Number of Cavities

[kevindtimm]

All things being equal, should my first molds be 4 cavities or 2?

I intend to cast for my 1911 (45acp) and my GP100 (.357 mag) - and then later for 9mm and maybe even 223 (and 300blk)

[Mal Paso]

Handgun? 4 cavity!

[Marlin Junky]

Well, if you don't know what you're doing, you can make a lot more rejects with the 4-cavity mold per given time period than with the 2-cavity mold. If you know what you're doing, you can cast a couple hundred .45's and .357's in an hour with a pair of 2-cavity ferrous molds (one in each caliber) casting simultaneously. Two cavity ferrous molds are somewhat more ubiquitous. If you're just starting out, perhaps a pair of Lee 2-cavity molds might be easier to handle if you possess the proper manual dexterity.

MJ

[Jupiter7]

Personally, I like 3 cavity. Easy to get to heat, easy to keep there. For what it's worth, 300 blackout is the easiest caliber I've casted for, including 45auto.

[41 mag fan]

Have to agree with Marlin Junky...you've never cast before, you really don't know if it's your cup of tea, best to buy a set of Lee 2 cav molds. this way you're not out much money if casting is not your cup of tea, and if you happen to ruin the molds, you're out less than $60(shipping included in this price)(maybe less) for 2 molds, whereas a good quality mold is $80+ new for one caliber, 2 cavity.
And if new to casting, you learn the ins and outs of how to cast and get good casts on a Lee, you'll be off with flying colors with a good quality mold.

[dverna]

For handguns - get the maximum number of cavities. I started with a 10 cavity mold. This is not rocket surgery.

Never, never, skimp on equipment unless you are under severe financial constraints - you will regret it. Pistols go through a lot of bullets if you intend to shoot a lot. Plus, if you do not enjoy casting, you will want to get the job done as fast as possible.

I am not into running two different molds at a time. The most useless waste of time I can imagine is sorting bullets after casting them. But that is just me.

Don Verna

PS: That 10 cavity mold would group 50 shots into 3" at 50 yards out of a S&W M52 with no sorting of bullets. You will gain squat wrt quality pistol bullets by going with 2 cavity mold. You may see a difference with rifle bullets but I cannot comment for sure. Others will chime in I am sure.

[CATTLEMAN]

I started with larger molds 6 to 10 cavity. They are great for semi's, pistols or chamberings that get a lot of use. But lately I have been sorting boolits carefully for better accuracy and have ordered some smaller molds hoping that using one cavity will increase the uniformity of the boolits. It kind of depends on what you are trying to accomplish. If you realize that casting is not for you the larger molds tend to have better resale value. I have sold a lot of lee 6 cavities for more than i paid for them even before the recent panics drove prices way up.

I recently told a friend who asked me about the same question, if I were him knowing what i know now to start I would buy 6 cavity lee tumble lube molds for the pistol chamberings with easy feeding designs for the semi's, some lee liquid alox or equivalent and trail boss powder. They are easy to use, inexpensive and have good resale value. Being tumble lube they are also allow easy lubing of the boolits and don't require a lube sizer. The trail boss loads are fun and easy to shoot, most are slow enough that leading will not be a problem.

I have been messing around with cast in the whisper / blackout recently and have posted some things about it. If you want hypersonic ammo, it is relatively easy although you will probably need gas checks and pan lube or a lubri sizer. If you want sub sonic ammo in a semi to cycle it is more difficult. Be ready to have: a pistol length gas system in a carbine, a can and/or a lightweight bolt carrier.

What ever you choose I hope casting is at least as fun for you as it has been for me.

[Oreo]

My personal experience: I research my interests thoroughly and patiently. Then I dive in to the deep end head-long. My first purchase was three 4-cavity Miha hollow point molds that I designed myself and honchoed the group buy for. During that time I also purchased an RCBS pro-melt, a Star lubrisizer, a hot plate, and dug 500lbs of range lead out of a local berm. The first boolits to fall from those molds were perfect and took a deer.

YMMV, but don't let anyone sell you on substandard equipment because you're just starting. Know thy self.

[ku4hx]

I started many moons ago with a single cavity (Lyman 356402) and shortly thereafter went to double cavity (Lyman 358156; Lyman 426215). I still cast from double cavity molds (usually Lee but some Lyman) for heavy caliber magnum revolvers simply because I don't shoot as many of those any more.

Now days easily 90% of my wife's and my shooting is 9mm, 40, 45 and 10mm. If it weren't for Lee's cheap six cavity molds I wouldn't be able to feed our habits. I guess the number of cavities is pretty much dependent on what you shoot and how much you shoot.

But, as the man said, usually best to start off with a Lee double cavity mold until you sort out your true level of obsession. If you become full assimilated into the collective and move to four and six cavities, the two cavity molds will still work.

