Cost on used molds?

[Giggidy]

I'm a newbie to casting (I've been collecting some lead and making ingots, but haven't gotten any molds or a proper casting pot yet). I've been lurking about here and there looking at prices on molds and hoping to find one that I'm interested in, but have a question. I've seen several used molds (RCBS, Lyman) on ebay sell for just a bit less than the same mold would cost new...why? Is this a result of the buyers not realizing that they could buy a new one for about $15 or so more, or is there some benefit or desireable quality to the older molds? Like I said, I'm new to the forum and casting in general...I was just curious about this.

[I'll Make Mine]

Actually, if you check around the net, you can buy brand new Lee molds for $16 including handles (plus shipping, but buy two or three molds and a sizer or two and the shipping doesn't look back).

That said, if someone is after a particular mold, especially one that's out of production, they might not consider it excessive to pay 75% or more of new price. A mold isn't just a mold; an Ideal branded mold for, say, .38-55 is quite a bit different from a current production Lee mold in .358.

[Blammer]

People are idiots on ebay. That's why.

Some people buy new moulds from say "Lyman" then go to ebay to sell it for $10 more.

Personally, here at our Swap and Sell (after you qualify) you can get some pretty good deals. Just have to be fast sometimes. :)

[Giggidy]

I'll probably pick up a couple of Lee molds to start with (my philosophy is that before sinking large amounts of money into something I better make sure I enjoy it and will continue to do it). I've got a Lee reloading setup and am pretty happy with that. I understand paying more for a mold that is no longer produced, but the ones I've looked at are mainly 9mm 2 cavity molds that are still available.

I'll Make, what are your thoughts on the Lee molds?

[Giggidy]

Blammer...I've been keeping my eye on the swap and sell section for the last couple of weeks to get the lay of the land. I've seen some offers I'd be interested in, but first I have to get qualified, and then (the important thing) I have to get some disposable dough (which is tough this time of year with my kids' birthdays and Christmas all stacked on top of each other).

[I'll Make Mine]

I'll Make, what are your thoughts on the Lee molds?

My first thought when I saw the price difference was that a Lee mold, with handles, cost less than a set of handles for a Lyman or RCBS mold; in fact, I can buy five Lee mold sets, each with handles, for about the cost of an RCBS mold and a set of handles.

Beyond that, I haven't had a chance to cast in mine yet (tomorrow after work, I hope -- got some ingots smelted today). One of the two I bought has some burrs in it, but Lee support says it may cast okay with the burrs, and if not, should be fine once I skim them off with a razor blade. I opted not to ship it back until I'm certain it doesn't cast right -- it'd cost 2/3 of what I paid for shipment -- but that option still exists if I can't fix it with their methods.

Given I bought two molds and a .314 push-through sizer for less than the price of a Lyman mold, and Lyman has their own quality issues, I think Lee is the way to go for molds they have; their selection is a bit limited and they're possibly a little too fond of tumble lube designs, but I'll be able to get my hand in with casting and start learning to paper patch before I have to spend big money (by my budgetary standards) on a "better" mold.

[Hamish]

Welcome Giggidy!

I'm like many here, started with Lee moulds, eventually was exposed to the commercial iron one and two cavity moulds, and have graduated to the Group Buy multiple cavity moulds.

The keyword to your inquiry is the site that you are visiting. And it's not just moulds, it goes for everything. It's like an internet pawn shop. People will pay 150% of new for junk. Word to the wise, if you want to buy used, buy here in the Swapping and Selling. Much better class of people.

With the Lee moulds you really are flipping a coin as to whether you will get a good mould or have problems ranging from agravating to unusable. For me, it averages one bad mould to three good ones. Not to say they are all dogs, but they seem to be incapable of cutting anything other than round noses for the rifle calibers most common. Lyman seems to be committed to lax standards, with a great number of undersized moulds being presented for sale. You can always size down an oversize boolit, but you cant make an undersized boolit bigger.

I flat love what I have bought from MP and NOE. I have heard nothing but glowing reports on Accurate moulds.

Buying, selling, and trading moulds to try different boolits can be alot of fun, and if you watch the S&S, can be done fairly economically, but, my sincere advise to you is to do some hard thinking about what kind of boolits you want to shoot in your firearms, and go visit the Vendor area on this site and buy the most cavities that you can afford. If you can only afford to buy a one cavity Lee right now, so be it. But you will not believe how much better your casting experience will be with a good custom multi-cavity mould.

