I Own Guns

Hensley and Gibbs #130 BB bullet mold

Written on December 2, 2013   By   in Bullet Molds

The Hensley and Gibbs company, which started in the garage of George Hensley in the 1930’s (back then it was simply the Geo. A. Hensley company) is world renowned for the fine bullet molds they produced while they were in business. Their gang molds have been the standard that every other mold has been held to for a long time.

The H&G #130 bullet was designed as a lighter weight SWC design for the .45 ACP. The design is similar to that of the Lyman 452488 mold that I wrote about a few weeks ago. The main differences are the wider meplat of the H&G design (A meplat is the flat tip of the bullet) and in this case, the inclusion of a bevel base to the design. The design was added to the company ledger in 1949, with the ledger containing  a note saying that it was ‘very very popular’ as a lighter weight target bullet for the 1911 shooters.

Bevel base bullet designs are known for a few things, they are popular with commercial casting companies, as they tend to drop from the mold easily, they are a pain in the backside to lube in a Lyman, RCBS or Saeco type lube-sizer, and they are often considered to be less accurate than their flat based counterparts, all things considered. I admit that I haven’t noticed a difference in the accuracy between bevel base and plain based bullets, but I’m shooting in the real world, and I honestly believe a lot of the theoretical edge is hyperbole. Since I use a Star or balisticast sizer for my .45 bullets, I have no issue with sizing and lubing BB bullets. They also make progressive loading a little smoother than PB bullets, and require slightly less working of the brass. And the mold dropping issue, it’s hard to say; I’ve never had a H&G mold that didn’t release pretty cleanly.

The H&G #130 is spec’ed at 185 grains in linotype. My mold throws bullets that are .453″ in diameter and about 192 grains from my (significantly softer) alloy. I have no need for linotype metal for my bullets in the .45’s that I’m shooting. Functionally, the bullet feeds very well in almost all of my guns, and is a favorite in the Performance center tuned 625, and is quickly becoming a favorite in the Reising. I’ve only had this particular mold for a short time, but it’s not my first H&G #130 mold. I specifically wanted this one because of the BB design, to help ease the reloading for the Reising. Once I have another 10 or 20 thousand of them cast and loaded, I’ll let you know how that’s going.