08-03-2019, 08:35 PM
Followup on A2015. I wanted to try some cast bullets in my CZ 527 6.5 Grendel. Didn't want to use any of the heavy cast bullets...ie 140gr and above. So, I checked out cast bullet molds. The only molds available in the 100-125gr range were from NOE. I found that they had two, two cavity bullet molds left from a production run. The mold casts a 112gr gas checked bullet. I ordered one of these molds. Shipping was fast and I received the mold in about 5 days. I opened the package...WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MOLD! Almost too beautiful to cast with 
. It came with 3 different bullet nose inserts. A deep hollow point, a shallower hollow point and a flat nose. I prepped the mold and proceeded to cast some deep hollow points. I cast about 100 good ones. I then loaded them up using 8.0gr of Unique. Accuracy was only so, so. As in 1"+ at 25 yards. My goad was to get a 2000fps hunting load. A couple of other tries with other powders still did not produce hunting accuracy at 100 yds. I next changed the nose insert to a flat nose. Soon had 100 of these puppies ready to load. I decided to try A2015 behind these bullets. Accurate Arms in their older loading manual noted that A2015 gave very consistent pressures and velocities in some of the older black powder cartridges using cast bullets even at very low pressures. I tried 17.0- 21.0 grains of A2015 behind the 114gr FN GC 6.5 bullets sized .266". Accuracy was quite acceptable with the 21.0 grain loading producing 2120fps and 1/2" groups at 25yards. Up to the 100 yd range on Mac Donald Pass west of Helena, MT. I shot 3 groups with the 21.0 grain load. Only one group was over 2". The 10 shot group is right at 2" and the center group about 2.25 inches. Definitely hunting accuracy. Will now have to do some ladder work to find the "sweet" spot. Incidentally, this mold is one of Von Gruf's designs. It is a bore rider on the forward section with plenty of grease in the aft section grooves. I have used this design in the past and it has consistently produced good accuracy in other calibers. Below are some pics. Bill [ATTACH=CONFIG]14533[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]14534[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]14535[/ATTACH]
. It came with 3 different bullet nose inserts. A deep hollow point, a shallower hollow point and a flat nose. I prepped the mold and proceeded to cast some deep hollow points. I cast about 100 good ones. I then loaded them up using 8.0gr of Unique. Accuracy was only so, so. As in 1"+ at 25 yards. My goad was to get a 2000fps hunting load. A couple of other tries with other powders still did not produce hunting accuracy at 100 yds. I next changed the nose insert to a flat nose. Soon had 100 of these puppies ready to load. I decided to try A2015 behind these bullets. Accurate Arms in their older loading manual noted that A2015 gave very consistent pressures and velocities in some of the older black powder cartridges using cast bullets even at very low pressures. I tried 17.0- 21.0 grains of A2015 behind the 114gr FN GC 6.5 bullets sized .266". Accuracy was quite acceptable with the 21.0 grain loading producing 2120fps and 1/2" groups at 25yards. Up to the 100 yd range on Mac Donald Pass west of Helena, MT. I shot 3 groups with the 21.0 grain load. Only one group was over 2". The 10 shot group is right at 2" and the center group about 2.25 inches. Definitely hunting accuracy. Will now have to do some ladder work to find the "sweet" spot. Incidentally, this mold is one of Von Gruf's designs. It is a bore rider on the forward section with plenty of grease in the aft section grooves. I have used this design in the past and it has consistently produced good accuracy in other calibers. Below are some pics. Bill [ATTACH=CONFIG]14533[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]14534[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]14535[/ATTACH]