moulds on ebay

[bigjake]

I looked at a few moulds this person was selling on ebay yesterday. this person wire wheeled the **** out of them, smearing the sharp edges, totally ruining them. what gets me is, they went for top dollar. I cant believe the buyers didnt notice it.
has anyone tried casting in a mould like this?

[RogerWatsonfromIdaho]

I have not noticed any moulds which have been wire brushed. Please identify the seller so we can avoid buying them.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

One thing about ebay is there are "shill" bidders!

[357 Voodoo]

I've purchased several moulds off ebay and only one has was wire wheeled but it came with handles and that's what I was bidding on. The mould it casts ok leaves funky little edges on the base. It was a lyman 358447

[Bad Water Bill]

I also bought one of these wire brushed molds. I contacted the seller and explained the problem. This seller was not a caster and was selling to help a friend. An old time caster had volunteered to clean up the molds for the seller. The seller IMMEDIATELY refunded my money with an apology. In my opinion the seller did the right thing.

Yes there are some that deliberately try to sell junk but some are just honest mistakes due to their lack of knowledge of what they have. I have had dealings with both types and appreciate someone that answers quickly and does the right thing by me.

[bigjake]

I have not noticed any moulds which have been wire brushed. Please identify the seller so we can avoid buying them.

I believe the seller was called nubs93
you can tell if they smeared the corners in the pics if you see a large light reflection off the corners.

[mooman76]

I guess I've been lucky as far as ebay goes. I haven't bought much or even been there much as of late. I picked up a few slightly abused mouds but none were so bad that the wouldn't put out at least half way decent boolits and they were usually in better shape than described or not as bad as the poor photo looked. One was described as rusty but only had minor surface rust so I got it at pretty good price. Most will clean up pretty good if you aren't too picky unless they were totally abused or left to rust way too long but you can tell from the photos.

[Walter Laich]

Likewise my luck has held on ebay. Got several back a few years ago and while used, they still have alot of life in them.

[bigjake]

I believe the seller was called nubs93
you can tell if they smeared the corners in the pics if you see a large light reflection off the corners.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rt=nc&nma=true&item=300527967339&si=CcSSDUC4qp%252FRGjJ4jsNxRvEIl3Y%253D&viewitem=&sspagename=ADME%3AX%3ARTQ%3AUS%3A1123

Heres the link if it still works, the bidding ended. look at the last photo where there is a ruler next to the mould

[nanuk]

I see what you mean.

I have bought several items off nubs93 and they are honest and easy to deal with.

if you have another opinion of them, I'd like to know.

[Bulletlube]

Seller said he was not a reloader and was selling them for someone else and said to ask questions. You can see the left side of the cavities were bad.

[John 242]

The cavities look ok to me but it's hard to tell.
Regardless, I've seen a 4 cavity recently sell for $78, so I don't know why that 2 cavity went for the same price, even if it came with handles.

[Bad Water Bill]

Handles go for $30-$35 Per pair so the price for the mold was $48.00. The last 2 snipers took their chances and put in just what they thought the combo was worth.

[smoked turkey]

What I have noticed is the prices on e-bay are astronomical for the old out of production moulds. A couple of recent Lyman moulds was a .410 slug mold that went for $157 and a 585213 that went for something like $75 (can't remember exact amount). I would have liked to have either of those but I'm not willing to pay the big bucks. I am not complaining just amazed at the high prices.

[Bad Water Bill]

If you want to see some ridiculous prices watch any of the Ideal 224 or 224 molds. Some people think they are made of platinum.

[357 Voodoo]

And if it has a hollow point they get real expensive.

[John 242]

Handles go for $30-$35 Per pair so the price for the mold was $48.00. The last 2 snipers took their chances and put in just what they thought the combo was worth.

According to my records, USED small mould handles average about $15 on E-bay.

NEW Lee mould handles for a 6 cavity are about $16 at Midway
$78 from $16 equals $62.

A NEW 358429, 2 cavity is $63 from Midway.

A custom 2 cavity mould from NOE is only $72.

I've heard the theory that it's forein buyers that drive up the prices on some of these moulds, but I find it hard to believe that.

My point is that I've been keeping records on moulds and other reloading gear that I'm interested in, and I've found that some stuff goes at a bargin, while other things get priced into the atmosphere with no rhyme or reason.

[nanuk]

I've heard the theory that it's forein buyers that drive up the prices on some of these moulds, but I find it hard to believe that.



