Bullet Mold Oversized

[mountainman_270]

My Lee .50 Modern Minnie(365 grn) is .502". This is not a minnie, is it? A minnie is supposed to be 1 or 2 calibers smaller than the barrel caliber, isn't it? I can't even "hammer" it down my barrel without ruining the bullets nose. My bore is .500 on the dot. Is there a bullet sizing die I can purchase that will size my minnies to be actual minnies? Forget asking Lee, they told me the size of my bullets are with-in QC tolerances, no help from them. As far as commercial bullets (Great plains, Maxi-ball, Buffalo Ball-ets, etc), they fit and shoot very well. It's just my own lead pills that don't fit.

 

[arquebus]

Rapine makes sizing dies, along with a little press that you can use with them. You can order them any size. Lee Precision also make sizing dies that screw into a reloading press (7/8x14 thread), if they don't stock the size you want they will do custom orders, you might want to check their website to see what sizes they'll make. I have both of the above dies in various sizes & have been happy with both. Another alternative, if you have access to a lathe is to make your own.....the Rapine-style is a simple cylinder that the bullet is driven through, nose-first, with a punch. A wooden dowel in a drill press would work just fine.
Here's some photos of the dies;

#1 Lee die in press with bullet on ram-mounted punch.

#2 Rapine Die in Rapine press sizing a Minie.

#3 The two styles of die. Rapine on left & Lee (with supplied punch) on the right.

 

[bwhoffman]

What lead are you using???

wheel weight will sometimes cast larger,
any tin or antimony will do the same.

pure soft lead should be actual.

 

[gmww]

I know that your not happy with Lee. However, they make a .501 sizer. Of course after every shot you'd have to clean much of the fouling to get the bullet to go down.
[url] http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0000690191[/url]

Wheel weights on the other hand would be a whole nother story. I've tried it once! :youcrazy:

I've been fortunate enough to have John Taylor around to make me a sizer using a chunk of my barrel. I would think you might be able to find a machinist or gunsmith to make a sizer in .49(?) for your gun.

 

[CrackStock]

Isn't that bullet a Rifling Engraved At Loading? Maybe I am confused, but I have a Lee that was intended to be just over bore size and I thought it was the .365 grain.

CS

 

[MikeFromON]

The R.E.A.L. is a solid bullet that has a gas-sealing ring cast onto it that is slightly over-bore. A true minie, on the other hand, is slightly under-bore and depends upon an expansion cup in the base for a gastight seal. I cast my R.E.A.Ls from wheel-weights and they very hard to ram down the bore, the expansion ring being something like 0.003 overbore, but the pure lead minies I bought slip down the barrel on their own no problem and I can actually shake them back out after I have seated them with the ramrod.

 

[mountainman_270]

The lead I use is pure lead. It is soft enough to gouge with a thumb nail. No wheel weights, yikes! When I bought the mold, I was assuming the word "minnie" on the box meant minnie, not minnie style. The Lee advertising stated the ease of loading of the aforementioned minnie, leading me to think... Anyways, I won't rant on. :yakyak:
Thanks for the advice about the sizers, gentlemen. I'll see if my friend's machine shop can make me one in .495" and 7/8" X 14 Thread.
This is such a great website, lots of knowledge passed around to us newbies for free. :v

 

[arquebus]

It's great that you have a friend with a machine shop! My advice would be to measure your rifle's bore with a lead slug & then have your friend make the die to size .002" less than the bore's diameter. Remember, the bore size is smaller than the groove size. If your rifle's bore is .500, as you state in your first posting, I'd have him make the die .498".
I doubt if you'll have any trouble loading a number of shots without cleaning the bore, I shoot as many as 15 consecutive Minies in competition without wiping the bore.....not allowed under MLAIC rules. Just use a good lube on the Minie (I use SPG) & you'll be fine. Good luck.

 

[J.D.]

Something doesn't sound right. Are these hollow based minis, or REAL bullets?

REAL bullets are oversize, to fill the riflings on loading. REAL is an acronym for "rifling, engraved on loading." So, yes REAL bullets should be over land to land diameter.

I shoot .533 hollow base minis out of a .530 bore, with no problems. Loading is easy, and while I have just started shooting these minis, accuracy appears to be ok.

What lube are you using?

I would try crisco, SPG, or beeswax/crisco, beeswax/oil, or beeswax/mutton tallow combination for a lube before going to the trouble of making sizer dies, and maybe not solving the underlying problem.

Borebutter type lubes, using a parafin wax base, cake the bore with a waxy layer, causing more problems than it solves.

Beeswax is much "softer" than parafin wax. Beeswax based lubes actually lubricate the bore without the heavy wax build-up of parafin based lubes.
J.D.

 

[CrackStock]

JD,

You and I are on the same page. This sounds like a REAL mould, but he says that it was marked Mini. Too weird. My REAL mould is marked REAL and is 320 grain.

I never got very good accuracy from it either, but decided to stick with PBR shortly after buying it, so it never got a fair chance of load development.

CS

 

[J.D.]

The only REAL bullets I have shot were a coupla dozen 32 cal bullets given to me by an acquaintence. That 100 gr. bullet in front of 50gr FFFg didn't shoot all that well, but is sure did blow the daylights out of 2 liter soft drink bottles. :shocked2:

I wouldn't recommend that load for any gun. That load could be dangerous in you rifle.

These pure lead bullets were lubed with a beeswax/olive oil lube, and loaded pretty easily, considering.

I wonder if mountainman_270's minis are in reality REAL bullets cast from some sort of alloy?
Most of the hard alloys can be scratched with a thumbnail, so that is not a good way to determine hardness of lead.

A photo or a better description of the bullet might help us figure out what the problem really is.
J.D.

 

[mountainman_270]

JD these are hollow based minnies. The box the mold came in says minnie, the advertisement says minnies, and the molded bullets match the picture. As for lube I use lube only on the base. he lube can be Sage, Bore Butter, or my homemade variety. I will be going the sizing die route; I'll see if that works.

 

[J.D.]

I use lube only on the base. he lube can be Sage, Bore Butter, or my homemade variety. I will be going the sizing die route; I'll see if that works.

In my experience, every groove on that minie needs lube. Some long time minie shooters even go as far as smearing more lube on the ogive after inserting the bullet into the bore with the nose almost flush with the muzzle.

Even if the minie loads easily as sized .002-.003 under land to land diameter, too little lube will cause leading problems. It's much better to have too much of a good lube, than too little.

It's much easier to remove excess lube from a bore than lead deposits. And those soft lead bullets will lead a bore without proper lubrication.

Again, I would suggest something like a beeswax based lube over the borebutter. Bore butter is a parafin based lube that, IMHO, will cause a waxy build up in the bore.

Most minie shooters that I know use crisco, crisco/beeswax mix, or SPG for bullet lubes. I don't know the ingredients in SPG, but those who use it love it.

I'm sure that you can find the formula for SPG on the net. If not, a stick or tub of SPG isn't all that expensive.

J.D.

 

[arquebus]

I think you'll be happy with your Minies, once they've been sized properly. I would recommend lubing all the grooves though. I pan lube mine & push them out once the lube has cooled, I then run them through the sizer. Let us know how things turn out.

 

[windwalker_au]

J.D. like you, i to have a .530 bore and .533 mini's
i got lee presion to make me a .529 sizer,as they idea of the mini ball is to be able to load the ball as esay as possible.mine shoot just as well as when as when unsized.
bernie :grin: