While on holiday in Cape Town I visited City Guns, inquiring about a new 30 cal 180gr RCBS mould, GC design. They were asking R1250, which is about $156 US. Sheer gouging IMO.

Anyway back at home I visit my local little shop and he had a new Lyman 180gr mould - 1994 vintage, also a GC design (311332). He was asking R200, or $25. I snapped it up.

I suppose it is too late to ask the question but what is the general opinion of Lyman moulds, I've only used RCBS up to now. It looks well made, and it fits my RCBS mould handles no problem.

Can I use RCBS Gas Checks with a Lyman cast bullet?, because I have found problems using Lyman GC's on RCBS bullets.

Cheers

Pete

there a good mold but not as good as a rcbs

All should work fine for you,I`ve always used rcbs OR hornady checks no matter what brand of bullet mould I cast with,even had good luck with lee moulds especially the 2 bullets designed for 7.62x39.being slightly over size they have shot well in every 30 cal I`ve tried them in.30-30 with 7-9gr Red Dot,308 7-11 gr,30-06 9-12.5 gr all red dot.most give .5 moa not bad for pointed cast bullets.

Lyman has been around for a hundred plus years and like any company they have their quality periods and they have their years of junk production. There's only one company that consistantly makes junk molds, Lee.
I've got a few single and double cavity molds, dating back to the 70's and 80's, from Lyman that are really good and some four cavity molds dating back to the 30's, 40's and 50's that are wonderful.
I have a couple of RCBS molds that are good and used often.
I would suggest that both companies products are quality depending on the individual mold you are holding in your hand.
Jim

[ 01-08-2003, 17:23: Message edited by: arkypete ]

Thanx for the input guys, the proof of the mould is in the casting. I will give this one a work out tonite.

Cheers

Pete

I must agree lee moulds are pretty bad, but if & or when you get a good one it seems to be very good,they had to re-cut my .458 405 gr fbhp as it was only casting .455" with straight linotype,the one they re-cut is beautiful and a nice .459" with an alloy a little softer than the usual lyman one,this bullet shoots,they also deepened and widened the lube grooves,the old ones barely held any,unless you used their tumble lube(no thanks)also both of my 7.62x39 moulds work fine and are very accurate.the 170gr and 200gr designed for 30 cals leave a LOT to be desired,neither shoot well.last is the .458 fbfp 340gr,a lot of people like this one,but I can`t make them shoot,even straight lino and no sizing does not help.some of us are poor so we use what we have or can afford,at $15 or so,lee is not too bad of a deal.JMHO

Just came back from the garage, this mould gets a 10/10 from me. Musta cast nearly 150 bullets, a preliminary check culled about 10 or so. Now to weigh them.

Pete, et al As you've just discovered the range of opinion regarding the quality (or lack thereof) of Lyman moulds is rather wide. I own a few RCBS's, but mostly Lymans and a few Lees. While RCBS moulds are excellent, both of mine leave a noticeable parting line on their droppings. Neither the Lees nor the Lymans leave so obvious a mark. I've also purchased in recent months an old Ideal (ca. 1923) and a new Lyman (ca. June, 2002) mould. Both cast beautifully, but the newer one, contrary to popular opinion, is improved: The sprue plate is ~1/8" (3mm) thick whereas the typical Ideal/Lyman thickness is ~1/16". Lyman still makes a good product, but RCBS's guarantee is better. Hope this helps!

....if, in fact, you are correct about Lyman molds being good sometimes, and bad sometimes, then how can you call that quality? I know for a fact that Lee makes some pretty good molds... and they make some REALLY doggy ones. But for about 15 bucks, sometimes it's worth taking the risk. You could buy almost three Lee molds (including handles) for the cost of one Lyman with NO handles. I'm not trying to start a pi$$ing contest here.. I just get a little tired of everyone looking down their noses at Lee products. I've used lots of their products for many years, and have nearly always been very pleased with the value for the money. No, they are not generally the quality of the more expensive brands, but, they are usually nowhere NEAR the price of the expensive brands.
....having said all that, I have to admit that I have approx 15 molds, and most of them are Lyman... one RCBS, and two or three Lees. I have never had an issue with Lyman on the quality of their molds...

Hello Paul Brasky. I see some very good news in your post concerning Lyman bullet molds. The thin sprue plate of the older molds was the major flaw in their design. RCBS changed to a thicker sprue plate several years ago, I'm glad to hear that Lyman has responded. I have several RCBS molds and more than several Lymans, and a few Lees also. They can all make good bullets, the Lees take a lot more care. I'm wondering if Lyman would sell some of their newer, thicker sprue plates to retro-fit some of their old molds.

Regards, duke.

Duke, Thanks for the kind words. You may know me as "Maven," another (almost) refugee from the Shooters.com cast bullet board.

"I just get a little tired of everyone looking down their noses at Lee products. I've used lots of their products for many years, and have nearly always been very pleased with the value for the money"

Hornetguy I agree-- not wanting to stink the place up either. If a Lee is dimensionally what a caster wants, with minimal effort those single cav's can be made into beauties. I'm the author of the Lee-ment which basically is just a simple method of polishing those block top and sprue plates. I also add a hold down finger and chg out the pivot screw. I have a few Lee's I wouldn't trade for any other mold no matter the deal...

Alladin, Where can I read about the LEE-ment? I own 7 lee moulds, and most are very rough opening, etc. They all could use a face lift. Sounds like some very useful information. Thanks!