Again, welcome, and make sure to read, read, read, because long before you go and decide to try to save money buying that inexpensive Lee mould, you have slugging to do on your bores so that you know what size of mould you have to have. Again, I am a prime example for this. I own military surplus rifles from different countries and just assume that the Lee 312 mould has got me covered. Nope. I did not know about bore slugging to determine how big a mould I needed. Good on you for lurking and learning. It will save you time, expense, and headache.

And try not to get too OCD with the hobby. (hah) (fat chance)

[imashooter2]

Looks like $45 delivered for quality used Lyman DC molds is a price that sells quickly here. New are $60ish plus delivery.

Evidently, 2/3 the price for something that functions identically is attractive to a lot of people.

[Giggidy]

Thank you all for the comments. I've got a lot of ground to cover before I start actively casting. I've only been reloading for a brief time and actually shooting for only about a year. I tend to want to read a lot about something before I actually jump in (I had my reloading press for about 10 months before I actually set it up and started loading...spent a lot of time reading about loading and getting components together and other equipment together).

In the meantime, I'll be lurking about here learning as much as I can before actually jumping into the casting game (though I know there is only so much one can learn without actually doing it) and gathering range scrap here and there (I've got about 50 pounds of ingots from range scrap so far).

Thanks again.

[Slow Elk 45/70]

Hullo Giggidy, welcome to the cast boolit disease...welcome abord and your getting good info from the fellows here...ask any questions you need to...And while you are Lurking around the site, spend some time reading the "Stikies" in the different fourms. Lots of good intell here....good luck...Slow Elk

[badbob454]

welcome gotta start somewhere , and there are a great bunch of people here . welcome aboard and happy casting remember for nice boolits, add a little tin , took me a while to try it much less blemishes and less scrap boolits , back into the pot

[theperfessor]

If you ask politely, a lot of folks here will send you a few sample bullets to try out before you buy a mold. That gives you a chance to load a few to try in your gun, which can be real important, especially if it's an auto loader.

You can pay it forward later when you get up and running...

[captaint]

Speaking strictly for myself, I own a handful of Lyman molds. Haven't bought any of them new. So, if I know what I want and can find a good used one (the older the better) for 2/3 of the price of new, that's OK. I'm at least pretty sure it'll cast to the proper size. enjoy Mike

[Bullet Caster]

I happen to disagree with Hamish. If a mould turns out undersized, you can Lee-ment the mould to make a fatter boolit. Welcome to the forum and the best danged site on the internet. Look into the stickies to learn how to Lee-ment a mould. You probably should get a little experience under your belt before trying to Lee-ment a mould. You've probably already looked into the silvery stream so it's too late to turn back now. BC

[Go Fish]

I am looking for a mold for my 50AE. 325 grain is a good start. Anybody know where I can get good mold? Thanks a lot. Go Fish

[MT Chambers]

My first thought when I saw the price difference was that a Lee mold, with handles, cost less than a set of handles for a Lyman or RCBS mold; in fact, I can buy five Lee mold sets, each with handles, for about the cost of an RCBS mold and a set of handles.

Beyond that, I haven't had a chance to cast in mine yet (tomorrow after work, I hope -- got some ingots smelted today). One of the two I bought has some burrs in it, but Lee support says it may cast okay with the burrs, and if not, should be fine once I skim them off with a razor blade. I opted not to ship it back until I'm certain it doesn't cast right -- it'd cost 2/3 of what I paid for shipment -- but that option still exists if I can't fix it with their methods.

Given I bought two molds and a .314 push-through sizer for less than the price of a Lyman mold, and Lyman has their own quality issues, I think Lee is the way to go for molds they have; their selection is a bit limited and they're possibly a little too fond of tumble lube designs, but I'll be able to get my hand in with casting and start learning to paper patch before I have to spend big money (by my budgetary standards) on a "better" mold.
You can buy many yugos or 1 BMW, you can get stranded at the side of the road, with a Lee Dripomatic and an out of round Lee mold, spilling lead on everything...suit yourself.

[MT Gianni]

I believe that Lee two cavity molds will go up in price next year. They will have the same pin and bushing their 6 cavities do and it will still be a good value. I would wait if I wanted one but if you are not sure that this hobby is for you now is the time to try it out.

[fcvan]

I wouldn't waste time or money on Lee molds. The first one I bought needed the sprue plate screw replaced after 25 years and 500,000 boolits. It took me 10 minutes to drill tap and replace the screw with a larger one. Total waste of time. I don't think I will get another 500,000 boolits out of this mold but i will try. I wouldn't have bought 15 more Lee molds if I would have known the first one would give out like it did. And the wooden handles, they want $1.50 for a replacement. The nerve!

