Lucked out on fleabay

[MKT]

At least I feel I did.

Until the other day my only mold for .44 bullets was the gas checked RCBS mold I bought when I started out casting. Last weekend I was checking used molds on fleabay and stumbled on a non-gas checked mold, an old Lyman 2 cav. The pictures weren't very clear so I couldn't see if the cavities had any dings or rust and the seller did not include the mold number, only thing the listing stated was that it was a 245 grain bullet and came with handles. The price was low and I bid fairly low compared to what I've been seeing molds without handles go for lately.

Well, the mold arrived with yesterdays mail. There was a very light surface rust and everything cleaned up nicely. Before heading off to work I fired up the pot and threw about 100 nice shiney new bullets that cast at .432" and weighed 252 grains with straight wheel weight alloy.

This mold is an older mold, the blocks are much smaller than any I have. I did some checking today and found out I had lucked into a Lyman 429421 mold, supposed to be a 245 grainer using #2 alloy. I thought these looked a little "Keithish" and checking the mold number proves this was the Keith designed .44 bullet. Appears much more nose heavy than the other .44 mold I have.

I ran the mold for another hour this evening and now have a nice pile of heavy bulets ready for size and lube. The small blocks come up to heat quickly and I was throwing good bullets by the third fill. I believe this may be the fastest 2 cav mold I have ever used.

Now, I need to shoot up the .44 Special ammo I've loaded so I can give the old Master's bullet a spin. Shoot, I need to get some magnum brass one of these days too, just so I can launch some boomers from my Model 29's.

 

[Skip Sackett]

Way to go MKT!

They made several versions of the 429421, some with round grease grooves which would have driven Elmer crazy, (or so his followers think) but I was wondering which type your mould had.

I have the same profile in an H&G #503 clone and they shoot like a dream. I am waiting on an HP version from a group buy on Castboolits forum. Lots more money than you probably paid for your mould though!

Good for you once again but pictures sure would be nice!

 

[MKT]

Skip,

This mold has the rounded lube groove. From what I remember reading, in Elmer's own words, he was upset that Lyman changed his design from a deep squared groove to a rounded groove. In fact, I believe I had recently re-read that in a link someone had posted somewhere on this site.

I was tossing about the idea of the Castboolits group buy. You are talking about the Miha brass molds correct? I saw both, the .44 and the .41 buys but thought I would see what I could get before jumping on a buy.

I'll try to get a couple shots of the product of my luck later today.

 

[Skip Sackett]

Pictures are a good thing!

Here is my H&G #503. I sold this a while back because it cast a bit small. For my Marlin, I needed a .432"+ bullet. So, I bought a Mihec 6 cavity aluminum mould. That thing will cast a bunch of bullets in a hurry!

I am on schedule to get one of the brass HP moulds. Can't wait to see that one!

 

[aphelion]

Skip,

This mold has the rounded lube groove. From what I remember reading, in Elmer's own words, he was upset that Lyman changed his design from a deep squared groove to a rounded groove.

Elmer Keith had more than one beef about how Lyman changed the design. Personally, I don't think the rounded grease groove was a problem. His concern with that was that the rounded grooves held less lube than the squared ones. Today's lubes, and even 50/50 Alox/beeswax, work fine with whatever grease groove the bullet has.

I think a couple of his complaints were valid though. Lyman reduced the diameter of the front band to less than full bullet diameter, as well as reducing the width. Keith wanted the front band to be full diameter to help with alignment into the forcing cone and to reduce skidding as the bullet engaged the rifling. I believe that is a valid concern. Lyman also reduced the width of the base band on the 429421. This makes the base weaker and more prone to deformation, not good for accuracy, especially noticeable at extended ranges.

 

[MKT]

Well, here ara a couple of the casting from my cheapo auction Lyman. No shots of the mold though. The color seems odd but this was an outdoor shot with no flash, the afternoon sun and the background mat see to give everything a blue hue.

I'll try to remember to get some shots when I have some loaded up, plus some from the range when I go shoot them.

Like I said, this small Lyman mold is a fast mold. I ended up with 250 projectiles for about an hour and a half, maybe an hour and forty-five minutes of throwing bullets. Only spent about 40 minutes at the lubrisizer today getting them all sized and lubed.

 

[Skip Sackett]

COOL!
That's what I am talking about!

 

[Maximumbob54]

I missed this a couple of days ago. That's a sweet new mold. I'm waiting on that same group buy already mentioned. Right now I'm casting from a Lee mold for slow and pokey .44 loads. I might make a real magnum load with the new mold. Is that Carnuba Red you are using??? I know that's a hard wax lube, so I'm guessing that's good for a higher pressure fast moving load. And it looks good too!!!

 

[MKT]

Actually, that is Thompson's Red Angel. I mostly use Thompson's Blue Angel but picked up a couple sticks of Red recently. The red seems a touch softer when cooled than the blue is. The blue has worked well for me in all loads, but as usual YMMV.

The Thompson's hard lubes do require the heating element and you have to give the lubrisizer a good 30 minutes to come up to temp before sizing, I usually start the heater and take care of other business until enough time has passed, just don't forget about it for hours or you'll find long "strings" of cooled lube hanging from the sizer. Don't ask how I know .

 

[Maximumbob54]

Awesome, Medusa blooms...

Thompson's is another one that I hear good things about. I'm trying to figure out what larder lube I'm going to try out. Right now I'm using a 50/50 alox/beeswax and want to try something new.

 

[Paul5388]

Bob, you might want to try some White Label BAC. I forget what the letters stand for, but it has carnauba in it. I switched to it a couple of years ago. I never need a heating element and you probably wouldn't either.

BAC:
This lube is a mix of my Carnauba Red and 50-50, light red in color.
Some of my customers started mixing it this way at home to get a lube with performance similar to Carnauba Red, but does not need a heater.

 

[Snapping Twig]

Another vote for White Label BAC. I switched over a few years back and it smokes much less than the Lyman, Alox and Javalina I used before.

Congrats on that mould. I have it and liked it so much I bought Lyman's 4 cavity version to up production.

I will admit to admiring other Keith moulds with thicker driving bands and a square groove, but not enough to buy one when these appear to work so well.