Lyman mold big disappointment

[Captain Capsize]

Yesterday my Lyman 2 cavity .225 44 g. mold came in. I right away cleaned it up and started casting boolits. After the first few they came out looking purdy and shiny so I cast about 75 of them before checking them real close. Once I put the eagle eye to them I discovered they were out of round .222-.230"! And half of them had a pretty deep gouge from the base to the ogive along the seam. Maybe I could clean the flash off the one cavity but both were casting oval boolits! I contacted Amazon and they are sending a replacement on their nickle. I hope it shows to be a quality item. Does Lyman have their molds made in China??

[waco]

Maybe I just have good luck. I have about a half dozen Lyman molds and all of them cast great boolits.

Sorry to hear about yours. I hope your new one is better.

Waco

[leftiye]

Look at the holes for the alignment pins. A ding or piece of lead etc on one side of the hole could be the cause of the out of alignment. Sometimes you can tap (or thump) the halves into alignment (carefuly) too.

[ButterNutZ]

I gave up on a new Lyman molds. Bought two 314299s and both were dropping out of round and undersized. I sold one as is and sent the other one to Eric at hollow point molds to be opened up. When it was all set and done, I should have bought one from mp-molds or accuratemolds or any other mold maker.

[Rex]

I bought a 358665 Lyman that was way out of round, sent it back and they replaced it with one that was fairly round but way undersized. I beagled the thing. Bullets look a bit strange after sizing but the darn things shoot fine.

[Larry Gibson]

What alloy?

What alloy temp for casting?

What method of casting?

Larry Gibson

[Muskyhunter1]

I just picked up a 150 grain 270 mold (2660642). It was old stock at a local shop but new to me (NIB) and never used. Got a warm spell last week and during molding I couldn't get the sprues to release from the plate. Once the mold cooled I noticed the sprue plate was not bevelled down to a sharp edge. It was ripping the sprue off the bullet base and I had to pry the spruces off the plate with my spoon.

I called Lyman this morning. Initially the lady in Customer Serves said she wanted be to mail the sprue plate to them first. She was very nice. I explained having me send their defective plate back will slow the process down another 2-3 weeks before they even think of sending me a replacement.

She talked to someone in back and they agreed to just send me a new plate which is fair. To be honest they should, it is the right thing to do as they manufactured and sold a defective product. I likely have 8 Lyman molds and have always found their quality was decent. I will buy another Lyman mold no problem.

You know with today's face paced manufacturing flaws do happen. The key to mitigating errors is the Customer Service to rectify the problem. They came thru for me this time - so far............

Just my spin on things.

[Captain Capsize]

What alloy?

What alloy temp for casting?

What method of casting?

Larry Gibson
Alloy - melted down unfired .45 acp bullets+some range scrap+about 5% 50-50 lead/tin solder.
Temp. - don't know, not too hot had good mold filling
Casting method - electric pot and casting ladle.

[Larry Gibson]

Suggest you try casting some with a known alloy such as linotype, Lyman #2 or even COWWs + 2% tin. Might also turn the heat up a bit as the smaller bullets do not keep the mould hot enough if the alloy is not hot enough and you don't cast fast enough. Also the alloy will cool quicker than you think before getting into the cavity when using a ladle.

Larry Gibson

[Captain Capsize]

I'll have to wait couple of days for new mold to arrive, the old one already went back to Amazon. I'll try your suggestion.