Casting With A Single Cavity

[Jason30-30]

Anyone out their casting with a single cavity for their 9mm or other high volume shooting? I would imagine that with a rhythm it would crank out some boolits pretty quick but can also be done faster with multi cavity molds.

[MT Chambers]

It's very slow and only a benefit when loading for top accuracy, usually in rifles capable of top accuracy as all bullets should be closer to being the same.

[jimb16]

Most of my molds are single or double cavity molds. I have no problem producing plenty of boolits for my needs.

[1Shirt]

When I started casting rifle blts over 50 years ago, a lot of the old timers then were firm believers in single cav. molds regardless of cal. A few went with double cavs, but the true believers went with singles!
1Shirt!:lol:

[btroj]

A single cavity for high volume shooting? You will spend way more time casting than you will shooting.
I don't think a 6 cav Lee is 6 times as fast but I bet itis over 4 times as fast.

Do yourself a favor, use a multi cavity mould for 9 mm bullets. Unless you have lots of free time.

[462]

I have one single-cavity mould, a 308291. Yes, once a rhythm has been achieved, a hundred boolits amass fairly quickly. However, for for high-volume handgun purposes, I sure wouldn't want to go that route.

[DLCTEX]

Get a Lee six cavity and make boolits. Preheat the mould on a hotplate and avoid problems of breaking the sprue plate handles and cast keeper boolits from the start.

[runfiverun]

Anyone out their casting with a single cavity for their 9mm or other high volume shooting? I would imagine that with a rhythm it would crank out some boolits pretty quick but can also be done faster with multi cavity molds.

the problem here is the words 'single cavity' and 'high volume shooting' just don't go together.
pick one or the other.

[AndyC]

Even a dual-cavity mold didn't throw enough handgun boolits for me, so I went 4-cavity

[jmsj]

Jason,
I currently don't cast for 9 mm but for my high volume shooting (38's and 45's) I use mostly 6 and 2 cavity molds. When using the 2 cavity molds, I usually wish they were 6 cavity molds.
I do really enjoy using many of my single cavity molds. One of my favorite molds is a single cavity 358429. It throws the most beautiful bullets that seem to jump out of the mold. If I am having a bad day, I break out that mold and cast some up. Works as a great stress reliever.
jmsj

[Jason30-30]

Thanks guys I will definately look at something more than 4 cavities for medium-high volume pistol shooting.

[x101airborne]

In my VERY humble opinion......... I really try to concentrate on quality boolit production. I have a lot of 6 and 4 cav molds, but I can really get down and dirty on quality with my 2 cav molds. Dont be discouraged with a single cav mold. Take the time and learn the mold. When your boolits come out with a total variance of .3 grains, you are producing some good boolits. Learn when to cut the sprue. Learn when you need a fan on the mold. There is so much to learn other than the quickness you can cast. It is VERY gratifying to make 1000 boolits an hour. To me it is more gratifying to make 400 boolits absolutely PERFECT or as close as I can in an hour.

To quote my SF Seargeant..... Slow is smooth, Smooth is fast.
Go for quality first. Leave the bigger cav molds till later.

[geargnasher]

If you can get good boolits from a single cavity, it isn't that much of a stretch to learn a multi-cavity mould. x101airbore gives really good advice, and once you really figure out your alloy, mould temperature, alloy temperature, pot temperature control, and get a good, steady rhythm going (the kind that makes consistent, quality boolits), then I'd suggest moving up to at least a four-cavity, and really wouldn't hesitate to recommend a Lee six cavity mould. Heed the advice above about preheating Lee six-bangers to casting temperature on a hot plate or you WILL break the sprue plate cam handle trying to cut the first ice-cold sprue you pour. Once you get the hang of casting with it, you can easily cast 500 good boolits an hour or more if you run two pots to minimize pot recovery time during refills.

Gear

[MT Gianni]

I have a few SC molds. I like them for what they do. My HB 38 molds get the most rapid use at the line but it is a long slow process to cast them compared to a 4 cav.

[Guesser]

All my best molds are single cavity Ideal and early Lyman branded blocks. It is really satisfying to see the castings pile up and they are all perfect in every way. No hot spots between the cavities, the cavity fills perfectly every time, not like multiple cavity molds where a cavity gets by with only a partial fill and other maladies not consistent with SC molds. I use some DC but my best and favorite are the SC.
I cast and shoot more than 10K of my cast per calendar year. Half the joy of doing it is the casting, the other half is divided between sizing, lubing, loading, shooting and cleaning.

[sig2009]

Anything smaller than a 6 cavity mold is useless as far as I am concerned!

[Kraschenbirn]

4-6 cavities work just fine for my handgun boolits but for my CF rifles, all my moulds are SCs or DCs...and the DCs have all been lapped/beagled to drop as close to the same weight as possible from both cavities. The only semi-auto in my vault is a Garand and for my boltguns and single-shots, I'll take quality over quantity, any time.

Bill

[1Shirt]

Agree that the 6 cav lee's are the way to go for handgun blts. You can empty a 20 lb. pot pretty quick with one particularly if it is for 44-54's. They are even empty one fast with 150 38's or 9MM's. However, most handgunners will probably shoot many times more in number of boolits a year than they will for rifle. 6 cav for rifle are fine for plinkers IMO, but I want 1 or 2 cav for serious accuracy, and consistancy.
1Shirt!