.

March 16, 2019, 04:30 AM	#5
Grey_Lion Senior Member Join Date: April 15, 2018 Location: Baton Rouge - Louisiana Posts: 407	would be interesting to produce a mold that gave you 1/4th of the soft nose projectile portion to give you a fragmenting multi-point carried forth and held together by the conical base...... - a sort of semi-frangible..... but would worry that such a thing would squib more often than it'd fire......

March 16, 2019, 11:29 AM	#6
Jim Watson Senior Member Join Date: October 25, 2001 Location: Alabama Posts: 18,537	Lots of old time experimenters got split bullets by putting a piece of "banknote paper" in the mold. They adjusted the depth of the split to get the effect they wanted.

March 16, 2019, 12:12 PM	#7
dahermit Senior Member Join Date: October 28, 2006 Location: South Central Michigan...near Posts: 6,501	I remember when those moulds came out...Lyman as I remember. If my memory is still correct, the soft nose portion was meant to expand on impact (not fragment), whereas the hard lead alloy of the base was to allow higher velocities. Also, I remember that the two parts were intended to be epoxied together. In all, I considered it to be "...an ingenious solution to a non-existent problem.", not worth the extra effort.

March 30, 2019, 04:32 PM	#11
Beagle333 Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2012 Location: Auburn, AL. Posts: 2,332	This thread continued here: https://thefiringline.com/forums/sho...30#post6707930 __________________ . . . Have a Colt and a smile.