Ranch Dog Moulds

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Last Post 18 June 2009

CBA Member

6pt-sika posted this 21 January 2008

I have been lucky enough to get in on the ground floor of the Ranch Dog series of moulds !

Some of these moulds are readily available to the public and others are still in the testing stages !

Anyway I am wondering if there would be enough intrest to warrent me writing a couple small articles for “The Fouling Shot” ?

So far we have dealt with a 165 grain GC mould for use in the 30-30 , 307WIN and 308 Marlin Express .

A 35 caliber mould that works great in the 356 WIN and a follow up mould that seems to be working well in the 35 REM and 356 WIN .

Then comes the two moulds that have been designed for the 375 WIN , I personally like both of these !

And of course we can't forget the three moulds that have been done for the 44 MAG and 444 Marlin ! The original 285 grain , then later the 265 grain and 300 grain !

Last but not least the pair for the 45-70 and 450 Marlin . The 425 grainer was first , but the intrest in the 350 grainer seems to be out doing the larger bullet a bit !!!

There is a probable bullet that will be good for the 32 Special in the very near future !

And there seems to be some intrest in a 70-80 grain bullet for the 25-20 . And even possibly a 100 grainer for the 32-20 !

If anyone cares to look at some of these designs please feel free to check out my friends web site ;

http://www.ranchdogmolds.com>www.ranchdogmolds.com

I would be very intrested to hear if any of the CBA members would be intrested in an article or two in “The Fouling Shot” ?:thinking:

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24 Comments

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Standard Member

CB posted this 21 January 2008

6pt-sika,

The articles in the Fouling Shot journal are written and submitted by CBA members. I think it would be an interesting article if a member wrote about his experiences with the moulds and shooting the CBs. The articles are also under the consideration of the editor. Hey, thanks for sharing the new info with us! :).............Dan

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CBA Member

6pt-sika posted this 21 January 2008

I am a CBA member !

For some reason it isn't showing that in my avatar !

In fact I have already had four or five articles published in “The Fouling Shot” .>

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Standard Member

CB posted this 21 January 2008

There are a couple of reasons for that. One is that the forum is a separate system from the membership system. Two is that it is a manual function I perform myself personally. So it aint like a cnc machine where you program it once and go with it.

So if you look now it will have you as a member, cause I just changed your user group.

I have two simple rules here:

1) Do not piss off the webmaster 2) When in doubt see rule one.

Other than that enjoy yourself and have a great time!

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CBA Member

mike morrison posted this 21 January 2008

6pt

i am always interested in any article in the fowling shot. myvote is you get after it.

looking forward to seeing your writings in the fowling shot.

mike

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Standard Member

CB posted this 22 January 2008

6pt-sika,

I wasn't necessarily speaking about you. I was simply responding to the question for all the forum readers to understand that any CBA member can write an article and is encouraged to write, sharing their experiences with CBs. That is what makes the Fouling Shot journal so unique and interesting................Dan

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Standard Member

Ranch Dog posted this 24 January 2008

It's okay by me!

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Standard Member

Ranch Dog posted this 25 January 2008

I do got to “learn” you 6pt now that I got you hooked. Its “mold", not “mould". Its okay, don't hipperventilate... thats it, you got used to Micro BandsÃ‚Â® so you can get used to this! :cool:

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Standard Member

CB posted this 25 January 2008

Ranch Dog

I didn't hyperventilate. :shock:

I looked it up in the dictionary that 'mould' ain't a word, but probably a British variation of the word mold. Google 'mold' hits includes bio fungus. :X Google 'mould' hits is 100% casting moulds. :) Wikipedia doesn't recognize 'mould'. My male parent recognizes Father or Dad, and it appears the world recognizes mould or mold.:coffee

I Googled 'Ranch Dog Molds' and got top-line on 1st page result. I Googled 'Ranch Dog Moulds' and it wasn't there. (Tip) Your friend ought to add a subtitle to his register with those words; 'Ranch Dog Moulds' and he'd get top line on 1st page result for Brits and those of us using 'mould' version.

Hey, this was just for fun. Lets go shoot, or uh its 3degrees here so lets go cast! :fire.............Dan

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Standard Member

Ranch Dog posted this 25 January 2008

I cast until I dropped yesterday. I need to do some shooting but the rain won't stop. I have a covered shooting bench but my pressure trace gear doesn't like the wet stuff.

In that I get the molds from Lee and that is how it is spelled on the box, that is how I use it. That is a good idea though on the meta files.

