New .44 caliber Brooks mold.

[Distant Thunder]

I looked for some LDPE wads that had been fired with this cupped base design. I found 2, not easy to find in the grass and leaves. I also picked up two that were fired under flat base bullets. It's not going to be easy to see in the picture, but on the flat base wads yoy can see a faint impression of the fold over of the patch and the bare spot left in the middle of the base.

If you zoom in on the two wads to the right those are two that were fired under cupped base bullets. The impression left by the cup is visible and is the rim of the skirt and the rifling marks on the edge. I looked at my patch remnants and there is no evidence of any blow by or gas cutting, no burnt patches. Also, at the time the wad left the bullet base the skirt seems to have been undamaged.

Yesterday I cast 100 bullets from this mold at 1.350" long. They weigh 475 grains. I'll start my load development with these bullets and where the targets lead me. I am starting 1.350" long because I read somewhere that a 1-17 twist really likes that length, so we shall see.