First time with Lyman Mold

[Keith Sacane]

Well, I used to cast quite a bit using various aluminum molds, some factory and some from older group buys here. They've always worked well, but a few months back I picked up a Lyman 2 cavity 429421 for a newly acquired 629. Today was the first time I got a chance to cast with it, and I'm very happy with the results. It took awhile to get warmed up, but once it did, the bullets were the nicest looking bullets I've ever cast.

I think I'm going to have to get some more Lyman molds. They drop at .432 from the mold with wheelweights. Is this typical with Lyman molds? Don't get me wrong...I'm not badmouthing my aluminum molds. They've always worked well, and shot well, but once the Lyman was heated up, it just seemed to work effortlessly, and the end product was exceptional.

[runfiverun]

i really like lyman and rcbs molds.
i really like lymans 4 cavity molds, unfortunately theree have been a lot of rumors of them pouring undersized.
i bought a 429667 4 cavity at the start of the year and it sure nuff was undersized.
i figured it would be but i just took the time and lapped it out.
now it's pour open tap and close..
the last rcbs i got i had to set the alignment pins to close properly.
i had to cycle the noe i got a couple of times for it to cast well for me. [that's recommended from them however so not an issue]
it's getting so a production mold is really hit or miss and the extra cost of the smaller makers is negligable or non existent.

[GaryN]

The last Lyman mold I got was about two years ago. The sprue plate wasn't flat. I had to flatten it. The sprue holes in the sprue plate were not drilled deep enough (the tapered part didn't go all the way down). The mold cast undersized. I sent it to Eric to open it up. I drilled the holes deeper. I flattened the sprue plate. Then finally I could use it. It now makes good bullets. But I think it would be a whole lot easier to just get a custom mold.

[WHITETAIL]

Yes, It seams as if it is a hit or miss
deal with the moulds out there lately.
That is why more and more people are
getting custom moulds.
( Me included):Fire:

[44man]

You are indeed lucky to have a Lyman casting the correct size. They can be good molds and the same for RCBS. But they cherry mold blocks and sharpen dull cherries, reducing cavity sizes.
Notice mold numbers, 429421, .429 is when they put in new cherries.

[Shiloh]

Been disappointed with two undersized Lyman 311299's
The other ones are fineand cast good boolits. I see custom molds in my future.

Shiloh

[canyon-ghost]

I like the Lyman molds, I've collected various discontinued ones. Some are brand new and never used!

[Shiloh]

I'd be a collector as well if they could be found at a reasonable price. WHen dicontinued Lyman or Ideal moulds show up on Ebay, they go for prices way away from what I want to spend.

Shiloh

[ColColt]

Lyman molds are fine-when hyou can get one that drops the anticipated size you want. I've had trouble with three that were undersized and either had to beagle or get Erik to open up the bands. I now just get custom molds.

[Rockchucker]

One of my favorite moulds is a Lyman 4 cavity 45 cal, 230 grain round nose, It cast boolits around 451 out of the box using a 50/50 +tin alloy. I tried to lap it out using a cast boolit and lapping compound and it seemed to be a very slow process and not getting any where fast at all. Next I beagled it using some Air conditioning foil tape and worked like a champ, and to this day it makes some beautiful boolits. Some of em you just have to work with em. Oh, and now it drops em at a very nice .453 and size them at .452 w/ c-red lube.

[stubshaft]

I bought only one Lyman mold manufactured after 1990 and got lucky that it wasn't undersized.

[pdawg_shooter]

If I have to rebuild a mole to get it to cast right I will start with a $20 Lee not a $66 Lyman. Come to think of it the last 5 or 6 Lees I bought worked fine right out of the box. Just clean, heat, and cast.

[Grandpas50AE]

I got a Lyman 4 cav. in .45 4 years ago for my birthday, and it casts very nice 200 gr. SWC boolits that drop larger than my sizer die. The sizer sizes them down to .4515, which works very nicely in my Kimbers. All my .44 molds are decades old, but still drop really great boollits. The old 4-cav Lyman 429244 mold is the one I bought in 1973, and it is still casting great boolits.

[longbow]

I really like Lyman moulds that cast to correct size. Unfortunately that seems to be the exception nowadays both from personal experience and from reading posts of other people's experiences.

I think you are fortunate to have a 429421 that casts to 0.432" which makes it perfect for large groove diameters and also perfect if you want to size down a thou or two... basically it is perfect. Mine casts at 0.429" which is small by any standard since a cast boolit should be at least 0.001" over groove diameter.

I also have recent experience with two Lyman 314299's that both cast undersize ~ one at 0.311"/0.312" and one at 0.313".

If you get one that casts to the size you need they are indeed fine moulds though.

Take care of it and it will last a lifetime.

Longbow

[soldierbilly1]

I've had several Lyman molds, for my 38's and 45's and now my 9mms. I've never experienced any problems with the 5 or 6 molds that I have owned. The pricing is nasty and I have even bought and sold a few used on Fleebay. None of my Lymans ever threw anything undersized. I like Lee prices much more.[smilie=s:
However, I've had other problems with some Lyman stuff. I had a turret die plate, new from Lyman, that was warped when I got it. I got it replaced but it was a PIA dealing with the whole thing.
I am OK with Lyman, much worse out there for CS, for sure.
bill boy
just my 0.02