New mold this morning!

Modern Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Modern Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Idaholewis

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2017
Messages
7,287
Reaction score
10,277
I got the New Custom mold from Accurate this morning, i steam cleaned it really good and headed out to make some bullets. A new Mold is cool and all but usually a PITA the first 3-4 castings, I think the steam cleaner did an awesome job, i had this mold running good fairly quickly. Now to get out and shoot them! I think i will load both rifles tonight, that is what i am really curious about. The .50 is from the Bullshop bullet i sent Tom, he got as close as he could to it with his tooling, he did AWESOME as always! And the other is #54-510, bottom band is 542, 2nd band 543, 3rd band 545, and top band .547, i think they will stay put, hope so anyway! The Bullshop similar bullet measures out at 504-505 bottom 2 bands, 506 on the 3rd band, and 507-508 top band. A few pictures

Here is the Mold, Tom does AWESOME work!!


Bullshop similar bullet


And weight
 
Looks nice!. I like my moulds from Accurate also, I think I have three of them. On my bullets all the bands are the same diameter. What do you feel is the main advantage of having the graduated bands?
 
And 'BIG MEDICINE' as Idahoron named it today!

Excited to get BEAT ON by these! NOT really! But I'll gladly deal with it if i can get them to shoot good, I have 2 Rifles that should shoot these really well, My Lyman GP Hunter 1:32 Twist, and Green Mountain LRH 1:28 Twist


And weight
 
flounder said:
Looks nice!. I like my moulds from Accurate also, I think I have three of them. On my bullets all the bands are the same diameter. What do you feel is the main advantage of having the graduated bands?


This is new territory to me so I really can't answer your question intelligently? (Easier starting/loading is what i am sure Dan of Bullshop had in mind with the Graduated bands) I recently shot a bullet from Dan of Bullshop in my .50 Cal and it shot REALLY well, so I saved the last one, took measurements of it, and sent it to Accurate to try and duplicate it (Of course i contacted Dan and got permission first) The bands on his bullet are Graduated, so i just stayed with it, and went the same route with the .54 Cavity.
 
I have the 54-510 mold also shoots great in my white bison i do have to size it down to 540 to get it to load tho.
 
I would be very surprised if your bullets don't shoot great. I actually enjoy casting, it's satisfying to me and I like shooting my own product.
 
Tom st accurate molds does great work and you can't beat his quality. I love that wide metaplate it should hit like the hammer of Thor!

Question is do the bullets of both molds come out weighing the same. I've always been skeptical of those double molds.
 
edmehlig said:
Tom st accurate molds does great work and you can't beat his quality. I love that wide metaplate it should hit like the hammer of Thor!

Question is do the bullets of both molds come out weighing the same. I've always been skeptical of those double molds.

This is a 2 different Cavity mold, one Cavity is .50 Cal, and the other .54, So nope they definitely don't weigh the same! LOL, But I definitely know what you mean, I don't like a 2 Cavity mold for that reason, it is rare that they weigh the same, i am super picky with my bullets, i weigh each one and only keep the bullets that weigh within one grain of eachother, a tenth more either way and they go back in the lead pot.
 
I did some test fitting this evening, I committed and loaded 3 rifles with these new bullets to see how well they fit? (if a burglar pops in here tonight it could get SMOKY!) First i tried the .54 Bullet in my Lyman Great Plains Hunter rifle 1:32 twist, I wasn't to impressed with that fit, it started out good but kinda gave up toward the end and got looser than i like, This Lyman is kind of an odd duck, it has really deep and sharp riflings, but it shoots darn good, and doesn't seem to finicky. The 50 fit really good and tight! Probably tighter than some would like, but its pefect in my opinion for my style of Elk hunting. That left my .54 Green Mountain LRH barrel, the new big bullet loaded in it reasonably tight, if I could do it over again i would go a little bigger on the base bands. I have a different plan with Lyman Great Plains Hunter now, i will try my big paper patch .54 bullet in it the same as i did my .45 Cal, i will wrap and load WITHOUT 'ironing' the paper thru a sizer die (i have a .538 and a .539) i feel confident that will snug that big bullet up good and tight (i have shot this bullet in my Lyman rifle after 'ironing' the paper through the .539 and it was decent, the .538 was to loose) So all in all i am pleased, hopefully get to shoot these in the next day or 2
 
Just got done shooting this new big Greaser .54 Affectionately named 'BIG MEDICINE' I was thinking that maybe it fit a bit loose in my GM LRH Barrel, but it's actually a really good fit, I don't think I'd want it any tighter? I tried some Goex 3F (which i dont like) But have a full pound of it so figured i would give it a go, 80 Weight Grains of powder, and a .58 Cal Oxyoke wool over powder Wad, this was 70 yards again this morning. This target came in the mail from the Rocky Mountain Elk foundation, i have gotten a ton of these over the years and usually just toss them, but figured what the heck I'd shoot it this morning. Again this isn't anything Stellar, but its a good start!


Cold clean bore shot



And the other 4, Nothing to write home about, right on a 2" Group, but its a good start, I think my Swiss 2 and 3F powder will change this, I will use the Goex 3F in my little .36 Cals
 
I have a 4 cavity mold from accurate that has 2 52-510s and 2 54-510s in it all 4 slots drop from 523.7gr to 524.3. So id say they are pretty much perfect. Also all my molds are aluminum.
 
