Rubiks Kube of a mould

[jjvc]

I had the pleasure of handling this beauty today, anyone want to hazard a guess what it is for and who manufactured it?
No prizes for getting it right, purely for fun.

Joe

[Jame5m]

Whitworth?

[walesdave]

Was thinking a Dardick tround mould....but after a quick Google, don't think it's that....

[Meaty]

My guess is Whitworth as well. Certainly doesn't look like a Lee mould
Is that an anodized / non stick finish on the inside of the mould?
Nice work.

[Tommygunn]

Whitworth bullet, Leon Kranen mould

[dromia]

Yes it is a Leon Kranen hexagonal bullet mould for Whitworth rifled guns.

It is a modern take on the hexagonal bullet as it has grease grooves, the actual Whitworth bullets were plain sided and paper patched.

Nothing in the mould cavities, it is a trick of the light and perhaps remains of preservative oil.

[TRX]

That's gorgeous!

I'd always read that Whitwork bullets were hexagonal, but I found this: (the late teenut generally had his ducks in a row...)

[snip]

From: Robert Bastow <teenut@Nospamhotmail.com>
Newsgroups: rec.crafts.metalworking
Subject: Re: Black Powder Experts
Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 15:39:28 GMT

Gary Coffman wrote:

> It should have good sectional density, but the ballistic coefficient of
> a hexagonal bullet can't be good. It has to be spinning at about 200,000
> RPM to stabilize, and that hex shape has to be acting like a fan and
> kicking up a lot of turbulence compared to a clean modern HPBT.

In actual fact we used cylindrical bullets..it was long ago discovered that they
perform eqally well in the whitworths hexagonal bore..Damn sight easier to make
the mold too! The flat based, grease grooved bullet was a tad longer and
heavier than the hex "bolt" and shot very cleanly.

[/snip]

from: http://yarchive.net/metal/black_powder_barrels.html

Anyone up on their Whitworth lore? What's the real deal?

[dromia]

Aye there is the theory and then there is the practice.

I cannot comment on the BC of an hexagonal Whitworth bullet but I can confirm that they do shoot very well.

However you can get the same effect loading a Whitworth barrel with round bullets, the thing is by the time they leave the muzzle they are hexagonal, or the ones I have shot and managed to recover have been hexagonal.

So all the theory of the ballistic unsuitability of an hexagonal bullet applies to the shooting of cylindrical bullet fired through an hexagonal bore which the poster you have referenced said "they perform eqally well in the whitworths hexagonal bore." So his practice has contradicted his theory.