First attempt with Aluminum.

This is with a 2 cav NOE 358429 RG2 hollow point mold. I'll post a pic below if you didn't see the other thread.

Well... I think they turned out really nice.
It started off slowly. I think I didn't wait for the pot to get up to top temp before I started, because the mold was on the hot plate for 20 mins, so I know it was hot. I didn't do any mold prep other than take it out of the box, screw it to the handles, squirt some Dawn on a toothbrush and hold the mold under the sink by the handles and scrub the cavities out for a minute. Then I put it right on the hot plate to dry/heat up. Right before I started casting, I applied bullplate lube (comes with a NOE mold) to the bottom of the sprue plate, the sprue plate bolt, the alignment pins and the tips of the HP pins (using a Qtip). So it took about 20-25 pours to get everything hot enough for the wrinkles to go away, and then it was pretty smooth sailing after that. I think I made friends with it, once it was hot. I was going pour a whole pot, but my ol' leg reminded me that it wasn't 100% healed up yet, so I only poured 10#. I was using a Lee 20# pot and a Lyman ladle.

My friend who gave me the pot had said that the dial was really close on temp and so when I got to the perfect spot where the b?o?o?l?i? bullets were just falling out of the mold, I opened my box containing my trusty new Rotometals thermometer and it said I was at 820 degrees. Lots of folks will say that is too hot, but I always put the pot on 8-1/4 on the dial to start with, and ease it down to about 7 as the lead level falls, so I guess I always pour at 820 or thereabouts. I was using my usual isotope alloy of 95/2.5/2.5 for these.

And here are the results from my kinda short pouring session this morning.

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My first attempt at Bens Red, ?

First time making Lube, followed instuctions fully. Cooked it up in a small crock pot.
Used a wisk to break up the Lukes to fully melt, worked great.
Mine came out more of a burnt orange than Red.
Anywho; I pan lubed a few and it worked fine, however I think it could be stiffer, it is a little on the soft side.
So to stiffen it up do I remelt and add more Bees wax ?

Seems right to me. Or microcrystalline 430 wax (gooder for colder). Have you looked at 357maximum's MML lube?

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Seems right to me. Or microcrystalline 430 wax (gooder for colder). Have you looked at 357maximum's MML lube?From what I have read it is good for temps below 80*
It gets 100* here in the summer

Wondering if Parafin would be a better stiffener ?

First time making Lube, followed instuctions fully. Cooked it up in a small crock pot.
Used a wisk to break up the Lukes to fully melt, worked great.
Mine came out more of a burnt orange than Red.
Anywho; I pan lubed a few and it worked fine, however I think it could be stiffer, it is a little on the soft side.
So to stiffen it up do I remelt and add more Bees wax ?
So to stiffen it up do I remelt and add more Bees wax ?

Yes, that is exactly what you'd do if you want a stiffer mix.

Do what Ben said.He created the lube.The only concern I had so far was the smell when making it.I did find it somewhat offensive,but right now it seems ok

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So to stiffen it up do I remelt and add more Bees wax ?

Yes, that is exactly what you'd do if you want a stiffer mix.

Thanks Ben
I'll remelt and add more BW

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Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt"

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Another attempt

Boolit Master Join DateApr 2005Posts208

Hello,

I've posted here in the past, but have not had need of any advice. I'm mostly a bow hunter, and because of this, I usually only shoot cast for fun. I've hunted with it, primarily with my 45-70's 375 Win, and various pistol caliber guns. I'm not concerned about how they kill. I did shoot two deer with a 32 Win years ago and got kind of spooked. One went down quickly, and the other ran (RCBS 170gr.) in front of 30gr. of 4895. The bullet was water dropped wheel weights. Necropsy showed me a pass through with very little damage ( just over the heart shot), and the animal ran 250 yards. The temperature was -3 if that figures in? Since then, I've not done any medium bore hunting with cast. I do like lighter, and smaller rifles in the right place. I would love to hunt with my new CZ 527 in 7.62x39. I bought the NOE 314 155 and water dropped some wheel weights. This gun is amazing in its consistent accuracy with virtually any load up to 2330fps. I just wondered what the best prescription for success would be. Its got a smaller meplat than the RCBS boolit, and because of this, am all the more worried. I've cast up some soft nosed examples. To make them, I melted down 4 pure lead pellets in my mold, ( about 50gr.) and then poured and water dropped wheel weights for the base. Will this be too soft of a nose? Any preferences for speed with this? Again, I have accurate loads from 1600 to 2330fps. The simple thing of course would be 1/2 wheel weights, and 1/2 lead. I'll be shooting these into something soon for a little testing.

