NEI moulds on order, just to wait on something else.

.396" nominal (NEI's cast about .001" to .002" plus), 240-grain FN Gas Check: this is catalog number 196, a standard offering. Must have been meant for the 400 NFBP 3". The antique load was a .395/230-grain.

.511 680-gr FN GC with many grease grooves and a couple of leading SHark gills at the front of the bullet. Catalog number 374.

Bottle of Ratzeputz at my house tonight.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Waiting ...

RIP,
I'll be watching for updates with the .511 680gr FN GC. Are you casting them in WW? Are you going to size them? If so, to what size? What lube? I assume they are for the .510 JAB?

Also, I'm looking to piggyback loads from Mitch's 577 T-Rex data. I know for his accuracy loads he used 193gr of H4831 for the 650gr woodleighs, but what was his accuracy load for the 750gr bullets (Naval Ordinance?) & VV560? I remember seeing it, but cannot find it. Just thought you might have squirreled the info away somewhere.

BMG

ps. It stinks looking like a 'Newbie' on my profile, but I'm just glad to get my old name back after all these years.

BMG,
I'll look into the Trex file when I get home tonight, after looking for the UPS and USPS, packages that are overdue ... whilst sipping that herbal tonic, promptly delivered by DHL from Denmark, by way of San Diego. Then I shall probably go howl at the moon.

I have 44 pounds of ingots from used clip-on wheel weights melted down. That was a pile of steel clips that floated to the top of the pot.

Yes, I will use straight wheel weight, and Hornady gas check and see how they shoot at .510, .511, and maybe .512. I have Alox and LBT Blue Lube to try too.

680-grain is just right for a .510 JAB to do a comfortable 2150 fps with.

What is the best sizer and lubricator setup if I get away from the Lee sizing dies? I am just a beginner at cast bullets.
Sumbuddy who know?

Bottle of Ratzeputz and a pot of boiling lead!!!! Dr. FrankenRIP will see you now!

ps. My .590" mould for the 577 Snider throws WW & 95/5 solder @ .593"

Sooo... I would expect your .511" mould to throw them a 'little' bigger. You can always size them down, sizeing them up is a little tougher

Just an FYI from my experience.

BMG

Now to find the Ratzputz... I think I'll use Jeagermeister while considering it. Am very busy right now practicing thumb twiddling and reversing from clockwise to counterclockwise while waiting to build my .400 NE. Your tax dollars at work.

Max,
I'll send you some dies if they ever get to me.
BTW Jaegermeister is too icky sweet for me.
I have to gargle with Buffalo Trace after Jaegermeister.

quote:

Originally posted by BMG:
ps. My .590" mould for the 577 Snider throws WW & 95/5 solder @ .593"

Sooo... I would expect your .511" mould to throw them a 'little' bigger. You can always size them down, sizeing them up is a little tougher
Just an FYI from my experience.

BMG

What is your recipe?
How many pounds of WW to how many pounds of 95/5 solder?

How is the hardness of your alloy compared to WW?

RIP,
I'm not positive but I think my mix is 10 pounds of WW to 1 pound of 95/5 solder.

BMG

RIP

Might want to check out Corbin. They make fantastic (but pricey) products.

PS - Don't confuse hot lead with the cocktail. On the other hand, might just discover a new swaging method...

quote:

Originally posted by prof242:
Now to find the Ratzputz... I think I'll use Jeagermeister while considering it. Am very busy right now practicing thumb twiddling and reversing from clockwise to counterclockwise while waiting to build my .400 NE. Your tax dollars at work.

There are three known bottles of Ratzeputz in the USA at this time. One at my house, One at RIP's house, and one at a secret location in Southeastern Virginia. Of course more could be had if there was interest. Comparing Jaegermeister to Ratzeputz is like Baby Oil to Bunker Crude!!

RIP hasn't been heard from in a few hours so likely he's been into the Ratzeputz already!!

Jim,
I have priced the Corbin cup&core bonded bullet making equipment and can do that for about $2000 startup.
I really prefer monometals whether GSC, S&H, or my own cast lead.
No suggestions besides Corbin for simple cast lead bullet lubrisizing?

Matt,
Accuracy load for the 577 T-rex with 750-grain Woodleigh Weldcore RNSP?
Mitch is the Master of Benchrest T-rex.
My best was .472" with 900-grainers and 160 grains of H4831.
I shot a .592" 3-shot-100-yard group with Mitch's rifle and this load:

750-grain Woodleigh Weldcore RNSP
A-Square brass
F215 primer
VVN560 182.5 grains
2327 fps
9020 ft-lbs

Mitch's approved charge ranges with that 750-grain Woodleigh soft are as follows:
VVN560: 180 to 184.5 grains for 2284 to 2351 fps
H4831: 180 to 185 grains for 2267 to 2384 fps

Jay,
My wife took a sip of the Ratzeputz and crinkled her nose at it. She has low "bite" tolerance.
I downed two ounces of it in a gulp and then commenced to sipping it. Quite nice. Weak in Scoville's but sweet and mildly spicy.
I have not met my match at habenero eating, and those are probably 10x hotter than Ratzeputz.
Of course the Ratzeputz has a 116-proof edge on habenero zero-proof.
Thanks for expanding my candied schnapps experience. Certainly way better than Jaegermeister.

