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Ideal 457 406

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09 April 2004, 11:49
Paul H
Ideal 457 406
A buddy suggested we hit up a local gunshop after lunch, and of course I had to peer through the used mold box. Mostly oddballs or things I didn't have a use for, but that above mentioned mold caught my attention, as in addition to not having dies for my 458 Lott, I haven't picked up a mold either.

Well, I'm now the proud owner of said mold, and was wondering if anyone had any specs for it. As I recall, this is a ~540 gr mold, but I suspect that is cast from #2 alloy. Anybody know what this thing drops when casting ww's?
09 April 2004, 13:06
Tom Myers
Paul

The Specific Gravity of #2 alloy is 10.679 and the Specific Gravity of wheelwheights should be 11.005 which is about 103.1% more. So then 1.03 x 540 = 556.2 grains.
Hope this helps.

Tom Myers
10 April 2004, 07:30
JDL
Paul,
Mine drops at 500 grains when using WW, and 510 grains with plumber's lead.-JDL
10 April 2004, 15:55
Dutch4122
Paul-

I just checked the Castpics site where they have a listing of old Lyman/Ideal moulds. The #457406 is listed as having a weight of 475 grns when cast from #2 alloy.

Hope this helps,
13 April 2004, 05:26
Paul H
Thanks for the feedback. I checked my Lyman cast bullet book when I got home, and they list it as 482 gr from #2, which should be spot on 500 from ww's. I had it confused with another mold, but it certainly should be enough

I cast up some samples, and the mold casts nicely, fills out well w/o the suck in voids I've seen in some of the bigger molds. Now to get some brass and dies for my 458 Lott and I'll be good to go
17 April 2004, 11:31
beagle
Paul...Mine runs 503.2 grains ready to load.

Shoots pretty good in the 45/70 Marlin but takes up a lot of powder space. Works really well in the 458 X 2".

Good find./beagle
17 April 2004, 11:44
Paul H
Thanks, I'm looking forward to trying it. A cast up a few, and handed one to a buddy with a gas check, and it came out 499.5 gr.

I should have more than enough room for powder in the 458 Lott