Did You Ever Wonder?

[.22-10-45]

Why most of the very early Ideals and Lymans moulds were single cavity? It couldn't have been any more difficult to machine up a larger set of blocks & sink another cherry into them? Then I came across some information in some early handloading books, including the early Ideal handbooks. The Schutzen shooters usually only cast up enough bullets for a match, as they believed any oxidation would degrade accuracy..these guys were pretty fussy about all points of loading and shooting..then too, a portable hand cranked lube pump was often used right at the range..lubing only enough for use at the match. I have read where hunters would only cast up a few dozen at the most for sight-in and hunting...no wonder the mould makers didn't see the need for any extra work. But there are alot of S.C. wadcutter moulds out there..I have a hollow base Ideal #358395...designed by Ed Mcgivern..this one is slow with it's seperate H.B. pin. and there were lots of handgun leagues going on in the early years. I guess with no TV..heck..probably no radio for that matter..those nights got pretty long.

[leadman]

At the time these molds were being made folks did not have a lot of diposable income so to keep costs low single cavities were offered. In many old magazine there is talk about a higher level of accuracy with boolits fired from just one cavity whether it was a single or double cavity or more. Don't hear much about that now.

[GoodOlBoy]

Also keep in mind that if you want consistency in a bullet mold it is MUCH easier to get consistent bullets out of a single cavity mold. For every cavity you add you add on variables in what can go wrong in the next cavity, you add wear on the cherry, etc.

GoodOlBoy

[mdi]

Besides the good answers above, in those days perhaps "more, faster, more, faster, faster!" thinking wasn't part of casting, reloading, shooting. As a teenager, I remember my Pop saying "What's yer all fired hurry?". Today new reloaders often want to start reloading with a progressive press, "'cause I don't want to spend to much time", or "I need more ammo per hour outta my press"...

Hey, jes an old, slow feller's thinkin'...

[calaloo]

Schuetzen shooters are still pretty fussy about their bullets.

[.22-10-45]

Yes calaloo..after over 40 years of running bullets..I am just now able to use a dbl. cavity pistol mould without segerating bullets..without feeling guilty!

[Dale53]

I started casting in about 1950. It was with a single cavity mould. If I made fifty bullets at one sitting, I felt like I "won the race"! After doing this a shooting a couple of years, I ran into an "old" feller (he might have been thirty or thirty five) at the gun club and he invited me over to his place to learn to cast a LOT at a time. He and his brother had FOUR cavity moulds and they cast a couple of thousand at a time. I jumped all over that concept and never looked back.

I actually enjoy casting bullets but NOT to the point that I would rather cast than shoot. I want to be PRODUCTIVE! Now, I use four, five, and six cavity moulds, bottom pour pots, and cast LOTS of bullets. When I was shooting black powder cartridge silhouette, I shot 40/65's and my choice of bullet was a 422 gr bullet from an NEI custom four cavity mould. I learned to cast plus or minus .6 of a grain (that was my standard) and my rifle would shoot minute of angle to five hundred yards (our silhouette range had the rams at 500 yards) off a bench when testing. That was with a twenty power scope temporarily installed for testing purposes (at that time, iron sights were mandated).

I also use a Star lube/sizer and a pair of Dillon 550B's for reloading. I'll put my pistol and rifle ammunition up against anyone's for accuracy.

Believe me, there is just as much satisfaction at loading 1000 match grade loads in "Quick Time" as there is in loading just a few in the same amount of time...

But-t-t, in the end, to each his/her own, huh?

FWIW
Dale53