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brigettecuneo
First time casting with this RG model using the large hp pins. The alloy I’m am using was a mix of pure lead and Lyman #2. BHN =10-12 air cooled
Average weight was 191-192 grains prior to any powder coating
After a few rejects, the mold was dropping great boolits. Very pleased. I also was using the brass mold option and was running the alloy mix ranging from 760-790 (F)
brigettecuneo-
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Ran some through the powder coating factory. Going to load some hopefully this evening and get back with a range report in the next couple days. So far, I really like this particular hollow point. Has some promise and the dummy rounds I made feed excellent in my 1911. No hang ups.
Going to try using true blue powder to start.Hugh Kuhns
Hey those look pretty nice. You have been busy today. I like those silicon mats, where did you find them? I have looked at Wally World and they didn’t have them. I looked on Ebay and they had some but they were red.
I made about 500 bullets today and may size some this evening. So then tomorrow I can make my first attempt to powder coat bullets. I hope they come out as nice as yours. Nothing fancy, just some 44 and 45 wad cutters and a 425 grain 480 bullet. I hope to be able to post some pictures.
762sultan
Hey those look pretty nice. You have been busy today. I like those silicon mats, where did you find them? I have looked at Wally World and they didn’t have them. I looked on Ebay and they had some but they were red.
I made about 500 bullets today and may size some this evening. So then tomorrow I can make my first attempt to powder coat bullets. I hope they come out as nice as yours. Nothing fancy, just some 44 and 45 wad cutters and a 425 grain 480 bullet. I hope to be able to post some pictures.
I went into the shop and found only one of the blue mats still new in its pack. I believe this one was under 4 dollars. I cut it to size as you can see from the photos to fit my oven pan.The blue dirty sheet has been through at least 5000 rounds so far. I just flip it over once it gets dirty enough and while it’s cooking the other side cleans off when warm with a clean cloth. For your application of pistol bullets of good diameter size, these smooth mats are awesome my friend. I really like them. No waste and completely reusable.
The green textured mats are used for low calorie cooking, and my better half is responsible for finding those, also at walley world. I think those were a couple dollars more. When I’m installing gas checks on prior to, these really excell. The gas check portion almost locks into the little cups. Allows the heated powder coating to drip down and cover all areas well.
I also use the green mats to cool them after I dump them out of the hot blue pan. They never stick together that way. I also cut a smaller piece that fits inside for easy pick up, fold up and dump into containers. Like making your own funnel shape.
Lastly, not all containers are equal in the powder coating department. If you can get yourself a hold of a few empty tennis ball containers. Something about that shape and being clear so you can see what your doing seems to really work great for me.
Especially when I’m coating those super pointy ones. The tennis ball container works really well, and mostly important has a metal rim on the top to seal in all the powder when your doing the shaking, mixing process.
I wish you great success Sir. Take care,
MikeI finally had some time to test some loads with this mold. So far, I’m liking what I’m seeing.
I normally use ramshot true blue for my 45 acp target loads, but I decided to try out some of ramshot’s silouhette for this project.
After powder coating all the sample boolits were weighed and all were exactly 195 grains. I used new starline brass with Winchester large pistol primers. Pistol used was a 5 inch les baer ultimate master combat.
Overall length was 1.200
7.3 grains = average per 10 shots = 928 fps
7.4 grains = average per 10 shots = 946 fps
7.5 grains = average per 10 shots = 966 fpsI was targeting for right around 1000 fps, so I’m going to continue a few more incremental powder increase charges to see what it produces.
The first photo of the 2 liter soda pop bottle is the entry and the second is the exit, traveling at 966 fps. Complete shoot through with additional ruptures up and down the bottle.
I also tried a factory hornady 230 grain hp @ 890 fps, which entered and then blew out the side. It did cause more opening up of the bottle however, smaller entry and exit holes and took longer for the water to escape. The 195 grain lead hp ripped the bottle open much larger and vacated the water much faster.I was able to also recover a couple samples to measure expansion. These ones were shot through a paper target and ended up going into my 25 yard dirt back stop.
They measured 0.561 and 0.533 at there widest points and both weighed the same at 192 grains. I did run them under the faucet to remove as much dirt as possible. I suspect the weight may be another 0.02 less, but no more.
All in all I liked the load. Not hard to handle, able to achieve nice tight groups supported, weak hand, etc. still looking for that 1000 fps window but this boolit has a lot of promise in my book.
More updates to come. Thanks for listening and have a great day folks.Ran another set for testing. The mold is really working excellent. Hardly any throw backs this round ( less than 5). Very happy with how it drops the boolits smoothly. My brass mold likes my alloy temps right at 780 degrees F from my ladle cast Lee pot.
Another range report to follow. Have a great day folks.
