New bullet mold

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JonnyV
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New bullet mold

Post by JonnyV »

While at the Q, there was a table set out by the match tent where someone was selling off items from an estate. Mostly it was bullet molds. There were three brand new 45 cal rifle molds in there when myself and two friends checked it out. We ended up buying them.

The one I got is a BACO 540 gr money with first band reduced and micro lube grooves. According to the BACO website it was designed by Dan Theodore.

Is there a consensus on this bullet? My rifle has a 32” 15 twist barrel. 45-2.4 chambering. I also have a 540 gr mold with two bands reduced and regular grooves. I guess it would be interesting to load up two equivalent loads and see if the LabRadar can tell them apart….

Any other tips/ideas on loading this bullet greatly appreciated!
Kenny Wasserburger
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Re: New bullet mold

Post by Kenny Wasserburger »

You absolutely must wipe with that bullet, as it carries a very small amount of lube.

It’s pretty popular among Target rifle shooters.

Kenny Wasserburger
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JonnyV
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Re: New bullet mold

Post by JonnyV »

Well, I'm wiping already, and if it's popular among target guys then that must mean that they are able to control fouling even in hot/tough conditions with it...

Guess I'll spin up two identical ladder tests and see what the results are. I saw in another thread that most guys running the 2.4 are somewhere around 84 gr of powder, is that a correct? Just looking for a good place to start....
gunlaker
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Re: New bullet mold

Post by gunlaker »

There are two 540gr BACO money bullets with reduced first bands ( or maybe one is just tapered ). The 459540 and the 459542.

I have them both but haven't tested the 459542 yet. The 459540 shot the tightest 10 shot prone 300 yard group that any of my Shiloh's have ever shot. Well under a minute of angle. That was shot with aperture sights too!

CCI BR2
80gr Swiss 1.5 lot 270.613
0.060" LDPE
bullet cast in 16:1 lubed with DGL.
slip fit, seated out to engrave the rifling maybe 0.010"- 0.015"

The rifle is a 1:16 twist Long Range Express with a 34" heavy barrel, MVA sights.

Chris.
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JonnyV
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Re: New bullet mold

Post by JonnyV »

That’s good info Chris, thank you!

Did you chronograph test your load at all?
gunlaker
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Re: New bullet mold

Post by gunlaker »

Johnny, sorry I lied, the smallest groups the rifle has shot has been with the BACO 458535M1. Good thing I have notes, must be getting old :-)

The 300 yard target with the 459540M3 was still very good. 600 yard target reduced for 300 yards. Twelve shots, one called flyer, in the 8 ring. The other 11 landed in the 10 ring, 8 of those in the X ring. Total vertical, excluding the ugly flyer, was about 2-3/4". Although the group size is a little worse than the 458535M1 bullet the clustering of shots in the X ring was the highest it's done.

I didn't chronograph that load as the charges weren't weighed, just dropped from my MVA measure so I didn't think it was worth it.

I have not gotten around to fully developing that load, but if I shoot this one in LR again I would definitely shoot a few hundred rounds of it and do the chrony work first, as I think it shows excellent potential. That's not likely to happen for a while as soon I'm going to get serious with my bull barrel .45-2.6" rifle.

Chris.
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JonnyV
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Re: New bullet mold

Post by JonnyV »

I have a correction to make too...the two money bullet molds I now have are..

BACO JIM459545M2

BACO JIM459540M3

So they are not identical other than grease grooves. I'll most likely be casting up a couple hundred of each and seeing which one performs better. We're still in the beginning of summer around here so I have a lot of time to get to range in Yakima for testing out to 660 yards in heat and wind.
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