I've got this bullet mold ... Minié ball?

[gmerkt]

It isn't marked as to maker. The blocks are aluminum. The handles appear to be Lyman. The markings say "450255," The design has a deep hollow base.

Today, I poured a few bullets just to see what came out. They drop at .453 and weigh 254.6 gr.

I'm thinking this is a Minié ball mold for .45 BP rifle. The grooves in the bullet bias toward the front like some "modern" Minié balls and it doesn't have a crimping groove like a "real" .45 Colt cast bullet would have.

I'm wondering is this might be a good bullet for .45 Colt through my NEF .410 / .45 Colt rifle. The rifling is shallow in this barrel. I'm thinking the hollow base would give good obturation in this hybrid design. I see a use for my Herco powder appearing on the horizon.

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[P7M13]

Could be, but it looks nothing like my 50 cal minie ball

 

[ageingstudent]

It isn't marked as to maker. The blocks are aluminum. The handles appear to be Lyman. The markings say "450255," The design has a deep hollow base.

Today, I poured a few bullets just to see what came out. They drop at .453 and weigh 254.6 gr.

I'm thinking this is a Minié ball mold for .45 BP rifle. The grooves in the bullet bias toward the front like some "modern" Minié balls and it doesn't have a crimping groove like a "real" .45 Colt cast bullet would have.

I'm wondering is this might be a good bullet for .45 Colt through my NEF .410 / .45 Colt rifle. The rifling is shallow in this barrel. I'm thinking the hollow base would give good obturation in this hybrid design. I see a use for my Herco powder appearing on the horizon.

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The Ideal 450255 shows up as a 45 colt bullet but the profile is way different. Plus only 165 grains. Hmm...

 

[gmerkt]

The Ideal 450255

I saw that one, it's definitely not one of those. I'm pretty sure it isn't a Lyman / Ideal. The blocks are aluminum, I've never seen a Lyman mold in that metal. The handles I'm pretty sure are Lyman, just used by someone else who didn't make their own handles.

Could be, but it looks nothing like my 50 cal minie ball

This one doesn't look like a traditional Minié ball, but looks more like a "modern" version such as this:

RCBS Reloading Minie Ball Moulds 58-500-M 82103

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Note how the bullet lands or ridges and grooves lean toward the front of the bullet. Rather than being of uniform orientation.

 

[P7M13]

The handles I'm pretty sure are Lyman, just used by someone else who didn't make their own handles.

Look at NOE molds (sorry, I'm too lazy). The NOE molds I have are aluminum, and take RCBS or Lyman handles. The handle color reminds me of my RCBS ones, but they would have the initials stamped into the jaws.

 

[gmerkt]

Look at NOE molds (sorry, I'm too lazy). The NOE molds I have are aluminum, and take RCBS or Lyman handles. The handle color reminds me of my RCBS ones, but they would have the initials stamped into the jaws.

I went to their site, never heard of them before but what I saw looks good. The mold (mould? I see it spelled both ways for the same meaning) I have is older than NOE. I wasn't able to get the aluminum blocks off the handles without some effort, so I decided to leave well enough alone. So the area where RCBS stamps their letters wasn't revealed. However, I have a set of RCBS handles and I've owned a few pair of Lyman handles and I'm very sure these are Lyman.

 

[gmerkt]

Update.

This mold isn't gonna work for .45 Colt. The bands on the bullet are not uniform. As cast, the largest band measures .452. The next one behind measures .451. Plus, the bands do not present a flat surface against the inside of the case, the are curved. Consequently, I wasn't able to get sufficient tension to hold the bullet in place. After all, this is for a .450 Minié ball bore, slightly undersized to .45 Colt. I thought it had possibilities but that isn't the case. Now to find a new owner on eBay.

 

[ageingstudent]

Update.

This mold isn't gonna work for .45 Colt. The bands on the bullet are not uniform. As cast, the largest band measures .452. The next one behind measures .451. Plus, the bands do not present a flat surface against the inside of the case, the are curved. Consequently, I wasn't able to get sufficient tension to hold the bullet in place. After all, this is for a .450 Minié ball bore, slightly undersized to .45 Colt. I thought it had possibilities but that isn't the case. Now to find a new owner on eBay.

Any chance you can powder coat it to slightly oversize and then run it through a push through sizer to uniform it? Might be worth a try if you think it has potential. Interesting project.

 

[gmerkt]

Any chance you can powder coat it to slightly oversize and then run it through a push through sizer to uniform it? Might be worth a try if you think it has potential. Interesting project.

Your suggestion has possibilities. But I've decided to not pursue it any further. I was trying to make something "outside of the box" work but it isn't turning out as I'd hoped. I will just keep with conventional designs. Made by someone else for the time being.

Tonight, I fired some .45 Colt using 328 gr. cast bullet. That's a hefty bullet for .45 Colt. I bought them by accident, thinking they were for .45-70 but when they got here, they were .452, which was my mistake in ordering. I came up with a load using Unique and another with Herco. Both running around 650 fps, a very slow but heavy bullet. There were only 50 in the box, by the time I perfect a load, they will be gone.

 

[gmerkt]

Tonight, I fired some .45 Colt using 328 gr. cast bullet. That's a hefty bullet for .45 Colt. I bought them by accident, thinking they were for .45-70 but when they got here, they were .452, which was my mistake in ordering. I came up with a load using Unique and another with Herco. Both running around 650 fps, a very slow but heavy bullet. There were only 50 in the box, by the time I perfect a load, they will be gone.

This afternoon, I fired another shot with the Herco load. This time, I placed a 1/16 inch copper sheet in front of my backstop. 328gr. LFN bullet bored right through the copper and disappeared deep into the wood.