Opinions on 45-70 mold?

[wquiles]

I have been reloading for 15+ years but now getting ready to purchase a bullet mold for my 45-70 H&R single shot rifle. I have narowed it down to these 3x molds, and I would appretiate feedback on the pross/cons on each bullet design. I just want to buy ONE mold for my 45-70 that I can use with lighter loads/plinking, paper hole punching/bench shooting up to say 200 yards, and when pushed harder for hog hunting in Texas.

I plan on using Lyman #2 allow, I will only use tumble/dip lubing with X-Lox (45-45-10 formula), and I will seat gas checks and size using a Lee sizing die which I lapped from .457" to .460" (my bore is .459+). With accurate molds, I am not worried about the exact weight/length since he can customize the design a little.

350/360 gr RD design from NOE:



Accurate 355RG, which except for the lube grooves is nearly identical to the RD above:



Accurate 375 (note different/larger meplat):



Is it fair to say that the RD and 355RG would have a slightly higher balistic coheficient?

Would the Accurate molds do better with tumble lubing?

Any other tips/advice?

Thanks in advance,
Will

[Ranch Dog]

Is it fair to say that the RD and 355RG would have a slightly higher balistic coheficient?

With the wide meplat of these molds, I have found that it is best to plan on a ballistic coefficient that equals the sectional density of the bullet. At least until you can calculate it over two chronographs. So, in the case of my 45-70 Govt designs:
TLC460-310-RF = .2033
TLC460-360-RF = .2382
TLC460-425-RF = .2846

As a note, right before I closed up shop I changed the designation on the 300 to 310 and the 350 to 360 to better reflect the weight that the caster would see with the gas check seated on the bullet.

Would the Accurate molds do better with tumble lubing?

I do like the micro type bands so it would be easy for me. I'm surprised that NOE does not offer the cut to match my designs as I know he bought the tooling for them.

Any other tips/advice?

Push them hard for best results!

[wquiles]

Thanks much Michael. I will go with the Accurate's version of your design, although I like the idea of a two cavity mold, one with the 310gr and one with the 360gr. That would be pretty versatile (or crazy!).

Will

[Ranch Dog]

Thanks much Michael. I will go with the Accurate's version of your design, although I like the idea of a two cavity mold, one with the 310gr and one with the 360gr. That would be pretty versatile (or crazy!).

That sounds slow! Casting is not that fun!

[wquiles]

That sounds slow! Casting is not that fun!

Yup, that was the crazy part

Tom (at Accurate) does not have your 310gr in his catalog, but it is just a "short" version of your 360gr, so perhaps I can just ask him to make me a 2x cavity mold of each one instead.

[wquiles]

I exchanged a couple of emails with Tom (Accurate) and ended up ordering the 2x cavity 460-355RG. Depending on how it works out and what loads my rifle likes, I might end up ordering the smaller (310gr) later on.

Thanks Michael!

[Ranch Dog]

Thanks Michael!

Your welcome. Be sure to let us know how it works.

[wquiles]

It is here!

Not even one week turn-around time:

[akuser47]

That's purty

[wquiles]

My first cast (just Isotope lead) looked OK, but after I checked them up close, most all of them had some defects/irregularities, so I ended up melting most of them back. The few that looked good, were closer to .459" (.460" was the target), but that was because I used a different alloy (Isotope) than the one I specified (Lyman #2) when I had the mold cut by Tom. I will go ahead and shot those that look good just for fun/practice.

So I decided to mix 2-to-1 Isotope and Linotype in order to better approach Lyman #2, and cast bullets again this last weekend. I first cast using my modified Lee 45-70, 459, 405HB mold, and of course the Accurate 46-355RG again. This time I kept all of the bullets in the order they were cast, unless it was an obvious defect.

First the Lee mold:



These were cast going left to right, first the back row, then the front row. The temp was very stable at about 750F, but obviously the mold temperature varied quite a bit between cast to cast:



I then cast with the Accurate mold. Again, left to right, back row, then middle row, then front row:



Closer look at the Accurate bullets. These are most/all frosted, since I learned from my first casting session that this mold won't work well colder, so I kept the mold hotter:







I then lined them up in the same order, and after eliminating that front-row, second to the left, I checked the weight and diameter of each one. As expected, the heavier bullets had a slightly larger diameter:




Since I was casting slow, and the pot temp was very stable, the mold temperature and my technique obviously need more practice. Also good to note that now with the alloy closer to Lyman #2, I am a "lot" closer to the .460" dia, which is great since the bore in my riffle was about .459".

Now I have to decide how to "sort" them, which I guess meaning throwing out the lighter and heaviest ones out, to remain with a more "consistent" lot?

Advice on:
1) How would you sort these (which ones to keep)?
2) Further tips improve my boolits?

Will