Bought a Saeco mold on Ebay.....

[pumpguy]

I bought a Saeco mold off Ebay. It is a #388 that is supposed to cast a Keith style .357. I bought it because I have a 158gr in trucated cone from them and I love it. The problem is that I do not know how to get handles for it. It has a huge wing shaped sprue cutter with no stop on the top of the mold. It does not have a spring washer to hold the sprue cutter. Instead (and here is where the problem comes in) it has a bolt that goes clear through the mold and has a spring loaded nut on the bottom. The bolt passes through the channel where the handle bolts to the mold. This mold does not look to be altered in any way. Any ideas on how to put handles on this mold would be greatly appreciated!

[Jon K]

Pumpguy,

I don't think you have a Saeco mold, but instead, you have a Magma mold.
Looks like this one?
http://cgi.ebay.com/BRAND-NEW-dual-cavity-45-230RNBB-Magma-Bullet-mold_W0QQitemZ7246028694QQihZ015QQcategoryZ71118QQ rdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Is this what you have?

Jon
:castmine:

[pumpguy]

This looks very much like mine. Mine does have the Saeco logo stamped into it though. Was there ever a licensing agreement between these two? Are there handles avalilable for Magma molds? Mine does not have the pot metal (or whatever they are) inserts.

[Jon K]

pumpguy,

I don't know about an agreement between the 2, but, Magma is the only one I know with that sprue plate and you can use RCBS, Saeco, H&G handles, although you may have to add a new set of holes in the handles, so they close tightly. You will also need a set of attaching screws and pins from an RCBS mold.
It's an easy fix.

Jon
:castmine:

[crazy mark]

Those look like the moulds that have been adapted to use in auto casting machines. I have a couple NEI's that had that sprue plate assembly. I made my ownn sprue plate and adapted a set of handles I had lying around. Even though they were used on an auto casting machine they still make very good bullets. Mark

[pumpguy]

Thanks guys. I will get a set of handles and give them a try. God, I love this site!!!

[Lloyd Smale]

seaco molds i have have a narrower grove in them then most and without grinding about the only handles that fit them are seaco handles.

[bobthenailer]

i bought a saeco mould from one of the auction sights that was modfied with the sprue piviot screw/ bolt going all te way through the mould with a nut on the bottom making it very difficulet to use with the nut protruding from the bottom of the mould, i returned it for a refund as i have many other saeco moulds and they are not made this way, it was a attemept to repair a mis used mould. bob

[TAWILDCATT]

You Might Try Lee Handles All Handles Should Fit All Molds Lee Handles Are $12 From Midsouth.magma Converts Molds To Their Machine.thats What Happened Here.

[pumpguy]

I got some RCBS handles yesterday. They fit in the grooves and the holes line up. If I grind off a little bit of the tip, they should work great. The problem I have now is instead of screws to hold the handles on, there are pins and the pins are held in by little tiny roll pins driven in underneath them. Any suggestions for getting the little roll pins out and back in? Are these molds threaded in the holes so I can replace the pins with screws? This mold better cast a really nice bullet for all the headache!!:)

[Red River Rick]

Gentleman:

The problem with the moulds you bought, is they were originally intended for use on a Ballisti-Cast or Magma Auto caster. The mould key is held in place with a 3/16" dowel pin, and usually when they convert hand moulds to be used on casting machines, the threaded hole for the handle screws are usually just drilled out to accomodate the dowel pin.

The easiest way to repair this is to tap the existing hole and insert a 10 x 32 Heli-Coil. The hole should be very close to the tap drill size. You can then use the normal handle screws to hold the mould blocks in place.

The spru-cutter can also be replaced with a RCBS kit. By drilling and tapping a new pivot screw hole and a stop pin hole, rotated 180 degrees from the center of the mold. Eliminates that ugly auto spru plate.

RRR

[pumpguy]

Thanks Rick, I did not know which sprue plate would fit on the mold. Like I said, the mold does have a Saeco logo on one side. I am just trying to make the most of this purchase. If I would have known this was from an auto casting machine ahead of time, I never would have bought it. By the way, where do you live in MB? I used to go fishing up north of Thompson.

[Red River Rick]

pumpguy:

I'm glad to hear that you've experienced Manitoba's great north, now you know why they call it the land of 100,00 lakes. You can't beat the fishing and hunting.

I live in Winnipeg, Thompson is more than 500 miles north of me. I was up in Thompson last September, actually just passed thru to go on my Caribou hunt.

You'll have to make it back for some more great fishing.

RRR