Quick poll on first molds.

[madsenshooter]

First mold was a B&M 311169 that I got off ebay, at least 10yrs ago, maybe more. You could get get molds relatively cheap on ebay back then, then all the rest of you guys came along!

[Kawriverrat]

My first mols was a Lyman full wadcutter.... Jeff

[NoZombies]

I started with a Lyman RB mold for my 1860 repop.

[trapper9260]

My first make of mold is Lyman .I got by mail order. for 30cal and 38cal..Still use them.

[Forrest r]

Bought a used h&g #50 6-cavity and was bright enough to buy a lee #10 pot to feed it. Learned about pre-heating molds real quick on a electric burner. Seemed like I'd just get into a rhythm and the pot would be empty. That lead to another lesson, namely having a large melt pot staged and ready with heated alloy to feed the lee #10 pot.

I still pre-heat my molds and stage #100 pots of alloy when I want to do any serous casting. The 6/8/10-cavity molds go thru a bunch of lead in a hurry. I also did switch over to a lee #20 pot for short runs/casting sessions.

[Bmi48219]

Lyman .652 round ball single mold for a BP flintlock Tower pistol reproduction my father gave me for Christmas when I was 13.

[Walks]

IDEAL/LYMAN
My Dad passed down the single cavity molds I learned on:
#311291
#358446
#429251
#452460.
2 sets of small handles.
I found a small old 2 burner COLEMAN Stove with an ancient cast iron pot and dipper at a garage sale. Could still get WW in CALIF back in the mid-70's. Cast .38's & .45's for 6 months until I could afford a Lube-Sizer and sizer dies and top punchs. Still have all my original equipment except the #358446, loaned it out and never returned. Still using all of it too.

Of course my equipment has grown exponentially since then to include: RCBS, NEI, OHAUS, LACHMILLER, H&G. Even a few LEE. And a NOE on the way.

[Alan in Vermont]

Single cavity, Lyman, 429244. Cast enough to let me know I really could do this. 10 lb Lyman cast iron pot on a Coleman stove. It wasn't long before I moved up to a 4-cavity 429421. I'm not sure Lee was making molds yet, this was 1973.

[AllanD]

My very first mold was a Lyman 358156 2-cavity mold, my second mold was an RCBS458-405GC Single Cavity,
I just bought myself another, a Lee 311-41 six-cavity.

Over the years I've acquired several others, mostly round-ball molds in various sizes, including a 4-cavity Lyman #0 buckshot molds,
which I bought to cast round-ball for my .32 Remington Cap & Ball revolver.
and I do have one of those Lyman Shotgun Sabot Slug mold.

[oldhenry]

My 1st. mold was an Ideal/Lyman #401 88 (that was in 1960 before the 6 digit numbers). It was for my .38-40.
I still have it & it's a good mold.

Henry

[Uncle Dave]

New caster here and starting out I went with MP for my first four molds. Very happy so far.

[carbine]

First purchased an RCBS 500 M Minie mold in 1982. Still running it 36 years later. Casted up 90 pounds of minies for coming season.

[Divil]

First was a new old stock Lyman 452374 two cavity purchased at a decent price on GB.

[longbow]

My first mould was a Lyman 457125 for my Siamese Mauser converted to .45-70 back in the mid 70's. A Lee 405 gr. flatpoint followed shortly.

I've had a few Lee moulds over the years and while all seemed to cast reasonably well, the old style Lee moulds were a little less than stellar. I preferred my Lyman, Ohuas and RCBS moulds.

Not Lee bashing, I have and have had many Lee products over the years and tend to lean towards Lee products as they are (in my opinion) good value for my money. I have Lee dies, Lee turret press, Lee Loaders, Lee Challenger press and a few Lee moulds. Their old style moulds however were a little less likable to me than others.

Fast forward to now and I have a Lee Ranchdog .44 265 gr. that casts well, a Lee 12 ga. 1 oz. slug mould (old style) that I had to de-burr a bit, but it casts perfectly now, a Lee 12 ga. 7/8 oz. slug mould (new style) that casts well and a 00 buckshot mould that casts well.

I have to say that I am pretty impressed with the Lee new style moulds and that in my opinion the ones I have are not only good value for my money but they cast very well.

Probably more info that you wanted.

Longbow

[rdwarrior]

Have no clue the brand or number - was back in early 70's and a friend let me cast some bollits for my hand gun with his assistance - 357 mag SWC 158 gr solid w/gc and 152 gr hollow point w/gc for the same handgun. both molds were single cavity.

[Papercidal]

I started with a 6 cavity Lee tl 124gr tc mold because the bayou 124 tc coated was close to the perfect 9mm bullet I had to load it so short due to the profile I never was always scared to load it very hot (my load was about 2 10ths below starting load when I got done with development) as I had pressure signs pretty early but with around 3.5-3.6 grains of wsf & 20$ s&b primers it was really accurate and cheaper than .22 at the time.
3 or 4 molds later I'm still hunting for a 124 gr tc mold that has a shorter bearing area like the bayou that I can load longer and hotter to make 125pf and Pass a case gage to ensure it will chamber in some of my shorter chambers.

[Rcmaveric]

Most of my molds are lee 356-125-RN, .277-130-F, 308-150(?)-RF. When I started casting for my Grendel I got the NOE mold .266-125. Then I got the Lyman mold for my .50 cal muzzle loader to experiment with (tried playing the TC bullets but they are expensive). Then I got the RCS .266 to play with heavier bullets in the .260 Rem.

[blue32]

Purchased a Lyman 311008 because a lot of reviewers claimed to be able to size down to .313. It was the last Lyman I purchased.

[MyFlatline]

First gun to cast was for the 35 Remington, needed a .360. NOE had one in stock. Very happy with it also.

[MOA]

Civil war brass mold. Conical/Round ball combo. Given to me by my Dad, it was his Grandfather's, my Great grandfathers. Most likely late 1800's last time it cast anything.