next step up from lee

[Oklahoma Rebel]

What are some good molds that are the next step up in price range from lee, cheapest ive found was 72$ not including handles ( that was NOE),is there any in between those prices, I am not well funded but shooting and reloading are one of the only things that bring me peace and happiness. if I had to I would get the noe blocks and make handles myself . oh and one more thing,i am still a little green to casting, which would you recommend, iron or brass?

[Boolit_Head]

There are the RCBS and Lyman molds but not sure of them on price. Good thing is the NOE or Miha molds can use Lee handles. I prefer brass over iron but I am actually a bot fond of aluminum as well. Brass can get a bit heavy after a while. If you can stretch a bit do yourself a favor and get one of the NOE or Miha molds the are a bit more but heads and shoulders better than anything else I have used.

[bangerjim]

Lee makes good molds.

Lee 6 banger handles fit NOE and MiHec molds, and probably many others...so there is nothing to make. I even use them on some 1 & 2 cav SAECO's. Lee handles are ~$12! I buy them by the gross.

I have pretty much every mold Lee makes and still really like them. I also now have many multiple styles of BRASS NOE's and MiHec's. Great molds but not really for the non-well funded as you describe it.

Cast & shoot with Lee. You will get a bigger variety of styles by using Lee. Stick with their 6 bangers. Save up!

banger

[MarkP]

Lyman seems to be a little less than RCBS.... Lyman is around $59.70 and the RCBS is $71.5 -$74.34's for (2) cavity pistol and rifle molds. (same store comparison) Lee are $18.31 each and include handles.
I would recommend if money is tight and you are just starting out just buy Lee molds. Once you find out what works for you upgrade, used molds usually sell for new prices. I own several brands of molds and am not ashamed to say that I own quite a few Lee molds. Some of my favorite molds are Lee (309-200, 379-250) other favorites are custom molds from Accurate but they were $130 to $160+ each.

I like brass molds but as others say can get heavy and cause wrist cramps during long casting sessions. Aluminum heats up fast, and seem to be the least finicky to start dropping keepers, iron can rust in storage. Iron molds require more care when finished casting and a little more prep time when starting to cast.

[reddog81]

Lee 6 cavity molds are quite a value. The only other molds I've purchased new are from NOE. I've got four 4 cavity NOE molds - 1 is brass the other 3 are aluminium. The brass nice but if your trying to cast on the cheap NOE aluminium is good enough for me. I would recommended 4 cavities or more. 2 cavity molds are kind of slow and the price for 4 cavities isn't that much more.
I've purchased a couple of used steel Lyman, RCBS, and H&G and they are all high quality and built to last.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

bangerjim when you say stick to the six cavities, do you think they are somehow more precisely made or better quality control , I , for now am only casting for 45-70, but have a 38 spl that I will eventually start casting for,and then .312 for my mosin nagant. I have a 100 or 110 gr lee for it for low powered plinking, and pests, raccoons .etc (we have chickens to protect) and the hollow base for my 45-70

[toallmy]

I have a lee 6 cav , and arsonal 5 cav for the 9mm in aluminum I bought new But I found a couple seaco 2-4 cav for my 45 acp used at a good price . As well as a rcbs and saeco in 2 cav for my 357 . Those 5-6 cav make a lot of bullets fast , but I can empty my 4-20 lee with a 150 gr 2 cav as well and enjoy doing it. I just like casting with those hard metal molds more . All but 2 were used 1 was abused , it's my favorite.

[bangerjim]

2 cav's are just plain too slow!!!!! I do not have the patience to cast lots of boolits with the silly little things. Same goes for the "name-dropper" Fe-based molds everybody raves about.

I cast & shoot lots of 223, 9, 38/357, 40, and 45colt and the only 2 bangers I have are for the designs that I cannot get in 6's. And you get more bang for the buck with a 6. Good boolits liggerally rain out of a 6 cav mold filled with a bottom pour pot. All my long 30 cal rifle boolits are 2 cav molds, as I do not need nearly as many of those.

The newer Lee 2 cav's are made better (index pins) than the old index bar design.

Start off with some Lee 6's.......they resell very well on here if you want to upgrade to NOE or MiHec brass in the future.

bangerjim

[toallmy]

Their is not a thing wrong with a lee mold, but the fella asked about the next step up so I brought up used GOOD quality molds . I got a lee mold for 40 bucks that cast as good as a fancy mold.

[RogerDat]

For that mosin nagant if the barrel slugs and measures as a bit oversized I would certainly be looking at NOE as they can provide you with a very good "fat" mold in .314 or higher but then you may have issues with brass thickness.

Two cavity are slower, but the Lee double cavity with handles are a superb deal but the six cavity are only double the price for 3x the production speed. Plus handles but since you can move the handles to other molds....

I have nothing against Lyman or RCBS, they make good molds and can with care be considered a lifetime investment, but at $70 for a two cavity it escapes me why I would not spend a few (less than $20) more to get a 4 or 5 cavity NOE mold of likewise excellent quality. But then I'm cheap enough that if I liked the Lee double I might well buy the six cavity of the same style. For pistol plinking I just don't see any downside to using a decent but inexpensive mold. Certainly not if all I'm going to do is bang away at targets in common calibers such as .38 or .45. Trying to get the "best" cast for a specific rifle or high powered target pistol is where I see NOE or other higher end molds coming into their own. Up to and including a mold made based on a cast of your chamber, and a bore slugging.

