Lapping Minie Molds ' Diameter

[hobbler]

How much have you successfully lapped a minie mold, increasing diameter?

[WBR10654]

Well that is an idea, I know people who have modified molds but I am not sure about this.

My suggestion would be to ask on the for sale and WTB forum if anyone has a mold the size you want.

Many of us have molds that we have tested and will never use again.

Also, I assume you just are trying to make it larger or are you also trying to repair it?

I shoot a Hodgeon Minnie sized to .579 that is much smaller than my bore, well over a thousandths. I have never had a problem because I use Pure Lead and my Skirts Expand just fine. It is .9987 pure.

Talking about "skirts", for many molds you can buy a larger one that will make the skirt thinner and expand easier.

ANYWAY: not to bore you with information you may already know...




How much have you successfully lapped a minie mold, increasing diameter?

[hobbler]

Lapping a mold to increase the diameter isn't hard to do. And with the variety of bore diameters that come out of Italy, well, just figgered it might be pretty common practice amongst minie shooters.

[Lou Lou Lou]

I see this a lot on the cast boolits web site. Have never seen it in N-SSA. Most molds are made in USA. Rapine, Moose, Night Owl, Accurate etc. Dont think i've ever seen an Italian mould.

[Lou Lou Lou]

I see this a lot on the cast boolits web site. Have never seen it in N-SSA. Most molds are made in USA. Rapine, Moose, Night Owl, Accurate etc.; Dont think i've ever seen an Italian mould.

[geezmo]

I tried lapping an old lyman 575494 wad cutter mold many years ago. A number of members I knew did it. We didn't have the variety of molds and sizes that are available now. Never quite got it to where I wanted it when I found another suitable mold. So, the project went on indefinite hold. I suppose you should try it once. Especially with this virus shut down, it will give you something to do. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Another method you can research is "beagling". I don't remember where I read about it. It might have been on the Cast Bullet Association site.

[Rob FreemanWBR]

Lapping molds isn?t hard to do; however, it?s also just as easy to screw up a perfectly good mold.

Present day, with available mould makers out there, esp. Accurate Molds.com, Moose Moulds.com, etc you can get a mould made to drop whatever size you want. I just had one made three weeks ago in fact.

I personally have never attempted to lap a mould - I know my technical limitations and abilities! But I do know of a case where someone lapped their mould to produce the sufficient size needed. But as the owner admitted, the mould after lapping just wasn?t ?there?, as it would if the mould been professionally/commercial made...

?The longest distance between the shooter and the target is the six inches between the shooter?s ears.? I doubt anyone ever wants to stand on the line with nagging questions - is their home-lapped bullet true, is it balanced, is it capable of unfettered performance, will it hit the mark?

Bottomline, keep the mold you got, you may need it later. Give you business to a mold maker who can use the revenue. And mostly, give your conscience a well deserved break by shooting rounds you can depend upon and not second guess.

[Jim Brady Knap's Battery]

I have had some work done by this guy. He can enlarge the bands to anything you need. Good job with fast turn around time. http://www.hollowpointmold.com/band-modifications/

[geezmo]

Jim,

Good to know. Thanks for the link.

Barry S.

[hobbler]

I have had some work done by this guy. He can enlarge the bands to anything you need. Good job with fast turn around time. http://www.hollowpointmold.com/band-modifications/

Erik isn't doing the precision grinding any more to enlarge bands.
That's a service I miss.:(

[Hal]

I tried it years ago on a .30 cal mould and screwed it up. Perhaps I had too much compound on my "Lap" (What the guys on Cast Boolits call the bullet you use to lap a mould). What I ended up with is taking more off the corners of the cavities at the parting line than the overall diameter. Essentially, I ended up with a bullet that was not round and was deformed at the parting line. I'm sure if I could watch someone that knew what they were doing and get some pointers, I could do it, but until then, I'm not trying it again.

[Maillemaker]

I tried it with a .58 Lee minie mold years ago with the screw-in-the-nose-of-the-bullet thing and grinding compound.

After spinning the bullet for some time there was no noticeable enlargement of the mold. I suspect the bullet was being worn down.

Steve

[John Bly]

Lapping is generally used to remove invisible burrs that prevent the bullet from falling out of the mold easily. This can greatly improve your casting session. It is too easy to screw up a mold when trying to enlarge it. They usually get out of round before you accomplish what you set out to do.