your most expensive mould?

[troy_mclure]

what is the most expensive mould you have?
do you feel that it was worth the price?
what makes it so expensive?

[runfiverun]

the most expensive mold i ever bought was a lee two hole job.
bought handles and everything, it's still in the creek by my pops place.

[HollandNut]

what is the most expensive mould you have?

Lyman 462560 4 cavity

do you feel that it was worth the price?

Yep


what makes it so expensive?

Its a Lyman from the time when they still had quality moulds , and the four cavity in that mould is pretty rare .. I gave $150 for it and have $25 in the handles , people have paid well over $100 for that mould in a single ..

[theperfessor]

My most expensive mold is a ten cavity H & G #258 (41 Mag 220 gr SWC Keith style) for $246 including shipping charges. Came with handles and in excellent shape.

Got it on eBay about four-five years ago.

I have paid $100 - $150 for out-of-production four cavity Lyman molds. especially when I know they will drop a slug the right size.

[beagle]

Oh, I guess a double cavity NEI .375 mould with two different bullets in the blocks in meehanite. Think it was over $125. Been so long. Ordered directly from Walt.

Then, there's the two H & G DCs...the #326 and #328 that were special ordered back in the last days of H & G. They were over $100 each without handles.

These are relatively cheap compared to some I've seen sold on E-bone...../beagle

[dualsport]

LBT .358 DC LCFN(?). $100 Group buy on CBA forum, haven't sent in my order yet, waiting on b-day $ ( I hope). Deadline is Nov.22 You can order any available weight, diameter, nose, etc. Each one ordered is custom to your specs. Mine is for a match bullet in my Marlin 1894C, any suggestions? My bore slugs .358.

[Tom W.]

Mine is a 2 cavity RCBS 44-245 SWC, only the most expensive because it allows me to shoot my revolver a lot!

[Bret4207]

H+G 10 cav #50. $80.00 on a buy it now. Worth 3x that at least.

[Ben]

Mine is a Cramer I bought about a yr. ago.
$175 for the mold and handles.
A real joy to cast with.
Bullets are super accurate.
Worth every penny I paid ..........

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=35701

[cbrick]

My first one.

I don't even want to think about what it led to and how much I've spent since then. :holysheep

Rick

[stephen perry]

I bought this 4 cavity Lyman Mold for $60 with handles. Have never seen a listing of it in any of my old Lyman/Ideal Manuals. I can afford any H&G, SAECO, LBT, Cramer or who ever but why bother, none make a better mid range Cast bullet like this Ideal 358 87.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR

[montana_charlie]

A hundred and sixty dollar Steve Brooks custom-made single cavity for a 540 grain paper patched bullet.
I consider it to have been VERY expensive because it came to me with the wrong nose shape...and Brooks wouldn't make any adjustment for the 'mistake'.

But, it's an excellent mould which casts beautiful bullets that fall out easily.
Certainly worth the purchase price...if only it was the right design.

CM

[Bullshop]

Victory

[Gunslinger]

Bret4207:

So how heavy is a 10cav iron mold to work with? I must be heavy after an hour or two?!?

[montana_charlie]

Victory
I have a Victory mould, too, but I got it 'fer nuthin'...and I'm not sure why.
I think Steve was in the process of closing out the operation at the time I was emailing him about an old mould order, and he must have figured he was indebted to me, somehow.

He sent the mould with no instructions for payment, and never answered when I tried to find out why.

I may have the last PGT mould to leave the Victory Molds shop...
CM

[hammerhead357]

Well you can bet it was a custom matched pair of 10 cavity H & G moulds that I had cut over 20 years ago. I can't remember for sure but seems to me the 2 moulds cost me 550.00 for the pair. I bought 2 and if I remember correctly Wayne waived the cherry charge. But before I bought the pair from H & G I had paid another company 400.00 for the same moulds and they produced a pile of junk that they would not make right with me... The company soon went under. It was called P & C specalties or something on that order. So I ended up with over 900.00 in a good set of H & G moulds. I should have started with them to begin with.
I think MLV can chime in here about the P & C moulds. If he reads this.....Wes

[Nazgul]

I have a Rob Applegate mold. 325gr LFNGC for the 454 Cassull.

Don

[Crash_Corrigan]

My first molds were two I bought from a dealer in Penn. I got a Lee 148 Gr TLWC and a 158 Gr TLSWC. These were 6 bangers and I started with those two.

That was over 15 years ago and today I have over 100 molds of all sizes and calibers. I have molds for which I have no weapons. It has been a long and expensive journey.

I imagine that today I have about ten grand in firearams molds, dies and other tools to make and shoot boolits. That is not counting the weapons.

