Not too long ago, Lee started making a 6-cav version of the .22 cal Bator. The only problem was that they made the cavities the wrong shape. The nose was too big. The GC shank was unusable. There were some other strange little details. Most people were understandably upset when they received one of these off-spec molds that were not true to the original Bator drawing. I saw it as an opportunity in work clothes. I've always wanted to fool around with the design details of a .22 & see what I could get to work. Specifically, I wanted to see how well I could get a plain base to shoot. Anyway, I got my hands on one of the Off spec Bator molds & had at it with a few reamers to change the base design around. I have a few different versions that I am going to try. I am also going to try swaging the nose back down to the original design diameter & see what difference there is between running a bore rider & a full diameter nose. Below are a few pictures of what I have now. Others are welcomed to suggest other things that I might try. My earliest attempt with the modified Bator can be found in post #71 here - http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...77#post1187577
The nose swaging had to be done in two steps to prevent my whole boolit from getting crushed. My nose swaging dies just about wiped out the front lube groove on the second pass.
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