Lyman 452374 Why?????

[Lizard333]

I have this mold in two different cavities, a 2 and a 4. The two cavity mold I bought used so I don't know when it was made. The 4 cavity I bought new in the last month. My problem is that two different boolets are produced. The one on the left is out of the 2 cavity and the right is out if the 4. The left is casting at 225 grains and the right is right at 231. Also, as you can see, my nose punch doesn't work as well on the 225 grain boolet.

Anyone have this happen?? Why would Lyman change the design?

These are being shot as plinkers, so 6 grains is not going to make a squat of difference at 5 and ten yards. Just a bummer I guess.

[chboats]

They were cut with two different cherries. Some boolits the new cherry doesn't look at all like the original. welcome to Lyman. some designs have changed 3 or 4 times over the years

Carl

[462]

"Why would Lyman change the design?"

Where do elephants go to die?

Yours is not the only instance that Lyman has seen fit to later a mould's original design. Elmer Keith wrote a few words about it.

[runfiverun]

i have 3 different 358477's literally.
the 2 cav design shoots the most accurate it has a rounded button type nose.
the 4 cav is more square nosed and a titch longer.
the single is between them, more rounded but shorter than the 4 cav.

[MtGun44]

In the "bad old days" cherries were cut pretty much by eye on these curves, so guess what?
Over the years they varied a LOT. All of Lymans designs have drifted around over the
last century or nearly a century.

They seem to have moved back to accurately reflect Elmer Keith's intent in the current "Keith
designs", but the exact curvature of the 452374 is still a bit of an eyeball thing. Cherries
wear out and must be remade.

For lathe bored molds, made on CNC equipment, the long term drift should be extremely
small. Or - with CNC made cherries, it should be the same. Today we are capable of much
more precision and consistency in manufacturing, especially curves which are hard to really
define precisely.

Bill

[ku4hx]

Product enhancement and designed obsolescence over time.

[SlippShodd]

In another post, I was giddy with delight over my new 429421 mould I bought from another board member. I'd had a single cavity version years ago and got rid of it, now bought a 2-holer. The old mould had the rounded out grease groove that drove Elmer bonkers when he saw it. My new mould has the original square groove, and that makes me very happy. IIRC, it was Lyman's lack of faith to original design that sent Elmer off to other manufacturers to produce his designs. I may be wrong about that, but I know for certain that it did piss him off considerably.

mike

[45-70 Chevroner]

Lyman had the same problem with the 225415 mold. I have two, one single cav. and it drops a 49 gr. boolit and the other a double cavity and it drops a 56 gr. boolit, and that's using both molds in tandom from the same pot of alloy. I bought them about ten years apart. I have four different editions of the Lyman manual and they all list the 225415 as a 45 gr. boolit. The double cav. mold boolits are a little longer than the single cav. mold boolits. The single cav. mold has a shorter GC shank and the nose on the double cav. is a little longer.

[geargnasher]

In the "bad old days" cherries were cut pretty much by eye on these curves, so guess what?
Over the years they varied a LOT. All of Lymans designs have drifted around over the
last century or nearly a century.

They seem to have moved back to accurately reflect Elmer Keith's intent in the current "Keith
designs", but the exact curvature of the 452374 is still a bit of an eyeball thing. Cherries
wear out and must be remade.

For lathe bored molds, made on CNC equipment, the long term drift should be extremely
small. Or - with CNC made cherries, it should be the same. Today we are capable of much
more precision and consistency in manufacturing, especially curves which are hard to really
define precisely.

Bill

The technology for truly consistent product is there, but the will is not with Lyman. I think they must be one of the last commercial mould makers that still use boring vises and fixed mills.

Gear

[Lizard333]

Good to know they can't duplicate a mold they have been selling for years. You think you are buying a quality product from a name you trust and your not. Too bad they don't make top punches that mach the molds either. Nothing like a nice ring on the top of your boolet. :sad:

[45 2.1]

I heard quite a few years ago Lyman, as a cost cutting measure, stopped employing really good machinists. Any cherry variation from spec is the fault of the machinist, whether from not being able to calculate the diameter on any point of the nose radius to not cutting the cherry to dimension. There are quite a few people out there that CAN'T CUT A MOLD TO SPEC. I can think of a couple that can and I get there molds.

[oldmantoo491]

i need load data for the 452374 in a 45 acp and data for a 175-180 gr cast .401 bullet in the .40 S&W ..if anybody has good accurate date for both, please email it to me,,,please
if you need my email address please send the data to oldmantoo491@hotmail.com,,,,please help me,,,please