New .45acp mold

[92f-fan]

I used to own a Non Destructive Testing company specializing in Xray
We built our own Xray booths and boxes which were essentially Lead lined Plywood boxes and rooms
We used 1/4 in sheet lead 4ft x 4ft
The best tool we found for cutting it was circular saw with carbide blade
just dont swallow or breath the dust

We got the lead when In the 80s a Defense contractor went out of business in FT worth and I went over to bid on and buy some xray equpment
One of the machines we bought was sold in the xray room it was in - we essentially bought the machine, the room and its contents
It was approximately 20x25x15 foot high room that was lined in these lead sheets. up to 3 layers
Each sheet is 4'x4" and weighed 256 lbs
we realized the lead was more valuable than the xray machine and proceeded to start figuring out how to dismantle it and move it
We couldn't lift the sheets and had no forklift onsite so we folded the sheets 3 ways and stuck a bar through them to allow 2 people to carry them to the semi
That was an exhausting 2 days

The trouble is once we got them to our shop we couldn't get the sheets flat again... we tried driving over them - nothing worked
Finally rented a vibrating asphalt roller to get them flat again

think we ended up with 50,000 lbs of lead sheets... Wish I still had them since they are worth $500 each plus shipping
http://www.rotometals.com/product-p/lea ... 6pound.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[wil]

If it takes a log splitter to cut the lead, I have a 24 ton ram on my splitter W/ an 8hp briggs powering it, would that be enough to cut the lead?
I'm in the DFW area if that's close enough to make it workable.

[Don2]

Unused MIHEC BB 68 SWC and Star lube sizer might as well go along with the ride. The kiddos don't seem to be much interested, so I might as well cut it all loose.

Jumping Frog and I have the PB version of that mold; it's a good 'un.

Alloy comparisons:
Stereotype: 6% Tin 14% Antimony 80% Lead = 23 BHN
Linotype: 4% Tin 12% Antimony 84% Lead = 22 BHN
Lyman #2: 5% Tin 5% Antimony 90% Lead = 15 BHN

Cast about 200 or so bullets with the mold in the first post yesterday; they look pretty good even with a 2R ogive radius (they're a bit more pointy than the average 230gr bullet), although they were sticking slightly on exiting the mold. I cast a "dummy-bullet through a nut" once I'd finished casting and polished the cavities with it today.

Lubing - meh. What a mess underneath - now I remember why I hate bevel-based bullets. I'll either have to send this mold away to get the bevels machined out or buy a Star sizer. Oh, and I also had to make a custom-shaped top-punch (using some JB Weld) for my lube-sizer so it wouldn't distort the nose of the bullets.

[ Image ]

Edit: Wow, what a stroke of luck I just got. The feller with whom I'd swapped molds just got himself a Ballisti-Cast machine (automatic bullet-casting thingy) - so he's sending me the original mold I'd sent him - plus all of his others!

What a very very generous guy!

Say Andy, do you use any polishing agent with your custom bullet in your mold?
Have you tried any other method besides a nut? Like something you could put into a cordless drill?

So many questions.

Don2

[Don2]

Got my mold-blocks back from Erik at http://www.hollowpointmold.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - he did a nice job of machining out the bevels in each cavity, so now they'll throw plain-based bullets. Only $51 and took about 11 days to get them back:

[ Image ]

I need to polish the cavities some more, but it looks good so far.

WoW...Looks good.
Tell us how it works for you now when you use them next.


Don2