Load DataWidenersRotoMetals2Reloading Everything
RepackboxTitan ReloadingMidSouth Shooters SupplyInline Fabrication
Lee Precision
Page 1 of 6 123456 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 117

Thread: Mould mallets... What do you use and why?

  1. #1
    Boolit Master

    mattw's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    East Central Illinois
    Posts
    1,796

    Mould mallets... What do you use and why?

    I have been using this little jewel for years, it is lite, well balanced and the yellow end is just hard enough to work and does not damage the mould. I am about to wear out another end and thus I am looking at options. I have used small lead hammers, love them but they do not balance well at all. I have played with small dead blows and was not crazy about them. I have to have assistance opening a mould as I have avascular necrosis in both hands and need the extra umph to open the moulds, I also need to limit twisting in my wrists and palm of my hands. I cast mostly with 2 cavity Lyman, Saeco and RCBS moulds and have a small smattering of NOE 4C aluminum and Saeco 4C iron moulds as well.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	hammer.jpg 
Views:	66 
Size:	20.1 KB 
ID:	240391

  2. #2
    Boolit Man 415m3's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Ventura Co.
    Posts
    99
    I use a length of shovel handle I trimmed down. Works fine

  3. #3
    Boolit Buddy Pigboat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Western Tennessee
    Posts
    130
    I use a rawhide mallet.

  4. #4
    Boolit Grand Master

    Beagle333's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Back in the woods a piece, just outside Auburn, AL.
    Posts
    5,499
    I use a piece of pine furring. It's very soft and light, almost like a piece of balsa wood. I only use it to tap on the mold handle nut - never the mold, so I'm pretty sure there's no way to damage a mold using it this way.
    KE4GWE - - - - - - Colt 1860, it just feels right.

  5. #5
    Banned
    Join Date
    Dec 2018
    Posts
    3,409
    +1 on the rawhide mallet, I have 3 different weights, usually, only need the 2 oz. one

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy


    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Location
    Walla Walla, WA
    Posts
    212
    I use a broken off hickory hatchet handle. It is durable and does not damage anything

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
    poppy42's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Virginia
    Posts
    1,540
    I use a tire thumper That the truckers use to check air pressure via sound
    Long, Wide, Deep, and Without Hesitation!

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
    StuBach's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    1,135
    Made my own mold for a small lead mallet head that I attached to a piece of pine with a long heavy duty screw. Cheap and when it wears out I melt it down and cast another one.

    Not great on balance but I’d rather let the mallet weight carry the force than be the one to exert the force myself (suffer from occasional carpal tunnel so this saves my hand from having to clamp down to heavily). Similar balance to my heavy ball peen hammer but smaller and lighter.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master


    cwlongshot's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Central Connecticut
    Posts
    3,729
    Just a piece of hickory.

    Eastwood once said nothing like a good piece of Hickory. He was tight.

    CW
    NRA Life member • REMEMBER, FREEDOM IS NOT FREE its being paid for in BLOOD.
    Come visit my RUMBLE & uTube page's !!

    https://www.RUMBLE.com/user/Cwlongshot
    https://youtube.com/channel/UCBOIIvlk30qD5a7xVLfmyfw

  10. #10
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Reno NV
    Posts
    381
    I use a piece of closet rod. I think it’s pine. When my we built our clothing boutique I had some extra left over. Works great. It’s light, soft and cheap. It takes the abuse, not the mould.

  11. #11
    Boolit Grand Master Bazoo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Cecilia, Kentucky
    Posts
    6,715
    I use a length of cherry wood 12" long and 1 3/4 diameter. I started using it for a lee loader but found the weight helps with sprue cutting and bullet release.

  12. #12
    DOR RED BEAR's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    1 mile from chickahominy river ( swamp) central va
    Posts
    2,162
    I use sledge hammer handle bout $15 at the big box store and just cut off a lenght works great and as it gets used just cut off another piece. If you prefer a little more weight you can drill hole and pour lead in the end. All i have ever used.

  13. #13
    Moderator Emeritus


    georgerkahn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    South of the (Canada) border
    Posts
    3,051
    I use a Hensley & Gibbs moulded lead handle, purchased from a fellow on this site way back when . (I understand, too, at one time there was one of these now-rare moulds freely circulated on this site from member to member to member as needed, but (???) it disappeared ?) Anyhoos, mine is on it's proverbial last leg, so to speak, so a couple of years ago I bought a similar from a seller on eBay. In both, a very soft alloy -- pure lead? -- is employed. Prior, I used hammer handles.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master
    JSnover's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Sicklerville NJ
    Posts
    4,380
    A wooden hammer handle for two or four cavity molds, a gloved hand for single cavity molds.
    Warning: I know Judo. If you force me to prove it I'll shoot you.

  15. #15
    Boolit Master


    Burnt Fingers's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    Tejas
    Posts
    1,938
    I've used a hickory hammer handle, a Lee mold mallet, and finally a rawhide mallet.

    IMHO it's REALLY hard to beat the rawhide mallet.
    NRA Benefactor.

  16. #16
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Location
    NWO sunset country
    Posts
    716
    weighted carvers mallet from lee valley tools zero vibration to wrist its soft face does no damage to sprue plate either

  17. #17
    Boolit Buddy MaLar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Free state of Idaho
    Posts
    457
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Mallet.jpg 
Views:	60 
Size:	11.2 KB 
ID:	240394

    Harbor Freight Pittsburgh®- Item#66205
    been using it for a few years. Before used an old hammer handle.
    Those who choose violence as a first option are typically confronted by somebody else using violence as a last resort.

    Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.

    Do not confuse my being polite for weakness.
    Using MX Linux 21


    From the free state of Idaho

  18. #18
    Boolit Grand Master

    gwpercle's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Baton Rouge, Louisiana
    Posts
    9,254
    A hickory replacement handle intended for a claw hammer , 50+ years ago I needed something to open a Lyman mould with...it was on my Daddy's work bench , since he hadn't used it I borrowed it .
    I picked it up and went to whacking sprue plates with the fat end ...worked great and have been using it ever since.
    Still using one, don't remember if it's the original...but probably is...
    Why ? It was available, it was free , it worked and Dad didn't mind that I "borrowed " it .

    Gary
    Certified Cajun
    Proud Member of The Basket of Deplorables
    " Let's Go Brandon !"

  19. #19
    Boolit Master
    farmerjim's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    St. Francisville, Louisiana
    Posts
    1,925
    A scrap piece of Southern pine 2X4 ripped in half and cut to length. I have been using them for 60 years.
    There is no difference between communism and socialism, except in the means of achieving the same ultimate end: communism proposes to enslave men by force, socialism—by vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide. Ayn Rand

  20. #20
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    So Cal
    Posts
    364
    I have several wood mallets that work well. The best has been a Sears Craftsman mallet like yours. The weight of the metal with the non marring head has been my favorite for years.

Page 1 of 6 123456 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check