Any help appreciated!

it's all an educated guess,,,, till the trigger is pulled.

the more i find out about shootin boolits, the more it contradicts everything i ever learned about shooting jaxketed.

I have been using that NOE boolit in a 7.62x39 AR on hogs for a while now. Cast of water dropped 50/50, I get good expansion and great wound channeling. For a little extra kinky-ness, I will stand the boolits up in a pan of water and touch the nose with a pencil torch till the crust just starts to melt. I think your idea of a soft nose is a good one, but I think that soft it will slump. Especially under top load pressures. If I dont soften the nose, I shoot for shoulders. But that is easier on a hog since the heart is between the front shanks.

I came into this world kicking, screaming, and covered in someone elses blood. I plan to go out the same way.

if your boolit has a gas check just us a softer alloy if not consider a hp conversion
or get the best of both and get a hp mold with a g/c

Boolit Master Join DateMar 2005LocationWashington StatePosts228

FWIW - I use an RCBS 35-200 FN GC boolit in my .358 . The boolits are of air cooled WW with 2% tin. BHN of those boolits is 14 - 15 per my LBT hardness tester. I put two of those into a moose; one penetrated completely and was not recovered. The second penetrated the backbone, then one shoulder bone, and was found under the skin. The boolit was a perfect mushroom. It weighed 213 gr. as loaded, and ~ 186 (IIRC) as found. No hollow point. The second incidence was a cow elk. Again two boolits (one was a lousy shot). One boolit was recovered, but not weighed. It also was mushroomed, but seriously distorted by a hip bone. Again, no HP. I have never felt the need for a HP in a boolit for hunting. They appear to mushroom without one. However, I will defer to those with more experience with boolits in big game. Perhaps I've just been lucky.

Hello,

I've posted here in the past, but have not had need of any advice. I'm mostly a bow hunter, and because of this, I usually only shoot cast for fun. I've hunted with it, primarily with my 45-70's 375 Win, and various pistol caliber guns. I'm not concerned about how they kill. I did shoot two deer with a 32 Win years ago and got kind of spooked. One went down quickly, and the other ran (RCBS 170gr.) in front of 30gr. of 4895. The bullet was water dropped wheel weights. Necropsy showed me a pass through with very little damage ( just over the heart shot), and the animal ran 250 yards. The temperature was -3 if that figures in? Since then, I've not done any medium bore hunting with cast. I do like lighter, and smaller rifles in the right place. I would love to hunt with my new CZ 527 in 7.62x39. I bought the NOE 314 155 and water dropped some wheel weights. This gun is amazing in its consistent accuracy with virtually any load up to 2330fps. I just wondered what the best prescription for success would be. Its got a smaller meplat than the RCBS boolit, and because of this, am all the more worried. I've cast up some soft nosed examples. To make them, I melted down 4 pure lead pellets in my mold, ( about 50gr.) and then poured and water dropped wheel weights for the base. Will this be too soft of a nose? Any preferences for speed with this? Again, I have accurate loads from 1600 to 2330fps. The simple thing of course would be 1/2 wheel weights, and 1/2 lead. I'll be shooting these into something soon for a little testing.

Any help appreciated!

You have found what I have talked about for years. Small calibers need expansion. Too fast or too slow needs expansion. Heavy boolits need expansion. Velocity and muzzle energy means nothing.
The right caliber and velocity needs nothing and hard boolits work with a heavy boolit.
You are a bow hunter like I have been for years until I can hardly pull them today. That makes deer easy. Use a .44 Revolver with a 310 gr Lee boolit or the 320 gr LBT and you are good to 100 yards. Go to a .475 BFR with a 420 gr boolit.
You do not need a rifle but if you choose, watch the alloys. You can blow a deer to mush with cast or poke a hole.
Look at the length of time bullet makers have spent to make one bullet have a larger animal span. Expansion with no weight loss, controlled expansion, etc.
Cast is no different so your alloy MUST be adjusted for each velocity, caliber and animal size.
Cast is not a free lunch.

