bullet molds

M

murph

New member
Rating - 100%
48   0   0
Location
Thunder Bay Ont
What are the best bullet molds to use. I see there are aluminum, cast and brass. Is one better than the other and who makes them. I am wanting to get into casting and am starting from scratch, so any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Murph
 
The first mold I ever bought is a Lee 6 cav TL-356-124-TC. I bought it b/c it was cheap (wasn't really that cheap... $80 /w handle plus taxes and shipping). I made over 3000rds so far and it's still in excellent shape. I'm not much of an expert but I lube the joints whenever it gets a little tough to operate. I don't think this mold would break in a long time if treated properly. It's aluminum.

b8.jpg
 
Last edited:
Of the 15 or more molds I have, I own Lyman, Ideal, Lee, Ohaus, RCBS ans Saeco. Have tried a NEI brass one before too.

Of them I prefer the Cast iron, the best out of my collection would be the Saeco.

6 cavity Lee's are OK, two Cav are not worth buying IMO.
 
Hensley and Gibbs moulds I found to be the best hands down, Lyman and RCBS run a close second, great hobby.
 
murph said:
What are the best bullet molds to use. I see there are aluminum, cast and brass. Is one better than the other and who makes them. I am wanting to get into casting and am starting from scratch, so any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Murph
Click to expand...

Whatever fits your budget if you are just starting out. These days... whatever is in stock is another important issue.

Personally I prefer cast iron molds to aluminum but Lee does have some really nice and thought out bullet designs. They still cast good bullets even if the aluminum is a little harder to get used to at first. I also like the fact that Lee has 6 cavities as opposed to 2 and 4 for the more commonly available molds.

I would start out with finding a bullet design you don't mind dishing out the $ for the mold and then seeing if it is in stock or available through mail-order or eBay or places like that.

Don't forget that you also have to spend on lube and some kind of sizer. Lee's TL designs are good and are close to the right diameter but it is still best to resize them. Especially if you slug your barrel and need to adjust the size a bit. Results vary with Alox as some swear by the stuff and other (myself included) absolutely hate the stuff. But you can still lube TL bullets with stick lubes in a lubersizer.
 
I've got a bunch of Lee 2 cavity moulds. No problems with them. I think there's at least 2 6 cavity moulds kicking around here as well....also Lee. No problems.
I've got a couple of Lyman steel/iron/whatever moulds as well. They work fine too. In actual fact, if you look after them, most moulds are fine for the home bullet caster. The Lee 12 ga slug mould....from what I've seen is like paying $26.99 plus tax for a headache. You might not want to start off with that one.
 
H&G, SAECO, LYMAN & RCBS all make excellent moulds. NEI is good as well. There are some smaller semi-custom/custom makers like Mountain Moulds, etc...that turn out excellent products as well. About the only thing LEE has going for it is that they're cheap. While you might luck out and get one that doesn't cast out of round bullets and drop pills that are near the stated weight, the LEE moulds often require some tweaking in order to drop acceptable bullets. I'd much prefer a used RCBS or Lyman to a new LEE.
 
i prefer lyman and rcbs as they are easier to work with. i could not get used to lee. after cooling, put a good coating of oil over the mould and they will keep for many years. i have been reloading for 20 years and its the only way to go with ammo costs going up every year.
 
H &G are now made by Ballisticast I think. Saeco Redding are very high quality as well, RCBS used to be excellent, Lyman lately is having some Q.C. problems. Lee 6 cavitys are a good value for the money, especially if you buy them from Lock, Stock, and Barrel or Midsouth in the U.S.
 
I started off with a 2 cavity Lee .45 Acp mold about 20 years ago and quickly found that I needed more production and it became a hobby unto itself. I have a 6' high double door cabinet that is 4' wide and it is full of molds, about 120 at last count.

As stated before there are lots manufacturers and would have to rate the bottom of the barrel as Lee 1/2 cavity molds then RCBS,Lyman,NEI, SAECO and Lee 6 Cavity's as being about the same in no particular order.

H&G Molds are the best if you can find them mainly due to there bullet designs, they take there own size of handles and you have to thin a Lee 6 cavity Mold handle a bit to get it to work.

Aluminum scratches easy so if you are working to fast and cut the sprue plate before the lead has completely solidified you will get a streak of lead on the bottom of the plate that will scratch a nice divot in the top of your mold.

Brass is a nice compromise between weight of an iron mold and the softness of an aluminum mold. The nice thing about brass or aluminum is there is no preservation oil needed because they don't rust.

A 4 cavity iron mold gets heavy really quick, at about the 500 bullet mark you are tired where aluminum you could keep going with no problems. Iron molds are harder to modify if you need the bullets slightly bigger and some iron molds will not drop bullets very easily.

I had a 429421 4 cavity Lyman (the essential .44 mag bullet) that you would nearly have to beat the thing to drop its bullets. I honed out any irregularities with very fine lapping compound, I even looked for nicks or anything that would not let the bullets drop with a huge magnifying glass and still I couldn't get the mold to work. I tried all the smoking and mold release tricks in the book and finally I gave up and put it in the back of my mold cabinet.

I had NEI make me an exact duplicate out of brass and sized correctly to .431, and the bullets literally jump out of the mold, what a difference.

Most Lee molds are undersized which will lead to sever leading so the best thing to do is slug your particular barrel and decide after that where to go. You can always increase the bullet size by 1 or 2 thou but that is about it.

Casting your own is very cost effective and you will always have a readily available supply of bullets. It is a very addictive sport and I am always scow-ring ebay and the EE forums looking for molds. Can't have to many or at least that is what I am telling myself.
 
buckbrush said:
H &G are now made by Ballisticast I think. Saeco Redding are very high quality as well, RCBS used to be excellent, Lyman lately is having some Q.C. problems. Lee 6 cavitys are a good value for the money, especially if you buy them from Lock, Stock, and Barrel or Midsouth in the U.S.
Click to expand...

+1. My recently purchased 147 gr 9MM mold from Lyman drops WW alloy out at 154 grains. Saeco, RCBS and NEI would be my choices in order. Lyman is hit and miss.

Try Ebay and watch there. You might get the odd buy in a used Lyman mold.

Take Care

Bob
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom