I recently had quite a roller coaster ride with a pair of Lyman molds. Having missed an old 454424 mold I parted with a while back, and looking for a lighter Boolit than my 285 grain NOE SAA mold spits out, I first picked up a NOS 452424 from a fellow member here.
So I was excited for this mold as it has the flat bottom grease groove for nostalgic reasons. Sadly, this mold is grossly undersized and barely kisses my 0.452 sizing die and smears lube up and down the boolit. It is spot on at 255 grains. It seems to shoot decent regardless, but is a pain and I’m not overly interested in finding and sizing smaller. I sent an email to Lyman last weekend and after 4 business days, still no response. I’m hoping they may be able to ream it a little to fatten it up. Manufacturing date is 2016.
Fast forward a couple days and my 452423 arrives. It is an older Ideal and true to form but with the rounded groove. Concerned about my recent experience, I got the mold hot and cast a few. These, which should be more suited for the smaller 0.452 bores, came out suitable for the 45-70 at 0.457-0.458! Wheel weight lead drops at 248 grains, so I tried Linotype tonight and reduced the weight to a perfect 228 grains, but still on the chubby side with the same waistline! To top it off, both cavities of the mold hold the boolits like a couple teens making out. I never use a mallet to cast, but pulled it out for this one. Cavities are clean and smooth without issues, but I’m scared my poor handles are going to call CPS from the beating I’ve been handing them.
Hoping for luck with the 424 but glad I can always size down the 423. What a ride!