E-bay Maxi ball mold,i got?

[Willyp]

What are the measurements on a Maxi ball mold? I mean the rings on the outside edges of the mold,if it is a 50 cal.
Next,if it is a TC mold,what handles will have to be used with it?

[fouronesix]

The OD of the shank drive bands should be about .498-.500. The OD of the top drive band should be about .502-.504

Lyman or Lee handles. The best handle for the money is the Lee- but they are large and designed to handle large multi-cavity molds. I think Midway has them on sale now for about $12.

[bubba.50]

in my limited experience most t/c moulds have lyman handles.

[Willyp]

Thank you for the info,fouronesix. After a quick check,yesterday,i think it is a 50 cal!!!!!!Man,it is shiny and new,inside and out!

[fouronesix]

In the early 70s when T/C designed the Maxi, I think the molds they sold (including the roundball molds) were outsourced to another company. Those T/C molds were blackened aluminum and had a squared off sprue plate. Those molds were packaged and sold by T/C but the molds were unmarked as to manufacture. The T/C boxes they were packaged in say "Designed and Distributed by T/C Arms Co". Shortly after that Lyman also began making a Maxi mold patterned after the T/C design. Those molds were of iron and marked "Lyman".

The early aluminum molds sold by T/C look very much like the Shiloh molds of about that era.

Standard RCBS, Lyman and the Lee 6cav handles fit both T/C and Lyman Maxi molds.

[KyBill]

The T/C mold handles I bought new some years back were Brass and the nut holding the works loose till I took a punch to it (prefer Lyman). all T/C molds I have are Black anodised aluminun if they get to hot they turn light burgundy and lead will bond . my old T/C maxi hunter .50 molds out .502-.503 looks to be Lyman block?

[fouronesix]

Yah, the Maxi Hunter design came out quite a few years after the Maxi Ball so stands to reason they'd be Lyman. The standard Lyman block will be iron and the sprue plate should have the rounded end. And yes, those early T/C aluminum blocks have "small" mass so temp control is critical. Learned that about 38 years ago. :) But, with care, they do cast a nice bullet. I still have them and use them.

As an aside, just after Lyman started making their mold version of the T/C Maxi Ball design in about 1974-5, Lyman listed them as a "solid base" conical with a 6 digit code number and not as a "Maxi Ball".