UPS dropped off my new toys this morning.

The dies are hot off the press.
(actually got them from Graf)

I've got about 50 pounds of lead at just the right alloy,
and my molds just came in from Mountain Molds.
(3-cavity mold. 450, 525, and 600 grain.)

Dave

http://home.mchsi.com/~chevelle/redding.jpg

http://home.mchsi.com/~chevelle/mold.jpg

Hey Dave how do you like your mould ?? I notice that it is not gas checked , do you not push these very fast ?? I have the 575 gr gc and soon to be the 650 gr gc from mountain moulds , so far the 575 is a great bullet , I think it should have bigger lube groovesthough , otherwise I like it a lot .

RR :D

The bullet in your photo..... What is it?
The only 575g bullet Mountain Molds has in their "typical
design" is a bore rider, which yours doesn't appear to be.

I haven't even cleaned the moly spray off my molds yet.
I've only had them out of their VCI bags long enough to
take photos. (I also bought a 3-cavity 250g 44 mold)
I need to get some oil on them soon. Humidity today
got up to 64% in the house.

I've been spending free time sorting and melting
wheelweights, and making 6%Sb, 2%Sn alloy out of them.
I can reload in the air conditioning when it is too hot to
mess with wheel weights. Although today sucked... It
started to rain as I was casting 1-lb ingots of my bullet
alloy. DO'H!

No, my molds are not gas checked. I don't plan on pushing
my bullets too hard. Bullets from these molds shouldn't
need any resizing, and I'm going to use Liquid Alox lube.
So for now I am avoiding a hard lube / sizer / gas check
installer.
I don't think I'll need them.


First things first though. I need to
load up some firelapping rounds for both the 44 and the
500.

Something I'm considering, however... some people
believe if you adjust the alloy and hardness, you don't need
gas checks regardless of how hard you push them.

Dave

Hey Dave

The two rounds pictured is a 240 gr for my 44 ruger redhawk and the other is 575 gr 500 mag , the 575 came from a LBT mould ( I think ) I had to buy some from a buddy , my mould had not come as of that time . I have some 495 gr that I do not care for , they just dont handle right . Your right about that gas check thing , I just feel more comfortable shooting them .I do push them pretty hard . The loaded round has 33.2 gr H110 and it has a pretty good wallop . I will be taking this with me on a 10 day combo float hunt this fall here in Alaska for moose, black bear and caribou . I will be using it also on a 2005 Grizz spring bear hunt .The 500 I bought is the PC HUNTER . Well you got rain and we got snow , I was thinking of doing some casting my self until the white stuff started to fall , maybe tomorrow . A person can go through some serious lead developing loads and stopping by the range two or three times a week after work , it's a lot of fun and I enjoy it .

RR

I'll be very interested in how you do with the liquid alox on your bullets. Hope you'll share your results with the group.
I've got some, but have been afraid to use it with anything too hot since Lee recommends using it with lower velocity loads.

I sure will.

I haven't had the molds out of their box since I took their
photo.

One thing at a time. Right now I'm working on fire lapping
my 44 Redhawk.

I'll start casting bullets in a week or two. (hopefully)

Dave

Hello!
I´m calling from Sweden, in Europe
I have some question for you.. how might can help me wiht :

1. to find reloading stuff to 500 S&W mag ?
2. which brand ? the best and how many brand are what ?
3. do you hunting with it ? If yes, that animal ? ( In Sweden it´s against the law to hunt with handguns)


I´m think to buy one, but everybody here in my country says that I should buy 45 long colt......

MrHunter -

I order commercial jacketed bullets and brass from:

http://www.midwayusa.com

I ordered a custom bullet mold from

http://www.mountainmolds.com

Everyone has their own opinions. I read a lot of the
opinions which leads me to believe that the best readily
available reloading dies are made by Redding. I ordered a
Redding die set from:

http://www.grafs.com

midwayusa.com has them listed on their web site,
with a note saying they are on backorder for at least 30 days.

The Redding dies just became available a couple of days
before I posted the pictures of them (march 22nd).
Prior to that, I ordered a set of Lee dies (carbide resizer) from:

http://www.factorysales.com

Redding says they are experimenting with making a
titanium carbide (not tungsten carbide) resizer die for the
500, but others I have spoke to said it is futile, due to the
diameter of the brass making the carbide too thin to work.

As far as hunting is concerned, I believe what I have read
that there is nothing on this planet that can't be hunted with
the 50 magnum. People have literally taken elephant and
buffalo with this revolver. What more needs to be said.

The S&W 500 has a long cylinder which allows for HUGE
bullets (I think I read a maximum of about 700 grain).

eh. the only reason I bought it was because of the
advertising. "worlds most powerful handgun".
(granted it isn't quite true, but it "tripped my trigger")

Dave

I notice that you purchased a Crimp Die in addition to the seating/crimp die in the set. Is this because you intend to use very heavy bullets? Have you had the opportunity to determine, since you posted this message, if the additional crimp die is necessary?

I have been working up a practice/ plinking load with a cast, gas-checked bullet. As this is intended to be for general use, rather than hunting, I have used a lighter and more economical load and bullet combination. Nonetheless, with this particular load test (currently a work in progress) using a Cast Performance bullet and between 32 and 42 grains of H4227, I have not measured changes in bullet seating. I have fired three rounds and measured the overall length of the last one or two left in the chambers prior to sending those downrange. When I complete testing with this particular powder I will then begin again using another powder and continue to check for cartridge overall length compression/ expansion. If I begin to record changes I will be very interested in a fourth die to alleviate that problem.

Its tough to have to shoot so much but someone has to do it.
http://home.mchsi.com/~chevelle/redding.jpg

http://home.mchsi.com/~chevelle/mold.jpg[/QUOTE]

The only reason I bought the separate profile crimp die was because I had read it was better to crimp in a separate step
rather than crimp while the bullet is still moving during the seating step.

I've loaded up a few rounds so far, but area thunderstorms
have kept me at home and unable to shoot.

Dave

Hello again...
Today I was calling Midway - Sweden for price for brass to the Smith & Wesson 500 mag, before I had check the price at Midway - USA..
In USA :
Starline brass S&W 500mag / 500pices = 200$
In Sweden :
Starline brass S&W 500mag / 500pices = 420$

Summit: 113% more for the same brass!!!
"YOU" should be happy to live in the USA!!!!!

/ Andreas