Lee vrs Lyman molds

[slk]

This question is for 9mm casting:
I see there are a lot of people who like the Lee 120 gr TC Mold . Is there anything wrong with the Lyman molds. I have always stuck with Lyman molds and never tried the Lee ones.

Thanks
Steve

[Carolina Cast Bullets]

The Lee molds are aluminum, the Lyman are steel or iron. Both are good

I use the Lee cause they are light, easy to care for and they make a good boolit. I also use Lee sizing dies (push thru) and tumble lubing. Since the invention of 45/45/10, its both easy and fast.

Jerry
Carolina Cast Bullets

[plainsman456]

I have 2 LEE molds and 1 Lyman and both cast good boolits for my use.
Only difference that I have found so far the LEE are cheaper to buy.

[357 Voodoo]

Lee molds are inexpensive and with a 6 holer they will put out a mess of boolits in a hurry.

By the reports Lyman may be hit and miss with there new molds.

so far I'm satisfied with both makers

[bhn22]

LEE moulds are cheaper, and aluminum. Lyman is probably the least expensive production iron mould. Both often have quality issues that can usually be ironed out with a bit of handwork. There are many pages of text on this board that offer ideas about getting quality bullets from either mould. I've given up on both of them, and will only buy older used Lyman/Ideal moulds. LEE has also burned their last bridge with me, and I don't buy anything with their name on it at all. Any manufacturer can have a run of quality issues, but both LEE & Lyman won't get any more of my money.

[462]

As to the quality of dropped boolits, I see no difference between the two brands.

Beyond that, any comparison is an apple and oranges issue.

[slk]

Ok now that we have that issue solved.... What molds seam to work best for 9mm accuracy? Now I will never be shooting in any leages or anything. I do see that most factory rounds are of the round nose jacketed or ball ammo type. Would it make sence to go with a round nose lead boolit like 120 grs or one of the other varieties with more of a point?

Steve

[montana_charlie]

What will your target most likely be?

[ubetcha]

I have a Lee 105gr swc that my brother uses for his Beretta 92f and has had no problems loading,feeding and shooting.As far as I know,I dont think he has shot for accuracy yet,but have heard it is quite accurate

[462]

slk,
I don't own anything in 9 mm, but do have a .45 ACP Randall. The more a boolit's profile mimics that of a round nose jacketed bullet, the more reliably the gun will feed and function. Semi-wadcutter boolits will feed and function, but will require more effort, on your part, to make them do so.

If all you will be doing is casual plinking, a round nose design is perfect. A semi-wadcutter would be a better choice for small game hunting and clean-hole target shooting.

Lee moulds are inexpensive...start with simplicity and reliability, then move on to the more advanced aspects as you gain more knowledge and experience. Walk first.

[btroj]

I am generally far more concerned with the design, weight, and size of the bullet than I am with who made the mould.
I do like the Lee 6 cavity moods as they make lots of bullets fast. Mihec and NOE make beautiful moulds. Would I buy a custom mould if it wasn't the right design? Never.
I use many more Lee ,olds than Lyman due to volume production and bullet design. Name brand and material are of little importance to me, or my guns.

[MtGun44]

Biggest difference is cost, followed by resistance to rough handling. Aluminum needs
care because it is softer than cast iron.

Bill

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Would it make sence to go with a round nose lead boolit like 120 grs or one of the other varieties with more of a point? Steve
Probably, but every gun is different regarding accuracy and functionality...also peoples uses are different.

462 has advice I couldn't word any better.

The more a boolit's profile mimics that of a round nose jacketed bullet, the more reliably the gun will feed and function. Semi-wadcutter boolits will feed and function, but will require more effort, on your part, to make them do so.

If all you will be doing is casual plinking, a round nose design is perfect. A semi-wadcutter would be a better choice for small game hunting and clean-hole target shooting.

[Larry Gibson]

Nothing at all wrong with either the Lyman or Lee moulds. In 9mm I used a 4 cavity Lyman 356402 for numerous years with complete satisfaction in casting and in shooting the bullets. However, the mould wasn't mine and i finally had to give it back as the owner had picked up a 9mm of his own again. I was thinking of getting a Lyman but took a chance on the Lee 6 cavity 356-120-TC instead. Excellent mould, excellent bullet in the 9mm cartridge. Also a marvelous plinking/small game bullet in my .35 Remington.

Both Lyman and Lee, as with most any mould, needs to be "prepped" when new before casting. Both the Lyman and Lee moulds share some "prep" details but each have there own peculiarities because of different materials (iron vs aluminum) and designs.

I have lots of Lyman moulds and also lots of lee moulds. I am more like to "favor" a particular bullet design vs the make of the mould.

Larry Gibson

[jameslovesjammie]

I am generally far more concerned with the design, weight, and size of the bullet than I am with who made the mould.
I do like the Lee 6 cavity moods as they make lots of bullets fast. Mihec and NOE make beautiful moulds. Would I buy a custom mould if it wasn't the right design? Never.
I use many more Lee ,olds than Lyman due to volume production and bullet design. Name brand and material are of little importance to me, or my guns.