Haven't got into "pouring my own" at this point. I did notice that the guys at Buffalo Arms have a lot of that type of stuff in their catalog.

I'm currently weighing and micing each bullet from a 500 piece order after that has already been done twice. Once by the equipment and once by a QC guy. It's still a better deal than casting your own. If you have someone who will do it properly for ten bucks an hour, carry on, other wise it's too expensive and the end result isn't that great. You're still shooting a hunk of toxic marshmellow down range.

What is your recipe?
How many pounds of WW to how many pounds of 95/5 solder?
How is the hardness of your alloy compared to WW?[/QUOTE]


Rip I don't use tin, just straight WW...Lots of guys use tin at any where from 1%-2% added to the WW alloy ...Here is an excellent link to alloy info. etc....
http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm

Low Wall,
I studied all those recipes and read the excellent articles in that link before I came up with my own recipe for "Rippalloy."

Here is the best looking recipe from your link, IMHO:

20 pounds of clip-on WW
plus
tin: 6.3 ounces for ~2%, or 9.6 ounces for ~3%

That is supposed to mix up to this analysis, according to the link:
93.5% Lead (Pb)
4% Antimony (Sb)
2.25% Tin (Sn)
0.25% Arsenic (As)
And it "Oven heat treats to 30-34 BHN."

It is tough to pin down the analysis of clip-on wheel weights over the decades and different batches.
Here is one reported analysis of clip-on WW:
95.75% Lead
3.50 Antimony
0.50% Tin
0.25% Arsenic
That wee bit of arsenic is supposed to be what allows the heat-treatment hardening, eh?

Chilled lead shot is supposed to be:
99 to 99.5% Lead
0.5 to 1.0% Arsenic

Using the above assumptions of WW composition, 95/5 solder (Sn/Sb), and chilled lead shot:

"Rippalloy" Recipe:

12 pounds clip-on wheel weights
0.5 pound 95/5 solder
0.5 pound chilled shot

Rippalloy presumptive analysis:

Lead: 92.13%
Tin: 4.12%
Antimony: 3.50%
Arsenic: 0.25%

Rippalloy is about the same hardness as my ingots of melted clip-on WW according to my questionable LBT hardness tester: about 15 BHN

I have yet to do any of the heat treatment, but I will see what that does.

My reasoning in using the chilled shot and 95/5 solder in equal parts was to keep the arsenic, and antimony about the same as in the straight wheel weight alloy, but increase the tin composition to make it pour and fill better and produce a prettier, shinier cast boolitt.
Sure 2% tin works.

My bullets should cast a wee bit lighter and a wee bit bigger than straight wheel weight clip-ons, just as the WW are lighter and bigger than pure lead castings.

quote:

Originally posted by Macifej:
Comparing Jaegermeister to Ratzeputz is like Baby Oil to Bunker Crude!!

Any booze with putz in the name has to be questionable.

"Rippalloy"?...I would think that you need to flux with Ratzeputz before you could call it "Ripalloy"....(maybe used Ratzeputz would work just as well)
I think your alloy will work fine...I used to mix 1/4 Linotype with 3/4 WW and water drop the boolit directly right out of the mold for a BHN of 20-21....that is the hardest boolit I have worked with as I don't have a oven to heat treat with..(microwave doesn't work)
This season I am working with patched air cooled WW boolits to see if I can get around the 1:12 twist in my new 35 Whelen "with out" going to hard boolits...My goals are 2300 FPS with 250+ gr and 2500 FPS with a 220gr. boolit....Should be fun..

quote:

Originally posted by .366torque:

quote:

Originally posted by Macifej:
Comparing Jaegermeister to Ratzeputz is like Baby Oil to Bunker Crude!!

Any booze with putz in the name has to be questionable.

I was honestly thinking the same thing. I'd still like to try it though.

Low Wall,
Ratzeputz is far too flavorful and precious to flux with. It has a delicious bouquet of honey, nutmeg, peppermint, and capsacin, in 58% ethanol. I am now willing to surrender Buffalo Trace. The official libation of the .395 family is now Ratzeputz.

Marvelux from Brownells is The Super Flux. Straight boric acid crystals I reckon. Works like a charm.

Ratzeputz was invented by some West Prussians in 1877. Ingredients are a closely held secret and distribution outside the former empire is not available. Few in the south of modern Germany have ever heard of the stuff.

Name translates loosely to "Rat Cleaner". The older bottles used to have a Devil on them but no more.

Ratzeputz is heap good firewater. 1877 original vintage is fitting for the origins of the .395. I can imagine an ancestor sipping "Rat Cleaner" sometime after 1877 and dreaming up the .395.
Good for easing modern day boredom of waiting on
Redding
CH4D
GSC
Gunsmiths
And now NEI is out of the blocks, racing to deliver another mould. One of these years the dust will be settled.

Update:
Redding may ship dies in "2 or 3 days."

