The Lyman #55730 Base Cavity Shapes

[hobbler]

Got two #57730 molds in the fun box.
One has a tapered base cavity and the other a straight (cylindrical) base cavity.
The plug with the cylindrical base cavity could be a custom lob but it looks very "factory".
Anyone know, has Lyman produced two versions of base plugs for #57730?

If this should appear in another place besides "small arms" I apologize.

[hobbler]

Came back and changed the mold number.
It was incorrectly noted as 55730.
Duh. Yall probably caught the mistake.

Any how, the two different cavity shapes are puzzling.

[geezmo]

Don't know if they made more than one style plug or not, but here's one on ebay that appears to be factory.

https://www.ebay.com/p/1810272867

[hobbler]

Yep, that one has the taper. The taper makes sense. At the end of the taper is the brief hemispherical section that would be partially compressible by the wooden plug and very quickly build up its resistance to further compression as the cross section of the hemi rapidly increases. The straight cylindrical cavity wouldn't work with a plug (wooden or otherwise) and would seam to be a great way to have a ring of lead left in your barrel. Any how, I guess the straight cavity plug is gonna get turned into something else. Dunno, maybe make it a plain base seeing as my Armisport P53 has a 48" twist in it.

[hobbler]

Anyone tried the #57730?
Good reviews, bad reviews?

And what in the world was Lyman thinking? Were they intended as a replacement for the British ammunition?

Having two of them I'm tempted to turn one into a .61 caliber and do some goofy fun flintlock shooting come spring time.
:rolleyes:

[Carolina Reb]

I have one with the untapered plug. Never shot it. The story I heard from old timers (and it could just be a story) is that it was designed by N-SSAers, like the 213 New Style, but this one was specifically for the stake event, back when we would shoot off a phone pole. People were shooting heavy homemade bullets with magnum powder charges to cut those poles as fast as possible. Lyman came out with the 57730 for people who didn't want to make or modify a mold. I only ever shot one of the poles, with a rifled '42. It was a hoot!

[noonanda]

Ive got that mold, it has a what I assume is semi tapered base plug to it though. It casts a bullet with a pretty thick skirt on it. I am actually looking at getting a base plug made to make it a lighter thinner bullet. I'll report my results when I get em

[hobbler]

One of those same molds modified for the 1847 Fremont.
http://i.imgur.com/Gr5PA7P.jpg (https://imgur.com/Gr5PA7P)

Reckon might do something similar for the 48" twist Armisport P-53 with it's kinda oversized bore diameter.