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reloader28
04-29-2010, 11:32 PM
How come I never seem to read much about these molds?

They got some nice looking boolits that I'm interested in, but never really hear about them.

I'm thinking of getting the 60gr 223 boolit, has anybody used it?

Anybody tried casting for the 223WSSM?

RobS
04-30-2010, 01:28 AM
Saeco makes very good molds with good finish. A note though, as with all commercial manufaturers they have had their molds that didn't hit specs, although not very often. The expense is why I think you don't see them as much. A person can look up a quality custom mold maker and have a mold cut to exactly what you want at equal to or less than a new Saeco mold price.

Buckshot
04-30-2010, 02:54 AM
..............I have several and use them with sublime delight[smilie=l:. They are right up there with the best. I'll agree with RobS that they're spendy and if ALL my moulds would have had been Saeco's I'd have a LOT fewer of'em.

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

Edubya
04-30-2010, 08:37 AM
When I first started casting, my mentor told me SAECO, H&G were the only good dependable moulds to buy. I started with them and have several of each. They are good, very good but I've got a couple of the MiHec moulds that cast the HP/solid boolits now and I'm thinking that I'll put my SAECO and H&G moulds up for sale and buy as many of the MiHec moulds as possible.

Reloader, I see that you are somewhat new on the site. You may not be familiar with the MiHec moulds that we are getting on the Group Buys. They're worth the money and the wait!

EW

selmerfan
04-30-2010, 09:18 AM
I've only got one SAECO mold, #354 180 gr RFNGC .358" and I didn't think it was expensive at all. I paid $50 shipped used from this site. Did I get some sort of wicked good deal that I didn't know about at the time? It was the first mold I ever bought. Works great!

RobS
04-30-2010, 09:30 AM
I've only got one SAECO mold, #354 180 gr RFNGC .358" and I didn't think it was expensive at all. I paid $50 shipped used from this site. Did I get some sort of wicked good deal that I didn't know about at the time? It was the first mold I ever bought. Works great!

Used............ yes they can be had for at a less expensive amount................however we were talking about a new Saeco mold. I am assuming you have a two cavity mold and if so you did well to pick it up.

New from midway your mold would have cost you close to $100 shipped.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=373261

Jon K
04-30-2010, 09:54 AM
A person can look up a quality custom mold maker and have a mold cut to exactly what you want at equal to or less than a new Saeco mold price.

Yeah....if you want an aluminum mould.

Custom Mould Makers like Paul Jones/Steve Brooks/BACO use Saeco blocks and they are not cheap.

For a production mould....Saeco is my favorite.

Jon

mtgrs737
04-30-2010, 10:02 AM
I have several Saeco molds and feel they are top notch, but pricey. Most of mine I bought second hand as they don't usually sell for more than a Lyman or RCBS mould used. I am a fan of iron moulds but I have many aluminum moulds too. I like four or more cavity moulds so an iron mould can be a bit heavy. IMHO Saeco = good quality.

Shuz
04-30-2010, 10:13 AM
I have several Saeco moulds and they are all excellent casters and produce boolits that are very uniform cavity to cavity. I like the fact that Saeco makes 4 cavity moulds, I only wish that RCBS did. As others have pointed out, Saeco moulds are pricey, and I'm glad I got most of mine years ago, and on the secondary market.

felix
04-30-2010, 10:25 AM
You can't beat a good mold, whatever the brand. The more complicated the boolit design, the more important it is to select the mold material and the manufacturer having the tooling to make the deal come true. It is always best to design a boolit without too many corners, and those that are required should be somewhat rounded. Usually a cheap mold will produce excellent simple boolits. ... felix

243winxb
04-30-2010, 10:25 AM
You dont hear about Saeco much because they are trouble free for the most part. The boolits as they drop from the moulds are on the large side for me using scrap alloy. Lyman is closer to finished diameter, needing very little sizing in handgun bullets. Lymans 30 caliber rifle bullet shoots well for me. http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n420/joe1944usa/44mag.jpg http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n420/joe1944usa/IMG_2935.jpg [URL=http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n420/joe1944usa/CastBullets_20090207_004.jpg] [IMG][URL=http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n420/joe1944usa/CastBullets_20090207_004.jpg] [IMG]http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n420/joe1944usa/CastBullets_20090207_004.jpg

RobS
04-30-2010, 12:02 PM
243winxb:

Good pics

That'll Do
04-30-2010, 12:25 PM
The four Saeco molds I have are excellent. They all cast at least .002" over stated diameter. While they're expensive molds, it is money well spent.

selmerfan
04-30-2010, 03:45 PM
Used............ yes they can be had for at a less expensive amount................however we were talking about a new Saeco mold. I am assuming you have a two cavity mold and if so you did well to pick it up.

