Which of your molds WORKS the best??

[superior]

I know that most of our members have many molds in their collection. Which one stands out above all the others in terms of functioning near flawlessly? I own 8 molds currently ( I used to have more) but one of them works almost perfectly, to the point where the others aren't even close. I don't have a problem with any of them, but my Lee 452-255-rf casts like a dream. The boolits drop with just a slight shake of the mold without any release agent or smoking. The boolits are perfect from the 2nd cast, and the only mold lube i use is silicone spray after each casting session. And, to top it all off, they shoot perfectly. Again, I'm happy with all of them, but for some strange reason, this particular one can't seem to make a bad boolit!!: I'm curious to know if anyone else has a mold that is their favorite, not in terms of caliber, but the one that simply works the best.:bigsmyl2:

[Centaur 1]

Nothing fancy in my small collection of molds, I've only been casting for 1 1/2 years. I started with four different Lee 2 cavity molds and they all work as good as you could expect from $20 product. Then I bought a Ranch Dog 100 grain mold for my .380 acp. I don't know if all Lee 6 cavity molds work this nice, but this is by far my favorite one.

[btroj]

I don't tend to have moulds that are favorites as much as I have those I don't like using.

[williamwaco]

The best mold I ever owned was an H&G.

Alas, I no longer own that mold.

My current best mold is a Ballisti-Cast.

This is the mold that works best, smoothest, closes with a very satisfying snap.

[MtGun44]

I have several MP molds that are wonderful, but a few Lee cheapos work really nicely, too.

I'd say that I have RCBS, Lyman, LBT and H&G molds that work really well. H&G and MP seem to
be the best as far as highest percentage of really excellent molds.

Bill

[imashooter2]

A two hole SAECO #353. A true Cadillac of a mold.

Worst is an old two hole Lyman 429421 with a square groove. What a pain getting that one to fill out...

[GabbyM]

I've two four cavity moulds that rain perfect bullets.
An H&G #130 and a Saeco #428.

[plainsman456]

I have a Mountain,Accurate and an old Ideal that drop just by looking at them.
I have many others but the Ideal comes close to the perfect one.

[badbob454]

my NOE mold in .225 36 gr, hornet boolit 4 cavity casts flawless boolits 90 percent of the time i was amaised at how purty the boolits came out .... only a few first ,and very few otherwise were flawed once the mold heated up shiny nice perfect little boolits came out the boolits seemed to jump out of the mold into the waterbucket most of the time sometimes a little tap at the hinge told them its ok to go:bigsmyl2:

[JRR]

Mine is an Applegate 45 Colt in brass. Perfect boolits after one or two throws.
Jeff

[MikeS]

My 2 best moulds are currently the 2 MP moulds that I have. Following those are 2 Lee six cavity moulds, followed by my SAECO moulds, followed by a few Lyman moulds. My least favorite mould at the moment is my one H&G mould, a 10 cavity #72 (I think that's the number, the boolit sort of looks like a #68, but in .38 size) first it's too big to easily fit under my Lee 4-20 pot, and it's an older abused mould that I really need to send to Erik at Hollow Point Mold Service to have him fix it up, it has non-factory screws, a sprue plate than I don't think is original, and it's been severly mistreated, so I think it's warped too. I guess I should have known something was wrong with it when I got it so cheaply!

I know my H&G mould has been abused, so I can't use it to judge other H&G moulds, but my other moulds are all in excellent condition, and you can tell by how they cast! I'm looking forward to getting a couple of NOE moulds to see what they're like, and I really want to get an Accurate Mold 4 cavity brass mould when I can spare the money.

I used to spend lots of time on eBay looking for moulds, but I don't bother anymore, as any boolit moulds I might need are satisfied either with GB moulds, or a custom mould.

[selmerfan]

I don't have many molds, but the easiest to work with is my 6 cavity Ranch Dog 359-190-RF. Heat it on the hot plate while the alloy warms up and it drops bullets like hot butter. My Lee 358-158-RF works just as well, but is only a 2 cavity.

[Dan Cash]

Hoch nose pour and a LBT 2 hole .41. These are the best of the 25 or so moulds in my inventory.

[TXGunNut]

Tough question. New Lee six cav is fun to use because the boolits pile up in a hurry. Round ball moulds are fun because I like shiny round balls. Coolest looking boolits? Lyman 457125 or 452424. I'll have a new favorite if I find one my .45-90 Sharps likes.
Kinda new to this but so far I like almost all of them.

[Heavy lead]

While I have Three Mihec Brass, and Three Accurate Molds Brass that are a delight, I must say that 4 different NOE (one three cavity and three five cavity) and 3 Mountain Mold aluminum that are easier to run and get to temperature.
However I wouldn't part with any of them and they are all wonderfull.

[btroj]

Yep, the brass casts like a charm but man, it is heavy. The NOE Al moulds are a dream to use.
I find my RCBS 308165 SIL mould to be about as easy to get good bullets from as anything.
My Lee GB 45-70 collar button is a pain. It doesn't like to cast nice, square bases.

[fecmech]

I have 2 H&G #39 4 cavs. They cast great, bullets drop free when the mold is opened and best of all they are my accuracy standard for my K38.

[stubshaft]

My much used LBT 300gr LFN in .452".

[462]

An ancient Ideal single-cavity 308291. A perfect boolit that literally -- yes, literally -- jumps out of the mould.

[jmsj]

Easiest casting and dropping mold I have is an old Lyman 358429 SC.
Casts beautiful bullets and the bullet drops out on its own when the handles are openend.
They measure .359-3595 as cast.

