Cramer molds??

[tubeaudio]

Hello casters- tom here, first post. So a newbie. Kindly be patient.
I have 3 Cramer molds, all are gang molds. Acquired many years ago on the bay.
All 3 are heavy strong and despite age appeared to have little actual use.
Understandably. In my limited experience unless that huge chunk of iron is brought up to temp of lead they will not cast decently, no mold will.
A 1-2-3 cavity will warm up from the lead throwing first several back in pot.
But a 3 section 10 round gang for 38WC will not by molding. Nor will the 2 section 6 round 45ACP mold.
FOR ME, just speaking for myself, I set the mold between pours/dumps on the woodburning stove top with draft adjusted so flat top stays 825-875 deg by thermometer/thermocouple.
My specimens have pristine cavities I THINK because previous owners did not use an external heat source to keep mold hot.
But once they are, best I have used.
The samples i have are extremely similiar to Hensley Gibbs to extent I thought they bought them.....definitely precede.
The SAECO 4 cavity 45ACP, are cut from meehanite iron (alloy with minimal/negligible dimensional variation within temp range, no longer available to public I have been told), not aluminum (cost effective/max profit), and are heatable by casting but only if moving fast.
I will attempt to upload pics after looking thru site.
ONCE AGAIN ONLY MY TWO CENTS WORTH, MY EXPERIENCE WITH ME AND MY EQUIPMENT.
But I love my Cramers!!!!! None finer for one seeking self reliance.
Thanx for reading, tom
P.S. I have used over a dozen different lubersizers and FOR ME the SAECO wins.

[Sig556r]

I just came into possession of a Cramer 16H in a five cavity. It is a massive mold and very heavy with the handles being screw on and the hinge integral to the mold blocks. This thing makes a lyman four cavity feel like it weighs nothing at all. I am pretty curious to see what it casts like.

I snagged a 3-cavity Cramer 16H from a recent HGCA show as a party of a bulk trade & they're not as heavy as my 4-cavity Lyman which is an armbuster...
Does anyone know how much they're worth nowadays?

[Reverend Al]

Cramer moulds ... sort of like this?

[Sig556r]

Something like this...

[AnthonyB]

I doubt this is the best example of a thread brought back to life, but it could be close.....

[Reverend Al]

The 5 cavity and 8 cavity Cramer moulds that I have cast a 146 grain .38 designed for the .38 S&W cartridge, but they work equally well in .38 Special, .357 Mag, and even 9mm and 38 Super when sized properly. They drop from the moulds at about .360" as cast with a medium alloy which is fine by me. Neither of these two moulds are stamped, but I suspect they were used by the BCPP (British Columbia Provincial Police) who carrried S&W revolvers in .38 S&W just after WW II. I also had a very similar 8 cavity Cramer mould that cast .38 calibre 148 grain target wadcutters and it was clearly stamped "BCPP". Takes a while to get these big steel moulds hot, but once up to temperature they "rain" bullets ...