New from midway your mold would have cost you close to $100 shipped.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=373261

Yikes! I had no idea it was that expensive new, I just went looking for a heavy .358" for my .357 Max barrel and this was the first I found. I've since moved up to primarily 215 gr. and 190 gr. boolits in that, but this works well for a friend's .357 Mag that I load for, so I hang on to it, and the bullet shoot very well in the Max, I just like the mental thought of more weight, although I'm sure whitetails can't tell a difference.

Jack Stanley
04-30-2010, 08:56 PM
When I first started casting, my mentor told me SAECO, H&G were the only good dependable moulds to buy. I started with them and have several of each. They are good, very good but I've got a couple of the MiHec moulds that cast the HP/solid boolits now and I'm thinking that I'll put my SAECO and H&G moulds up for sale and buy as many of the MiHec moulds as possible.

Reloader, I see that you are somewhat new on the site. You may not be familiar with the MiHec moulds that we are getting on the Group Buys. They're worth the money and the wait!

EW

Welcome to Jacks home for wayward H&G molds [smilie=s: Looking for a number eleven or a ninety-nine .... but who knows what will stick if the mood strikes !!


:bigsmyl2:Jack

mnzrxer
04-30-2010, 10:12 PM
I have one SAECO mould, a #745 525gr .45 caliber 2 cavity that I bought for feeding my 45-120. Picked it up on clearance at Midway for a great price compared to their normal pricing. Anyway, this mould convinced me to just spend the money on a good, quality iron mould from now on (assuming I am going for a production type). Cast great boolits right from the start and there was no messing around with the mould at all. I just cleaned it, mounted the handles and, once preheated, spent a pot full of lead in casting delight.

hipirn
04-30-2010, 11:45 PM
In regards to the 60 grain Saeco 22 mold. I have one and have cast lots of very nice uniform bullets with it. However, the bullets from it are not as accurate in my two 22 TC hornet barrels as the Lyman and RCBS 55 grain bullets are even though the Saeco bullets "LOOK" better. I suspect they would be fine in the right barrel (s) though and as stated the mold is first class.
hipirn

RobS
04-30-2010, 11:52 PM
I have one SAECO mould, a #745 525gr .45 caliber 2 cavity that I bought for feeding my 45-120. Picked it up on clearance at Midway for a great price compared to their normal pricing. Anyway, this mould convinced me to just spend the money on a good, quality iron mould from now on (assuming I am going for a production type). Cast great boolits right from the start and there was no messing around with the mould at all. I just cleaned it, mounted the handles and, once preheated, spent a pot full of lead in casting delight.

A bullet that big, I bet it didn't take long to drain your pot :p

jimmeyjack
05-01-2010, 12:06 AM
My two Saeco molds are my favorite to cast with, even over my custom molds. I find i just like good steel molds

reloader28
05-01-2010, 08:52 AM
Wow... thanks for all the replies guys. Sounds like Saeco's good.

I thought it looked like the 60gr Saeco had a touch more bearing surface than the other molds. Plus I could put a little hollow point on it and still get 50-55gr.

Think I'll order one and give 'er a try. If it dont work, what the heck? Just give's me an excuse to try a different mold.

casterofboolits
05-14-2010, 08:11 PM
Saeco makes excellent molds and they are consistant. I have started selling large quantities of the Saeco 124 RNBB and to up my production speed I purchased a second 9mm four cavity mold. The first I ought over 20 years ago. The new mold matched the old mold perfectly!

Too bad I didn't buy an eight cavity 9mm back then. I purchased several eight cavities for 38 Super back then for $86.00 each. Now they want over $300.00.

cbrick
05-15-2010, 09:52 AM
Redding customer service is "ify" at best. I'm out over $900.00 in Redding junk and the answer I got from Robin Sharpless at Redding . . .

Tough, if you don't like it buy RCBS products.

