Mmmmmm… I think I need a buckshot mold!
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CBE is your answer…Never use a mallet again! That’s what I love about the heavy sprue plates of CBE and the like, no need to hit it to break the sprue, even at 16 BHN alloy!
Thanks Brett! That hexagonal rifling looks awesome! It would look a lot better in my safe tho!!
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What kind of groups have you shot with it so far, @100, 200, so on…
Here’s the thing though, it’s not rifled cause there’s no lands or grooves. The history behind the development of the gun is well worth the read and the main reason I bought it cause I liked the story. I’ve fired less then a handful of rounds and can hit a 20L drum at 50m. I’ll get round to some serious shooting with it later this year when I can get up tot he farm and not worry about starting a bushfire.
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I’ve gone through over 50kg of blackpowder, both in cartridge and muzzleloader, done a lot of shooting over dry grass and never started a fire or seen one start at the competitions I attend. That’s using cast, creedmoor style rifle bullets
Patch and ball, different story, use the wrong patch material and those fuckers will come out of the bore, land on the ground and smoulder like a Cuban cigar.
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Awesome!! If I ever get the BP itch again, I would buy a 1858 2 band Enfield. That was the year my Great grandfather arrived on the boat from the UK. Left in November 1857, and arrived January 58
Procrastinating again, should have been fencing but decided to tidy up my casting area instead. Then I spies some left overs from recent house reno and decided to make a dedicated casting bench. Should be a lot better for casting, right near the door to the garage for better light and fresh air. Now I just need to christen it!
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My bench is in the shed, but I have a 6 inch flue straight above the pot which draws the fumes out nicely. Really like the look of the RCBS dipper pot, way better than the Lee dripomatic BP. How good is it? Does it heat faster than Lee? Does it hold consistent temp? Might have to ask Santa for one. How much was it?
Sorry for 20 questions…
Regards,
MJ
The RCBS has an inbuilt P.I.D, I had to calibrate it as it was reading 10% hotter than actual temp. Once I sorted that out it has been really good. The Lee has a P.I.D that a mate built. It is the black box that you can see on the shelf under the fan. It can be used with any pot, just need to mount the sensor. He made a couple of dozen of them. The melt is held to +/- 1 degree C, that produces very consistent bullets. It was just a pain in the arse to use with a dipper, so I bought the RCBS. I can cast 545gr bullets with a tolerance of +/- 0.3 of a grain using either one and a dipper. I use the Lee bottom pour for smaller bullets for my pistols and lever guns. Larger bullets, ( 400+ grains ) , don’t like being bottom poured in my experience, I get the best results using the dipper method.
Cannot remember how much I paid for the RCBS, had it for a few years now, it was on sale at an “introductory” price when I got it.
The dripping problems that you can have with the Lee can be reduced with a bit of work on the “needle and seat”, just like in a carby. I also found that a bit of weight added to the handle helps.
I also have the Lyman “big dipper”, ( it’s under the bench ), but found the pot to be too small for the volume of bullets that I cast in a session. I’d just get a bit of momentum going and have to stop and refill the pot.
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Lyman also makes one similar to the RCBS but it holds 25 pounds of lead but I think it is around the $800 - $900 price range.
@danmac does your mate still make the P.I.D’s, if so do you know how much he wants for one?
I am too lazy to build my own and would probably burn the house down with my wiring skills.
That’s bottom pour, I’m happy to keep my Lee dripomatic if I need it. I’m only interested in a dipper with PID. Dipper and ladle is the way, for quality rifle bullets, for me.
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Me to
Unfortunately, no. He made two runs of only 10 each time.
I believe the components are readily available online for reasonable $$, I reckon @juststarting could nut them out. Personally, I couldn’t be stuffed, hence I bought the one I’ve got.
I’m at the same point, thinking of the DIY PID with a J or K thermo coupler for my Lee dripomatic. But buying the RCBS dipper unit is easier, and more suited to my casting needs for precision rifle bullets. Purely quality VS quantity…
Me, maybe, but @sungazer is actually your man. I’ve seen his inductive annealer and thought, well, FMD, this is better than factory quality stuff right here.
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I was just going off your D.I.Y target camera.
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I think @juststarting has put together some pretty good projects as well. There was the night vision scope, the Target camera and the Blueing setup. There just the ones I remember from the ones he has shared with us, not to meantion all that 3D printer stuff. That covers a pretty wide technology and craftmanship base.