Must have Linebaugh / Colt Moulds

[wildwillalaska]

Very new here, so a howdy is in order----

Ok, I picked up a RCBS pro-melt today, and have a few buckets of wheel weights, and close to a hundred pounds of mystery ingots, but not one mold.

Will be brand new to casting, and have been teetering on the edge for ages, so finally diving in. My question is what are the must have moulds for the 475 and 500 linebaugh. I know folks speak highly of Mountain Moulds, but not really there yet as far as the wait time or even how to make my way through his order form. What I am looking for is input on Moulds I can call up and order by number or reference. Something along the lines of RCBS/Lymen/NEI/LBT--whatever are the must try moulds to get me started. Looking for something lighter--375-400ish, and one heavier in the 420-425ish grains.

I will also need to acquire a few 45 colt / Casull moulds. I ordered a couple hundred of the 270gr RCBS SAA boolits from Montana Bullet works, if those go well, I am certianly going to buy one of those, but will also need a 300-335gr GC Mould of some kind of LBT type design.

Any input is appreciated.

Will

[stubshaft]

The Lee 325 works good in the 475 but for the 500 there are not too many moulds available. Most of the .510 moulds are made for the 50/70. I know that Veral has some .512 moulds on his clearance page and there may be a couple of GB moulds, check with Al at NOE to see if he has any available too. For the Colt/Casull I shoot a 300gr LBT/LFN and the Lee 300gr boolit.

[Lloyd Smale]

a couple good inexpensive molds for the 475 are the lee 400 rf and the rcbs 400 swc. A bit more expensive but my favorite is the ballistic cast 420lfngc. In 500 there isnt any cheaper molds. Ive had good luck with the ballistic cast 430lfnpb and the 450lfngc. I dont care for bullets lighter then 380 grain in the 475 or 420 grain in the 500. Penetration just suffers to much with the lighter bullets.

[dubber123]

Keep in mind the need for a slightly shorter nose to crimp length if the .475 is a Freedom Arms. Some designs for the .475 will stick out the front of the cylinder of an F/A.

[DLCTEX]

I chose the Lee 475-400 mould for my 480 Ruger over the 325 gr. due to the 400 not requiring a gas check. It drops the bullets at .476 with WW alloy.

[frankenfab]

Howdy Will, and welcome!. I am new here as well.

Another vote for the Lee 476-400-RF here. I have used it in both a Freedom arms and a BFR. It shoots great, and did not lead in either gun.

A good inexpensive mold for the 45/454 is the Lee C452-300-RF

.512 bullets under 420 grains start to get very short. I have the same ballisticast mold used for the .435 Cast Performance WFNGC. It is hard to beat.

http://www.castperformance.com/Detail.bok?no=56

Despite recent discussion about the fact that Keith style bullets are not as good as the WFNs for hunting, I really wanted a .512 Kieth. I originally intended to design a lighter bullet for target use, but then decided to go ahead and fill the cylinder length up on my Linebaugh-converted Ruger. It ended up being 450 grains.

I will try to post pics in a minute, and I have a snapshot of the design page from Mountain Molds as well.


Sorry for the blurry picture!

[Snyd]

Welcome to the obsession Wildwill!

[wildwillalaska]

I will likely jump out and get a couple 45 colt molds and 475 molds first. Leaning towards a couple RCBS to get me started, the 45-270-SAA and 475 400gr SWC.

I really like the Cast Performance 410gr design, and figure in ww's it should come out closer to the 420ish grns looking for. I will check in with LBT and Ballisticast next week and go from there.

Will

[tek4260]

If you want a 270SAA get in on the group buy here by Dale53 in the Active Group Buy Section here. But make up ya mind soon because it ends tomorrow!!

[wildwillalaska]

That GB mold is pretty cool, but not wanting to make hp boolits, so would rather not have the pins to deal with.

Thanks though.

Will

[frank505]

Try the #1480 mold from Ballisti cast. We worked on that on e pretty hard to get one to shoot at long range. We have killed quite a few buffalo with it, closer to far.

[John in WYO]

Will,
Welcome. I am a recent convert as well. I'm in on the 45-270SAA group buy because the mould allows you to cast HP or turn the pins around and cast flatnose. It seems to be a good idea to me....
John

[Lloyd Smale]

if you want to buy a few 512s frank at mount baldy sells a really nice swc. it shoots real well in both of my 500s.

[45Spades]

I highly suggest the #1480 mold......A lot like the Mt. Baldy 450 Keith

[wildwillalaska]

Well I ordered a few molds from LBT--two in 45 Colt and two in 476.

Now, I need to figure out the 512 molds. Leaning towards first being a 430-440 LFN PB.

[Lloyd Smale]

the ballistic cast 1430 pb is one of my favorites and shoots well in all 4 500s i owned. http://ballisti-cast.com/Bullet%20De...20Page%209.htm plus if youve never had one of there molds there hands down best commercial molds made.

[wildwillalaska]

Ballisticast it is---just said give me the Llyod Smale special. Well, I might have ordered by the numbers, but essentially what I did. I ordered it set up as a 3 cavity in a 4 block. So we'll see.

Thaks all,

Will