Lyman mold too small

[tomme boy]

OK, i just got this mold and I am unable to use it as it came. It is throwing the boolits too small. They are throwing at 0.4495-0.4500" It makes really nice boolits, just small.

I don't know what it is, I seem to not be able to get a mold that works for me.

I think I am going to send it to Eric and have him open it up.

[pergoman]

What alloy are you using? Some metals shrink much more than others which yields undersized bullets.

[tomme boy]

I have tried ww, ww+ 2% tin, range lead, 1/2 range lead 1/2 ww. They all throw the same.

[Al_sway]

Maybe I missed it, but what mould are you using, and what diameter is it supposed to cast?

[jmsj]

tomme boy
I have had the same issues w/ some Lyman molds. If it is new maybe you could get Lyman to take it back. I have been able to "beagle" up and or lap a mold up a couple thousandths. The directions for "Beagleing" and lapping are in the stickies.
Good luck, jmsj

[.22-10-45]

Hello, I collect Ideal & Lyman moulds. It seems the old Ideals from around the end of the
19th century to the first few decades of the 20th, were a bit oversized. Of course the thinking at that time was sizing was good for a bullet. Then too, the tolerances were all over the shop for rifle bores & a too big of a bullet was better than too small.
What I think happened, was Lyman just kept re-sharpening those old cherrys..of course they got smaller. I don't care for the shapes of the new styles..too much of the CNC look for my taste..gone are the old victorian curved ogives, etc..but there is no excuse for the rash of complaints I seem to be seeing on undersized moulds.

[Lucas]

I too have the same problem. 44 mag Lyman 429421 dropping 0.429 bullets. I was pointed toward Erik @ hollowpoint mold service. He responded right away and I now have two Lyman moulds headed over to him tomorrow. Both the 44 mag and 38 dropped too small. Now, I wait in anticipation for my moulds....

[Reload3006]

I have a 4 cavity Lyman 45 and its going to have to be beagled.... makes great boolits drop right out no sticking what so ever perfectly formed but abut 3 - 4 thousandths undersized. What a pity.

[zomby woof]

Welcome to the club

[Shooter6br]

That is why i bought an Accurate Molds 31-L . It is a simular to the Lyman 314299 but throws a true .314 bullet Sized to .313 for M 1917 with 5 groove original barrel. You are lucky to get a Lyman to cast as advertised. Midway puts a disclaimer on Lyman molds as to cast size A .311299 may not be .311 i have some older Lyman that cast right on the money.

[Larry Gibson]

Let me see....an Accurate .314XXX mould throws a .314 bullet and that is good. A Lyman 429XXX thows a .429 bullet and that is bad.......I guess I don't "see".

I have and have had many Lyman moulds over the years and I've yet to get one that won't cast to the nominal diameter of the bullet title with a correct alloy, mould temp and alloy temp.....perhaps I am just lucky?

Larry Gibson

[tomme boy]

Larry, you must get the molds that are run on the lathe with bad bearings that make the cherry wobble to the right size.

[Ben]

Two things I hear a lot of these days..........

(1) Lyman molds that throw bullets that are too small.

(2) Our country is in trouble.

[Larry Gibson]

Larry, you must get the molds that are run on the lathe with bad bearings that make the cherry wobble to the right size.

Tommy

If you want I'll PM you my address and you can mail me the mould. I'll cast some with it and see, then send it back?

And I am not

Larry Gibson

[69papatango]

OK, i just got this mold and I am unable to use it as it came. It is throwing the boolits too small. They are throwing at 0.4495-0.4500" It makes really nice boolits, just small.

I don't know what it is, I seem to not be able to get a mold that works for me.

I think I am going to send it to Eric and have him open it up.

Yup have the same issue with my Lyman 429421 dropping right at .429 and my bore is .431, my Lyman 358429 drops small also, it drops .357" but the front driving band is .355". I am currently Beagling but aluminum tape comes off after about 50 casts.

BTW, this is using WW and WW/lino. I did however get the 429421 to drop at .430" with pure lino......But I can't afford pure lino to feed my hungry .44's

[runfiverun]

every lyman mold i have bought before 2011 has poured over the mould numbers size.
my 358's were closer to 359
my 452's pour closer to 453 or 454
my recent ones have been under,
the mold number 429677 made 428 barely. [i knew it would be small going in, and had the stuff out waiting to lap it once it got here]
they don't offer a 431677 or i would have bought that.
my 314299 does make 314 but the nose is definately not 299 it is 304 like it's supposed to be.

i'm guessing that the thing to do is to stop buying lyman molds untill they can ,,,,umm, catch up.

[tomme boy]

This one had a inspection date of 93. It is on its way to Eric to have opened up.

[Ausglock]

Welcome to the club

What he said...

452374 2 cavity was throwing .449.
Beagled it to .453.
No worries now.
I wish Lyman would get their act together, or they simply don't care about customers.

[Reload3006]

My 452374 drops perfect .449 - .451 Boolits Problem is I need .452 Funny the mold says .452 dropping bigger is better as you can size them down but its pretty rough to make them grow. Lyman knows this too. I know that Lyman says that their molds will drop to size with the special alloy that they designed them for. Really How many casters are actually going to go to Midway or similar places and pay $35 for 7.5 pounds of alloy? Really Defend Lyman all you want but I got into casting to save money. Its a pleasurable pass time as well but bottom line is saving money. That is why Miha MP molds will get the remainder of my casting dollar. With Lymans #2 alloy at $4.60 a pound it won't take long to pay for a top shelf custom mold.

[Irascible]

If you read the Lyman literature that comes with the mould they state that the size is for a casting of Lyman #2. That's OK if you want a hard bullet and actually their recipe for #2 which is 9lbs of WW and 1 lb of 50-50 solder (5+% tin), will usually cast to the correct size. I had one 358429 mould that responded to WW + 3% tin.
The problem comes when you want a soft bullet, say from a HP mould, it's not going to happen. You can try Beagling or send it to HP Mould Service to enlarge the bands. I did the latter with a 429244, I had it hollow pointed and bands enlarged it works great.