Fmfdred56 said:
I have a 4 cavity mold from accurate that has 2 52-510s and 2 54-510s in it all 4 slots drop from 523.7gr to 524.3. So id say they are pretty much perfect. Also all my molds are aluminum.

I just ordered another similar Grease Groove mold for my .45 Cal, i am having a few changes made to it in hopes to get it 400-410 Grains, i had the bands widened a bit to get a good tight fit. It is #45-360M, I lengthened the bullet to 1" and widened the Meplat to .275, This should make a good one


The bottom 2 bands will be .454-.455, 3rd and 4th band will be .456-.457, and the top band will be .457-.458, i asked him to shoot for the middle of these numbers. This should be a similar fit to the Bullshop bullet in my .50 Cal, Good n Tight!
 
Lewis,

I've been looking at this same bullet but thinking of making it shorter because I thought it would be better suited for the 1-30" twist. After playing with the twist rate stability calculator that berger bullets provides, it indicates you may very well have a great performing bullet. I also would like a wider metplat as you suggested. Looking forward to your results.
 
Saxtonyoung said:
Lewis,

I've been looking at this same bullet but thinking of making it shorter because I thought it would be better suited for the 1-30" twist. After playing with the twist rate stability calculator that berger bullets provides, it indicates you may very well have a great performing bullet. I also would like a wider metplat as you suggested. Looking forward to your results.


Saxton, So far My .45 LRH has shot EVERYTHING i have tied in it well, from The little short TC Maxi's measuring .730, to the BACO .444-400 that measure 1.090, these BACO bullets are the ones that i have shot all the way out to 500 yards, The RCBS 11MM bullet is another very proven bullet in these 1:30 twist .45s and it measures 1.035, And then the BIG WIDE MEPLAT Paper Patch mold i had built, I copied the 11MM length on that one and it shoots REALLY good as well! So i would say a 1" bullet is a very safe bet, my goal with this #.45-360M was to stay under 410 grains, I thought about lengthening it to 1.035, but figured it might get heavier than my target weight? I gave Tom the go ahead to mess with the Length, and Meplat to hit my Target weight of 400-410 Grains, with soft Lead of course. I really want a SOLID TIGHT fitting bullet for each of my rifles that i am 100% confident will NOT slide off the powder charge, with the band diameters i have chosen This bullet should load good and tight all the way. A TC Maxi starts out great, but by the time it gets to the powder it is like a bb in a Rattle can, i would never trust it
 
I even made up a custom .45 Cal cookie cutter for extracting my bullets from pan lubing so i am ready when this new .45 Mold gets here. I went with a .458 Win Mag Case on this one, the bullets in the back are my new .50s (which i made a cookie cutter for as well) i tried a Maxi ball and it fit with just a tiny bit to spare (.455 driving band) it should be dead on perfect with the new bullet. Sure makes lubing bullets nice and easy!
 
Lewis,
Thanks for the information on these longer bullets. It's certainly hard to argue with success especially when you have invested the amount time you have testing several different bullets. As I have said before my experience with these kind of bullets has been with one's that were slip fit, never thought about try to shove a bullet in the barrel when the first band or two is .003 - .004 larger than the bore. Your not having any problems with bullet not being centered ?
 
Lewis,
Thanks for the information on these longer bullets. It's certainly hard to argue with success especially when you have invested the amount time you have testing several different bullets. As I have said before my experience with these kind of bullets has been with one's that were slip fit, never thought about try to shove a bullet in the barrel when the first band or two is .003 - .004 larger than the bore. Your not having any problems with bullet not being centered ?
 
Saxtonyoung said:
Lewis,
Thanks for the information on these longer bullets. It's certainly hard to argue with success especially when you have invested the amount time you have testing several different bullets. As I have said before my experience with these kind of bullets has been with one's that were slip fit, never thought about try to shove a bullet in the barrel when the first band or two is .003 - .004 larger than the bore. Your not having any problems with bullet not being centered ?

I definitely have more testing to do with these bullets, but i can say with certainty that the .50 Cal Bullet from bullshop shot AWESOME for me! They definitely load tight, which is exactly what i wanted for my style of hunting, But with pure lead they aren't bad at all, i was able to push them down to the top band with just my thumb, then sending them to the powder with my Range Rod was not a problem, just a nice steady push all the way til they seated on the Over powder wad, unlike the Maxi balls that i tried, they get loose, and looser as you go which I didn't like. Also the Maxi's did not shoot well in my .50 or .54 Cal, They did fine in my .45, but they got awfully loose before they reached the Powder. Quick as i get this new .45 mold i will get busy on it, if i can get it to shoot good, and dialed in i will probably deer hunt with it. Me and my wife both drew extra deer tags this year, they are Whitetail Doe only tags, perfect Muzzleloader hunt!! At least my Tag, the wife will likely use centerfire since she's never shot a Muzzleloader, with busy upcoming schedules we really don't have the time to work with her on it.
 
Lewis,

Is your new bullet the 46-380M ? It sure looks like what you described and would most likely be in the 400 grain range if using lead softer than wheel weights.
 
Back
Top