Accurate Mould

[Kurt]

I just took delivery of a mould build by Tom of Accurate moulds.
This is the first mould I got from him and I must say that it is as good as any I got from Paul, Steve or any of the other mould makers.
This mould is for my .444 Marlin. I wanted to try to make this rifle shoot a cast bullet through the Micro Groove bore it has and so far it has been a big disappointment making it shoot with a cast bullet. I know and I read guys shooting cast bullets in their micro grooved Marlins but I never found anything that looks like good accuracy on my targets. Maybe I'm to critical but I don't call good accuracy at 100 yards that are volley ball sized groups.

I opted to get a two cavity brass block with a 432" diameter 285 gr flat based bullet with out the gas check. I never had much use for a multi cavity moulds but this mould drops two identical bullets, weight and diameter. This is another quality mould added to my collection

Now lets see if this new mould dropping a little larger diameter and heavier weight bullet makes this rifle shoot.

Kurt

[Mike]

Hey Kurt, It was good to read your comments about the molds from Accurate Molds. I have been a rather loyal customer of his for the past couple of years and just received another mold, a double cavity job for the .50/70. Man, those new bullets do look good! I'll shoot some of them tomorrow and maybe give a short report. You should like that bullet for the .444, if your micro-groove barrel will shoot any cast bullet it should shoot that one. Shoot sharp, Mike

[Kurt]

Mike I'm prepping cases now and maybe shoot some tomorrow or later today. I want to keep the velocity around 1300 fps give or take a few feet ps. I'm looking to see what I have for powder suitable in the powder box in the shed for a reduced load so I don't get pressure spikes.
I have a can of blackhorn 209 that has been sitting around for a few years maybe this would be the place to use it up. I will have to do a search to see how to use this powder.
Those bullets do look like a winner. Lets hope they shoot as well as they look.

Kurt

[Mike]

Hey Kurt, Trying will tell. I do wonder if your expected 1300 fps is fast enough to stabilize that bullet in the .444's rather slow twist. Just something to consider. Targets should show. Shoot sharp, Mike

[Kurt]

I don't know Mike. This rifle has very shallow grooves and at the moment I don't have any linotype or WW to make a harder #2 alloy. I tried to push a 1800 fps load in it once and I mined lead for several hours.
I started to load some rounds and the very first shell into the sizing die I pulled the rim off. Not lubed good enough. This is a RCBS die that has the 1/4X28 stem threaded right through the top of the die and no way to get the stem out so I drilled and tapped the primer pocket and put a long 1/4X20 bolt in the head of the shell and rigged it up in the swage press to pull the case from the die, no go!! I must have swelled the head and expanded the base of the shell making it tighter.
I will work on it tomorrow

Anyway I loaded 500 rounds of 9mm for Carolyn to shoot. she sure is blasting that SR-9 Ruger we spent the day at the indoor range yesterday and shot up around 275 rounds with that little gun while I was shooting my CAP .22 off hand practice.
I guess Carol is making up for the 50 years we been married without shooting LOL. I don't have to ask...you want to go to the range? she tells me lets go shoot

[Mike]

Kurt, It's always nice to have something to do tomorrow. Maybe after sleeping on it, you'll have a new idea about how to get that case out of the die. I've never had to melt one out but I have come close. And, like you, I do favor the old style sizing dies with the de-capping pin held in with a bushing which could all be removed from the top of the die. More than once I've driven cases out of the die from the top.
Once an almost similar event came my way when I stepped on a blow-tube. Other than being crushed and out of shape, it was a very good blow-tube. All it needed was re-sizing. Even with the tube attached, I got the case into the die to re-shape it. Then getting the case out of the die, even well lubricated, was somewhat of a problem. That one was driven out from the top and my blow-tube was saved. It is still in use today. Here's hopin' your problem gets fixed easily. Shoot sharp, Mike

[Kurt]

Got it out Mike.
I sawed the head off and sharpened a 8 penny nail and drove it down folding the case wall in. The die is so hard that a soft nail will not hurt the die. No damage to the die.

[Mike]

Good doin's, Kurt! But now you've got nothing to look forward to for tomorrow, unless it's loading more for the .444. Good doin's too on no damaged equipment. Shoot sharp, Mike

[Nuclearcricket]

Glad you got the case out without damage to the die. I have had to extract a few cases over the years. Usually I have been able to drill and tap them 1/4-20 and use a cap screw and a stack of hardeded washers to pull the case out. I have also used a tap run into the case and an arbor press to press the case out. All in all its never a good thing to get one stuck. It also shows you how much leverage your press does have. My Dillon is the easiest press to rip case rims off with. Surprised the hell out of me the first time.
That is the press that taught me the lesson of cleaning the sizing die very carefully when changing lubes. Some brands just don't play well with others.
Sam

[Kurt]

Sam.

The .444 has a rim like a .45 colt very small thin rim and it don't take much to tear it off.
When I lubed the cases I pick up a hand full and roll them on the lube pad but the first one I picked up must not got into the lube when I rolled them on the pad. Usually when I pull a rim off it's no problem I just knock them out with a brass drift but this die I could not get the stem out so I had to drill and tap the shell head. My swage press had a 7/8X14 threaded ram that holds the die and I made up a bushing I can screw in the ram and screw the loading die into the press head and lower the ram this is usually a easy operation using the swage press but this time I had to put so much pressure on the press lowering the ram that I heard the bench top crack. That top is made up with a 2x12 with 5/8 plywood on top. You can hand on the lever with a cheater and it stays put.

Well I shot the new bullets today. I only had a can of IMR 4759 for a reduced smokeless load for the cast bullet and keep it in the velocity range I want so I started with a ladder load of 23 grains with the 285 gr bullet and worked it up to 28 gr and still no signs of pressure and very mild recoil from what I'm used to but it does not take that bullet long to hit the berm.
The groups tightened up with every step of the ladder. the first three shots where 6 1/2" @ 130 yds using the barrel sights and the last three where 2 7/8".
The first three with a 23 gr load I saw a lot of wobble but it disappeared with 25 gr load.
That 285 gr bullet is .773" long and .432 in diameter. It will make a fine shooter I think when I get it worked out. It has a lot of bearing surface on the shank and it leaves just a trace of lead behind with all the rounds I shot.
I loaded 5 rounds using 2F KIK and shot the 5 through the action and it just might end up just shooting black fine group using it but the impact was 7" above the smokeless loads.

All in all to day this rifle went from not hitting all shots using a 210 gr bullet on a 30" paper to just under 3".
I call this making headway

Kurt