Steve Brooks mold.

[Gussy]

I have a Brooks mould in 45 Posted. First use I didn't like the fill and opened up the plate hole a little bit and it straightened right out and made perfect bullets. I felt the pour was too slow and the bigger hole worked.

[DirtySteve]

Kurt, Thanks. I am going to try hard for the mid 30's next year.. I hope a heavier bullet will help at the buffalo. I had 5 on it but felt I should have got more.. All were solid holds but just missed due to wind.. I had one hit on it last year.. Next year going for 8!!

[Don McDowell]

Unless your rifle has a 16 twist that new bullet probably will make things worse on the buffalo in the wind.

[DirtySteve]

Don, No it has a 1-18...

[Don McDowell]

Good luck

[Tgc]

Steve, what is the bullet length of that mold? Tim

[Distant Thunder]

A 560 grain .45 caliber bullet is going to 1.500"+ long even if it is quite blunt. With an 18-twist .45 you are better off, stability wise, to be no longer than 1.440".

If you are shooting one of the longer .45 cartridges and getting 1350 fps or more you can stretch that out some. At 1350 a 1.460" long bullet should be good. If your up around 1400 fps a bit longer is probably OK.

The only real way to know is to try it and not just when the wind is calm and steady. However, if you push the length to twist thing too much your bullet may be only marginally stable and can give you fits if the wind is blowing and especially if it is gusty.

I do well out to 1000 yards with my .45-70 with an 18-twist shooting a 1.435" long bullet at 1297 fps even when the wind is pretty rough.

A marginally stable heavy bullet can not hold up as well as an optimally stable lighter bullet. Once a marginally stable is slapped with a wind gust it can struggle in vain to regain stability and there is no telling where it will go.

It will take more wind to upset a well stabilized lighter (shorter) bullet and its recovery will be quicker.

[Tgc]

I have a Brooks grease Groove money bullet that measures 1.497" in length. The nose measures .452" so it requires deep seating. I have not tested it. Good looking mold casts very nice. Tim.

[DirtySteve]

Well I am having a hard time getting it to cast well. I may turn up the heat and possibly get a vented sprue plate..
I have a 45-70 and a 45-2 4/10's

[Kurt]

Steve,

I would stay away from the vented plate. Steve sent me a mould with one on it. I did not order one with that mould and he ended up sending me a regular plate. Down the line if you feel you still need one I will give you mine. if it's still in the parts box.

I have one of those 560 gr moulds from Steve. It's a 5 groove creedmoor nosed and I shot it for a couple years at Alliance and did will with it. Mike Venturino Calle it the Money bullet before Dan T came out with his.

You might turn up the heat to 780º and give the mould time to heat up. I use that temp with 1/20 alloy the harder alloy I cast at around 750º.
Use a RCBS or Lyman ladle full of alloy.
Mate the Ladle spigot tight in the plate hole and start the pour with the mould on it's side.
Turn the mould slowly upright and lift the ladle up and let it empty over the hole.
This is what I call pressure casting and lifting the ladle with it still emptying the vibration will settle the alloy. It's kinda like o]pouring concrete into the form and hitting the side with a shovel or hammer, it fills the voids.
Doing this a few times you will see the variances of the bullet weight get smaller. You will drop bullets with in 5/10 gr light to heavy.
Yes it gets a little messy but you will get the hang of it.