Should I buy that bullet mould?

[Katigroszek]

I'm considering buying that bullet form :

http://www.allegro.pl/item346882084_kokila.html

to cast my own bullets for a .45 blackpowder pistol I'm gonna buy. Can it be used to cast bullets for a modern firearms shooting modern gunpowder in say .45 LC?

Thanks for any and all info!

 

[David Wile]

Hey Katigroszek,

The mould you are considering is a 294 grain minnie bullet commonly used for rifle use. I do not think that mould would be very useful in any pistol use other than an old single shot muzzle loader. I think the bullet will be too long for the chamber of any revolver. Maybe I am wrong and someone else will correct my thoughts

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

 

[Katigroszek]

Thank You!

I was thinking that maybe the bullet can be made shorter (and lighter) by adding a lathe-made shim at the moulds bottom.

 

[David Wile]

Hey Katigroszek,

Your idea may be possible, but it seems like a lot of extra work when you could just buy a 2 or 4 cavity mould designed for the 45 pistol. To me, casting bullets in a single cavity mould is a bit slow. When you then add the process of putting a filler piece in the mould each time, that really makes casting a pain in the neck.

I guess I should admit I am prejudiced when it comes to single cavity moulds and even more so with single cavity moulds that have extra devices to make a hollow point or a hollow cavity. They are too much work for too little production for me. I used to have several single cavity hollow point moulds that made good bullets. I just did not think it was worth the trouble, so I sold the moulds. There are other ways to make hollow point cast bullets that seem easier to me.

If you like Lee moulds, they make a number of 2 and 4 cavity moulds for 45 cal. pistol, and that seems like a much better idea to me. I do not mean to be disagreeable, I just don't think a 45 cal. rifle Minnie bullet is a good idea for a revolver.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

 

[rcmodel]

Mr. Katigroszek, where are you?

It appears you might be in another country and have a limited choice of .45 Colt bullet molds perhaps?

Anyway, I have to agree with the others.

A 300 grain Minie ball is not going to be a good choice for either your black powder pistol, or for use with smokeless powder in a modern revolver.

Not only is it a little heavy for most .45 shooting, it is way longer then a 300 grain .45 Colt bullet would be because of the hollow base design.

For that reason alone, most pistol barrels would have the wrong rifling twist to stablize it, and accuracy would suffer greatly.

Black powder guns would be rifled for round balls & relatively light conical bullets.

rcmodel

 

[Katigroszek]

I'm from Poland and have very limited access to bullet moulds at all. This mould is the only mould on the e-bay kind of the web portal and is about $40 ($1 = 2,50 zl). I found other moulds for colt revolvers for $60-$80 (the kind Pietta is making - brass or wooden handles).

I'm going to buy single shot Ardesa .45 muzzleloder pistol (they make it for german Hege Arms and call it Pioneer - good name for me, as I'm new to blackpowder).

I'm thinking of making a lathe-made shims for the bottom of the mould to reduce bullet weight, make it shorter and make flat or nearly flat bottomed bullets that could be used for making .45 LC bullets (I'll probably need a sizing die for it, someone said).

 

[rcmodel]

I suppose that would work if you have access to a lathe & or drill press.

The Lee Minie ball mold has a separate sliding plug to make the hollow base.
http://www.rrarms.com/catalog.php?prod=90476

No reason you couldn't drill the base of the mold for an oversize cylinder plug to replace the tapered one that would make a shorter flat base bullet.

Those old solid brass bullet molds are more for show then go.
Try casting bullets when your mold handles are right at molten lead temperature!

YeeeeOwwwww!

Them old-timers must have been Harder then Woodpecker Lips!

rcmodel

 

[David Wile]

Hey Katigroszek,

Don't you have access to E-Bay? They sell used Lyman mould there all the time. Also, do you have access to some of the reloading supply houses here in the USA? Why not buy a new Lee mould from someone like Midway? You could buy whatever bullet mould that works best for you. I would still recommend a two cavity mould over a single cavity mould.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

 

[Katigroszek]

There are very few bullet moulds available here so choices are very limited. Also my bank card does not work with US internet stores, so I'm stuck with local ones.

This mould is relatively cheap, so it is awfully tempting...