Lyman mould blocks, for Colt .45

[49Reo]

So some time back, 2-3 years, if my memory serves me correctly, I bought a set of double-cavity Lyman moulds, .452" is what I ordered. Got them in the mail, oiled them up and put them away. Today, I dug them out as I am planning to cast some bullets tomorrow for my front loaders, and decided to do a run of .453's as well. Took a look at them, and lo and behold, they are a .452 mould and number, but below that mould number they are stamped .450. Will these still work for a .45 Colt caliber or will they be to loose?

Thx in advance,
Reo

[Piedmont]

You have to measure the product from the mold. What it says on the side or the mold doesn't mean much with Lyman.

Then you also need to measure your firearm because what it is supposed to measure in critical dimensions doesn't mean much either.

[Guesser]

The "450" is probably the number of the "cherry" they used to cut the mold. Try them, they should drop at .452 if you use something resembling Lyman #2 alloy.

[Hardcast416taylor]

My WAG would be that number is either the cherry used to cut the cavaties or is the operators number. You can only tell by casting a few and measuring them.Robert

[49Reo]

Thanks guys. I'll be using wheel weight lead(from a long time ago, they are lead) for the smokeless loads and pure lead for bp loads.

Reo

[rwadley]

"450" is the "mould pair id". It should be on both mould halves. IOW, mould half 450 should go with another mould half 450.

http://reloadingtips.com/pages/lyman-mold-reference.htm