[10 ga]

My do-it bank fishing sinker mold is fast, easy to use, and only cost $35.98. Every sinker functions flawlessly with only a quick visual inspection for complete fillout! The alloy type seems to have no effect on sinker function. Even pure zinc sinkers work equally well as pure lead or alloy sinkers. It cast a variety of 5 sizes all at the same time, from .25 to 3 oz. all at one (1) pour. Seems the best highest functioning lube is raw fish oil, however I have had good luck using both clam and crab oil too. Life is just too short to not have a sense of humor, besides all of the above is absolutely true. LOL:-) 10 ga

[Bret4207]

A Walt Melander era NEI 331-245 aluminum.

[Elkins45]

A MP 44 hollow point probably gets my vote...the boolets just fall out. My six hole Lee 45-200 TL is another good one.

Hardest to use is undoubtedly a NOE 5 cavity 30 cal. The alloy has to be somewhere around a gazillion degrees (that's an estimate) before it stops throwing raisins.

[Guesser]

Of about 30 SC and DC molds, I have to congratulate my Ideal 357443 and my Ideal 358311, both DC. I have a Lyman DC 429360 that is a little problematic, sharp edges and square corners and all. I tend to get shut of difficult molds, rather than struggle with them.

[Shuz]

My favorites are a 2C Cramer 55A (25 cal), and a 4C Saeco 446-A(44 cal).

[Catshooter]

I have less than a hundred moulds or so, most of which are Lyman/Ideal.

I have three 452424 two holers that when you open the mould both boolits fall out. No tapping, no shaking, no persursion of any kind. If the mould is pre-heated then they do this from the first filling. Reject rate is about two out of 10 pounds, usually my fault.

All three of these moulds are less than three years old.


Cat

[Jailer]

I have one that stands out from the rest.

It a 5 cavity NOE 453 196Gr. SWC H&G 130 clone. It drops all 5 as soon as you open the mold and about 80% to 85% drop at exactly 198.3 grains with straight wheel weights. The others are only a couple tenths of a grain from that with hardly any culls.

It's amazing how quickly I can empty a pot with this mold.

[TXGunNut]

Sounds like old moulds and custom moulds rule around here.

[Iowa Fox]

Mine is a lyman 4cav 452460. Casts perfect bullets with nice square base fill, perfect body & nose at .4535. All 4 just fall out when I open the handles. My wife found it used before I even owned a 45ACP. It came in the original box with handles attached, the box is colored cardboard and reminds me of an old velveta cheese box.

Purchased a 1911 a couple of years latter since I already had a mold but never used.

I maybe have 50 molds but this one is just plain easy to use.

[frankenfab]

I don't tend to have moulds that are favorites as much as I have those I don't like using.

Me, too! And I get rid of the ones I don't like using, and get something better!

:cbpour:

I have 40 something GREAT molds.

[PacMan]

Any of the LBT molds that i have.

[MT Gianni]

Current count is 40+ molds. I have a 311466 that boolits jump out of. Good thing as it's a SC.

[canyon-ghost]

Again, the LBT molds cast the best.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I have a few NOE molds and a Accurate Mold, all work flawlessly and a joy to use.

of all the production molds I have, the Saeco 411 is my fav.
they just always look perfect.
Jon

[Old Caster]

A Paul Jones 420 grain for my 40/65 and every Saeco that I have along with all of the RCBS except one. It drops a bullet at 171 when it is supposed to be 158.

[cbrick]

I have 70+ molds and the MP and NOE are excellent casters but that goes without saying. For regular production molds any of my RCBS molds are very good and the outstanding bullet designs from RCBS outshoot very similair designs from SAECO almost across the board.

But my easiest, finest casting mold is my newest RCBS (maybe a year old now). It's the 22 cal 55 gr fp, when I got it, I cleaned it, pre-heated it, poured lead in, opened the sprue, opened the blocks and two perfect bullets fell out. Just keep going, no tapping the handles, no jiggling, bullets just fall out. That mold doesn't know how to make a bad bullet, it is a true pleasure to use.

Rick

[adrians]

An ancient Ideal single-cavity 308291. A perfect boolit that literally -- yes, literally -- jumps out of the mould.

yup mine too,great s/c mold.:evil::coffee::twisted:

[bowfin]

I have Mihec, NOE, Lyman, Saeco, and Lee.

My favorite to use is a a Lee six cavity tumble lube six cavity. Not too finicky about temperature, fills out nicely, and it broke in quickly.

[geargnasher]

Easiest? Ideal 429421SC. After that, any of my Lee two-bangers. Easy-smeeezy, light as a feather, work like a charm, make great boolits for hours at a time.

I have RCBS, Lyman, Ideal, Mihec, NOE, LBT, and Accurate for comparison,
I love my brass Accurate moulds, but as has been said they're bricks.

Gear

[reloader28]

I have about 20 molds and my favorite to use is my 223 60gr Seaco. Works like a champ. Consistant and easy to use.
But I'm happy with ALL of them as long as they make me some boolits I can shoot.:guntootsmiley:

[Moonie]

Easiest, probably my Ideal dual cavity for 270, boolets jump out, interestingly I had reservations as it has no vent lines at all, a close second is my Mihec 45 200gr HP.

[rintinglen]

Out of 50 plus molds, I've an older lyman 358-311 4 cavity mold that mass produces good boolits. I wish they all worked that easy. I am also enamored or my MP brass HP mold, but the Lyman takes the prize.