I couldn't have said it any better.

[slk]

I did slug my bore on the Beretta and the grove diameter is .356. The lyman and lee say thier mold is .356. I wanted to size to .357. Will a lyman mold that says it is .356 drop a bullet to
.357???

[Echo]

I did slug my bore on the Beretta and the grove diameter is .356. The lyman and lee say thier mold is .356. I wanted to size to .357. Will a lyman mold that says it is .356 drop a bullet to
.357???

Maybe... my first recommendation is to try a relatively hard alloy. It won't shrink as much as softer alloys. Since Lyman specs #2 as their standard, I believe, and Lee specs Lino as their standard, with that in mind - they are both pretty hard alloys, and won't shrink as much as softer alloys.
So you gotta just give it a try, and see.

[max it]

HI, I shoot 9mm in steel reactive target competitions.
The heavier the boolit, the softer the recoil.
I enjoy my 147gn MiHec mold
But someone here suggests that round nose is better,

I might agree.

Good luck,

Max

[MikeS]

One consideration when deciding between the 2, Lee or Lyman, is mould material, and how they vary. Steel (Lyman says their mould blocks are steel, not cast iron, but for this discussion it really doesn't matter) is more durable than Aluminium, and so in some aspects can take rougher treatment than aluminium, except one. Steel/iron will rust fairly easily, so steps need to be taken to assure the mould stays rust free. Aluminium doesn't rust, so you can clean up / prep the Lee mould, and have it working fine, then put away the mould after giving just the steel parts a light coating of rust preventative oil, (without getting any in/near the mould cavities) you can take it from storage and with out major prep work have it casting again the same way it did before. Other than aluminium's rust resistance, an aluminium mould is softer than steel/iron, so needs to be handled with greater care, as it's much easier to damage.

As you've been casting with Lyman moulds (I assume single or dual cavity?) if you go for a Lee mould, I would say to stick with the 6 cavity moulds. They're made better than the dual cavity Lee moulds, and the jump in production is well worth it. When comparing new with new, a new Lee six cavity mould and a new set of handles is roughly half the cost of a new Lyman dual cavity mould and a new set of Lyman handles!

As far as what boolit style to get, a lot of that depends on your specific gun. Before investing money in a mould that might, or might not feed in your handgun, I would go to the boolit exchange (in the Swappin & Sellin forum) and see if you could get a forum member or members to send you several different styles of boolit, and see how each fires thru your gun. No sense spending money on a mould only to find out it won't feed in your gun!

[MBTcustom]

Hey there buddy, I grew up on cast iron molds-all lyman. Here lately I have become a husband and then a father which has underlined my dependence on the cast boolit even though none of my pistols have ever seen a copper jacket while I have owned them, except my carry pistol.
Now lyman molds produce prettier boolits. I dont care about pretty.
Lee molds are $17 and come with the handles. I have 4 of their molds so far, and all of them drop boolits that are consistent enough in weight, that accuracy problems caused by weight differences is negligible. (by the way, if you haven't all ready, you got to try 45/45/10 lube.)
Now as to the accuracy of one boolit design over another, I have in all my years shooting, never noticed a difference. I have shot everything from RN to semi-wad cutters, to full wad cutters that are a flat cylinder of lead, and my experience has taught me that at 30 yards and closer, boolit shape does not matter one whit as far as accuracy goes. Accuracy, is much more a function of finding the size of the boolit that your particular pistol likes. I have always landed on .001 to .0015 over groove diameter being the best in most of my autos, but every pistol is differant, and .0005 inch can make a huge differance. I found out that if I just shoot the boolits as they drop from the mold, my group at twenty yards only opens up a little bit, so unless I have a score to settle with somebody who thinks they are Gods gift to the shooting range, I just save myself the trouble and shoot unsized boolits.
Much more important is finding a boolit design that will feed correctly in your pistol. Revolvers will eat anything, but a semi auto is picky and most of them like RN designs or sometimes a flat nose design can work well. I have always had to work at it, to get my autos to eat semi-wadcutters.
Hope this helps, good luck.

[casterofboolits]

Lee moulds/ Lyman moulds. Apples and oranges.

I have almost a 100 Lyman four cavity moulds, twenty Saeco four and eight cavity and a dozen four, six, eight and ten cavity H&G moulds.

For 9mm, I cast a H&G #275 09-125-SWCBB and use it over a moderate load of BlueDot.

I prefer Lyman to Lee, but just ordered two, two cavity 45-200-RF moulds as Lyman doesn't offer this boolit style. For $40.00 I'll give them a whirl. If they don't work, I'll spend about $170.00 on a couple Magma moulds.

Lyman is more expensive than Lee, Saeco is more expensive than Lyman and H&G moulds are what they are these days.