Is It Really Possible To Wear Out An Iron Mold?

[shotstring]

I know that several of you have referred to molds wearing out, that iron will last longer than aluminum, etc. It got me wondering what is there to actually wear out and after how many boolits? The only moving parts are the sprue plates and handle joints, and the pins that connect them and all these can be replaced/reconditioned. That leaves only the metal of the mold recieving wear from constant heating and cooling, possibly causing a crack somewhere along the line. As discussed earlier, warpage shouldn't be a problem, so what else is there? Have I missed something? I would be interested in who has actually worn out a mold - how long it took, what went bad and what was the result?

[JeffinNZ]

I would speculate that more die due to misuse than wear. Same goes for rifle barrels.

[44man]

I have never worn out any kind of mold. Some are 50 yr's old. I have not even worn out a LEE mold.
I geuss you could beat one to death! [smilie=1:

[mooman76]

I wore out a Lee mould once. No I think it was twice! I used a hammer. I fixed afterward though!

[44man]

:bigsmyl2:[smilie=w:

[lovedogs]

I think if you take care of your mould you'll wear out before it will.

[quasi]

seems to me KLW stated here he has wore out a few RCBS molds. They replaced them gratis he said.

[klw]

seems to me KLW stated here he has wore out a few RCBS molds. They replaced them gratis he said.

Didn't notice this thread right away.

I've worn out a few moulds over the years. The usual cause of death is wear to the top of the mould right at the pivot pin or a warping of the cut-off plate. The better the quality of the mould the less likely this is to happen.

I did, however, kill off an RCBS mould once. Don't really know how but the two halves wouldn't line up properly after awhile.

[Adam10mm]

Wore out a few women. That's about it.

[DLCTEX]

KLW: Even at that the top of the mold can be surfaced and a new sprue plate installed,but the actual mold keeps on and on. My dos centavos, Dale

[Lloyd Smale]

yes I have. Mostly lyman molds but have had rcbs molds that got a little tired over the years. Ive been able to salvage the rcbs molds with a little work but lyman tends to use softer steel and the tops of the molds will gouge after a while and they will peen the alignment pin holes too. Keep in mind that i cast ALOT and im not one that babys molds. When i cast im pumping out bullets and the cost of an occasional replacement mold is worth it to get a pile of bullets fast and spend more time shooting then casting.. Now even i havent been able to hurt even one of my ballistic cast or h&g molds.

[Bent Ramrod]

You can wear alignment pins, burr, batter or ovalize alignment pin holes, gall mould tops by letting crud get under the sprue plate and peen the outside of moulds out of shape by hammering on them to get the boolit out. Whether that counts as wear or abuse is kind of a judgement call sometimes.

I saw a guy in the process of "wearing out" an old-style integral-handle Ideal roundball mould at a gun show once. He was using it as a pair of pliers to unscrew the takedown knob on a Winchester 03 .22 autoloader.

[Wicky]

My 10c worth. Never wore out a mould and would guess mistreatment would be the main cause. I'm a bit girlie with my moulds though and tend to treat them like I do the dog, nice and tender!:mrgreen:

[Buckshot]

..............I'll second the fact that iron/steel moulds don't really wear out so much as being mis-used/maltreated to death. Most common occurance by a long shot is battering of the alignment pin holes. The pin smacks the edge of the mating hole and is forced up over the edge. The battered metal is expressed outward to form a lip.

.................Buckshot

[Lloyd Smale]

I guess my point was first to admitt im harder on molds then most and although i dont use them for a hammer i dont baby them either. My point is that there are differences in the steal that different brands of molds are made of. to me a lyman mold is as easy to screw up as a lbt aluminum mold if your not careful. But there are molds that resist damage better. I have just as much trouble with lyman 2 cavitys as i do with lee molds. Rcbs are better, seaco better yet and ballistic cast are about indistructable even in the hands of an ape like me. Lee molds are a funny bread to me. theres not a 2 cavity that will last here! The 6 cavitys are pot luck. Some seem put together better then others. Ive got some lee 6 cavitys that have well over a 100000 bullets out of them but have had some that didnt make 20000. Like i said in the earlier post. When i cast its seldom that im not running 3 or 4 molds at a time and casting fast. Im sure if a guy casted slowly with one mold and took care doing it that molds would last alot better. But to me it gets to the point that im wasting so much time doing it that way that the cost of a cheap mold once in a while is worth the prodution. Only problem i run into and have had to adjust my casting because of is the group buy molds. Problem with them is once you ruin one its gone and cant be replaced. If a guy is casting for a rilfle that at the range is shot at the most 50 times in a sitting and then you go home casting a couple hundred bullets at a time is productive. But when i go to the range its seldom that im not shooting 3-500 rounds out of handguns and i do it 3 or 4 times a week and if I casted slowly and did a couple hundred at a time id have to cast every day and all night to keep up. If i dont do a batch of at least a 1000 in a session im wasting my time. Contrary to what some think you can make just as good of bullets casting like i do as you can by going slow and steady. Its maintaining a consistant rythm and maintaining consistant heat in your mold that makes good bullets and there lies the problem with crap molds. If you have a mold that doesnt drop a cavity well or doesnt close perfectly or has a spruce plate that wont stay tight everytime and you tend to ruin it trying to make it keep up the pace. Its really no big deal to me as i dont have time for a finiky mold anyway. Its much more cost effective for me to just replace it. Now im fussyier them most and what i consider a crap mold or a ruined mold some guys would consider a good mold. Ive given away molds that i consider crap and guys have casted with them for years afterward.

[Char-Gar]

I belong to the group that believes a good iron mold doesn't wear out. I treat my mold, the same way I treat my guns, dogs, cats, wife and children. I baby them. I have been casting with some of my molds almost 50 years.

I also don't shoot 300 to 500 rounds per session several times a week. There is no way, I could fire that many rounds at one session without having fatigue cut the edge off of precision shooting skills.

[1Shirt]

Interesting thread! Most car crashes are driver error in some why or other, as are a high percentage of plane crashes are pilot error::Fire: That said, I also suspect that user error or user practice with molds has a lot to do with failure. Horses put away wet have a shorter life span, suspect the same is true of molds.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[shotstring]

Thanks for all the replies and good information. I have only cast large amounts of boolits using H & G six bangers and never had any trouble with them. This will be my first adventure with 2 cavitiy iron molds, aluminum molds and molds by so many different manufacturers. Have developed quite a collection of Lee, Lyman, Rcbs, Saeco and H & G molds now, although still nowhere near the collection that most of you chronic casters have achieved. :drinks:

Now if it will just stop raining for a while so I can get the smelting equipment out....