Double cavity or 6-cavity mold for beginner?

[Triggernosis]

Which should I choose? I don't necessarily shoot THAT much, but don't want to handicap myself by going with a double-cav. mold if I may as well get a six.
I'm planning to start with a Lee 358-125 RF to make some light plinking loads for .38 Special.
What do y'all recommend?

[wantoutofca]

I started with a 6 banger and didn't feel that that there was much of a learning curve. If you start shooting high volumes of ammo you will be much happier.

[nhrifle]

Go with the 6 cavity. You will get lots of good boolits quickly and have lots of fun in the process.

[Willbird]

I agree the 6 will really pile up bullets :-)

[Boolseye]

+1. Whenever there's a six-cav options, it's worth serious consideration. It's a no-brainer when you'll be shooting a lot of that boolit. They're a more robust design, and proportionally less expensive given the quality and size differences.

[turmech]

I would suggest it depends on if you are going to bottom pour or ladel cast. If going with ladel I would suggest 2 hole mold.

[1bluehorse]

Obviously the 6 pack will make more bullets faster. (not necessarily better) It also costs around 50 bucks with handles. The doubles are what, 20bucks? (Lee) Pretty cheap way to find out if that bullet will work/and you like it, or not. From pictures I've seen and the bit I've read, the NEW Lee 2 cavity molds are pretty nice..also, it's (from my point of view anyway) easier to get a 2 cavity (commercial mold) that will throw bullets the same than a sixer...but, it seems more and more of us are more interested in making bullets in large quantity's, faster, than anything else these days...("I'm thinking about starting to reload for my new 9mm whiz bang, which progressive press should I buy, how many per hour can I get from it"..."I'm just starting out casting for my 9mm whiz bang, do they make a 40 cavity mold for that caliber so I can make enough bullets to keep up with my new progressive press. O yeah, anyone have any good loads for my whiz bang"...) Sorry, a bit of a peeve of mine...I'm just afraid with the glut that's going on right now, there's going to be some folks hurt..

[MBTcustom]

When casting for pistols, it's 6 cavity all the way. For my style of pistol shooting, I'm not looking for key-holing accuracy (although that can be achieved pretty easily with the right load) and I shoot quite a few in one session (300 average).
With rifle, I have a totally different philosophy. It's all about nit-pickin perfection. I prefer single or double cavity molds, and about 75% of the boolits that drop from them will get thrown back in the melt. In a typical session, I will shoot less than 30 rounds through my rifle, and it takes me hours to do it, so speed at the pot is not a consideration.

[Friends call me Pac]

I've just started casting and I have one mold. It is a 2 cavity mold for a 230 gr .45. It is easy enough to use for turning out bullets but I can definately see where a 6 cavity would be nice. I'm glad I started with the 2 cavity but I see myself graduating to the 6 very soon.

[1bluehorse]

I've just started casting and I have one mold. It is a 2 cavity mold for a 230 gr .45. It is easy enough to use for turning out bullets but I can definately see where a 6 cavity would be nice. I'm glad I started with the 2 cavity but I see myself graduating to the 6 very soon.

I think thats a smart way to start...it's not quite as frustrating throwing two bad bullets back into the pot as it is 5 out of six..:-D

[Errokk]

I'm bottom pouring and went with 6 cav for first mold.

[3006mv]

i still use a 2, which is fine, i am getting older and my hands sometimes get tired, so x6 is that much heavier.

[Mk42gunner]

One thing to think about is that a six cavity Lee doesn't operate like any other mold. The third handle for the cam operated sprue plate takes a little bit of getting used to. Where once you learn how to cut a sprue on a two cavity, you pretty much know how to work any other commonly available mold.

I vote for learning on a two cavity.

Robert

[Cherokee]

Go with the 6 cavity, a much better quality mold and easy to use.

[williamwaco]

It depends!

If money is short any you want to cast bullets 200 or 300 at a time, go with the two cavity.

If the price is not a deterrent ( remember you must buy the handles separately )
or if you want to cast 1000 bullets in an afternoon, go with the 6 cavity.

[Walter Laich]

remember you can just use 2 cavities on the 6 until you feel ready to fill all of them in one fell-swoop

[Bouv]

I started casting with a second-hand Nei-mold with 4 cavities, then bought a 6 cavity Lee 358-158-RF for CAS. I like the Lee 6 banger, my wife also does CAS, so I need a lot of bullets :-)

[catboat]

A six cavity Lee with handles (if you don't already have handles) will be in the $50 range (stated earlier. That may be a lot of money to some, or not. IF you are new to casting, and IF you get a Lee TUMBLE LUBE design (with the smaller, and more numerous bands), you don't need a lubrizer (Savings ~$100, plus saving $ on not having various diameter sizers etc). So, that $50 will go a long way in getting you able to cast and lube bullets for not a lot of money.

Not sure what pistol you'll be using, but I'd think about getting the Lee 358-148 grain tumble lube wadcutter. You can make mild plinking loads (nothing more classic that a wadcutter and target shooting). You can also amp it up and make some snappier hunting and self defense loads. It seems like "large meplat" designed bullets are all the rage, and supposedly trump the traditional semi-wadcutter design for hunting. Nothing has a bigger meplat (front flat part) than a wadcutter.

I have this mold. It is very accurate. I tumble lube them, and shoot them at "as cast" diameter. I did very well in our club's winter indoor pistol league with them in a S&W K38. The gun/bullet design puts 5 shots in a ragged hole at 50 feet. Pretty good if you ask me.

http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/7744

[DLCTEX]

I'd say go with the six cavity mould and a cheap hotplate to warm it up on. It will save you a lot of headaches in avoiding poor fill out, wrinkles, and breaking the sprue plate handle. You can cast keeper boolits from the start with a properly heated mould. Do a search for broken sprue plate handles and you can learn to avoid this headache.

[bosterr]

A good old friend use to say, "It only costs a little more to go first class". I still try to follow that. Go with the 6 cavity, even though you need to buy handles, you'll never regret it! I happen to have the 358-125-RF for my Girlfriend's little Ruger 357 LCR. At 7 yards she uses a bullet hole for an aiming point, sits the laser dot on it, and proceeds to put shot after shot into the same hole. Go for the 6 cavity!

[Shiloh]

Get the six cavity mold.

SHiloh

[ipijohn]

If you plan on shooting very much get the 6 hole.