I believe that. the Major companies won't sell outside the USA, so Ebay and others are one of the few places to get stuff.

I'm going to sell more of my stuff, and buy some moulds that I have seen here.

If I can get $50/mould, seems like a good deal, to get a $100 NOE mould

[John 242]

If I can get $50/mould, seems like a good deal, to get a $100 NOE mould

Yeah, but the NOE mould is only $72. Granted, I don't know if they have any 358429s in stock, but the point is that you can get a custom mould for LESS than what that USED and probably abused mould on E-bay went for. A NEW mould from Midway is LESS.

Foreign buyer, maybe, but I doubt it.
Even a foreign buyer is smart enough to know that if he can wait for the next 358429 to be listed, it will probably go for half the price.

[stubshaft]

Buying on flea bay is a cr@pshoot. There are times when you can get a great mold for a song, then others when the bidders go for the jugular.

I would rather buy an older Lyman or Ideal mold off of flea bay then a new one. In some cases you can get certain features such as a shorter GC shank or rounded lube grooves that are no longer available on newer molds.

[rintinglen]

Unless the wire brushing was extreme, I don't get too troubled by it. Now I have a 311-419 that used to be a 4 cavity but now is more like a two thanks to overly energetic rust removal. However,t I have a 358-156 that casts dandy boolits despite being pretty poor to look at. That mold was so awful looking that I almost sent it back, but I went ahead and tried it and it casts just fine, though when it gets really hot it starts getting flashing on the edges.
One thing I heartily recommend is asking for more pics if you are really interested,
The problem with ebay now is that there are mold collectors (Just like there are Lyman sight collectors) who bid on stuff based on it's rarity--percieved or actual--rather than on it's utilitarian value. I have given up on ever owning a 457-196--to me, it's a lightweight projectile for a 45-70. To some collectors, these seem to be made from solid gold.

[DeadHandRed]

I've heard the theory that it's forein buyers that drive up the prices on some of these moulds, but I find it hard to believe that.
I believe that. the Major companies won't sell outside the USA, so Ebay and others are one of the few places to get stuff.

Bang on the money with that comment nanuk.. i just bought a 314299 on ebay for US$115 incl shipping because theyre not available from retail outlets in New Zealand.

and i love it :smile:

[nanuk]

could a mould be resurrected by lapping the faces, scribing new vent lines, and then lapping the interior? or lap the face and beagle it?

just thinking out loud here.

[nanuk]

Bang on the money with that comment nanuk.. i just bought a 314299 on ebay for US$115 incl shipping because theyre not available from retail outlets in New Zealand.

and i love it :smile:

yeah.. sometimes I am envious at how good our American Friends have it in the firearms/shooting sports.

[Shakey Jakey]

I had my eye on a bunch of stuff he had listed last week as I live about 5 miles from Mason MI and could have just driven down. Bidders went nuts and paid more for some of the stuff than what it costs from Midway.

[38fan]

I used other shops besides midway. midsouthshooters.com , fmreloading.com , natchezss.com , wideners.com
I got a Lee 6 cav mold off of flee bay years ago. Like the 90327 but without gas check. 36. with handles and shipping. But it leaves a little mushroom under the sprue plate. It either breaks off or folds under when swagged. I have used it that way for 20 years. A new sprue plate didn't help.

[PAT303]

Midsouth also put a $20 surcharge on oversea's orders and they seem to always freight products at the highest rate were's ebay sellers post for the cheapest. Pat

[1Shirt]

Have you noticed that 3-4 years ago there was usually a pretty long list of Lyman molds available, a fair number of RCBS, and Saeco, and a bunch of Lee. Prices then seemed to be pretty decent as well. In the last year or so, the list of iron molds has gone way down in number, way up in price, and the largest percentage of molds are Lee. Guess I should have bought more iron molds 4-5 years ago.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[Huntducks]

Here in SoCal pre oboma used reloading stuff was cheap and casting stuff cheaper at one time I had over 100+ iron molds i'll bet some of you here bought some from me about 6mo before he was elected I started selling a few 1-2 cav Ideal/Lyman were selling $15-$20 at most about 2 years ago I decided to make as many boolits as I could in a 2mo period (10,000) and dump the molds on ebay they paid for a SA dove/duck hunt if I would have waited another year 2010 I could have got min 30% more.

Used reloading casting stuff has went throught the roof out here I see guys paying 90-110% of retail for used stuff off craigslist:veryconfu I went just this last week and looked at some junk wads and primers and a rusted Mec shotshell press and the they wanted $175 for a 600.

