I recently found some older Lyman and Lee molds while cleaning out my fathers stuff. I do not cast bullets so I was wondering if you could look at the list and tell me what they might be worth. They are all in boxes except one.

Lyman single cavity

225462
257464
311316
311413
311466
358429
358429 with hollowpoint
375449
452423
575213 with handles and taper for base of bullets
562RB

Lyman double cavity

225438
287405
311334
358495

Lee Molds with handles

358-140-swc
410-195-swc
500-360m

I also have 3 sets of loose handles. It looks 2 single cavity and 1 double cavity set. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Greg Collins

single cavity lymans are going in the 20-40 dollar range if they are in super good shape and are desirable.
the double cav's are in the 40-50 range
and the lees used are about 10 bux.
the handles depending on what they are are about 20 bux used too.
the first three numbers in a lyman mold designate the diameter of the boolit poured from their alloy but they can be slightly larger or smaller. and the last three numbers are the mold designation or style.
and the lees say what they are.
looking at the numbers you might want to keep them and learn to cast as they cover the 22 cal the 25,30,the 357 revolver,the 375 win or 38-55,the 45 colt,and a 575,and a muzzle loader of 58 cal.
the lower ones are the 22,the 7mm the 308 and the 357 revolver again.
the lee is for the 357,a 41 mag and an 50 cal.

Lamar thanks for the response. I haven't decided yet what to do. Most of those molds are for calibers I dont have. I will look more into casting.

Thanks,

Greg

Go on over to castboolits forum, they specialize in moulds. They will be able to give you any info you need.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/

The lyman 258429, solid and hollow point was designed by Elmer Keith back in the 1930's and used in the 38/44 HD revolvers. He basically loaded 38 specials with 12.5 to 13.5grs of 2400 and fired them in a S&W N frame 38 or a Colt SAA in 38 special. The .357 mag grew out of these experiments.

The 358429 is to long for the N frame revolvers when loaded in .357 brass, but works great in K&L frame revolvers. It normally weighs 173grs in solid form. The classic 158gr .357 mag SWC comes from shrinking this bullets length until it would fit N frames in .357 brass.

If you load for an "N" frame, just use the old Keith load in the .38 brass, it still works.

if you go to the castboolits site there is at the top a sticky section with a piscture of most all those lyman molds well a bullet from the mold anyways it's from the old buffalo site.

keep the molds and buy guns to go with them.

Thanks for all the replies. I have been checking around that site. Still trying to figure out if casting is for me.

Thanks,

Greg

I don't see any rare molds in your list, such as the 311440 or 358009. Those molds sell for $100+ on the used market because they haven't been manufactured in many years. The Lyman single cavity rifle molds should sell in the $35 range if in excellent condition, while the one banger pistol molds usually sell for a few dollars less due to the slower production and higher shooting volume for handguns. Add 5 - 10 dollars to the above prices for double cavity Lyman molds. Lyman handles should bring $20 - $25. The Lee molds should sell for about $15 each if in good condition.

If you have free time, free bullet alloy (or at least cheap alloy), love shooting, and enjoy tinkering, bullet casting is probably for you. Prepare to be humbled, though, as shooting cast in centerfire rifles is a different animal than shooting jacketed. There are so many more variables to consider when shooting cast, but that's just part of the the challenge. Hang out at the cast boolits site as suggested. There are many very knowledgeable and helpful folks over there.