For handgun bullets...

What is the optimum number of cavities in a bullet mold ?

See where most molds are 2-cavity. Mike Venturino seems to like 3-cavities. But there's a bunch of 4-cavity molds. Remember seeing some 6-cavity H&G molds.

Some folks keep two, some even three, molds running simultaneously managing the heating/cooling process. Don't know if this is with all molds identical as to bullet or if they're running one mold for 44 and another for 45 at the same time.

What ya'll think ?


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Hammer this is just me personally but I like the Lee 6 cavity molds, light weight, well made and you can make the bullets fall like rain once you get it up to temp and everthing running smoothly. Lee 6 cavity molds are cut from a different clothe than their 1 and 2 cavity molds, much better quality from what I've seen. I've cast 40 lbs of 358/158/RNFP in one setting before, that will let you shoot a couple days without worrying about casting again. The price is right too, about 35.00 for the mold and 12.00 for the handles. JOMO

This is going to sound smart, and I don't mean it to, but it all depends on the mould maker... I have several H&G 10-cavity moulds, and if I do my part they absolutely refuse to throw culls! The moulds are very expensive now in the secondary market, but they are worth whatever you have to pay when you can find them, because the weight variation among the cavities is absolutely minimal, typically less than a grain across all ten cavities. I also have some eight-cavity, six-cavity and even a few fours. They are all good, and unbelievably consistent between cavities.

Now, having said that, Lyman makes very good 4-cavity moulds, and they are easy to use. I like them much better than the SAECOs; in my estimation the fill holes in the sprue plate on SAECO's blocks are too small, and it makes you pour a lot of bullets with the bases not filled in.

And I won't buy Lee moulds; they are just not well-made blocks, in my estimation, and they seem to warp about halfway through an intense casting session...

When I cast commercially, and had wrists like logs to prove it, I used TWO Hensley & Gibbs six cavity moulds at the same time. With both casting the same bullet. In other words I had a "matched pair" of the two styles of bullets that I cast commercially.

I found that that way there were seldom problems with the moulds getting too hot. As my routine was FILL MOULD ONE and SET IT DOWN. FILL MOULD TWO and SET IT DOWN. PICK UP AND EJECT BULLETS FROM MOULD ONE, FILL, SET IT DOWN. PICK UP AND EJECT BULLETS FROM MOULD TWO, FILL, SET IT DOWN. And carry on.

If the moulds did get two hot - I used pure linotype and would note a longer cooling time - I would hang on to the just filled mould until the lead sprue run was clearly "set" and dunk it in a bucket of cold water by my feet for a few seconds and then set it down and pick up the other mould, etc., etc.

Hensley & Gibbs moulds really, really were superb and the company is sadly missed. There just wasn't anybody else to touch them. And that weight variation? On his "custom" moulds...yes, less than one grain over the two blocks and the twelve bullets.

One point if I did it again? I think that I would think about eight cavity moulds. I was casting about sixty pounds weight of lead per session. Hot work! I'd drink about eight pints of tea per day!

what enfieldspares said, +1. The more cavities you have, the lower the absolute quality and consistency of the bullets. My BPCR and Schuetzen rifle moulds are all single cavity. The spread on a run of 200+ 515gr .45 caliber bullets is in the 6/10ths grain area. The 220gr .32" caliber Schuetzen mould is less than half that. You get pretty good production rotating two moulds.

Rich
DRSS
Knowledge not shared is knowledge lost...

The moore the better, as I like to get as many bullets as possible out of my casting sessions.

The most accurate load I've ever shot from a revolver was a 310 gr lfn out of my 480 ruger, at 100 yds it would put 3 shots in a 1 1/2" group. That was cast from a 4 cavity balisticast mold. My only inspection was visual.

If I were competing in rifle bench rest, then I'd certainly use a single cavity mold and weight sort bullets. But for most handguns I'd venture to say that with a decent mold the gun will be holding you back more than any minor differences from one cavity to the next.

I almost always cast two molds at a time, and I cast straight wheelweights. I've cast 35 pistol and rifle bullets along with 475 and 50 cal bullets. Once I get the molds up to temp I find I need to have two molds going to allow some cooling time.

I've not found Lee molds to be very sturdy, especially the 6 cavity.
I was lucky to find 2 Saeco 4 cavity molds, each, for 45 cal 220 grain for my 45 acps and two 255 grain for my 45 Colts.
I use the same technique the Enfield uses, fill, set down, fill second, set down, etc. I have a 1/4 inch aluminium plate to set the mold on to help maintain temp., preventing over heating.

Jim

I like the 6cav Lee molds, mine throw good bullets. The Lyman 4cavs are nice too, not too heavy. Anything above 4cav in iron is going to be too heavy IMO to cast for very long. You can do quite well w/ a pair of 2cav molds & alternate them to keep the bullets from frosting.

For a handgun where 500 yard accuracy is not really much of a factor, aluminum 4 gang moulds are great. Iron, or Meehanite moulds hold heat a little too long for fast casting. The LBTs are pretty fast casting. For 400 gr. bullets or more, 2-3 gang is about right.

I have a few single cavity molds, some doubles, one triple, a bunch of 4 cavity molds and one 6 cavity iron H&G.

The large iron molds get heavy and you may find that problematic. For casting pistol bullets the four cavity molds are great.

Large rifle bullet molds will almost always require alternating two molds to keep up production rates. I often cast .458 and .470 bullets together for that reason.