Bullet Mould Advice

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GSmith
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Bullet Mould Advice

Post by GSmith »

Placed an order for a 1874 Creedmoor Target Rifle in January and am working to get all the reloading components. I have a lot of reloading experience with shot shells but have no experience with reloading a 45-70 blackpowder cartridge. I was able to finally get a RCBS Rebel press, Dies, rotary tumbler, and new and once fired cases. I am now looking into bullet moulds and have heard good things about Brooks Moulds. Do I need to get the rifle specs before acquiring the mould? Are there other moulds that should be considered?

Any help would be appreciate.

Glenn
Nuclearcricket
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Re: Bullet Mould Advice

Post by Nuclearcricket »

Brooks has a very good reputation as does Buffalo Arms. I am sure others will pipe in with other mold makers that they know and patronize. 3 mold styles that would be good to consider is the old reliable Lyman 500 gr government bullet. I don't remember the mold number off the top of my head and sad to admit it that is the one mold I have never used. Other styles to strongly consider are the Creedmore style and the Postel style bullet. Both are offered by Brooks and I think BACO as well. Your rifle is coming from Shiloh so it will be a .450 bore and a .458 grove diameters, a bullet that drops from the mold at .459 or so will be about as close to perfect as you can expect.
Other things you will need to have on hand by the time your rifle arrives is some wads and Black Powder bullet lube. There are many out there, SPG is a solid standard but other options are there as well. A proper size wad punch will come in handy as well. I prefer to put a wax paper wad between the bullet base and the over powder wad. That way if anything sticks to the bullet it will only be the wax paper and that will have little to no effect on the bullet flight. A drop tube and a powder compression die will also be good to have.
Sam
Gussy
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Re: Bullet Mould Advice

Post by Gussy »

The Government bullet is not a great target round but very good for hunting with softer lead mix.

I use a Brooks Postel bullet and I've used that design for 20+ years. Also the "money bullet" basic design is also good for targets.
Dennis Armistead
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Re: Bullet Mould Advice

Post by Dennis Armistead »

GSmith wrote: Fri Aug 20, 2021 1:51 pm Placed an order for a 1874 Creedmoor Target Rifle in January and am working to get all the reloading components. I have a lot of reloading experience with shot shells but have no experience with reloading a 45-70 blackpowder cartridge. I was able to finally get a RCBS Rebel press, Dies, rotary tumbler, and new and once fired cases. I am now looking into bullet moulds and have heard good things about Brooks Moulds. Do I need to get the rifle specs before acquiring the mould? Are there other moulds that should be considered?

Any help would be appreciate.

Glenn
Do you plan on using this rifle for competition? If so, what range? More information is needed.
Dennis
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desert deuce
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Re: Bullet Mould Advice

Post by desert deuce »

You wrote:
"Placed an order for a 1874 Creedmoor Target Rifle in January"

Hope you are a patient sort, that was ONLY seven months ago.

Creedmoor rifle is designed for shooting 800-900 & 1,000 yards, Hopefully you ordered a 1-16 twist barrel either 32 or 34 inches long, if you truly plan to shoot Creedmoor. Preferably round barrel.

Maybe consider obtaining several different bullets and trying them in your rifle before ordering a mould. The current iteration of the Lyman Postel is numbered 457132 and a lot of folks start with it and end up circling back to it.
Sometimes you get the chicken, and sometimes you get the feathers!
Dennis Armistead
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Re: Bullet Mould Advice

Post by Dennis Armistead »

desert deuce wrote: Fri Aug 20, 2021 5:49 pm You wrote:
"Placed an order for a 1874 Creedmoor Target Rifle in January"

Hope you are a patient sort, that was ONLY seven months ago.

Creedmoor rifle is designed for shooting 800-900 & 1,000 yards, Hopefully you ordered a 1-16 twist barrel either 32 or 34 inches long, if you truly plan to shoot Creedmoor. Preferably round barrel.

Maybe consider obtaining several different bullets and trying them in your rifle before ordering a mould. The current iteration of the Lyman Postel is numbered 457132 and a lot of folks start with it and end up circling back to it.
K'mon Zack...459542M5 for the .45 2.1 :D
Dennis
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Kurt
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Re: Bullet Mould Advice

Post by Kurt »

If you don't mind cleaning out some lead after a shooting session I think the Ideal/Lyman 457-132 is hard to beat. The now Lyman is slightly different than the Ideal was originally but it's a good all-around bullet.
I would get the BA mould before the Lyman.
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Don McDowell
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Re: Bullet Mould Advice

Post by Don McDowell »

Probably those once fired brass, unless they were fired in a B serial numbered Shiloh are going to be a pain in the butt, when that rifle arrives.
There's no flies in the ointment of any of the .458525 M bullets from BACO in the 45-70. Their copy of the original postel shows some promise from 45-70's out to 1000.
AKA Donny Ray Rockslinger :?
mdeland
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Re: Bullet Mould Advice

Post by mdeland »

If you can find them I really like the Paul Jones Creedmoor in 510 and 530 grain for my match rifles. I mostly shoot the Lyman Schmitzer in my Trapdoor and it likes that bullet very well. Shot my best position midrange score with that bullet in my 2.1 Falling block action (276 with a couple of X's), match rifle and I think I might still hold the AK state record using the Schmitzer at 600 yards with same rifle and load, turning in a , 99- 4x.
pacecars
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Re: Bullet Mould Advice

Post by pacecars »

KAL’s adjustable paper patch molds are very good also
Real gun powder is black.
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1578Tiger
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Re: Bullet Mould Advice

Post by 1578Tiger »

You can save some money by making your drop tube. I used a long length of 3/8” brass tubing (24”, I think) and epoxy glued a reloading funnel to it. The holder was scrap 2X4. Total cost was under $15.
Wayne

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GSmith
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Re: Bullet Mould Advice

Post by GSmith »

Thanks to all for the information. I contacted Brooks Moulds for advice. They suggested the 540gn Creedmoor mould. The rifle was ordered with s 34" octagonal barrel and I did make a 36" drop tube. I will be looking into the other moulds that were mentioned. The once fired cases that I was able to get were 100 Hornady and a mixture of WW, P-P, R-P, *-*, FC. Not sure what some of those signify.

Finally got new Starlite brass from Graf. I am in no hurry, just don't want to spend on worthless items. I do have a lot to learn.

Glenn
charlie young
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Re: Bullet Mould Advice

Post by charlie young »

That Brooks Creedmoor Mould I believe still holds the highest score at the Quigley from a scoped rifle. And held the record for the Montana 1000 for a couple years and still sets second. Good bullet once you get it hammered out of the mould. :D
GSmith
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Re: Bullet Mould Advice

Post by GSmith »

Nose pour or base pour?
beltfed
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Re: Bullet Mould Advice

Post by beltfed »

Glenn,
YOu only need a 20-24" drop tube..
beltfed/arnie
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