It has kept me out of bars and from chasing fast women and slow horses and I do not regret one moment of spending time foragaging, smelting, casting, reloading or shooting. I can sit for hours in front of a TV set watching with one eye whilst decapping, priming and cleaning brass. Reloading is done with a nice collection of Johnny Cash tapes blasting while I enjoy reloading ammo.

I figure that first mold cost me 10 grand but has kept me happy for the last 15 years. It was worth it.

I bought a H and G mold that makes a neat .358 DEWC boolit 6 at a time but the product it makes is not any better than the Lee 6 Banger that cost me about 6 times less and is lighter and easier to use.

Go figure.

[mooman76]

The mopst I've spent on a mould is $75 for a GB Lee 6x. I have mostly lee but I have a few RCBS and Lyman also which I bought used or on sale. I'm cheap!

[jack19512]

what is the most expensive mould you have?
do you feel that it was worth the price?
what makes it so expensive?





1. The most expensive mold I have so far is the Lee two cavity.
2. Yes
3. It's not.

[rhead]

An eight cavity Saeco with handles. 147 grain 9mm. $70 on the table at a gunshow.

[Tom Trevor]

900.00 for a dual cavity Pope mould to complete a Pope-Winchester hi-wall set.[smilie=w:

[GLynn41]

my brass Mountain Mold 90-95 --cheap compared to some listed

[geezer56]

NOE 4 cav 311-165 with one HP cavity. $130 and worth it just to look at. If it casts as well as it looks, it was cheap at the price.

[JRR]

I also have a Applegate 45 cal mold. A wide flat nose. Cost me approx. $95. One of the last molds he produced. Superb! Casts at approx. 285 gr. and is fantastic at 50-100 yards in my Win. 16".
Jeff

[MT Gianni]

I paid $95 for a 4 cavity LBT 180fn when Veral was in lockup. I sold it on e-bay for $165 after I bought a group buy that cast and shot close enough to not matter at all.

[GLL]

Although I spent a lot of money on a few moulds my most expensive was a custom NEI 2-cavity (recent vintage post-Walt).

Expensive because it is a useless chunk of s**t that does not even make a good fishing weight ! :( :(

Does anyone know the current scrap price for aluminum ?

Jerry

[bruce drake]

Actually, my most expensive was my first one. a LEE Single Cavity .309 150gr Flat Point for $16.99.

Its lead to more purchases than I'd want to admit to!

Bruce

[GLynn41]

i think tom wins-- and I agree with bruce my first mold was a 20 +dollar Lyman (it was the 70s) and it has cost ever since-- I noticed GLL you are very unhappy about your NEI -- I have an SSKNEI when walt was there and it is great- but my point is will they not do something about the mold for you? I am sure you have tried and the answer was no?

[deltaenterprizes]

The most expensive mold I have is the one I made a couple of days ago. $2800 for the lathe to make the cherry, $400 for the mill to cut the mold,
4150 for the vise to hold the blocks and about another $5000 in tooling to do measuring and ste ups.
And it is only a 2 cavity ! LOL

[Topper]

Hoch double cavity 41mag, cast 300gr boolits.
From what I remember, it was $75.00 second hand.
Very nice mold.

[lwknight]

All molds are expensive. They make you buy primers and gunpowder and lead.

[no34570]

$220 for a CBE 45 Cal PP adjustable mould & $ 199 for a composite mould for the 45/70 from CBE(See my Avatar)

Was it worth it?,you betcha

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

the first one. Back in 1967, I figure it's run me about a hundred and twenty thousand dollars since then in ancillary costs... Guns, shells, primers, powder, and about eighty more since then.

Rich

[armyrat1970]

I have five and they are all Lee. Not that expensive and they work for me.

[Bret4207]

Bret4207:

So how heavy is a 10cav iron mold to work with? I must be heavy after an hour or two?!?

It's heavy. I'm no girlyman, but it requires a rest to use it effectively. I would say it weighs 6-7lbs maybe more. Thing is once it's up to heat it drops a hundred boolits every couple minutes.

[Freightman]

First mould came with the set up I bought 500# lead, Lyman 10# pot , ladle, inget mould, twenty different Lyman moulds, and a orange crate of ammo, four LEE moulds, and a big box of powder of various kinds. This was what he ask so no where was your mask, $400 but I had to go get it across town. It has cost me tons more since I quit buying bullets and started shooting boolits. There is always one more design, weight, prfile, ect. mould to get.
This is a sickness with no cure!

[dromia]

the most expensive mold i ever bought was a lee two hole job.
bought handles and everything, it's still in the creek by my pops place.

Ditto, I've had a few of them.

[sniper]

My most expensive mould is an RCBS .38 cal. 162 gr. gas check two-holer, that cost me~$65 and that included handles from a forum member. . :bigsmyl2:

My other one cost less.

