*** UPDATED *** More Photos with New 56-56 Owsiak Mould

wolflobo76 · February 07, 2012, 07:29:44 PM

I have just ordered a new 56/56 mould for my original carbine from Mike Owsiak. He say it measures out at .545 and is a heeled bullet around the 375gr weight depending on alloy mix. This mould is of brass and uses RCBS handles and casts 2 at a time. Can't wait to try it out and see how they shoot compared to my Rapine .546 mould. The owsiak mould also has deeper grease grooves which should be a big help.

(Photo Added by Two Flints)

wolflobo76 · February 07, 2012, 08:23:27 PM

Quote from: wolflobo76 on February 07, 2012, 07:29:44 PM
I have just ordered a new 56/56 mould for my original carbine from Mike Owsiak. He say it measures out at .545 and is a heeled bullet around the 375gr weight depending on alloy mix. This mould is of brass and uses RCBS handles and casts 2 at a time. Can't wait to try it out and see how they shoot compared to my Rapine .546 mould. The owsiak mould also has deeper grease grooves which should be a big help.

(Photo Added by Two Flints)

Thanks for the help with the pic Two Flints. Wasn't expecting that. Much appreciated.

5judge · February 08, 2012, 03:22:35 PM

You'll love this mould. By the way, i had a deal of trouble seating these heeled .56-56 bullets. They wanted to pull back out of the case when the shell holder was dropped, staying in the seating die. This necessitated removing the seating plug to punch the offending bullet out. Blundered into a method which works for me: I removed the seating plug and now run the bullet/case up into the seating die, as usual. Then, as I concurrently lower the shell holder, i tap on the bullet nose with a rod. This keeps the bullet in the case and seats it in the case perfectly, each time. With a little practice, it's quite efficient.

wolflobo76 · February 10, 2012, 12:55:31 AM

Thanks for the info 5Judge, I had similiar probs with the Rapine bullet so all i would do was lower the seating plug all the way down to seat the bullet without running the case all the way up the die. How do you crimp your loaded ammo? I made a low tech hand crimper out of some wire strippers[see one of my earlier posts] but am very open to new ideas.

Herbert · February 10, 2012, 02:43:52 AM

Are you compressing the powder before seating the bullet,compresing the powder with the bullet can expand the bullet causing it to stick in the die

wolflobo76 · February 10, 2012, 08:36:20 AM

Quote from: Herbert on February 10, 2012, 02:43:52 AM
Are you compressing the powder before seating the bullet,compresing the powder with the bullet can expand the bullet causing it to stick in the die

Yes i do compress the powder useing the sizer die that I have then i seat the bullet with the same die.

Herbert · February 10, 2012, 03:21:51 PM

Quote from: wolflobo76 on February 10, 2012, 08:36:20 AM
Yes i do compress the powder useing the sizer die that I have then i seat the bullet with the same die.

Not sure I understand,are you compressing the powder with the flaring die,so the bullet can be pushed home by finger presure(this is the best way to get top acuracy)then run it in the full lenth sizing die with the decaping rod removed(this genrally tightens the case on the bullet enough so you do not have to crimp)or are you doing somthing diffrent

wolflobo76 · February 10, 2012, 04:54:51 PM

Quote from: Herbert on February 10, 2012, 03:21:51 PM
Not sure I understand,are you compressing the powder with the flaring die,so the bullet can be pushed home by finger presure(this is the best way to get top acuracy)then run it in the full lenth sizing die with the decaping rod removed(this genrally tightens the case on the bullet enough so you do not have to crimp)or are you doing somthing diffrent

Yup thats what I mean, but i still hand crimp since the Rapine bullet will stick in the die.

Herbert · February 10, 2012, 06:18:55 PM

I had a lot of trouble with the Rapine mould ,it just was not holding enough lube,I would cut a larger lube groove in the bullets on the laith and this worked,but that Owziak bullet looks perfect for the 56-56

wolflobo76 · February 10, 2012, 08:15:25 PM

Herbert, Mike Owsiak is making the mould for me at this time and I should have it shortly. I,ll keep everyone updated on how it works out after I get some bullets moulded, sized/lubed and loaded. I'll give comparisons to the Rapine bullets and hopefully some pics to show.

5judge · February 11, 2012, 07:27:28 AM

I've reloaded for near fifty years, God help me. Problem w/ the .56-56 is the heeled bullet design and, perhaps, my particular set of very old reloading dies. The case-crimping die squeezes the bullet's driving band just as it squeezes the case lip. Thus, when the loaded round is lowered out of that die, the bullet tends to stay in the die. The method set out above which I use to defeat this unhappy scenaro works splendidly for me.

wolflobo76 · February 11, 2012, 09:38:46 AM

5Judge, Dyou put the bullets through a lubesizer to lube them? If so what size. I already have a .545 sizer die and top punch and am using SPG lube for the Rapine bullets. It work fairly well. I got the lubesizer die from Phil at S@S.

5judge · February 12, 2012, 06:29:59 AM

I hand dip in melted SPG then laboriously clean the lube off the driving bands and bullet's base. It's something to do while watching the wretched "American Idol" serving time being social with my wife.

wolflobo76 · February 13, 2012, 04:36:26 PM

Quote from: 5judge on February 12, 2012, 06:29:59 AM
I hand dip in melted SPG then laboriously clean the lube off the driving bands and bullet's base. It's something to do while watching the wretched "American Idol" serving time being social with my wife.

Well 5Judge we all have our crosses to bear. I'm married also. Thanks for the info on lubing the bullets. I have thought about using the alox tub lube but i like your way better.

wolflobo76 · February 17, 2012, 11:30:35 PM

Just received the Owsiak mould today and it looks great and I had to give it a try.

I cranked up the lead melters and made up 50 bullets out it to use for testing in my carbine. Had so much lead melted I had to grab some of my other moulds and put them to use. Did up over 400 total for 4 different weapons. Sort of like Lays Chips. Can't mould just one.

The old RCBS handles worked great with the mould. No modification needed.

The bullet on the left is a Rapine .546 378grn and the one on the right is the Owsiak .545. as you can see the Owsiak bullet will seat deeper into the case.

I ran some of the Owsiakbullets thru my .545 lube die and it worked great. No sizing but plenty of lube.

Two Flints · March 24, 2012, 05:07:25 AM

Wolflobo,

If you can go back to the previous post and add comments to the photos I added for you. Bullet info would be nice to see. All you need to do is click on the "modify" button and then add your text above each photo you are commenting on.

Two Flints

Bead Swinger · March 27, 2012, 12:45:36 PM

What is the bullet hardness? When I was shooting 56-56' I had to make the Rapine bullets a lot harder. I think there is a post to this effect in the FAQ with some real numbers.
'looks like a great mould, and I'll take bets it shoots great. Has that fellow's address beheaded to the Original Spencer FAQ? It should, now that Rapine is out of business,