lyman bullet mold handle question

[deboog93]

I am new to lyman bullet molds I have used lee so far just due to cost. I am curious I have a set of molds that is looking for the large handles. I was wondering if any other brand of handles might work with them consider the handles are almost as expensive as the mold. Thanks

[BorderBrewer]

Hi deboog93,
The LEE six cavity handles will work with Lyman molds. You can get them for 11 to 12 dollars at Midway etc.

BorderBrewer

[mooman76]

Yes the Lee 6 cavity are cheaper and well made too. They also can be easily modified to fit some other moulds like RCBS.

[deboog93]

fellas that is just the wonderful information I needed to hear thanks will run right out and buy a set today

[Bad Water Bill]

Buy several sets and save on postage. This is a fertile and addictive hobby. Moulds mysteriously seem to multiply by themselves
:cbpour:

[waco]

i use rcbs handles on lyman molds for .45 and .45-70 with no problem......
that i know of.....
are they not interchangeable?:castmine:

[garandsrus]

Waco,

The RCBS handles are thinner than the Lyman. This could result in problems with the mold alignment over time.

With the proper handles, the only real play in the mold is side to side, not up and down as there would be with the RCBS handles on a Lyman mold.

The modification that mooman mentioned is thinning down the Lee handles where the mold attaches so that they fit RCBS molds.

John

[missionary5155]

Good morning
A hand drill and just a little work you can adapt your Lyman handles. I have handles here in Peru and Illinois ADAPTED (another hole drilled out towards the tip) . You may need to do a little file work on the inside of the arms near the hindge pins also. I would rather buy another mold than a handle.
God Bless you !

[leadslinger55]

I just finished fitting a set of Lee 6-cavity mould handles to new Lyman 4-cavity mould blocks. It seems that finding a pair of large Lyman mould handles sometime before the earths lead supply runs out is asking too much.

I can assist anyone interested in the procedure, just follow the below instructions:

Two things must be done to the Lee handles to "fit" them to Lyman 4-cavity blocks.

(1) Drill out the "mould block pin holes" in the Lee handles using a 7/32" or 0.218" drill bit. Be very careful not to drill on an angle, a drill press comes in handy here, but is not absolutely necessary. If done correctly, there will be plenty of metal left over surrounding the holes.

(2) You must grind the Lee handle tongs from the stock 0.310" thickness down to approximately 0.245" thick. I say approximate because if I had a set of Lyman handles to measure, I wouldn't have had to perform this conversion in the first place. I measured the inside channel of the Lyman blocks themselves to come up with that measurement. Once I had the tong thickness evenly ground to 0.245", they fit perfectly!

Then for an added measure of professionalism & looks, I rounded slightly the edges & applied a cold blue to the area that was ground down. They now look good and fit perfect.

The picture on the lower left shows the handles installed on the Lyman blocks. You can see near the pivot bolt on the handles where the tong portion steps down to the new thickness. The picture on the right shows stock Lee 6-cavity handles (top) and the modified handles (bottom).

I hope this helps those of you looking for handles for your Lyman 4-cavity blocks that seem to be very difficult if not impossible to find at this time.

[winshooter]

I'm thinking of buying a Lee 459-405 HB 2 cavity mold that comes with the handles. Will the Lee handles also fit the Lyman molds that require Large Handles?

Thanks,
Mike

[HeavyMetal]

Handles on the Lee 2 bangers don't come off, ever!

The Lee handles the members are talking about are designed for the Lee 6 banger molds.

[cabezaverde]

Leadslinger,

What method did you use for grinding them thinner?

[Scrounger]

I'm thinking of buying a Lee 459-405 HB 2 cavity mold that comes with the handles. Will the Lee handles also fit the Lyman molds that require Large Handles?

Thanks,
Mike

That Lee mold is only one cavity.

[MT Gianni]

I'm thinking of buying a Lee 459-405 HB 2 cavity mold that comes with the handles. Will the Lee handles also fit the Lyman molds that require Large Handles?

Thanks,
Mike

Those handles are integral with the mold as Scroungers pics show. When a Lee mold has bit the dust you can drive the pins out and use it to adapt to another brands mold or replace the handles on another lee by repeening the pins in.

[leadslinger55]

Leadslinger,

What method did you use for grinding them thinner?

I used a decent bench-top grinding wheel and a pair of calipers to check the thickness as I went along. Take the two (handle halves) apart and rest each one on the grinding wheel guide and work it from one end to the other. Wear a good pair of work gloves for this as they will get hot quick. Also, have a small tub of cool water handy to occasionally dunk them in. If you are reasonably careful, they will come out amazingly even from end to end for such an apparently crude method.

Also, I installed a new wheel on my grinder so the (face) of the wheel was good and square. This helped keep the work even.

I have to report back at this time that I recently had a casting session in which I used (3) Lyman 4-cavity molds on this single modified Lee handle with total success.

PS: I think the Lee 6-cavity handles are only about $12.00 at MidwayUSA compared to Lyman Large Handles @ about $30.00

http://www.midwayusa.com/browse/BrowseProducts.aspx?pageNum=1&tabId=2&categoryId=8661&categoryString=685***8657***