gang molds

[locutus]

Is anyone making decent quality gang molds like the old Hensley & Gibbs 8 & 10 cavity molds of the past????

The 4 cavities that I'm using now are really becoming a PITA.

Thanx in advance.

The Borg

[Down South]

6 cavity is about the largest that I see these days. You might check with some of our custom mold makers.

[quasi]

6 cavitys are the biggest here.

http://ballisti-cast.com/Price%20List.htm

[mlaustin]

The way it's been explained to me is that while ballisti-cast has the H&G tooling, the tools don't let you make (useable) 8- or 10-gang molds. The useable is because for the mold to be worth anything, each cavity has to drop bullets that are very close in weight and shape. It takes a high level of skill to do that on the scale an 8 or 10 gang mold requires.

If you just want to increases bullets made per time, have you considered upgrading other equipment, like a master caster (http://www.magmaengineering.com/products/master-caster)? It costs about that same as a few H&G molds, considering the prices they fetch.

[Bret4207]

Is anyone making decent quality gang molds like the old Hensley & Gibbs 8 & 10 cavity molds of the past????

The 4 cavities that I'm using now are really becoming a PITA.

Thanx in advance.

The Borg

What exactly is the problem?

[Shepherd2]

I usually cast with two 4 or 6 cavity moulds at a time. Some folks use 3 at a time. It speeds up production if that is what you want.

[x101airborne]

+1 on using 2 molds. I can empty my 20 pound pot in around 30 minutes when Im on a roll. Need more than that, I would go automated.

[Artful]

I run two 20 pound pots and 2-3 of the 4 to 6 cavity molds - if I wanted more of a particular boolit I would consider buying a second mold but what get seems to be enough for me.

[locutus]

I have a 10 pound Lyman bottom pour pot and a 20 pound open top Saeco pot to melt ingots to keep the Lyman full.

I generally run two four cavity Lyman moulds at a time, dropping the bullets directly from the molds into a 5 gallon bucket of water.

My system works very well, but with the tiny little four cavity molds, it seems to take forever to cast any reasonable quantity of bullets.

I guess I should also mention that 20 years ago, I was a partner in a small commercial reloading operation, and we ran three 10 cavity H&G molds at a time. I really got spoiled, I guess! :rolleyes: :sad:

Anyway, thanks to all of you for your responses. I do appreciate them! :smile:

[686]

i just did two 1 1/2 hr sessions. i was using 4 lee 158gr rnfp 6 cav. molds. i was doing 5-6 cast per min. one section i ran 4 min at 7 cast per min. all the yrs. i have been casting i never pour down the pot. i add lead as i go. for the past 6 yrs i have been using a magma 90 lb bottom pour pot, 220 . i feed it 6 lb. ingots. it does not matter if i put 1 or 2 in at a time. i keep it to about 1" from the top. i use little fans to keep the molds cool if needed. when i run 3 molds i need the fans more. i try to rum all of the same bullets at the same time. when you get on a roll you can make a lot of bullets. i am working on 10-15000 of these now. i have not made any bullets in about 9 mo. it was nice to get back to the pot. that is lead pot. the first time i tride to cast with more than one mold it was a bust. it took some time. if you are using a 20 lb. pot like i was to start, you want to add 1 lb ingots as you go to keep the level up. if that is to much try a 1/2 lb ingot. good luck

[locutus]

686,

Sounds lioke you have a system going! Some really good ideas in your post.

Thanks to all of you for giving me a lot to think about!:veryconfu:veryconfu