The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Guns, Politics, Gunsmithing & Reloading Cast Bullets Why so little mention of RCBS pistol molds?Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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Fellas, some of you can probably tell I have the fall pistol hunting itchies, and I have been posting and reading about .44 Magnum and .45 Colt cast hunting bullets. Seems virtually all the posters discuss the various Lyman, Lee, LBT and Mountain molds, but I almost never hear folks talk about RCBS pistol molds. Is there a reason? I'm just looking at my Midway catalog and RCBS shows some nice looking Keith-type designs in mid and heavy weights in both calibers. Their 45-300-SWC GC Keith style looks like a real good bet in a Ruger .45 Colt, for example. Is RCBS having quality issues or something? | ||
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Bill, Nothing wrong with RCBS molds. I cast a fair bit for a buddy, and one of the molds I cast was the 45 300 gr SWC gc. The mold casts well, and my buddy said it shoots great in his 45's and 454's. I'd certainly take an RCBS mold over a Lyman any day. I think it's more an issue of the LBT shapes becoming more popular than the SWC's. One advantage of say an LFN shape, is more weight is in the nose, so you have more powder capacity. I wouldn't hesitate to use that 45 300gr SWC for hunting, it'll work fine. | |||
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Quote: I have that exact mold for my .45 Blackhawk and judging by my sample of one, I don't see any quality issues with the RCBS molds. The bullet (you can tell I'm only a casual caster 'cause I don't say boolit  ) shoots as straight as my LBT 250 WFN - actually a bit straighter in this particular firearm with, so far, undersize chamber throats.Also can't say why no one discusses RCBS molds. I used to dote on the LBT stuff from Veral and still cherish my two remaining original LBT molds. Will probably go with Mountain Molds if I need another LBT design, but I've used too many Lyman molds - which Veral told me over the phone were pure junk - which produced "one raggedy hole" capable bullets to turn up my nose at any of the mass produced brands. Certainly, a more precisely built mold will turn out more precise bullets, but 28 years of casting have taught me that casting technique makes a LOT of difference in how any mold turns out good bullets - i.e. bad technique will turn out junk from great molds, while good technique will turn out very good bullets from "lesser" molds. Methinks that, while an accurate firearm in a Ransom rest could definitely show one the difference between a junk mold and a really good one, that firearm fired from the hind legs of all but the most skilled shooter would do just fine with bullets from the "lesser" molds. | |||
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Probably my most accurate pistol bullet is a .475" 310 gr LFN, that is cherry cut in a 4 cavity ballisticast mold. I've never sorted them, nor cherry picked chambers in my 480, but have shot a 3 shot 100 yd group of 1 1/2", and I bet the gun is capable of better accuracy, as the group was strung horizontally with at most a 1/2" verticle dispersion. That bullet and load shoots better than I can. My best rifle bullet is a Lyman 358009 that has put 5 shots into 1" at 100 yds from my 350 Rigby. Again, only visual sorting of bullets. I honestly can't think of a manufacturer that makes a bad mold. I prefer casting some more than others, but I've gotten good bullets from all of them, and they all shoot good to excellent groups. I'm more concerned with bullet shape and weight then who made the mold. The only thing I have against the RCBS is, for the same money you could get a Lee 300gr rf gc 2 cavity, and a Lee 6 cavity 240-250 gr SWC mold. | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Guns, Politics, Gunsmithing & Reloading Cast Bullets Why so little mention of RCBS pistol molds?
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