Ham fisted

  • 480 Views
  • Last Post 22 May 2019
  • Topic Is Solved
tony1960 posted this 22 May 2019

So I've been helping a friend with working up some loads in his 308 and when I was casting some 357's decided to throw a couple out of my 30 cal Lyman mould that I used back in the olden days with my 30/06.

Lovely mould and drops them around 311 with Lino, just used the Lub a sizer to put some lube in the groove, seat the gas checks and make sure they are round. They were the days when all we used was Lino, because they said so....

I'm not using Lino, haven't for years, and when I did seat the gas checks and run the projectiles through the sizer, I though all was peachy. I had some White label lube come last week and as it cost me a kidney I thought I would give it a go. 

So went down to the shed today to see if the lube was hard enough for me to throw them in a bag for him, I thought that I may have left the top off the Isopropyl and it was effecting my eyes. They looked bent.

Sure enough on closer inspection I had bent the projectiles seating the gas checks, a real newbys error. This lead mixture isn't as hard as Lino and whatever I did certainly destroyed 1/3 of what I cast for him.

Bent 30 cals

 

Well they'll go back in the pot for another day but I can't think I leant on them that hard. Nice coating of lube though...

 

Tony

Attached Files

Order By: Standard | Newest | Votes
JeffinNZ posted this 22 May 2019

I have the world famous 6.5 Cruise Missile and can assure you it is very easy to bend those.  Push through sizing is best for them.

Cheers from New Zealand

Attached Files

dbarron posted this 22 May 2019

Ditto Accurate 31-215.  65% bullets, 35% bananas.  

Attached Files

  • Liked by
  • tony1960
BigMan54 posted this 22 May 2019

May be that's why "they" said to use Linotype.

Long time Caster/Reloader, Getting back into it after almost 10yrs. Life Member NRA 40+yrs, Life S.A.S.S. #375. Does this mean a description of me as a fumble-fingered knuckle-draggin' baboon. I also drool in my sleep. I firmly believe that true happiness is a warm gun. Did I mention how much I HATE auto-correct on this blasted tablet.

Attached Files

Ross Smith posted this 22 May 2019

To correct my bent bullet syndrome I use a nose first push thru to seat the check and size. On good hard bullets I use the RCBS lube sizer base first. Since I started putting some Lino into my ww mix , not much problem.

Attached Files

  • Liked by
  • tony1960
Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 22 May 2019

... on the other hand, maybe here is a terrific chance to do a little test ::

? how bad do " bent " bullets shoot ?   10 or twenty shots would be so interesting ... say every other shot a " non-bent " bullet with the same load on a near-by bull.

there is the thought that we learn more from screw-ups than from careful planning ....  

ken

 

Attached Files

tony1960 posted this 22 May 2019

Ken, you are right on the money. If I had the gun and time I certainly would be testing those bent ones, how bad can they actually be? If you were hunting and shooting at something large would a 6" group make a difference at 100yds? maybe for small animal work it would make a difference.

How much would the barrel "fix" the bent projectiles? Up for conjecture I think, with a bore riding nose they may just straighten up enough to be half decent. But as they aren't for me and I don't want to look like a complete amateur they are going back in the pot witha lesson learnt.

 

Thanks for all the replies, the truth is out there.....

 

Tony

Attached Files

Mike H posted this 22 May 2019

It would be interesting to know the as cast diameter and the final sized diameter.

Attached Files

45 2.1 posted this 22 May 2019

I have the world famous 6.5 Cruise Missile and can assure you it is very easy to bend those.  Push through sizing is best for them.

Some background for you Jeff................. The "cruise missile" was meant to cast at 0.268" for the military 6.5 caliber rifles as most of them had 0.268" groove diameters. The first bunch was a Lee GB on the other forum ran by Oldfeller (who was the guy who instigated the idea for a heavy 6.5 mold to hunt with). I'm the designer of the mold and the bullet length is slightly shorter than the original Swedish 6.5x55 jacketed military bullet specs. The original run came in on specification at a fraction under 0.268" with wheel weights (not the Lee specs of -0.000" to +0.003"). The bullet was never meant to be sized, just gas checked and ran thru a 0.268" sizer to crimp the gas check and lube it. The original numbered run did that quite well (equal to Swedish ball ammo) and shot well considering how people have tried to use it. The problem came with other runs ordered by Midsouth SS.... Those had bullets coming out to 0.272" on some runs. The other problem is WW alloy needs to to settle down in grain structure (usually a minimum of two weeks)  before you try to size it.... that's where bent and broken bullets occurred. These factors have led people to cuss and discuss it in poor terms.

 

Attached Files

John Alexander posted this 22 May 2019

 

 

 Ken, you are right on the money. If I had the gun and time I certainly would be testing those bent ones, how bad can they actually be? If you were hunting and shooting at something large would a 6" group make a difference at 100yds? maybe for small animal work it would make a difference.

How much would the barrel "fix" the bent projectiles? Up for conjecture I think, with a bore riding nose they may just straighten up enough to be half decent. But as they aren't for me and I don't want to look like a complete amateur they are going back in the pot witha lesson learnt.

 Thanks for all the replies, the truth is out there.....Tony

=====================

Tony.

Testing various defects to see if they affect accuracy, and if so how much, doesn't make you look like a "complete amateur" it makes you look like a shooter with enough curiosity to learn something new and maybe challenge the conventional wisdom. Pity to lose such a unique opportunity. The truth will remain "out there" if we don't try to find it. However, this is a hobby not eliminating world hunger so you are right to do it the way you want.

 

John

Attached Files

Close