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CBA Member

6pt-sika posted this 25 January 2008

I wanted to get outside and cast some og the new 359-190's today and get them loaded up tonight . But my father required me today so that killed that idea .

Plus it's supposed to be 19 degree's here saturday :shock:

I don't think I'm gonna sit outside at the bench in that :(

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Standard Member

Ranch Dog posted this 25 January 2008

Craig, I cast about 500 of each of the TLC311-165-RF and the TLC432-265-RF yesterday afternoon. I know it isn't as cold as up North, but it is cold for South Texas. I've about reloaded myself out of my reloading room, which is a 15'X25' room, but I have ammo waiting on pressure testing stacked up everywhere.

I have the first dose ready for the TLC359-190-RF, going to start with Varget. I believe that it and H4895 will give the best velocities and accuracy but will work with all the rest... H4198, H322, Benchmark, H335, and BL-C(2).

I've also got all my 44 Mag sitting waiting for shooting to start. Both bullets with H110, H4227, and Lil' Gun. I also got stuff lined up for the 444... Just wish the weather would clear. I cast the 311s because I want to start the pressure trace work on the 308 Marlin Express.

I did get another chart formatted for the 375 Win, this one with Benchmark. I'm going to take another tack with the charts for this cartridge as none of the manufacturers will say what pressure their ammo is loaded to. Rather than the vertical portion of the chart being expressed in PSI, it will be expressed in a percent of the factory ammo that was used for verification. Unfortunately, Hornady doesn't offer factory ammo for the 375 Win as they are about the only ones that will give you the data on a given lot. The chart can be used to see that the given load shot at a pressure (expressed in % of what PSI the factory ammo generated) and feel good that he isn't going to exceed that. Again, I use 105% case capacity as a physical limit on the loads as without using a drop tube, you cannot compress the powder any further as the bullet will pop out of the case before it is seated with the crimp. Here is what the mentioned chart looks like.

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CBA Member

6pt-sika posted this 27 January 2008

Well I got out yesterday , I think the temp was up to about 38 LOL's and cast a bunch of the new 359-190 as well as some stuff for my 50-90 that hasn't arrived yet !

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CBA Member

6pt-sika posted this 27 January 2008

Here is the Ranch Dog 359-180 on the left and a pair of the “new” Ranch Dog 359-190's on the right .

I had planned on casting 400 pf the new 359-190's when i started yesterday and ended up with 460 , slight overshoot on my part .>

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CBA Member

6pt-sika posted this 27 January 2008

Here is a picture of the two Ranch Dog 379 caliber bullets .

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CBA Member

6pt-sika posted this 27 January 2008

Here's a small 7 pointer I knocked over early in the 2007 season !

Shot him at about 35 yards from a 12 foot ladder stand . I was using a Marlin in 375 WIN . And it was loaded with the Ranch Dog 379-210 and 22 grains of XMP5744 with a CCI200 primer . Thw rifle has a Leupold VX1 4-12 up top.

This is the first and only deer I have killed with a Ranch Dog bullet to date ! As a matter of fact it is the only one I have shot at with a Ranch Dog bullet ;)

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Standard Member

CB posted this 27 January 2008

I am interested in a couple of Ranch Dog molds or moulds or “whatever” as my lady friend says.

I shoot a 45-70 Marlin, a 44 Mag Contender and a 357 MAX Contender. I favor heavy bullets for much of my hunting. :fire

My question is sizing these casting from Ranch Dog molds, any one use a Star Sizer to size and lube these bullets? And what type of lube are they using on these bullets, I ask because of the multiple grooves on the bullets.

;}

Jerry

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CBA Member

6pt-sika posted this 27 January 2008

miestro_jerry wrote: I am interested in a couple of Ranch Dog molds or moulds or “whatever” as my lady friend says.

I shoot a 45-70 Marlin, a 44 Mag Contender and a 357 MAX Contender. I favor heavy bullets for much of my hunting. :fire

;}

Jerry

The heaviest for the 45-70 would be the 425 grain GC mould ! That one shoots well in both Ballard and Micro Groove rifling .

For the 44 MAG the biggest is the 300 grainer .

Ranch Dog uses Lee Liquid Alox . I on the other hand use Thompson's Blue Angel .

He also tumble lubes , then sizes in Lee size dies then dip lubes !

I on the other hand have a pair of Lyman 4500's . But am in the process of “trying” the Lee Alox and Lee sizers !

You can get either of his moulds I mentioned from his website . And they are pretty cheap price wise ! He also sells larger size Lee sizers for about $16.50 plus shipping ! His moulds are $24.50 I think .

