Mold comparison.

[45-70 Chevroner]

I have two Lyman molds, one of them is stamped 225415 and is a single cav. mold. It throughs a 45 to 46 gr. boolit.
The other one is stamped 225415 JS and is a 2 cav. mold. It throughs a 55 to 56 gr. boolit. I thought all 225415 molds were supposed to be close to the same.
As close as I can measure the single cav. boolit is .545" long and the double cav. boolit is .608" long obviously they are different but are they supposed to be? They both look identical except for the length.
The #47 Lyman manual shows in the rifle section that it weighs 45 gr. but in the Contender section it shows that it weighs 49gr. go figure.

Also I am selling some 65 gr. 22 boolits in the add section and it looks just like the other two, but they are .616" long. I don't have that mold.

[kyle623]

i'd be happy to take that defective single cavity mold off your hands.

[Slow Elk 45/70]

The molds for this boolit have changed several times over the years, so there is no guarantee on what you get when you buy used molds.....good Luck

[45-70 Chevroner]

Kyle623: Wellllllll. NO! Thanks for the offer though.

[45-70 Chevroner]

Slow Elk 45/70: These were new when I bought them back in the late 1970s. I bought them in a little gun shop in Wickenberg Arizona.

[Calamity Jake]

Yap you can buy two molds of the same # on different days or even the same day and they could be different weights and shapes. It all depends on the person doing the machineing and the shape/condition of the cherry.
This seems to be the case with Lyman anyway.

My 225415 is of the 55gr variety.

[HORNET]

The Ideal/Lyman 225415 was traditionally listed from 45-49 grains in their different manuals, with the weight varying for no apparent reason. Sometime, apparently in the 70's, Lyman decided to extend the gas check shank which boosted the nominal weight up around 55 grains. It still works well in most calibers but can have stability/accuracy problems in the 16" twist barrels of older Hornets, for which the older version is preferred.

[Doc Highwall]

45-70 Chevroner, if you check Lyman's Cast Boolit book 3rd Edition you will see that they note that some mould numbers were available in more then one weight.

[beagle]

I think in this case, it was just Lyman's whim of changing things and no weight difference was intended. You see 225415s and 225438s all over the place as far as weights were concerned. Lighter is beet theough...IMO./beagle

[45-70 Chevroner]

Dov Highwall: I don't have any manuals that old but I would sure like to. I have 47 and 49 and two older ones I bought in the 70's.