I all seriousness, the two molds I have that aren't Lee is because Lee didn't make what I wanted. I've been using Lee molds for a long time and with anything if you take care of the mold and don't beat the tar out of it you can get some life out of it. The mold that has 500k through it, I loaned that one to a buddy who beat the tar out it 25 years ago. It still makes great boolits. Frank

[MajorDude]

I used Lee molds for many years with complete satisfaction and wouldn't hesitate to buy another for a boolit I needed. I purchased a couple of Lyman's and a Saeco and was very impressed. Then I discovered the MP mold group buys and now I really have a problem. They seem expensive at first but my gosh they are beautiful pieces of gear!

I may be putting some Lee molds up for sale soon. I was thinking of bundling them in a group and selling them cheap, mainly because I have a couple of oddballs that will be tough to sell, like a .440 round ball. Great for sling shots but don't know what else you could use it for.

[I'll Make Mine]

I have a couple of oddballs that will be tough to sell, like a .440 round ball. Great for sling shots but don't know what else you could use it for.

Anyone who has a .45 patched ball muzzle loader needs that size; it's what I used to buy for my CVA pistol (they'll also work, after pushing through a sizer -- in a pinch, the revolver's chamber throats -- for plinking loads in a .44 Special or .44 Magnum).

[Hamish]

I happen to disagree with Hamish. If a mould turns out undersized, you can Lee-ment the mould to make a fatter boolit. BC

Actually, I wasn't considering the undersize factor, which as you say, is fixable to personal preference. I was speaking of all the other kinds of problems Lee seems to suffer from. I own about 20 Lee molds. 3 or 4 throw castings like magic, 10-12 of them each have their idiosyncracies that mean you have a learning curve of little actions to make them cast decently. (And each mould has a different song and dance, and you'd better do it the same way each time.) and the rest are just flat a pain in the hind parts to deal with.

Which reminds me, I wonder if Jim ever got around to plain basing that Bator mould?

[Baryngyl]

tend to want to read a lot about something before I actually jump in (I had my reloading press for about 10 months before I actually set it up and started loading...spent a lot of time reading about loading and getting components together and other equipment together).

LOL, that would never work for me, I practically have it set-up and in use before the UPS driver can get out of the driveway.


Michael Grace

[Thin Man]

Giggidy,

Earlier posts here gave you the values for used molds, but first you have to find them available for purchase. Some of my favorite places to find used molds are the Swappin' and Sellin' section of this forum, yard sales, estate sales, gun shops, pawn shops and gun shows. My start came in 1973 when I was visiting a gun shop. I asked an employee about casting and he commented that he was converting from casting to swaging. He offered me a different type of group buy - his entire casting tool collection. This included a Lyman furnace, boolit sizer, 6-7 sizers, about 14 top punches, and his collection of 11 different molds (1, 2 and 4 cavity by different manufacturers) some of which were odd then and now are rare and desirable (just my luck). Although the price was more than I was ready to pay just to get started I took all of it because this was a complete start-to-finish package. $110 out the door and I was on my way! That was my start. Since then I have added another lead furnace, lubrisizer, top punches, sizers, and the mold count is over 150!!! This activity CAN become an addiction.

Welcome to the asylum. This forum is absolutely the best location for information and support for your casting needs. Welcome, and enjoy.

Thin Man

[myg30]

I got started casting with a donated mold that I did not have a gun for. It was so much fun just to make the boolits that I HAD to dive into casting. Lee molds were the only ones in my price range at the time and the few I purchased have served me very well. I did learn to lee-ment a mold or two and enjoyed doing it. Since then I have added several molds from the makers here on CB's and try to support them and the site here which has been a wealth of knowledge.
I read as much as I could here, watched videos on you tube on casting, and had help from PM's and several members.
Once the lead bites you, your hooked !!
Enjoy, be safe.

Mike

[blackthorn]

You have recieved a lot of real good suggestions/advice here so far. I really don't have anything to add at this point except to congratulate you on your aproach to starting this facinating hobby by actually reading a lot before you start. Over the time I have been perusing this board I have seen so many instances where it is obvious that a new poster has read little or nothing but rather wants "instant gratification" by having someone tell him/her what to do without either trying or at least having a basic understanding of what they want/need to do!! GOOD ON YA!!! Welcome to the addiction!!