I recently obtained a 450-400 NE 3 1/4" and would to save money and cast my own bullets. My question how do I go about getting a custom mold made as I have not found one made by Lyman or RCBS in the exact caliber? Thanks

Thank you looks a promising site.

My 450-400-3 1/4NE uses standard .400/.410" barrels. I learned that "secret" from Butch Searcy who uses McGowan for his.

That leaves a couple dozen made for the 40-65 and others used in BPCRS single shots.

I used AA for my mold for my 425 WR. You can design one, and he will work with you.

You can design your own at Mountain Molds web site. I've done three so far, getting ready to design one for my 03a3.

Jim

I like Hoch Molds. They are nose pour molds which is considered by many to be a better way. I found my Hoch mold to be very nice to use. I Made a lot of nice/perfect 585 bullets with it.
I found that I needed to run it a little hotter than other molds.

I am fairly new to casting and found my Hoch mold to be easier to make perfect bullets with than my two Accurate Molds. Brian

Thanks for the suggestions. Now I just have to make a decision.

I had a Hoch custom mould made back in the 70's by Richard Hoch himself for my 404 Jeffery. They are a well built sturdy unit and being nose pour cast perfect bases. Second photo shows one of the cast 404 bullets in my RCBS pullet puller die which I hold in a lathe chuck to turn gas check shoulders on the plain base bullets.
For the life of me I can't remember why I got the mould made for plain base bullets, perhaps because there were no suitable gas checks available back then for .423" bullets, little did I know or think that 44cal GCs work perfectly.Never got good results with the plain base bullets until I gas checked them.

Eagle27, Yes they are a nice mold. They also come with thicker wood handles which are perfect for a long casting session.

Your bullet puller/lathe chuck is a cool innovation. Thanks for showing it. Brian

I had really poor performance using my RCBS moulds for my 450-400.Even using 5744. Perhaps a GC is in order,but I'm not exeding 1500 M.V.so seems a dead end.Mountain moulds is a good outfit to deal with.They built me a very nice set for the 500G. .470 N.E. Dual cav. The front cav. will just cast the front of the bullet at just past the ogive.The point here is to be able to cast a solid S.P. if that makes any sense.I came onto this by Veral Smith. I had a set of moulds built for my 7x57 AI.The front cavity (point) is cast w/ 50/50 or etc. soft. The 2nd cav. is cast w/#2 alloy or linotype. A bit of work but you get the best of both worlds,penetration + expansion.

accurate molds, NOE molds, and possibily a few more but the two listed I'mm most familiar with. Frank

might try Buffalo Arms, they can custom make also;
http://www.buffaloarms.com/Products.aspx?CAT=3754

Thanks for the suggestions I just ordered one from accurate molds and am going to try that one first.

NEI Handtools will have the mould you want. I've done business with them for15+ years but don't anymore as their prices have skyrocketed and their customer service is the shits now that the company is under new management.
Cal

quote:

Originally posted by cal pappas:
NEI Handtools will have the mould you want. I've done business with them for15+ years but don't anymore as their pieces have skyrocketed and their customer service is the shits now that the company is under new management.
Cal

Cal, I won't do business with NEI either. When Walt Melander was alive, the company offered an excellent product with fast customer service. Sadly, Walt is no longer with us, and the company is run by his daughter and son-in-law, I believe. The moulds are nowhere near what Walt used to cut, and as you say, customer service has gone through the floor. It is a shame.

It's sad as it WAS a great company.
Cal

Sad indeed! As a business owner I know that my kids will never love it as much as I do.I have to console myself that after I'm gone,it won't matter.However the customer base suffers + that is a real moral issue in my opinion.