[gravely]

For pistol shooting, I wouldn't want any mould smaller than 4 cavities or larger than four cavities. Steel moulds larger than 4 get pretty heavy for larger calibers. I might consider a 6-cavity .38 mould. 6+ cavities in aluminum moulds are probably OK.

[kevindtimm]

Thanks for all the answers so far, 4 cavities seem to be winning the battle - I'm looking at the Lyman molds because they're available today (Lee seems hard to find) - the 100% premium for Lyman is tough though.

I think I'll search a little harder :)

[357shooter]

If find 2 to be slow and annoying no matter how well they are made. I can't keep up with my shooting with them. Three or four cavities are OK, but six cavities make a big difference and perferred. Lyman four cavity moulds cast really well. You'll quickly find out there are alot of folks that case with lead softer then the #2 they are designed for, so they drop small. It may matter to you, it may not. That doesn't help, just makes the decision a bit harder. NOE has a 155 grain four cavity wadcutter in stock for the 357. That'll drop fully sized bullets with softer alloy and is alternative. Not sure if there are any 45acp available or not.

[soldierbilly1]

dude: first mold, get a two banger. Progress as necessary from there. billy boy

[mdi]

I have found when teaching a subject that will have multiple variables, to keep each individual step as simple as possible. When casting bullets one is concerned with alloy, melt temp., mold temp., and pouring method and speed. So, I would start with wheel weight alloy, a two cavity mold, a bottom pour pot, and a lot of practice...

[rsrocket1]

6 cavity molds are great. Saturday I spent 2 hours cast 800+ .401 boolits, didn't even break a sweat. My first mold was for 45ACP, I've since bought molds for 357, 40, and 9mm (.356). Self taught with the help of the Internet, You Tube and especially Cast Boolits. My first casting (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?135562-First-casts!) was about a year and a half ago and I've cast and shot about 300 pounds of lead since then.

The only thing I've added to my initial setup was a PID (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?115724-Project-PID-on-Lee-Pro-4-20-furnace) which helps a lot with temperature consistency in the pot from full to empty.

[fecmech]

I really don't think starting with a 4 or 6 cav is a big deal. I started with 2 Lyman 4 cavs, a wadcutter and SWC and the old Lyman manual. Read the manual, plugged the pot in and went for it. Now with the help of fellows on this board it would be even easier.

[gravely]

In my humble, yet experienced opinion, there is no need to start with less than 4 cavity moulds for the purpose of learning how to do it right. Buy the right tools first and you will save money. I can cast up to 250 or so .45 semi-wadcutters with 2 Hensley & Gibbs 4-cavity moulds in 30 minutes.

[Bigslug]

Four, five, and six cavities - not really any harder to cast with than two.

Two cavities - mind. . .numbingly. . .S. . .L. . .O. . .WWWWWwwwwwwwwww

NOE and Mihec can make hollow points and even hollow bases in four cavity format, and Accurate will go as high as six with solids. . .and REALLY good boolits fall out of them. I figure unless you're trying to cast something REALLY weird or REALLY specialized, or have weight limitations on your wrists, always go for quantity.

[Oreo]

How do you guys cut the sprue on those 5, 6, + cavity molds? I can just barely cut the sprue by gloved hand on my Mihec 4-cav molds if I time the sprue-freeze perfectly. Seems like beating on the sprue plate with a mallot would be hard on the mold long-term.

[khmer6]

After breaking things..... I've learned to heat up the mold real good. Drop 1 cav, and next 2cav and 3cav and so on. Keep heating the mold and cut the sprue fast!!!! I don't even hesitate to cut the sprue. Otherwise it's a pain to cut

[Artful]

Well, I learned on a single cavity - quickly learned two single cavities better than one, progressed to multiple double cavities then 4-5-6 cavities.

Best bargin for beginner is lee moulds - I like the 6 cavity myself.

[tengaugetx]

Newbe here, I bought a 6 cavity Lee in .356, .358, and .452. and have had no problems. I am using wheel weights and range scrap in a Lee 4 20 bottom pour furnace. Cast up a couple thousand .356 yesterday. No way I would want anything smaller.

[Cane_man]

first mold i would go with 2 cav steel

[surfanarchist]

I started about six months ago from scratch. After doing a lot of reading here I bought two 4 cavity Lymans, one .45 ACP and one for .45 LC. I also bought an RCBS pro-melt bottom pour. After using the 4 cavity molds I moved onto casting for my 45-70 using a two gang. I can say that from my experience the 2 gang works just like the 4 gang only one drops more boolits faster. I am glad a went with the 4 gangs to start. 2 gang molds will not help you learn any faster. With new molds, cleaned well, you are still going to throw back a bunch of boolits when you first start pouring, but after a dozen pours they will start dropping really pretty. Once the molds have been used a few times you don't need to throw but maybe the first couple of pours back, what ever it takes to get the mold up to tempreture. That's my .02 on molds.

