lyman mold quality ?

[Thinktwicez71]

I have been looking for a used lyman 452374 round nose 4 cavity mold , but to no avail. I will prolly order a new one from midway on Monday , but here is my problem. It seems there are a lot of problems on here of lyman molds casting smaller than advertised .452 , I wanna size in my star so that would be useless to me. My question is do all lym/an molds cast small now , or just a few every now and then? I just don't wanna buy a new mold that is junk. Will lyman replace it if it does ? Or at least midway ? Thanks

[Bret4207]

Lymans quality has been spotty for decades to be honest. Back when it was pretty much the only game in town we took what we got and accepted it as the way things were. Now we have options and access to measuring instruments most shooters didn't have 40 years back. So, to answer your question, no, not all Lymans cast small. And if you do get one that is skinny you can return it to the retailer. I'd check with whomever you plan on using about their return policies prior to ordering though.

I take Joe didn't have one? I have one other other idea for you if you're interested. It might involve some bucks though. I know a guy that had some H+G's in the Burg, might be worth checking if he's still alive.

[BSkerj]

I have a few Lyman molds and they do seem to drop small. I probably won't buy a new one any longer because of this. But if it is a older Ideal/ Lyman mold I don't hesitate in buying it if I need it. Of course these are used. I have had good luck on Ebay in finding older Ideal molds on occasion at a good price but these have mostly been single cavity.

Going forward, most of the molds I get now are from Miha.

[Thinktwicez71]

Yeah I tried joe at hilltop , grays in lisbon , vantassels in pamelia , I checked ebay everday for a week , put posts on here asking for a good used one but no luck. Bret , it all depends on how much were talking about , and who is the person ? I might already know them and just didn't know they casted. Definately want a round nose mold tho

[bhn22]

There are a few on Gunbroker.

[Thinktwicez71]

ok i looked again , i didn't see a used lyman 452374 4 cavity .....link ?

[shooterg]

Older Lyman molds seem to work better for me. Now "Lyman" and "quality" are not words I use in the same sentence.

[6bg6ga]

quote:
I have a few Lyman molds and they do seem to drop small.


I have (2) round nose and one semi wad cutter and they work fine. I have noticed that the alloy/mixture you use has an effect on bullet size.

[casterofboolits]

The only bad Lyman mould I've ever had was a four cavity 452374 45-225-RNPB I purchased about 20 years ago to match one I alread had. No joy! The newer mould cast five grains lighter and the bottom band just barely sized 452.

The old mould sized 452 almost 1/8 inch above the grease groove and drops a perfect 225 grains with my alloy. That mould is at least 40 years old.

Lyman seems to have a problem consistantly repeating thier mould cherry's configuration and do not seem to have masters and prints for thier cherry's.

My most recent Lyman four cavity moulds were two #401638 40-175-TCBB and two #452664 45-250-RFBB. Each pair cast within one grain for all cavities and size to nominal diameters. IE 401 and 452.

[Firebricker]

All the newer Lyman molds I have bought drop under sized but one. It's aggravating because they cast good and last forever. Any new molds I buy from now on will be from our vendor sponsors here. FB

[Le Loup Solitaire]

A lot of folks like #452374 as it duplicates the GI design. If you get one that is the right size it can work well for you. I got one that shot around corners and I got rid of it. I had much better success with the RCBS 225 grain round nose and felt that it did a better job because of the extra band just in front of the grease groove.....more bearing surface. Eventually I got my hands on an H&G #34 (a 4 holer) which is an exact copy of the RCBS. It shoots like all get out. The problem with RCBS is the most number of cavitiea that you can get is 2. Getting H&G molds is getting more and more difficult; let alone the one you want/need. Ballisticast took over H&G production, but boy do they want to be paid. The other prob is that Ballisticast is at the moment moving their facilities so their production is temporarily stopped. Now about Lyman molds! You might get one that is the right size....the key word is "might". They are playing a game called try and make the cutting cherry last as long as possible and when the cherries get worn enough then the molds come out undersize. The "Big L" just waves them thru quality control and if you complain then they tell you that you have to use Lyman #2 alloy to make the mold cast larger. If you want to buy into that load of manure and you are happy then fine, but there are many more makers of good molds and special order designs around nowadays and a good suggestion would be to look around and see what other choices you may have. Your gun, your $$ and your call. LLS

[shodan]

so what brand of molds would be recommended? What company now is regularly making fairly priced molds, with dependable quality, with a great selection of different calibers and bullet models?

[MtGun44]

Lee is fairly good, if you can get in synch with the buying cycle, Miha Products are fantastic.
RCBS is very good quality, the few SAECOs that I have are all unusably small in diameter.

Bill

[Firebricker]

shodan, Welcome to the site. Go to the bottom of the page and click on "castpics" then go to member products and you'll see the mold makers. BRP, MiHec, and Swede Nelson. There is links there and check out Group Buy and Group Buy Discussion sections here. FB

[MikeS]

If the Lyman moulds are dropping undersized boolits, couldn't the cavities be lapped out to make them bigger? I realize that this shouldn't be needed on a new product, but what can you do? I would also think that by lapping out the cavities you could control the size of the finished boolit, and make all the cavities the same size.

[44 WCF]

I've had great luck with Lyman customer service the few times I've dealt with them on a mould and a set of dies over the years.
I size my 452-374 to .451 so I would need to cast some and see what actual diam is. If all 4 are .452+ I would consider a trade of my 4 cav for a new or near new 2 cav 452374 or similar in RCBS or SAECO near new plus a cash difference. It costs $40-$55 to have another brand converted to Magma Master Caster. Or if you come across a Magma 2 cav we could trade. New Magma's are $85.00 plus Ship and the new Lyman 4 Cav are less than that, so it' tough to trade and come out with a win win, but I'm open to suggestions.
I just traded 4 Cav 311291 and 4 cav 311041 for converted new in the same, but those moulds sell for around $125-$150 depending on condition and style so the trade benefited both parties. Let me know if you have any othe ideas.
Good luck.

[Bret4207]

Yeah I tried joe at hilltop , grays in lisbon , vantassels in pamelia , I checked ebay everday for a week , put posts on here asking for a good used one but no luck. Bret , it all depends on how much were talking about , and who is the person ? I might already know them and just didn't know they casted. Definately want a round nose mold tho

Do you know Ford Wing Sr? He shot at Camp Perry back in the day. From what I gathered talking to him some years back he had a mess of stuff. I was always going to follow up and see if I could snag some of it, but never got to it. These days the funds just aren't there. Might as well let you have a shot at it.

BTW- in buying off Ebay I've spent as much as 3 years finding what I wanted. Be patient.

[Thinktwicez71]

oh trust me i know what ya mean when ya say funds are tight , i am in the pipefitters union , and keep on getting laid off , so work is on and off , kind of hard to get ahead and stay there when ya don't know how long ur current job is going to be

[Firebricker]

If the Lyman moulds are dropping undersized boolits, couldn't the cavities be lapped out to make them bigger? I realize that this shouldn't be needed on a new product, but what can you do? I would also think that by lapping out the cavities you could control the size of the finished boolit, and make all the cavities the same size.

You can lap them out but its a long tedious job especially on a steel mold. Beagling is the easy way to go. FB

[BulletFactory]

never again