MA 50 Maxi Ball Mold

[gcsteve]

I just purchased a Maxi Ball mold on ebay that the seller says is marked "MA 50" and "1868". The seller thought it might be a Lyman, but I think it's a Massachusetts Arms Company 50 caliber mold. It looks like it is in fair but not great shape, but I think it will work, and the price wasn't bad.

Anybody here know any more about this mold? I can't find much about Mass. Arms, and nothing about molds they may have made.

Thanks

[runfiverun]

looks like the old lyman 50 cal mold i have.
i don't think they cut vent lines in molds in the 1800's

[nanuk]

I had one that looked similar

is it steel? mine was aluminum.

[gcsteve]

Thanks for the input. The mold just shipped out, so I should have it in a few days. Then I can give it a close examination. It looks like steel, but could be aluminum.

Did Lyman mark their any of their molds as described? I don't have any Lyman molds, so I'm not sure what to look for.

[gcsteve]

Did a bit more digging and looking on the Internet. Could this be a Thompson Center mold?

[Maven]

gcsteve, The shape of the sprue plate/sprue cutter suggests a T/C than a Lyman mold. However, T/C didn't actually make their own molds, but farmed them out to Lyman, Ohaus/Lachmiller (forerunner of RCBS molds), and perhaps even Green Mountain. Moreover, if it is iron (meehanite), it is likely an Ohaus/Lachmiller. If aluminum, I'd guess T/C, or rather marketed as T/C.

[MikeS]

that looks like a T/C mould to me. Their aluminum moulds were anodized with a brown color. I have one, and it really casts nice boolits, and I think alot of that is due to the anodizing.

[nanuk]

mine was TC