Boolit molds

[Babalooie]

Recently, I acquired several boolit molds. Some appear to be pretty old and may be better used as collector pieces than molds. Would you all help me figure out what I have? I'd really appreciate it.

Here's a list of what I have:

LYMAN # 452460 - .45 , FOUR CAVITIES, WITH GRIPS & WOOD HANDLES

LYMAN # 429421 - .44 REMINGTON, TWO CAVITIES, WITH GRIPS - ONE WOOD HANDLE IS MISSING

LYMAN # 57446 - .357 MAGNUM (?), ONE CAVITY, WITH GRIPS & WOOD HANDLES

WINCHESTER - .22WCF - ONE CAVITY - GRIPS ARE PART OF THE MOLD - HAVE WOOD HANDLES

WINCHESTER - .45 GOV (45-70) - ONE CAVITY - GRIPS ARE PART OF THE MOLD - HAVE WOOD HANDLES

WINCHESTER - .44 WCF - ONE CAVITY - GRIPS ARE PART OF THE MOLD - HAVE WOOD HANDLES

MASS ARMS CO. - MAYNARD 1882 - .40 CAL - #1 & #2 - TWO CAVITIES - GRIPS ARE PART OF THE MOLD - ALL METAL

WINCHESTER - .45 GOV (45-70) - HAND OPERATED BOOLIT & PRIMER PRESS - MISSING THE DECAPPER ROD

UNMARKED - LADELS - TWO PIECES

I KNOW VERY LITTLE ABOUT THESE MOLDS, BUT THEY LOOK TO ME LIKE THEY SHOULD BE IN A MUSEUM. I LEARNED A LITTLE BY DOING SEVERAL GOOGLE SEARCHES, BUT STILL HAVE QUESTIONS.

IS THERE SOME WAY TO DETERMINE THEIR AGE?

ALSO, THEIR VALUE?

WOULD I BE BETTER OFF SELLING THEM AND GETTING NEW ONES?

THANKS FOR WHATEVER HELP YOU ALL CAN PROVIDE.

[BCall]

The 452460 is actually for the 45 acp or could be used in the 45 Colt. Little too small for the 45-70. The Lyman ones should be fine to use if in good condition. The others could be used, but are more collectors items. If you cast quite a bit, I would avoid using the Win molds. I would sell them and get something newer, but the Lymans I would use.

[cajun shooter]

The moulds with handles all in one piece are factory moulds that usually came with a gun. They are meant for making a few bullets if you run out. The handles being metal become very hot after just a few bullets are poured. You may find some that are leather wrapped. Ideal made several of these as complete loading tools in the 1800's. They came with a small tool that was meant to decap and this is missing from most of them. The ones that are complete sell for over $100. The ones that are only bullet moulds will bring much less.

[Babalooie]

The 452460 is actually for the 45 acp or could be used in the 45 Colt. Little too small for the 45-70. The Lyman ones should be fine to use if in good condition. The others could be used, but are more collectors items. If you cast quite a bit, I would avoid using the Win molds. I would sell them and get something newer, but the Lymans I would use.

Thanks. I'm learning and appreciate your input.

[Babalooie]

The moulds with handles all in one piece are factory moulds that usually came with a gun. They are meant for making a few bullets if you run out. The handles being metal become very hot after just a few bullets are poured. You may find some that are leather wrapped. Ideal made several of these as complete loading tools in the 1800's. They came with a small tool that was meant to decap and this is missing from most of them. The ones that are complete sell for over $100. The ones that are only bullet moulds will bring much less.

The only one that is all metal is the Mass. Arms Co. mold.

[bhn22]

The Lyman marked moulds are pretty much plain vanilla moulds, no real excitement there. The Winchester moulds have some potential for value if they're in really minty condition, the 22 WCF mould shows promise. I know practically nothing on the Maynard mould, so I won't embarrass myself by taking a stab at it. You can check mould values by going to the auction sites and finding the same mould, but it seems really fashionable these days to price things high, and hope to catch someone napping, or at a weak moment. What I'm trying to say is that a lot of things are priced too high on auction sites, and the only reliable way of determining a value is to look at the the closed auctions to see what similar items actually sold for. Did I mention that condition is everything?

[canyon-ghost]

Here's a Lyman chart, gives you an idea what you have.

http://www.three-peaks.net/bullet_molds.htm

Ron

PS: the lymans you show are good molds, I use them.

[Babalooie]

The Lyman marked moulds are pretty much plain vanilla moulds, no real excitement there. The Winchester moulds have some potential for value if they're in really minty condition, the 22 WCF mould shows promise. I know practically nothing on the Maynard mould, so I won't embarrass myself by taking a stab at it. You can check mould values by going to the auction sites and finding the same mould, but it seems really fashionable these days to price things high, and hope to catch someone napping, or at a weak moment. What I'm trying to say is that a lot of things are priced too high on auction sites, and the only reliable way of determining a value is to look at the the closed auctions to see what similar items actually sold for. Did I mention that condition is everything?

Yes. Condition, condition, condition. Just like coin collecting.

[Babalooie]

Here's a Lyman chart, gives you an idea what you have.

http://www.three-peaks.net/bullet_molds.htm

Ron

PS: the lymans you show are good molds, I use them.

Thanks, Ron.

[cajun shooter]

I was trying to give the best description I could with the supplied information. I see that you did put that some had the wood handles. Any price given would be a guess without some good close up photos' of both the outside and inside of each one. I am sure that some members may be interested if they were able to view them. The Maynard rifle came in many calibers, some that were almost the same as the Winchester calibers. They were 32-35,35-30, 35-40,38-55,40-40, 40-60, 40-70 and so on. The Maynard was a single shot tip up type rifle. Later David

[Babalooie]

I'll try to get some photos posted later today.

[Babalooie]

Here are photos of the Winchester molds and press. Also, the Maynard mold.

MAYNARD MOLD
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-8/1059823/MASS%20ARMS%20CO-1.jpghttp://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-8/1059823/MASS%20ARMS%20CO-2.jpghttp://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-8/1059823/MASSARMSCO-3.jpg

WINCHESTER MOLDS
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-8/1059823/WINCHESTER%20BULLET%20MOLDS.jpghttp://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-8/1059823/WINCHESTER%20BULLET%20MOLDS-1.jpghttp://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-8/1059823/WINCHESTER%20CAVITIES.jpg

WINCHESTER PRESS
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-8/1059823/WINCHESTER%20HAND%20PRESS.jpg

[fryboy]

nice ! the foto's and the molds ! they seem to of been taken care of ! and i'm far far from an expert ( but i love foto's of old stuff - thanx for sharing ! )

[GP100man]

First , WELCOME TO THE :cbpour:FORUM


What you have my friend is a treasure !!!!

As suggested use the Lyman as there still mostly available , the others only take em out & caress em at bar-B-qs!!!

I`ll share what I`ve researched & experienced on the 357446 mould , there`s mixed results but mine have been mostly positive as long as I push it to 38+p pressures to mid 357, it does`nt fly good at slow speeds though .

You`ll see my latest in a thread titled BD , I hope the HPing will make it more low pressure friendly !! We`ll see !!!

Thanks Again for sharing the pics !!!