But it is not like I have a super broad basis of using several molds from multiple companies in the same firearm so I can compare, if something works for $20 I'm not looking for the one at $50 or $70.

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

For the money, you can't beat Lee. But, sometimes quality is lacking. Hopefully it can be corrected by some careful prep.

For the rest, I have some from all the manufacturers. I thought I would like brass, but like with fishing lures, I think it was catching more boolit casters. I have my favorites in all types and number of cavities. Surprisingly, a single cavity RCBS 405 gr slug for .45-70 is one of my favorites. It is throws them out about as fast as I can cast. Then there is that 5-cavity NOE mold in the same caliber ....

While a man must devote his utmost attention to a single woman, I'm glad I can enjoy many different boolit molds.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

so are you guys saying that you can get 6 cavity molds from lee in their rifle molds, esp 45-70, like the .457-405-rf?

[dragonrider]

That one is not listed for a six cavity mold.

http://leeprecision.com/bullet-casti...-bullet-molds/

[StrawHat]

bangerjim when you say stick to the six cavities, do you think they are somehow more precisely made or better quality control , I , for now am only casting for 45-70, but have a 38 spl that I will eventually start casting for,and then .312 for my mosin nagant. I have a 100 or 110 gr lee for it for low powered plinking, and pests, raccoons .etc (we have chickens to protect) and the hollow base for my 45-70

Nothing wrong with the 2 cavity molds, if they fit your bore. I shot PPC and fed my revolvers with a pair of two cavity, 150 WC molds from Lee. They kept me in the center of the target.

Kevin

[41mag]

Well I know how the cash flow situation can be, and as a result I managed to squirrel away a little here and there and purchase quite a few molds when I got started. Most of them were the Lee in both 2 and 6 cavity depending on the use or resulting amount I would be shooting them. They have all producd plenty of good bullets for me with relatively little trouble.

I was also however scouring the Classifieds here and else where for others that I might want to try out or simply wanted. I stashed back a hundred bucks over a period and that was my expense account for them. I searched for them on evilbay as well, and found quite a few for a price I was willing to pay for them depending on just which one they were.

Some I paid a little more for than I wanted to but others I got for a great price. I now have a great collection of molds which will not only last the rest of my years, but with care will also last my three grandsons for as long as they care for them as well. I have them in all metals and with the iron ones I simply spray them down with a light coat of Kroil when done and while they are still warm, and wipe off the excess with a rag and cotton swab. They are kept in a controlled environment so no other treatment is necessary. When they are used, it is a simple preheat and start casting.

The main thing is to decide on what your REAL needs are and go from there. If you shoot a LOT then it is hard to beat the Lee 6 cavity ones if they have the particular one you want. Even if not, two of the 2 cavity molds of the same design can be run pretty fast if you wanted to go that route and your still not spending much on them.

All that said though, and like has been mentioned, it is VERY hard to beat the semi or full custom molds offered by Accurate and or NOE. You get what you pay for even if it is a bit more than others of similar design. The best part is you can get JUST what you want instead of what they offer in most cases. As much as I have used my Lee 6 cavity molds, I do find myself in a happy medium with most of the 4 cavity ones I have managed to find and purchase. Some are MP, and some are old HG, some are Lyman and some are Accurate, and NOE. They all cast great bullets for the purposes I got them for, and I really have no outstanding favorites.

Hope that helps.

[GhostHawk]

The other option is to become a lee mold mechanic.

Learn how to tune, leement, beagle, and keep your lee molds making great bullets.

Start with the thread about Liquid Wrench Dry Lubricant.

I agree with Bangerjim about the 6 cavity molds. For double the price you get 3x the production.
I think the bigger sprue plate with that handle forces you to learn when and how to pop that handle.
I know I struggled with it a bit at first, but I am pretty sure the 6 cav's are making me a better caster.

Lee seems to have 2 30 cal designs in the 6 cavity. The .312 155 1r and the .312 160 tl. Just trying to rebuild my finances a bit after the holidays before trying one.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

well I am ok with 2 cavities, because with the rifles as you can imagine , I don't blow through the ammo as fast as with my 38 special or other pistols, when I get a mold for it I will definitely go with 6 cavity, as far as my nagant the next mold would be the lee 312-185-1R

[Fishman]

6 cavity molds can be a frustration if you have a small lead pot. Even 10 lb pots are a little small. You can address this a bit by preheating your mold on an electric hot plate which you should do regardless. There is nothing wrong with Lee 2 cavity molds and it is quite easy to cast up 3 or 400 bullets with one. That's a lot of rifle shooting for most folks. I have molds with 1 to 6 cavities and some were quite expensive semi customs. However, I still enjoy casting with all of them even my one cavity lee's. Some cast to shoot, others enjoy the process, and still others shoot to cast.

[guicksylver]

As the owner of about thirty molds my suggestion for a solution to your your situation is E-Bay.
I have sold nd purchased many excellent Lyman and NOE molds of the site.

You can purchase 2 cavity molds, of popular designs for $40.00-$60.00.

Consider this a ,2 cavity mold of Lyman or Ideal manufacture can be bought for $45.00 used and resold for what you pay for it.

Lees are throw a ways.

The resale of molds extents to all major manufacturers except Lee.

[popper]

2x for rifle (45/70 especially), 4x for pistol (6x is OK but gets heavy for big 45acp). Check selling & swap here - might find what you want for a decent $.