I have always been straight forward with people on ebay I have been selling since 1998 I alway put up at least 3-4 pictures and if it's a mold I show it with a fresh cast boolits weight and dia. of all cav.

[BrassMagnet]

I believe the seller was called nubs93
you can tell if they smeared the corners in the pics if you see a large light reflection off the corners.

I have purchased a bunch of moulds from nubs93 and I have been very pleased. My memory says the caster suffers from Alzheimer's, or other severe memory loss, and nubs93 is his elderly wife.

[GLL]

This one just sold for $202 !

http://www.fototime.com/6890F9718B41575/orig.png

Jerry

[fredj338]

What I have noticed is the prices on e-bay are astronomical for the old out of production moulds. A couple of recent Lyman moulds was a .410 slug mold that went for $157 and a 585213 that went for something like $75 (can't remember exact amount). I would have liked to have either of those but I'm not willing to pay the big bucks. I am not complaining just amazed at the high prices.

I agree. For what many of these go for, you could e-mail Tom @ Accurate, get the identical design with a known quality. JMO, unless it's dirt cheap, I am not buying off E-bay.

[Yodogsandman]

Keep your eyes open at the gun shows. I found a Lyman 4 cav 358429 with nut cracker handles in good usable shape for $30 in January. I just had to gloat!

[Forrest r]

This one just sold for $202 !

http://www.fototime.com/6890F9718B41575/orig.png

Jerry

That's actually pretty cheap for that mold. You should ask how many people on this forum have that mold, I'd be surprised if more the 10 people out of the 1000's of people enrolled on this forum have a 358431 let alone a early ideal mold.

There was another 358431 that sold for the same $$$ ($200+) a couple weeks before that one sold.

I've picked up some pretty rare molds from e-bay over the years, people either didn't know what they were, or thought they were altered. The old h&g and saeco molds are good for that because of the steel handle/hp pin combo they used to use. Or the sprue plates were changed that had the mold id on them. Old cramers with missing pins that are easily replaced are another mold that always sells for little $$$.

The rare/old/good molds actually sell pretty cheap and the common cheap molds sell at a premium, go figure.

[GLL]

Forrest:

I agree with your comments about the rare older molds !
I find your question about how many members might have a 358431 interesting and will actually try and find out.

Here is a quick iPhone snapshot of my IDEAL 358431 that I found last year. It cost just a very small fraction of the recent $200 eBay prices.
I actually cast with it so have had Buckshot modify a new pin to my liking. It vents well !

http://www.fototime.com/8653D6CEA8EAD97/large.jpg

Jerry

[Forrest r]

Nice find!!!!

I've only seen a handful of people mention or talk about the 358431 mold. They're out there but they are extremely rare. Sometimes these rare molds can be found for little $$$$. Other times collectors/casts bite the bullet to have a rare mold and pay top $$$$.

HB molds in general are rare and come up for sale every now and then on e-bay. As do the old cramers and h&g's and egans. e-bay is an excellent place to find these old molds and bring them back to life.

[Green Frog]

I've bought at least a half dozen or maybe even a dozen moulds off of e-Bay, all of them at reasonable or better prices and all of them in at least as good condition as described... I may be lucky, but that is my personal experience over the last 10+ years. Not everything I have gotten from the 'Bay, has been that fortunate, but I've hit many more good than bad. One important thing to remember is what the item is really worth to you, and what it will cost (with shipping) to get it from the seller in the deal at hand. I've walked away from a couple of items I really wanted if the price went too high, but most of the time another one like it came up again soon. Patience is a virtue... wish it was available on e-Bay!

Froggie

[Echd]

Let me know if anyone sees a 358093 pop up there... last one I missed out on.

[sawzall]

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/41-Long-Colt-Bullet-Mold-Hollow-Base-2-Cavity-Mould-/121619170969?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c51114699#ht_446wt_926

How about this one! The same seller sold one just like it a few days ago and it went for $84. Certainly makimng some proffit on this one!

[Bad Water Bill]

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/41-Long-Colt-Bullet-Mold-Hollow-Base-2-Cavity-Mould-/121619170969?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c51114699#ht_446wt_926

How about this one! The same seller sold one just like it a few days ago and it went for $84. Certainly makimng some proffit on this one!

Wonder if it is the same seller that sold the 22 Bator moulds a couple years bck?

Lots of bragging and a possible shill and he was getting over $200 for the ones HE carefully designed and at great expense had custom made.

Look at how many bidders he has.