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Which brand of mold?
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I started casting bullets about two years ago for my Ruger 45 Colt. I bought a Ballisti Cast keith mold. I like it, even though the bullets don't drop out real easy all the time. That is all I have ever used. Now I have a 45-70 and I am trying to decide which brand of mold to buy. I was thinking of getting an LBT mold, but the prices went from $85 to $125. Now that mold is almost twice the price of an RCBS or SAECO mold. If you were to pick a brand of mold to get, for the 45-70, what would it be? How good are the RCBS and SAECOs?
 
Posts: 184 | Location: Missouri | Registered: 15 November 2000Reply With Quote
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If you were thinking of getting an LBT design, you might take a look at www.mountainmolds.com They are a real quality mold cut to the size you want at a reasonable price.
 
Posts: 2924 | Location: Arkansas | Registered: 23 December 2002Reply With Quote
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I will second that-mountain molds ,I have many ,and they are good quality moulds. Sean
 
Posts: 562 | Location: Houston Tx | Registered: 23 October 2002Reply With Quote
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Sean,

I have the RCBS 405 gr flatnose gas-checked mould. I love it. The bullets cast great and even shoot better. You can't go wrong with this one. Mike Venturino uses it and he's a big 45-70..guess you could say literally as he's a big fellow. The RCBS and LEE would be your cheaper choices.

Joe
 
Posts: 2864 | Registered: 23 August 2003Reply With Quote
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Sean, I'm banging away happily with a Lee 459-405-HB. If and when I ever get serious about the .45-70 and work out just what I want, I'll order a mould from Mountain Molds.

There is much to be said for a $20 off-the-shelf mould to get you started quick and let you work out what you like and dislike before you spend serious money. I can take a $20 hit, but I'd cry if I bought an expensive mould that just did not work for me.
 
Posts: 1570 | Location: Base of the Blue Ridge | Registered: 04 November 2002Reply With Quote
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Quote:

I started casting bullets about two years ago for my Ruger 45 Colt. I bought a Ballisti Cast keith mold. I like it, even though the bullets don't drop out real easy all the time. That is all I have ever used. Now I have a 45-70 and I am trying to decide which brand of mold to buy. I was thinking of getting an LBT mold, but the prices went from $85 to $125. Now that mold is almost twice the price of an RCBS or SAECO mold. If you were to pick a brand of mold to get, for the 45-70, what would it be? How good are the RCBS and SAECOs?






Sean try lapping out your mold for smooth release. Instructions are on the Shooter's archives or castpics.net I believe.



I sent you a PM BTW.
 
Posts: 1529 | Location: Central Wisconsin | Registered: 01 March 2001Reply With Quote
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Are SAECO molds any good? I don't hear people talk about them much. The 45-70 I have is an NEF Handi Rifle, I have not sluged the barrel or measured the throat yet.
 
Posts: 184 | Location: Missouri | Registered: 15 November 2000Reply With Quote
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Sean

Before I went through the trouble of lapping your mould I would look for burrs under a magnifying glass. Sometimes these will hang a bullet up from dropping. Also I've tried graphiting my mould cavity with a No. 2 lead pencil and this has worked great alot of times. Smoking the cavities with carbon black helps too. Try using a cigarette lighter for that as a match puts carbon on that sometimes has contaminants that don't help casing, ditto for candles.

I have some SAECO moulds and they are pretty good ones for me so far. Redding owns them now and I've been told that if you have a problem with them Redding handles it better then when SAECO run the outfit.

Joe
 
Posts: 2864 | Registered: 23 August 2003Reply With Quote
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I have taken the burrs off with the aid of disecting scope (low powder stereo microscope) and I use a spray-on mold release. I think the Keith bullets are just harder to cast compared to the LBT-style Ballisti Cast molds I have.
 
Posts: 184 | Location: Missouri | Registered: 15 November 2000Reply With Quote
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Sean,

If you look over a freshly cast bullet sometimes you can see a mark on it from the offending part of the cavity that is causing the problem. If indeed it has a mark you might pay attention to that area. If not you might have to lap it out like Aladin said. I have alot of Keith style swc moulds and don't have too many problems with them.

Joe
 
Posts: 2864 | Registered: 23 August 2003Reply With Quote
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Look at the grease groove on your Keith style mold. Keith designed the mold with a square groove to hold the largest amount of lube possible. Lyman and others rounded off the bottom of the grooves because people were griping about the difficulty in dropping the bullets from the mold. If your mold has the square bottom that Elmer wanted, then that is the source of your problem. Elmer always was somewhat pissed about Lyman making that change as he felt it ruined his design. I have an original Lyman mold with the square groove and it sometimes is stubborn on dropping the bullets. I also have a SAECO mold with the rounded groove and it drops them fairly easy. I've seen no difference in the performance of either bullet as far as accuracy goes. But then, lubes today are a lot better than when Elmer designed his bullet.
Paul B.
 
Posts: 2814 | Location: Tucson AZ USA | Registered: 11 May 2001Reply With Quote
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I personally prefer round grooves because they tend to sling the lube out better, and it seems easier to fill the grooves using a luber machine too. Square grooves are just as good if there is a slant going into them, say 15 degrees or so. ... felix
 
Posts: 477 | Location: fort smith ar | Registered: 17 September 2002Reply With Quote
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I think I have decided to get a mountainman mold. I really like the idea of getting custom diameters. Which molds are you guys using, aluminum or iron?
 
Posts: 184 | Location: Missouri | Registered: 15 November 2000Reply With Quote
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My Mountain Mold is in aluminum, 9.3mm caliber. A superb tool, period.

Slug that throat and groove diameter before ordering your mold--dimensional intergrity is the single largest element in the accuracy (and non-leading) equation.
 
Posts: 299 | Location: Yucaipa CA | Registered: 21 December 2002Reply With Quote
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Sean
A fellow over on the CastBoolit board has a 458 cal 405gr RCBS mould for sale for $35 including the shipping. Sure beats the cost of the mould you want to buy. At least it's a good second choice to have for variety.

Joe
 
Posts: 2864 | Registered: 23 August 2003Reply With Quote
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