Bought an unusual mold today. Help ID'ing please?

[Lefthandshooter]

Bought this at a gun show today. All brass with three cavities in it different shapes but no markings on it anywhere. Overall length 7 3/8", and about an inch wide. Middle and outside cavities are around .40 in width, .874 and ..468 in length, and the inside one .30 width and .633 in length. (Measurments are close - but might not be exact due to my using a micrometer at an angle.

Any value or best to become eBay fodder?

Thanks!

[Buckshot]

............You know, time was that folks didn't have much cash. It was unusual for people to have a plethora of simply recreational firearms. You might have one for hunting game, and possibly a smaller caliber for use around the hen house, in addition to a shotgun.

At the time (turn of the century to the 20's - 30's) there were gunsmiths, and then there were gunsmiths. Lathes and other metal working machines were dear. Some gunsmiths handled fairly common everyday repairs and fixes. Others, who might have much more sofisticated means of working metal would do all manner of additional work besides re-pointing firing pins or pinning split wrists back together. I'm getting all my thinking done out front, so I can be agreed with or maybe shot down from those more knowledgeable. :-) My dad graduated High School in Weiner, AR in 1944 and there was 14 in the class. He said the janitor did gunsmith work in the high school's basement. According to my dad all he had were hand tools. I thought that was neat. I could sure see that today!

Moulds like this were common at one time, and still today they make solid brass intregal handle moulds like this as reproductions, or to be used in cased sets for percussion pistols and rifles. Fact is, once these type moulds were up to temp and ready to cast slugs they were generally too hot to handle for any time at all. Looking at the wonderfull photo's you provided, I believe this mould was made by a gunsmith who had more then files to use, due to it's external appearance, including it's hinge/pivit area.

On the other hand it also shows hand finishing in that area also. I do not believe it was the work of any company doing boolit moulds. No manufacturing stamps, no caliber or cavity dimensions. Points to being made for someone who asked for what he was getting. Time was back when most things were made of cast iron, and ment to be repaired instead of thrown away, a town of any size had a machine shop which did such things. Shops back then regardless the majority of their work dealing with agricultural or say, mining did all manner of side work. One guy would walk in and need a set of steam engine crankshaft bearings repoured and scraped in, for which a workman would be sent to the jobsite to do the work. Next person would come in with a part from his AreoMotor windmill. Stuff like this they work to a 'Scant 64th' which worked well for what it was. Once you cast some boolits you'll find out what dimensions they were comfortable with :-)

I think what you have is an artifact made by such a place for someone who wanted such a thing made. It appears to me the handles were basically machine made and then hand finished. Due to the size of the sprue holes the cavities were (IMHO) cherry cut. The machinist probably turned down a piece of simple high carbon steel as close to spec as possible and created a cherry for each cavity. They were then cut into the brass handles via several possible means. May have even charges $10 or $15 for it too!

I think what you have is a custom mould made for some guy who needed a few boolits a year for a couple firearms. To me it looks like it could have been made anywhere from the late 1860's to the 1920's or so. It's a piece of Americana for sure.

.................Buckshot



Du

[Lefthandshooter]

Thanks for the info!

Problem is, I do not cast so I can't just "make a few" to measure the size.

I wonder if wax would work.

[GRUMPA]

Might want to consider a hot glue gun if you have one.

[Lefthandshooter]

Never thought of that! Maybe the wife will let me borrow hers. I'm not allowed to use it after the last fiasco I borrowed it.

[cabezaverde]

If you want to send it to me, I will cast you up some from each cavity and return it.

[Lefthandshooter]

Thanks but not worth the postage.

I only paid $12.00 for it.

[cabezaverde]

If you change your mind, the offer stands.

[Lefthandshooter]

Thanks!

I will remember your offer!

[Wayne Smith]

Rick, I think you nailed it. Given that one cavity is almost certainly for a cap and ball revolver and one probably for a slug gun I would date it to the earlier part of your dating.

If it will be eBay fodder it must be listed as "Unique", "Antique", "Handmade" etc.

[Lefthandshooter]

I was told this on another forum. Anybody else?

"it's actually a single cavity.
the other two are for pouring soft lead noses.
then you put those in the mold and pour your regular alloy around them.
in the older times the opposite was done as the boolits were used over black powder and the harder nose would provide penetration.
"

[saint_iverson]

Neat prospect!

[Lefthandshooter]

I finally got around to casting some with the hot glue gun. Darn battery in my micrometer died, but here is a photo.

[I'll Make Mine]

Darn battery in my micrometer died

And people wonder why I only use non-electronic measuring devices. Dial caliper, old fashioned thimble micrometer (if I can ever find it -- haven't seen it in about twenty-five years, starting to think my first wife still has it), etc. Heck, I've still got my slide rule from 1975 (got it on special when the bottom dropped out of the market due to calculators getting affordable).

[alamogunr]

And people wonder why I only use non-electronic measuring devices. Dial caliper, old fashioned thimble micrometer (if I can ever find it -- haven't seen it in about twenty-five years, starting to think my first wife still has it), etc. Heck, I've still got my slide rule from 1975 (got it on special when the bottom dropped out of the market due to calculators getting affordable).

Both my micrometers and calipers are non-electronic. My slide rule is from 1960 when I started to college. No such thing as calculators back then. My grandsons think it's neat. In my first job, I had a mechanical calculator on my desk. It had about 12 columns of keys for each position incl. 2 decimals. You could enter a number(1 for instance) and divide by zero. It would sit there and crank all day if you didn't manually stop it. Other than a curiosity, I can't say I miss it.