309-129-PT aka Crayola of Death

Ah, yes, the infamous Crayola of Death. http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=30&products_id=763&osCsid=kijnr46fk91ur1141li3hn54k3

It was designed by (?) on the 300BO forum to maximize velocity and minimize issues with the ogive binding in the magazines.  Unfortunately, its loooooong conical nose was too pointy to survive functioning in the AR platform.  It would simply bend….My initial results with water dropped bullets weren’t great, about 2″ at 50 yards, but considerably better than the abysmal results some guys were reporting.  I tried it both conventionally lube/GC and powder coated with GC, but there was no magic….tried shortening the ogives by clipping the points back…results on paper for my loads didn’t change.  I considered modifying the mould blocks to accept blank pins to shorten the bullet and widen the meplat.  In that I don’t have adequate machinery to do that, it was going to cost more $$ than the mould was worth to have it modified.

I’ve been kicking an idea around for a while, but finally decided to try it today.  Steel .177 BBs could be inserted into the mould and hot alloy poured on top.  This would require washing the BBs first, heating and swishing them around in flux, or even “tinning” them prior to insertion into the hot mould.  I didn’t have any .177 steel BBs…..checked my supplies and found #2 chilled shot and #4 copper plated shot.  I washed them, heated them in a SS cup, added a little flux, and used tweezers to transfer them into the hot mould with hotter than my normal alloy.  I cast a number with the #2 shot first and then some with the copper plated #4s.  My thought was that the smaller copper plated shot would be more apt to be soldered to the tip of the bullets.  Chilled shot is graphited, so I perceived that a a potential problem…..I water dropped the bullets, and checked the results after drying.  The copper plated #4s didn’t adhere, and could be easily dislodged with a thumbnail.  Conversely, the #2s were firmly attached.

Can you say BLACK TIPS!

I’ll load some of these and see if accuracy is improved.  I would still like to try .177 steel BBs, and think they would adhere nicely if adequately preheated.  Too much preheat and the chilled shot will melt!