Kentucky Armory Club

Thought I’d run a few 124gr tc today. I’ve always had problems with this mold. I bought it used from a reputable source, but it’s almost impossible to get rid of the fins.

I ran these instead. 115gr

I’d like to find a decent 147gr
mold that doesn’t cost <$100

Do you smoke ya yer molds before casting???

pb

plumber_bob wrote:Do you smoke ya yer molds before casting???

pb

Yes. Smoking only helps with releasing the projectiles from the mold, or at least that’s what I’ve always heard. I think the mold is just junk. It’s an aluminum lee mold and it may have gotten too hot. Idk. I know I like the tc projectiles, but not from this mold.

I can trim off the fins and have a good projectile, but I’d rather not take on extra steps.

Hmmm... which one to choose..... I know lots of people have really reliable results with the lube groove model. I’m gonna pc them so I like the nlg designs. That’s what I have in 115gr 9mm and 225gr(?) 300blackout. I need a 147gr to feed subsonic in my ar9. Regardless which way I go, it’ll still be a while before I can put any lead through it.
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Went ahead and brought the one with lube grooves.

New mold came in today.

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Finally felt able enough to run a batch through the new mold. I think they will be great.

They look cleaner than some of the others you've posted.

The mold make that much of a difference?

Livewire wrote:They look cleaner than some of the others you've posted.

The mold make that much of a difference?

Mp is pretty top-of-the-line in mold makers. They are well worth the price. I prefer NOE molds because he’s an American small business, but he doesn’t run a lot of molds without considerable interest. Miha will custom make pretty much anything your willing to pay for, but he’s in Slovenia. Lots of mass produced Lee’s and Lyman are available for budget friendly options. Like buying a budget ar15, it may take some tinkering to get it just right.

I’ll have less than $.01 in each projectile, (for fun let’s say) $.01 per case, $.03 per primer, less than $.02 of powder per round. $.07 per round of 147gr 9mm isn’t bad. I’m making these for my ar9. As long as I don’t get a baffle strike, I think it’s a good investment. It would be better if I got to shoot it more.

That's cheap shooting, even more so if you enjoy the reloading.

Livewire wrote:That's cheap shooting, even more so if you enjoy the reloading.

That’s really the only reason I do it. I enjoy it. Taking a comparable hourly rate to my job into consideration for my time invested, I’m waaaaay overpaying for the product. For some odd reason, I really enjoy the whole process.

My experience with the Lee tumble lube TC bullet is that it didn’t shoot worth a darn in any of my guns unless I Water dropped them directly from the mold to harden them up. I never use that mold anymore.

Finally got around to coating and resizing tonight. Coming out of the mold at 150gr and .357.

The coating smashed well. I set one in a case at 1.105. I’m gonna try to load a few tomorrow. If my shoulder feels up to it, I might unload them this weekend.

Tried out a chrome pc. I can’t really tell if it’s good coverage or not thin, but smashed without flaking so...?

I bought some cfe pistol to try out on some 115gr. Loads up 50 @ 5.2gr. Hopefully I can find some time to unload them. I usually use titegroup but it’s so smokey at an indoor range.

How are you coating them? Dry tumble? Spray gun? Are you standing them up individually or just pouring them on a tray and baking them? I have some powder but haven’t tried using it yet so I’m interested in how you are getting them to look that good.

I dry tumble them. Some times in in a tumbler; sometimes in a bowl. I stand each one on end.

I recently started using these ice cube trays. I can fit more in than standing up on parchment paper