So after buying more than 25 SAECO molds over the years I now take Redding's advice, RCBS for me from now on. Besides, across the board the RCBS boolit designs out shoot the similar SAECO design.

Rick

MT Gianni
05-16-2010, 08:25 AM
My Saeco 352 would not hold gas checks when new around 2000. I called Redding and they said to send it back with some sample checks. I included 3 different lots of 35 cal. checks by 2 manufactures and it came back fitting them. Each paid shipping. Apparently their customer service has changed since then.

leadman
05-16-2010, 07:43 PM
I have the Saeco 180 gr. RFN .358" and the 160gr. SWC .358" molds. Both cast bullets so easily I can produce almost as many as my latest Lee 6 cavity molds in the same amount of time.

Granted I do need to do the "Lementing" process to these latest Lee molds.

The weight of the bullets cast in the Saeco molds is very consistent and accuracy is great.

Humbo
05-17-2010, 04:53 AM
I only have 4 or 5 of them, but they're all great molds. Especially the last one I bought #017 is an excellent shooter in the .450 Marlin. After check and lube, boolits weigh right between 350 and 351 grains, which is darn close to specs. I only dealt with their customer service on a couple of occasions, and they were very helpful.

Ken 45LC
05-17-2010, 09:29 AM
what velocity did you plan on shooting lead out of that 223 WSSM? Just asking because the velocities I reload it for I believe is a little too fast for lead. Although i've never really tried it, so i'll be watching this thread to see how you make out with it.

Best of luck,
Ken

reloader28
05-25-2010, 11:09 PM
Wow, I got busy and forgot about this thread.

Ken 45LC
I backed down the pressures and speeds according to the Lee book. I did this with my 257 for one load and it was VERY close to my actual speeds. The bullet never made it to the target when I passed my projected max pressure so it must have been pretty close. Anyway, I backed down the 223WSSM to about 2500fps at 23,000 pressure with about 33gr of H4831. I picked that powder cause I have a keg of it and its a slow burning powder. My lube is 50/50 with 10% parafin so I'm sure I'll need to make a stiffer lube. Maybe this wont work at all, but I'll giver a go.:Fire:

I bought the mold, but that was right before I went turkey hunting for a few days and havent ordered the sizer, top punch or gas checks yet. Am very happy with the Redding mold tho. Consistant and easy to cast with. 8-)

I was hoping to have the new Lyman cast book by now and see if theres a load in there, but oh well. I spose I should've ordered the stuff to finish this 223 bullet, but today I ordered the Lee 300gr 44 and 45 molds instead.

Too many molds to buy, not enough money. I'm trying like hell.:mrgreen:

knappy
09-15-2010, 11:59 PM
How come I never seem to read much about these molds?

They got some nice looking boolits that I'm interested in, but never really hear about them.

I'm thinking of getting the 60gr 223 boolit, has anybody used it?

Anybody tried casting for the 223WSSM?

I have a 4 cav saeco mould in 388 i size to 357M 38 spcl it is the the best mould I have,very strong handles and will fit all of there moulds

That'll Do
09-16-2010, 05:18 AM
I have nothing but praise for Saeco molds. I have four of them, all in handgun calibers, and they are easy to cast with, they always drop boolits that are at least .002"oversize, and the boolits fall freely from the mold. They may be expensive, but quality doesn't come cheap.

My favorite mold is the 069, which is a 45 cal 200gr SWC. It's pretty close to the H&G 68, minus the bevel base.

cajun shooter
09-16-2010, 10:15 AM
Reloader 28, Before you buy that Saeco mold look at my report on Accurate molds in the mold section. He does lathe bored 3 cavity molds out of aluminum, brass or iron. I just purchase two custom 3 cavity brass molds for $119 ea. If you go to Midways site that is what they sell a two cavity Saeco for. You can order the bullet that you want and not one that is close. He has several designs in stock but he makes custom design for the same price. Plus every time you fill the mold you make a extra bullet.

dualsport
09-17-2010, 12:58 AM
Everybody who shoots a .30 should have a Saeco #315. Can't screw it up, shoots good in anything from a .308 to .310 groove diameter. No gas checks, no problem. Don't size it, it's tapered. Tumble lube, a little Bullseye, nice plinker. Wanna go fast? It'll do it. It's my 'wonder boolit'. And I have some $20 aluminum molds that are great. I guess I just like molds.