Not complaining about either one. They cast excellent boolits.

[lead_her_fly]

H&G #503 that I bought off of ebay. Well over $200, and yes it was worth it. Casts like a dream and I have a piece of history, at least in my mind, then again, that's the same thing that I used to buy it with. (Or not! ;) )

[Char-Gar]

I have well over a hundred molds by just about every maker. My most expensive molds have been a couple of Lees. They rolled snake eyes about a couple of hundred bullets. On the other hand I have had some quite expensive molds for 40 years that have produced tens of thousnds of fine bullets are still do.

I measure expense not by initial cost, but by service life.

I don't remember the cost, but the best made and most bueatiful mold in in the fleet is a brass mold by Rob Applegate. His molds are true works of art. To bad he doesn't make mold any more, but he ran out of patients with some of his customers. Can't say as how I blame him.

[BD]

The single mold I spent the most for is a mehenite 4 cavity Ballisti-Cast .44 265 grain WFN. It was about $125 when I ordered it and well worth the $$.

The design I've spent the most on is the BD-acp as for some reason I've always felt like I had to buy one every time there was a variation, and I bought an extra for a loaner from the first Lee six cavity group buy. So in the end I have 4 molds for the same basic design that I hardly use as I also have the originals Dan cut in iron for the master caster.

BD

[crabo]

I spent $195 on a 4 cavity Ballisticast and another $50 for handles. That was my first purchase. Then I had a man call me who saw my ad, WTB molds and casting equipment at the gun range. He had some H&G molds if I was interested.

I asked his price for 3- 6 cavity and 2- 4 cavity and all with handles. He said $360 and I almost hurt myself getting my money out. I took $400 and that was my budget for that day. I still have 2 of them, a 4 cavity 45 acp 230 Ball and a 6 cavity 200 grain #68.

I am glad that he set the price. No guilt that way.

[docone31]

My most expensive mold was a brass one cavity RB mold from the defunct Caldors chain.
I had some wheel weights, melted them over a campfire, tried to pour them.
Well, the fire made smoke, the person in the appartment upstairs had been in a fire previously, she went to the hospital with angina! Our landlord evicted us over it. The fire did get out of my hands and burned about 1/2 acres of grass.
That was an expensive brass RB mold indeed.

[John Boy]

Two molds from Fred Leeth (Pioneer Products):
$265 - Sharps 457 Adjustable (0.446) PP Mold
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd220/Meadowmucker/Molds/PDRM2818.jpg

$245 - Modified Gunn 457-535gr Double Cavity

[det]

Old mold would be one of my Pope or Schoyen molds.
new mold would be my Hock 285135 pope style tapered

Det

[geargnasher]

My most expensive mould is about to be a Lyman. It's a 358665 that for some stupid reason I bought recently from Midway for about $58 plus shipping. I say "about to be" because to make it right I'm going to have to send it to Erik Ohlen and have him remove the bevel-bases (NOT shown in Lyman's literature/illustrations, wouldn't have bought it if I had known), then have him enlarge the driving bands so it casts .359" WW boolits ROUND at light frost temps, and if possible have him pull the nose base back into the crimp groove about .015" to make the aweful crimp crevass a more reasonable size.

I figure it'll easily cost more than the purchase price to fix it, but that's about what a good custom one would cost anyway, and I will be getting a steel mould when the dust settles and one that I know what I'll have before I spend the rest.

Next (if any) Lyman mould I buy I'll just have them send it to Erik FIRST and when he makes it right I'll buy it from HIM.

Gear

[AZ-Stew]

Saeco 4-cavity 220 Keith type .41 mould. About 20 years ago it cost me 3-4 times what any of my Lyman or RCBS moulds had cost me up to that point. I can't remember the exact $$ figure, but I thought it was REALLY expensive. Bought it anyway. No regrets. It has a square grease groove, whereas my 2-banger Lyman mould of the same style has a round one. They both cast good boolits, but the Saeco understandably produces more boolits in the same time period. It is heavy, but it was worth the price and the extra hand/arm strain when using it. What makes it so expensive? It's a quality tool. You get what you pay for (mostly).

Regards,

Stew

[gasboffer]

Hoch nose pour .429.

[softpoint]

358009 double cavity, bought off a member here for $100 I had been wanting one for some time, and i saw single cavities go for that on evil bay. Great mold, and worth every penny.

[Southern Son]

I got a Brookes for about 200 bucks and it was well worth it. I bought a Lee 2 cav for my .310 Cadet for 75 bucks and it aint worth the postage. I don't know what that mould is actually for, but I don't know anyone who likes it for the Cadet.