Aluminum Mould vs Iron .45 acp

[davemarse]

I'm new to the .45 acp and have always cast other calibers in Lyman iron moulds. I'm considering the Lee 452-200-SWC but have reservations about an aluminum mould. I'm considering the 6 cav Lee mould over the Lyman #452460.

Should I be concerned about an aluminum mould?

thanks,
Dave

[Forester]

I'm new to the .45 acp and have always cast other calibers in Lyman iron moulds. I'm considering the Lee 452-200-SWC but have reservations about an aluminum mould. I'm considering the 6 cav Lee mould over the Lyman #452460.

Should I be concerned about an aluminum mould?

thanks,
Dave

I just recently trashed a Lee 452-200 SWC mold...but I did a lot of learning on that paticular one and it still cast 20,000+/- good boolits. I use a lot of this boolit design and the Lee molds are cheap by comparison so I keep 2 on hand, one "working" and the other just broken in and waiting its turn.

They obviously are not as tough as a steel mold, and in my experience like to be cast hot (frosted boolits) but other than that they are a great deal and good tools. I have learned to be much easier on my equipment now and I see no reason the current mold wont more than double the life of the first one.

[Shiloh]

I have cast thousand of boolits in the very same mold. They're about $35 and a six banger mold drains a lead pot in a hurry. Mine is the TL variety.

Shiloh :castmine:

[colbyjack]

so is one better than the other?

whats the pros and cons of aluminum vs iron?

-chris

[MT Gianni]

Ford vs Chevy. Aluminum weighs less so it's easier on the hands. A well fitted Al. mold such as LBT or some others put out are great to work with. Iron last longer, holds heat better and has less tendency to being damaged when droppped.
Lee molds take lubrication and more adjusting from the factory to get a good bullet than LY and RCBS previously did. Just as no two casters have the exact same needs no one type is better. You do get what you pay for in this life and molds are no exception. Gianni

[mtgrs737]

I like the Lee six cavity moulds but you must be gentle with them if you want them to last. I also keep them well lubed with bull plate. You can really cast a lot of boolits in a short time with them.

[mooman76]

I wouldn't say you have to be gental with them but you do have too take good care of them and you can't be rough with them. I have allot of lee moulds and have cast 1000's of bullets with them and haven't lost one yet. I have the Lee mould you are talking of. My 45 1911 didn't like them much! Shot well but I had allot of Jams!

[35remington]

mooman, I'd get that 1911 looked at if I were you. While not an exact copy of the HG #68, it's close enough that most guns should shoot it well and reliably.

[Cloudpeak]

I've cast thousands of bullets with the Lee 6 cavitity molds: 9mm, 40 S&W and two 200 gr. SWC molds. If you lube the pins and pivots and sprue plate with "Bull Shop Sprue plate lube", I think the Lee's will go forever.

I had occasional FTF problems with the Lee version of the H&G68 so bought the Lyman 452630 4 cavity mold. The Lyman is twice the cost and much heavier than the Lee 6 cavity but drops very nice, uniform bullets-.452 with wheel weights. I really enjoy casting with the Lyman and it required no work to cast first class bullets right off the bat.

It seems the bullet diameters with Lee molds can vary quite a bit, IMO. I "Leemented" a couple of the molds to cast oversize and then sized them to .452 which worked out very well. I got great accuracy out of the Lee 45 200 SWC (single lube groove), btw.

I mentioned the FTF problem with the Lee 200 SWC bullets. I had 5-600 rounds on hand that were loaded with this bullet and must have fired about half of them since selling the Lee mold. I haven't had one failure to feed. Weird.

Cloudpeak