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View attachment 36933
View attachment 36934
I used the dimensions off the 51-450M1 for the 4 band and the nose of the Hydra-Con.
It has a .505 dia, wanted .503, it will work.
The three band is just one band shorter, sort of. Should be about 375-385 grain.
Hoping the 450 will shoot in my 1-28 twist.
Now to find the ambition to finish them.
View attachment 36933
View attachment 36934
I used the dimensions off the 51-450M1 for the 4 band and the nose of the Hydra-Con.
It has a .505 dia, wanted .503, it will work.
The three band is just one band shorter, sort of. Should be about 375-385 grain.
Hoping the 450 will shoot in my 1-28 twist.
Now to find the ambition to finish them.
You can do us all a real service by casting bullets in your new mold and then measuring them carefully in, say, a week. That's to determine shrinkage with pure lead as well as 1:20 alloy (1 part tin to 20 parts pure lead), and possibly 1:10 alloy and Lyman No. 2 alloy (90 parts pure lead, 5 parts antimony, 5 parts tin - as I recall). They will shrink the most using pure lead, tho I doubt the .505 D. mold bands will shrink all the way to .503 D. using pure lead. This information is very hard to find. The mold-makers know what the percentages are but tend to keep it to themselves. 50 caliber is a useful realm for both ML and BP Cartridge loading, and I for one would be very grateful to hear your findings.View attachment 36933
View attachment 36934
I used the dimensions off the 51-450M1 for the 4 band and the nose of the Hydra-Con.
It has a .505 dia, wanted .503, it will work.
The three band is just one band shorter, sort of. Should be about 375-385 grain.
Hoping the 450 will shoot in my 1-28 twist.
Now to find the ambition to finish them.
Respectfully said, maybe I didn't make myself clear, since many people aren't aware that cast bullets shrink and do not end up the same diameter as the mold. Pure lead shrinks the most, and if you need a specific-sized bullet (particularly important with muzzleloaders, and all the more so if they have a small amount of choke at the muzzle end), you need to create a slightly larger mold diameter. But how much?? That is that tricky question, and since you are shooting for essentially 50 caliber bullets, and apparently you are able to measure the diameter of your mold's bands and grease grooves precisely, I would be great if you could report to us the exact diameters of your pure lead and alloy bullets after perhaps a week of "shrink time". The diameter of the bands is of course the most important.No plans for anything harder than 40-1, that I need to order.
The 3 band drops 345 grain. I used the 51-345M for length and the 51-450M1 for band spacing. No surprising that it is a 345.
The 4 band is 450 grain.
Also need some NASA lube to compare to powder paint.
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