515 gn maxiballs for a 50 cal

armouredtrooper

BANNED
BANNED
BANNED
Rating - 100%
5   0   0
I obtained roughly 30 or 40 lbs of soft lead the other day.:D It came in sheets that were used to line walls in a x-ray room. I set my lee pot on the deck and got to casting bullets. I have two RCBS moulds both say 515gn rcbs on them and I started to work them. I found that the moulds have to warm up quite a bit before I'm able to cast good quality bullets as the lead cooled off too fast inside the mould. Cold moulds leave bullets with wrinkles on the skin. My spout wasn't pouring fast enough either. I took a paper clip and shoved the end up the spout to clear it, then there was no problem.
First time I fired one of those heavy bullets, I didn't use bullet lube. I bought the stuff, but I completely forgot to use it. heck of a job trying to get that bullet on the charge! The next one, I used lube on the grooves and it slid down on the powder much easier. I have fired 177 gn patched balls with 100 gns of powder and no worries there. The 515 gn conical is a different story as far as charge weight goes. I used 70 gns of triple 7 so far no worries. Does anyone have experiance with this bullet? how much triple 7 can I use without overloading that barrel? Can I use the same charge weights with Goex as I do with triple 7? Do those different powders generate the same pressures? Any info would sure help here.
Thanks guys
 
Are these Maxiball or Minnie ball? I use up to 100 Grains of 3F Goex behind Minnie's or Maxi balls. 100Grain of 3F dropped the 2 deer I have hit with that load.
Maxi ball from what I have seen are in the 300-400 Grain range and Minnies in the same range. 515 seems nice and heavy. What kind of group are you getting at100Yd?
 
I haven't tested these out on paper as yet. I was down at Lock 'n load yesterday in Edmonton with a bunch of these cast bullets. Blair tells me that both are for a 50-90 and the larger of the two types wouldn't handle in my smoke pole. I did try the smaller, which is mentioned at the beginning of this thread and it fired ok with 70 gns of black powder or triple 7. Blair weighed this cast bullet for me and it comes in at 450 gns, not 515gn. As I mentioned the number I got off the side of the mould (Lyman)and I guess it's a stock number maybe (51514AV). They're a maxi ball type but they have three grooves on the bullet
The other mould is made by RCBS and the number is 50-515-FN the cast bullet also has three grooves but it appears to have a crimping cannelure.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom