Lyman or Saeco

[Grimstache]

I'm looking to get a mould for my Sharps 45-70. I'm trying to decide between the Saeco 881 500 gr or the Lyman 457125 500 gr. which mild is better or are they the same quality?

Thanks!

[Jack Stanley]

The last five Lyman molds I bought were of very poor quality , so much so I think I'd try the Saeco

Jack

[stubshaft]

I would choose SAECO hands down!

[bobthenailer]

PM sent

[Ben]

or are they the same quality?


Is this a " trick question " ? ?

[Agentr]

Hello,

I've been on the search for a mold to decrease the cost of shooting my Pardini HP32. I think you just made up my mind. I did other research on this mold and found other fellow shooters that agree with you whole-heartedly. The #323 shoots better or as good as the H&N or even Lapua bullets. I am the timid sort, and before investing $160 in a four gang mold, I'd kinda like to try a few. If I sent you some bucks for shipping, and your trouble, would you send me 50 of these lubed and ready to test? I'd just feel better knowing these will work good in my VERY finicky pistol before I end up with a $160 fishing sinker. LOL

Thanks for your time

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Go with the REDDING/SAECO mold.
besides the great quality, they have customer service as good as RCBS.

I got a REDDING/SAECO mold in a trade some time back,
it was advertised as a fixer/upper.
the mold handle screws were buggered.
I e-mailed REDDING, they sent out a complete "screws" package...no cost !
Jon

[arkypete]

Fellas

For most of my shooting/casting/reloading time I pretty much ignored Redding/Saeco. I had a 375 Whelen made and then found out dies are not standard. I found that Redding was much praised, so I ordered the die set. They were perfect examples of the machinist art.
I had tried RCBS found them excellent but the only came in two cavity. I then tried Lyman and was pleased with the results. Tried Lee and discovered great beer can material after the mold had been recycled. That left Saeco. I started out with a 243 mold and was pleased, then a 4 cavity 45, 255 grain, then a 350 grain 45-70 mold, a 375 mold, two 4 cavity 45 acp molds, then a 4 cavity 45 Colt 300 grain, 4 cavity 357 mold , I'm sure that I've over looked some molds. I've up graded all of my dies that I reload for to Redding.
I've never returned any product, I've lost.broken sprue plate screws that were replaced free, made by Redding/Saeco.
Other then having custom molds made I can't see any reason to buy any other companies product.

Jim

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Once upon a time Lyman was the leading mold maker and barring for the moment their title of "King of the oversize", (although they did offer many molds in undersize versions) they produced a lot of worthwhile designs (most of which disappeared) and the quality control was good. Then instead of making oversize molds so that the cutting cherries would last longer before needing sharpening, they simply started running the cherries longer so things started coming out undersized. To make up for this and kill 2 birds with one stone they then (rationalized) and told everybody that their molds were designed to be used with their #2 alloy. Real cute!! Meanwhile a thing called (careful) quality control seemed to disappear and molds started turning up with all sorts of strange afflictions. So a long string of unhappy stories began and still persist to this day. Some properly dimensioned/ made molds do pop up here and there, but it seems to be a hit and miss process. Not a game that we need or want to play with our hard earned cash. I own more than a dozen Lyman molds that were made back in the day and they work well for me. Would I buy another Lyman mold now-No! I have several Saeco molds some recent) and have never had a problem with any of them. With modern techno and moldmakers like Mihec, Accurate, and NOE turning out great stuff it is silly to fool around with outmoded manufacturing and poor or sloppy quality control. No one needs problems or stress. Its your money and your call. LLS

[grouch]

I have a Saeco 425gr spire point mold that I use in my 45 70 rolling block. It's a tack driver for accuracy, I couldn't be happier with it for target work.
Grouch

[cbrick]

Go with the REDDING/SAECO mold. besides the great quality, they have customer service as good as RCBS.
Jon

That IS NOT my experience with Redding. From Redding I got by far, hands down winner the very worst customer service I have ever experienced from any mfg. Not just in the reloading or shooting market but any company any time any where.

I have 30+ SAECO molds but I wouldn't have another new one if somebody stuffed it up my hieny.

Rick

[MikeS]

Rick, does that include used pre-Redding ones?

[cbrick]

Rick, does that include used pre-Redding ones?

No, I have many SAECO's, both pre Redding and Redding SAECO. But my experience trying to deal with Sharpless at Redding was so bad I'll NEVER buy anything new again that has anything to do with Redding. I used to sing the praises of Redding, now I always recommend against buying anything Redding lest I subject someone else to what I was subjected to.

Rick

[MT Gianni]

I was wondering if Rick would see this. I had a good experience with Redding 3 years before Ricks' terrible experience. For both companies "ya pays your money and ya takes your chances". Saeco molds are very close to the price of a custom mold now, Lyman's are far easier to find used. Before I pay $70 for a big brand name mold that doesn't advertise dimensions I would try to save an extra $20.

[wv109323]

To me there are a few things to consider. Lyman or Saeco or Something else.
Lyman now has hit and miss quality control. Spend your money and take your chances.
A four Cavity mold from Saeco is $150.00 plus 30-35.00 for a set of handles. I believe the chances are good you would be satisfied with the Saeco mold.
For that money you are in the realm of custom molds. NOE, Accurate, Mihec....Etc.
As always the three things to a buying decision are Cost, Quality, and Delivery Time( Service). It is hard to get all three.

[Buckshot]

...........It seems that in the past few years I've purchased more Saeco (Redding) moulds then I have in all my previous years. Possibly a matter of finding them on Midways Clearance list for a reasonable sum, or simply the designs I was looking for. I do have several SAECO (pre Redding) moulds, and I can tell no difference in quality between them and the newer Saeco's. I've not had a problem with Lyman moulds to date, and only one with an RCBS. Only a couple Lee's have given me gas, so overall I consider myself a pretty lucky individual.

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

[Shakey Jakey]

If it were up to me any Lyman employee not eligible for unemployment would be selling undersized and out of round pencils on the street corner.