[Smoke4320]

if on a real budget strain 2 cavity Lee, not so much a lee 6 cavity, like buying quality and one time NOE, Mihec, lyman 4 cavity ... lee 6 cavity handles for quite well for the last 3 Molds Just glue the wood to the metal handle .. I use gorilla glue

[truckjohn]

Just a bit of a dumb observation before the rest of my opinion...
Be sure to buy some commercial cast bullets, load them up, then shoot them - to make sure they are your cup of tea before you buy a pile of casting equipment.... If you can't get them to shoot without leading up your guns - then maybe skip casting for those until you can sort out the other variables..... This may not be possible in some instances - like where you are trying to feed an ancient/oddball gun and commercial bullets just don't exist... but for common pistols - buy a box of commercial cast and try them out first.... Just to make sure...

2 cavities can be a decent place to start - because they cost ~30% less than a 4 cavity mold.... 4 cavities is a great place to start if you have the money, know your gun likes that bullet, and like to shoot more...

If it was me... Pick a STEEL mold made by a manufacturer known for high quality for your first mold... High quality Steel molds are SOOOO much easier to learn how to cast on than some of the aluminum molds out there... Go with 2 or 4 cavities depending on your budget...

Since 2-cavity Lee molds were brought up...
Unfortunately - While Lee 2 cavity molds are deliciously cheap.. They are also massively cranky... Sorting out Lee 2 cavity molds is a hobby/job in itself... Just look at how many stickies are up about fixing up Lee molds (Dimensional problems, venting problems, mismatch problems, fillout issues, sprue plates, etc...... This can add a ton of frustration to trying to learn a new hobby.... Lee 6 cavity molds are so amazingly different from their 2 cavity molds that it's almost like they are made by a totally different company....

On Tumble lube molds... Don't assume you can get them to chamber without sizing them.... You may still need to size the bullets so they will chamber in your guns.. You can just use a faster push-through sizing to accomplish this.... you won't have to run them through a conventional lube sizer operation - which can be fairly time consuming..... But.. It really is much more convenient on the whole...

Thanks

[mdi]

With a two cavity mold the new caster sees/learns the importance of mold temperature. With a two cavity mold the temps. won't vary from cavity to cavity like in a 6-banger (yes, I have experience with bullets from one end of a 6 cavity mold being/dropping different than the other end.). Just one less thing to consider for a new caster...

For me, casting 1,000 bullets at a time is a real "buzz killer". I have no desire to cast more than a couple hundred at a time, one, 'cause I don't need that many to sit around the shop waiting to be lubed, and two, casting is my hobby. I enjoy it as a fun pastime by itself, as I cast because I like to, not because I have to. If I had to cast bullets to shoot (either cast or don't shoot), I might just buy cast bullets, a whole lot less work.

[rintinglen]

For use in handguns, 4 cavity molds are the minimum I would consider, 5 or 6 cavities are better. I've a whole slew of 2 cavity molds, but it is disheartening to cast for an hour and have maybe 240 boolits, when the same hour would easily produce over 600 with a four cavity. In 40 minutes I cast over 500 38-125 FN boolits using a Lee 6 cavity mold.
I do not recommend Lee's 2 cavity molds for beginners. Those finicky pieces of Blankety-blank have turned off more prospective casters than anything else you can name. It is work to get consistent good boolits from one of those. They are better suited to the experienced caster. Their 6 cavity molds though, are a whole different thing. While NOE, MP, and Accurate Molds get my business these days, my 380's, 32's and 9's all get fed lead courtesy of Lee 6 cavity molds. If Ranch Dog's Group Buy comes to fruition in time, I'll be using a Lee-manufactured mold for my 30-30's too.

[trixter]

My favorite for my 45ACP is the Lee TL 452-200 SWC, 71917here's why: for a while I had no way to lube and size my boolits. So this tumble lube boolit was the choice. I purchased the .452 Lee push through sizer and it came with Lee Liquid Alox. So now I have mold, sizer and lube very inexpensively. Now If I really didn't like the process, I could bail out and at least get my money back. I have since purchased MP 45-200 HP and 452 200 H&G 68 clone in 4 cavities, acquired a Star Lube Sizer, and am in so deep that I may never get out, but I am a happy camper.

[kevindtimm]

I like that profile for the 45, I was looking at a similar one for 38/357 (lee 90319) or the other highly recommended was (lee 90692).

I can find the 90319 and I might do that just because I can get one :)