CH4D is still sorting through the batch of 2000 dies that just came back from heat treat. The .666 Teufel dies were easy to find since they are so huge, so I assume those are on the way to Macifej already. Meanwhile the 400/.395 NE dies of the more common size are not so easy to get pulled out of the batch for final polishing. Oh really?

I guess the dump truck unloads 2000 dies in a pile at CH4D and they sort through them all and ship them out eventually ... Ratzeputz cheers!

The .666 Teufel Dies went to parts unknown a couple weeks ago to get TiN coated. This is a four die set about six inches tall. I'll need a shot of Ratzeputz when I get the bill I'm sure.

RIP! Do you have some BMG brass laying about to test the dies in your Ammomaster??

quote:

Originally posted by Macifej:

... RIP! Do you have some BMG brass laying about to test the dies in your Ammomaster??

But of course, mon ami!

Do you need some dummies for photos and for the feed work on the prototype?

Ja!

I will send the whole set to you when it arrives for your amusement and entertainment of the home audience.

Truly pioneering! Six-Sixty-Six Naught Nine, the culmination of the "ought" family.
30-06
40-07
50-08
.666-09 (Air Bus)
Please, no .747-10 in 2010.

DANG! I knew I shouldn't have gone on that trip. Now Ratzputz is the new .395 drink and Buffalo Trace is out (well, I am glad about that). Finding Ratzputz...since there are only three bottles wudda Iz godda due ta gits a taste. As far as jalapenos, I do like those so this Ratzputz might be OK.

400/.395 NE dies. Thanks RIP. I took some cases with bullets seated (both Macifej's and cast) to the DSC event in January. Most people really liked them. I'm planning on using that cartridge on elk this year. May use cast bullets just to keep with tradition.

Uh, Macifej. Is your tasmanian devil just stirring up shit?

Stirred not shaken. Would be interesting to see more results of the .395 Hexed SHarkee on real animules. I'm working on a more "explosive" variant along the same lines. We'll have to chat with a certain Dane about your Ratzeputz shortage.

I appreciate your efforts for the Ratzputz on my behalf!
I'd be glad to test your bullets on antelope and mule deer also, but I'd like to have something left after they were hit.
Might try them out anyway. This .395 thing is getting into me quite deep.

prof242,
chuck375 needs guidance on a gunsmith near Colorado Springs for his 470 Capstick on a CZ 550 Magnum ... or maybe he just likes to post repeatedly the same plea for assistance finding a gunsmith simply because you are not paying attention to your hometown new member ... and he has not bothered to call AHR yet.

quote:

Originally posted by Canuck:

quote:

Originally posted by .366torque:

quote:

Originally posted by Macifej:
Comparing Jaegermeister to Ratzeputz is like Baby Oil to Bunker Crude!!

Any booze with putz in the name has to be questionable.

I was honestly thinking the same thing. I'd still like to try it though.

Canuck we've got an awful lot of Germans and German deli's, we should keep an eye out and send out some feelers. I read that it is sometimes called a bitter, which can be sold in a deli. Food for thought.

CH4D called to say the .666 dies are shipping to me.

NOW! We're getting somewhere!!! Hmm....lets see....where did I put that 155 muzzle brake?

Macifej,
Let us hope for a better fire serpent than this from the .666 Teufel:


"Old MacDonald," who was supposed to get a couple of cow bison to his farm for me to shoot with .395's in February, failed me. Still no pictures of game killed with the .395, though Max might have some of an elk that he said were spoiled somehow for posting, and his bullet was off into the wild, blue, snowy yonder after dropping the elk.

The lady at CH4D said the Devil Dies were on the way, but they are still sorting through the pile of 2000 heat-treated dies for 400/.395 NE dies, par for the course ... the Rat Cleaner is going fast ... it's a shame they only bottle it 500 ml per flask ...

I am getting a Lyman 4500 sizer-heated-lubricator-gas-check-seater to play with ...
Killing time, and cleaning rats ...

The "cleaner" is also available in a 700 ml size for extra entertainment. I'll see what I can do about getting a few of them on the way.

RIP! While waiting for Ratzeputz reenforcements you should try some Doornkaat. It's from the same area of Northwest Germany - actually very close to where they make Ratzeputz. It's actually an even older recipe from 1806. You can buy it in upscale stores here in the USA.

Please, the waiting is bad but not bad enough to drive me to a subtle and delicately flavored gin like Doornkaat!
Ratzeputz or Buffalo Trace will do nicely to stew my juices while I twiddle my thumbs.

Well ok then. I'm having some of this while waiting for the dies....

RIP,
Got info on gunsmiths to chuck375. Rich Riley of High Tech Guunsmithing loves to work on the big bores and has turned out some very nice work.

Yeah, the pics were not even viewable of the elk and the .395 Macifej bullet. Too cold, too much snow, and probably too shakey hands holding the camera.

Macifej,
Gin?!?! For some reason my system does not like gin so Doornkaat will have to be passed over. What is this piss that kills you posted? You know, Killepitsch?

Killepitsch? Nah - easy to drink - nice flavor and good for what ails ya too!