Lee Molds v Sharpshooter Buckshot molds

[jmort]

"At "hallway distances" none of the pattern enhancing advances in buckshot ammunition, at least since the introduction of the pin-fire breech loader of the mid-19th century, make any meaningful difference."

So true

[Bardo]

Sharpshooter molds arent being made now and havent since the beging of the year. I ordered one about 2 weeks ago and got a refund a week later. He told me he cant update his website and might take it down. But didnt say he was going out of bissiness.

[pipehand]

Bubba Rountree, who used the Sharpshooter molds a lot in his Youtube videos passed along this info a couple of months ago https://youtu.be/VJxwWTqlOr8.

[megasupermagnum]

That's a shame. I was just looking into casting buckshot, and decided on the Sharpshooter mold. I wanted to cast #2 and #F buck. I guess I'll either have to go to 00 or buy shot at $40 for 8 pounds

[BAGTIC]

Don't cut the sprue off. Twist it off. That way there will not be a little sharp 'tail'. I learned that 40+ years ago casting fishing lures.

[Blood Trail]

I got a sharpshooter mold. I was having trouble cutting the sprue off, leaving that "tail" behind.

Wade Rush, the guy who does the Bubba Roundtree YouTube vids as posted earlier, is a good friend of mine.

I asked him what he suggests and he said to buy a pair of flush cutting dikes.

Found some a Walmart and they helped tremendously.


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[RogerDat]

Apparently the machinist making the sharpshooter molds found a different job so until the position is filled no more molds. I too had my eye on a couple of his molds so I'm hoping he will be able to find a machinist and start cranking more out. I guess I'll order a 6 cavity .31 round ball mold and use it to cast some #1 buck. I'm low volume shotgun use but like being able to turn my lead stash into ammo for everything I can load for.

As a side note anyone ever looked into those $85 shot drippers on ebay? Wonder how large of shot one can drip?

[X-man]

Sorry to hear Richard lost his machinist. I much prefer my Sharpshooter USA buckshot moulds to the LEE.

[GhostHawk]

I have 3 of the Sharpshooter molds and would liked to have had one or 2 more.

Of them all the worst is the 00/#4 combo mold. That pig just does not like to work.
If I use the hot plate to preheat I can eventually get usable buckshot out of it.

The #1 buck mold is of the opposite persuasion. That little girl lives to make shot.
Hardly pre-warm it at all and by the 2nd pour it is making full balls.

I have been shooting my 3rd mold in my Hatsan Striker .22 air rifle all week.
Cast 80 balls one afternoon, 5 minutes worth. Clipped and gave them a light coat of BLL. Once dried put them in a small dispenser and every afternoon I would go down and shoot 5 to break in the rifle. Groups are improving every week.

My last target was of 4 black birds in profile with a white center of mass bullseye.

Out of 20 shots 18 would have been one shot instant kills. 2 would have still done it but were out of brainbox/spinal cord.

To know that at need I can make an near endless supply of .22 round balls to feed my air rifle which means I can feed me. With a system that only requires a little muscle, no other powder, primer, nothing else required that I don't have in hand.

Well it is a good feeling. Sleep good at night.

I hope sharpshooter finds a good machinist. I miss his molds.

[arclight]

The Sharpshooter mold works well. I run it HOT, wear welding gloves, and drop the finished shot into a coffee can full of water. When I've emptied the pot, I clip the sprues off with a sharp pair of small flush cutters. Here is one that works well:

https://www.amazon.com/PLATO-170-SHE...dp/B000AS3BLM/

Put the finished balls in a tumbler (a vibrating unit works just fine) with some graphite. In an hour, they will be perfectly round and lubricated. The drop tube/wad seater on your shell loader can be used to seat groups of 3 #OO pellets if they won't stack by hand.

Arclight

[Blood Trail]

I noticed that with the sharpshooter 00/#4 mold, not only does the mold have to be hot, but so does the lead. I run the lead hotter than normal. I usually get about 90% fillout.

I bought my flush cutters in the hobby section of Walmart for $4/pair.


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[Cap'n Morgan]

I made a bunch of buckshot molds of all sizes for a group-buy years ago. The molds were filled from center stems with the cavities arranged as close as possible Did quite a bit of testing before starting on the final molds and the best results were had when running both lead and molds very hot. Using WW alloy I got better fill-out than with pure lead and the balls would snap from the inlet by a slight twist.

[copdills]

Nice looking mold Cap'n Morgan

[vepr12dude]

I like my lee 00 mold, even ladle pouring i got complete fillout w/coww. I wish lee would make a 18 cavity mold in the .31. Stacking them by two's is no big deal really, its just bashing ammo anyway.

[jmort]

^^^Then get in line for this group buy
Don't miss the boat
MP molds (MiHec) 8 cav. aluminum .310 diam round ball / buck shot mold
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...buck-shot-mold

[Lagamor]

Just jumped in the Group buy. Hope he cuts them soon.