Yeah mate it’s the 120gn RCBS mold. My dad had it for 25 years or so and it was never used. Maiden run for it yesterday. I am really enjoying the process and think this new found obsession will compliment my existing reloading obsession. I should have been casting years ago.
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Mate from memory the maximum listed load was 9.0gn so I think I will start at 8.2gn and work my way up to 9.0gn in 0.2gn increments to see how they go. Hope to load some up today and get out to the range and test them tomorrow. Will post some pics of the results.
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Haha, I thought exactly t same, when I started casting 15yrs ago
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If I was you, I would start closer to 9gns. The rifle will have no problems handling 11gns. It will be unburnt powder, poor extraction, or both you will encounter. A lot of people give up on 2205 because of the unburnt powder, but in actual fact, it means there isn’t enough powder to combust properly. It’s the most accurate powder in my rifle thus far. I will be starting at 8.8 or even 9gns with mine, and going up from there, until the burnt powder goes away.
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Petty good for your first attempt. I’m not familiar with that mold. Is it a plain (or flat ) base bullet? If so, you need more lead in your sprue puddle, it looks like you have a radius on that single bullet in the photo. Radiused edges lead to gas cutting and leading. A good sharp 90 degree edge is better for accuracy. ( Like the one that’s upside down in the top pic RHS mid-way down )
Also, give the sprue time to cool a bit more, some of them have torn bases, not cut, where lead has been “pulled” out of the base of the bullet. It’s things like that that give a wider spread of weights in casting. Of coarse if you are just making bullets for plinking, that shouldn’t be a worry.
Sorry, but I’m quite O.C.D when it comes to casting. I have a tolerance for a maximum variation of +/- 0.3gr in my 545gr BPCR bullets. I usually run them tighter than that.
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Spot on! I didnt look that closely…but 100% with you!
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Thanks for that mate, I shall start a little higher than planned and sneak up slowly.
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Yep a flat base mate, I will take your comments on board. I was turning them out of the mold fairly quickly so I will
Leave them in a bit longer before cracking them out. Thanks mate.
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I normally run 2 molds, leave one set while you pour the other, and so on…
Yeah I run 10.5 grs of AR2205 in mine without any problems at all.
Less than that and I get unburned powder left behind.
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Yeah I believe the ADI listing of 9gns is conservative…as is mostly the case, for obvious reason.
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Unfortunately range not open tomorrow so will have to wait until Friday. Have loaded 25 up today from 8.6gn to 9.4gn, will see how these go and continue working up u til I get the right load.
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Good luck mate! Enjoy!
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Given that the projectiles I have cast throw a .314 heel, am I correct in saying that if I powder coated these projectiles the addition of the powder coating would make seating and then crimping the projectiles more difficult as the diameter of the heel would increase?
I have read that the CBE .310 mold throws a narrower heel to allow for the powder coating.
It shouldn’t make a huge difference as I have found with the other calibres that I cast and coat for.
I know it didn’t affect my projectiles for the cadet and they seated perfectly.
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Thanks mate
After many weeks I will finally get the chance to fire the first lot of cast projectiles in the 310.
Looking forward to seeing how they go, however because the .314 heel on the projectiles are a bit of a pain with the Bertram brass, I took @1Fatman advice and today ordered a 310 #2 R bullet mould with a .307 heel from CBE. Hoping this alleviates the need to run the loaded cartridge back through the sizing die so they will chamber.
At this stage I am still manually lubing each bullet with Alox.
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Why not tumble lube a 100 or so with the Alox? Its sticky, and messy…CBE 45-45-10 is a better lube…
I looked at that today when ordering the mould. Wished I had ordered some now. Might give him a ring tomorrow and get a bit of the 45-45-10 as well if you reckon its better than Alox mate.
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Yeah it is…no comparison really…no where near as sticky