Tim Malcolm

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Boolit Master Join DateApr 2005Posts208

I have been using that NOE boolit in a 7.62x39 AR on hogs for a while now. Cast of water dropped 50/50, I get good expansion and great wound channeling. For a little extra kinky-ness, I will stand the boolits up in a pan of water and touch the nose with a pencil torch till the crust just starts to melt. I think your idea of a soft nose is a good one, but I think that soft it will slump. Especially under top load pressures. If I dont soften the nose, I shoot for shoulders. But that is easier on a hog since the heart is between the front shanks.Thanks all of you for the help. What velocity do you use for this
load?

Truthfully I am not sure of the velocity. I just found a near top load that shot well and went with it. It has not let me down yet, when I do my part.

I came into this world kicking, screaming, and covered in someone elses blood. I plan to go out the same way.

That is a very good illustration so thank you for showing.
Even a revolver can do that with the wrong alloy and then go too hard so just a hole is poked. I have lost a few deer and those I found after over 200 yards had just a hole through pink lungs.
Expectations from just a larger and heavier boolit can disappoint or destroy.
Some think only a bigger meplat is enough and what is also not good is a boolit that expands too fast. Some look only for penetration, OK for a Buffalo but not a deer. If the boolit pops out the far side of a deer and ruins lungs it is OK but you would never shoot a buf like that.
That is why shooting wet paper or water bottles, blocks of Jello, etc will tell you nothing.
Base your decision on the animal.

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First attempt and success

Boolit Mold Join DateApr 2010Posts5

Try screwing your die up a little higher to get the leverage you need. Most of your power is in the bottom of your stroke, right before caming over.

Other than that, not bad! Better than I could do.

Last edited by Lizard333; Yesterday at 11:26 AM.

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backing it up might tear the rims off.
but definatly find the sweet spot, it goes from super hard to not so bad once you find it.

it's all an educated guess,,,, till the trigger is pulled.

the more i find out about shootin boolits, the more it contradicts everything i ever learned about shooting jaxketed.

Boolit Mold Join DateApr 2010Posts5

The die body is too long which makes the punch long also. This configuration makes finding the sweet spot not possible. I am going to have to shorten the die body so a shorter punch will push far enough to allow the die to be positioned to the top of the stroke to maximize stroke. I was happy just to be able to get an end result that was somewhere in the ballpark.

Boolit Master Join DateNov 2009LocationWashingtonPosts153

You say you used a taper reamer. How long of a lead do you have? You dont need much, maybe 1/8" roll over. I actually made a crude one from a drill bushing that I just radiused the opening just as a test. This will allow you to use a shorter punch as all the work is done in the bottom 1/4" or so of the die. The top part of the hole can be opened up to eliminate excess forced needed to keep pushing them through. I now use ones from RCE. I set mine up so when the press if fully extended the case is completely past the radius and then just feed the next one in, one right after another.
Bret

the way the jaxkets look i'd be pretty hard pressed to really change a whole lot.
you are getting them through without the little line above the base from the rim.

it's all an educated guess,,,, till the trigger is pulled.

the more i find out about shootin boolits, the more it contradicts everything i ever learned about shooting jaxketed.

Boolit Mold Join DateApr 2010Posts5

There is a 60 degree bevel just inside the opening and then the taper starts from there. I was trying to unfold the rim as gently as possible. I think based on the initial bang that gentle needs a little more work.

I decided to go the drill bushing route using taper pin reamers too. I figured I could use one die body and just change bushings. I want to reduce copper tubing jackets but the principle is the same as a derim die. My new mill arrives tomorrow & it will take a while to set up. I should be able to ream dies OK holding the work in 5C collets. Should also be able to turn punches with the work chucked in an R8 collet and the cutter in the milling vise or in a square 5C collet. It should work better than a drill press and a file. I' be busy for a while.

Bob

Looks good to me. Keep up the good work.

Paul G.
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Abbreviations used in Reloading
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