As far as the 357 bullet is concerned , that has not been tested yet , but I think he plans on getting final testing done and the order sent in by the end of February . So then it should be available 6 months after that ! Lee's custom shop has gotten behind a bit I think :shock: And the heaviest bullet for that is the 359-190 ! I should think it would work fine , as I have a no longer produced Lyman 215 grain SWC GC that I shoot in my Marlin 1894CB that is in 357 MAG . I run that thru a .359 sizer as well .

SO I would think that 190 grainer would be the ticket for your 357 MAX.

I didn't mention before but the 45 cal bullets are supposed to drop at .460” and the 44's at .432” . That also happens to be the size of the custom Lee sizers Ranch Dog has made up !

I just last week purchased a pair of these but have not had a chance to try them yet !

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Standard Member

CB posted this 28 January 2008

6pt,

I have a Lyman 357 214gr SWC mold that does the job well. But bullet shapes comes in to play for hunting.

Jerry

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Standard Member

Ranch Dog posted this 28 January 2008

Jerry, thanks for the interest and email! It looks like Craig has covered just about everything. My web site has all the bullet details except for the those of the TLC359-190-RF but it is available here... Ranch Dog's TLC359-190-RF That bullet and the http://www.ranchdogmolds.com/TLC359190RF>Ranch Dog's TLC379-235-RF will be available later in the year. I'm also rebuilding my web site, I will be giving it a new look with some very nice chamber images of the bullets fitting different calibers.

All of my designs: <>Are the proper diameter for Marlin leveraction rifles <>Have a nose profile that fit the throat/leade of the chamber <>Have the bullet's center-of-gravity co-located with the center-of-lift <>Employ an effective meplat (minimum of 72%) that balances magazine feed, downrange performance, and killing authority <*>Use Lee Micro-BandsÃ‚Â® for the ease of tumble lubing with Lee Liquid Alox (Lubrizoil 606-55) and sizing with the Lee Sizing diesAll this started five years ago because of my frustration with the availability of commercial mold designs for both the 444 and 450 Marlins (needs are the same for the 1895s chambered in 45-70 Govt). What was available had been designed with no thought to the specifics that make a good bullet. My quest to produce a mold that drops a bullet that is a perfect for these rifles has turned into a small business with about $26K of inventory selling 100 molds a month!

I'm first and foremost a levergun hunter. If a cast bullet isn't capable of providing jacketed bullet accuracy and velocity, I will not toil with what it takes to drop, check and lube a cast bullet. It is not worth the effort. I'm a lucky individual that gets to take a dozen or more big game animals a year. All of my bullet designs perform. I've also come to respect the Micro-BandsÃ‚Â® and Alox. I think they are both amazing components that contribute to the success I enjoy in the field.

I also have spent a considerable time and money on each design. The 375 Win bullet alone took $700 to perfect, it is was a hard nut to crack but I've now got a bullet that is extremely accurate and is capable of operating at the chamber pressures the 375 Win was designed to perform at (52.0K CUP/60.0K PSI).

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Standard Member

CB posted this 28 January 2008

Michael Looks to me like you have really msde great advances in getting lever guns like the Marlins to shoot well.

Do the bullets work well in other brands of lever action guns also? Winchesters, Pumas, etc??

What about lube alternatives? Some guys just dont like to use LA, can they be used in a conventional lubersizer?

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Standard Member

Ranch Dog posted this 28 January 2008

Greetings Jeff! Thanks for you comments

As far as the bullet in other rifles go, as long as the chambers are cut to the SAAMI spec they are just like the Marlins. Both of the rifles you mentioned are cut correctly. When you get into some of the single shots or bolt guns there might be so variations.

I've got fellows using traditional lubersizers, Lyman and RCBS for sure and I'm asking about the Star. I think they've been shot with just about every wax known to man!

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Standard Member

cbshtr posted this 18 June 2009

I noticed that Ranch Dog is shutting down. What gives. I liked his designs but financially wasn't able to order when I wanted. Does anybody know who owns the rights to his designs and will Lee make them available? It is a shame when something that is really good for many people doesn"t seem to make it.

Robert Homan

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Standard Member

CB posted this 18 June 2009

The lead time for Ranch Dog Molds is 18 plus months, it's not a money thing.

If you send a mold design to Lee, you pretty much have given that design to them. As far the Ranch Dog mold, which I own a small bunch of them, Lee has promised to catalog the designs and they will be offering them in about 14 months as a standard part of their mold line.

Jerry