Full.Lead.Taco
Hey mountain man! So I went ahead and picked up a textured silicon cooking mat like yours. I am going to try it out sometime in the next couple of weeks to see how it works for me. Thanks for posting your pics and experiences.
Good deal Sir. I hope you like it. I’m still super happy with my switch to the silicon mats. I’m still using the first piece I cut.
One thing I noticed is the mats sometimes raise like a cooking pizza and bubbling cheese in an oven in spots from time to time, but because of the powder coating, they stick at the bottom and normally do not fall over while cooking. So when your cutting your piece for your metal tray, allow some heat stretching room.
I just did a batch in mirror black for a smaller 30 cal rifle mold,and wow, that color really coats beautifully.
I like using the smooth mat for all my wider pistol projects. Wear your disposable reloading gloves and while transferring, no powder coat rubs off while touching them, if you decide to stand them base down.
I know the mesh is quicker but I have to tell you base down on the mat, come out really nice. A few here and there maybe not perfect but 95% do.
For me the most important part is the complete even coating everywhere , even the base.
And if your tired of pulling apart the stuck boolits and getting booger marks, dropping them hot unto the textured mat to cool them works really well. Since it’s also silicon material, even hot, they never stick.
Plus allows me to transfer and fill up the tray for another set to bake faster, rather then letting it cool on the tray.
I look forward to hearing how it’s going for you. Good luckHey Mountain man…I thought the bullets came out of the toaster oven and were dumped into a bath of water to keep them from sticking together. Are you dumping them on the silicon mat while they are hot? Have you tried both ways? Which works best?
Some folks may have had different results with using the wire mesh to bake in, but when I did the normal drop, sift and bake, some while in the oven would stick together pretty good and leaving bare marks once they were broken free.
They always seemed to shoot fine, but maybe it was a pride thing for me and I wanted a better looking product.
I spend all this time enjoy this hobby, so part of it from me is at the end to have a nice looking round that shoots as true as I can get it.
I have tried water quenching after, but only when I wanted more hardness for my project. Otherwise, from what I’ve read and researched, air cooled and getting my alloy right where I want it from the pot is what is best for me.
So yes, lately my process goes as follows….
I load my powder coated boolits using gloves, and set them base down on the smooth silicon mat. Bake them, and right when they are done, take them out and dump them unto my already laid out green textured mat. I’ve used either sides and both work great. They cool on the textured mat, while I’m preparing another round to be placed on my blue smooth mat, then the oven.
The textured mats keep the hot pills separated great when I pour them out and because of the material it is, they never stick. Once they are cool, they are off to the press for sizing and bottled up for use.
I do not have to dry them also, since they were never put in the water. Just makes fast work here and there for me to make the process more stream lined I guess. I can spend a few hours and keep the oven going non stop, then I have a good amount going in short time.
We all have a system that we like , and I hope you can take some of what I do and make it work for you.
Take care Sir.Here is another set I just ran through. This time I used the pins included to make the round nose.
First photo is prior to baking. Powder is dry and if you look closely can see some areas are not totally covered. After baking, in the next photo you can see how they are all covered.
There is a white glare, but it’s just looks that way because this color is very shinny and I think it’s a reflection of my iPad taking the photo. Gives a great mirror finish appearance.
So far, I love this mold. Very versatile and a great bargain for the ability to make 3 different types, hollow point, flat point and round nose all at one price.How do you verify the oven temp? I don’t trust the thermometer on the ovens dial. Do you use a round thermometer like the one you would use in a regular oven or a laser type one like Harbor Freight sells? I don’t want to go to the time making these and then melt them because the oven was too hot.
762sultan
How do you verify the oven temp? I don’t trust the thermometer on the ovens dial. Do you use a round thermometer like the one you would use in a regular oven or a laser type one like Harbor Freight sells? I don’t want to go to the time making these and then melt them because the oven was too hot.
Good morning,
When I first set up the oven in my shop I used a digital handheld laser thermometer to make sure it was close to the target temperature. It was not right on like you mentioned, but it was close enough and not over. I believe it was about 10 degrees off if I recall.
I never checked it since then, so I cannot say for sure it’s staying in the same temperature window I wanted. I have been getting such good results, it was not something I was concerned with, but maybe I should check. I’ve never had a boolit melt in the oven.
I have my dial set right on the 400 F mark, and when I set the timer I go right to the 15 minute mark once I have the set loaded and in the oven . The powder coating colors I have say to bake for 10 minutes, but I do not preheat anything, just give it an extra 5 minutes for a total of 15 minutes, and I’ve had no problems.
I think you may be overthinking it. Once you try it, the process is very easy my friend. Have a great rest of your weekend.Full.Lead.Taco
hey, so this last weekend I had a chance to play with the silicon baking mats. I have a question for you about the bullet bases on the ones you stand up on the base. How does your base look? Mine looks a little weird like the powder coat doesn’t cover the base all the way. Curious how yours look.
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